Movie score being the music written to accompany the movie, not the imported material from recordings, pop or otherwise. That would fall under "soundtracks".

My favorites: [[in order, favorite first)

1. Star Wars- John Williams- great thematic composer who draws from late 19th century and early 20th century classical music. All of the themes are memorable from the movie, and probably would have a much lesser impact with an inferior composer. As a kid, wore out the grooves on two sets of LPs

2. Psycho- Bernard Herrmann- Most often associated with Alfred Hitchcock, his score was an unconventional orchestration of entirely strings. He somehow pulled it off.

3. Cinema Paradiso- Ennio Morricone- perfect score for one of the most under-the-radar classics.

I'd love to hear input from others. What are your 3 favorite scores?