This is it. You’re on the home stretch. Your hero has learned their lessons and they’re ready for their final fight. But before you throw all your toys into a box and start shaking it, listen to this playlist!
Your final showdown should do more than pit your protagonist against their antagonist in a final “they fight”, it should rise and fall just like any other scene. The stakes are higher, but good storytelling rules still apply.
If your final showdown is an epic 10 minute festival of violence, or a two minute flurry of action, this playlist should cater to all your needs.
Happy writing!
Calculated Infiltration
Starting with one of my favourite tracks of all time, Calculated Infiltration is a slow burn that teases the action to come. It’s epic even in its lower moments, and has one of the best themes ever put to screen.
If your protagonists final test is to break into a heavily fortified environment and escape with the final prize, this is the track for you. If that’s not your final act moment, listen to it anyway!
I Don’t Think Now is the Best Time
How to end one of the best trilogies to exist? How to bring it together in one final epic battle that unites all the franchises iconic themes and rounds out everyone’s story in a satisfying way?
You may not be writing something quite like that, but if your story has multiple strands that all need concluding in a final, epic confrontation, Hans Zimmer pulls it out of the bag with this one.
Ship o hoj, Mandalorians!
Let’s not hang about, we’re in the final battle, let’s get to it. Ludwig Goransson’s score for The Mandalorian was always experimental, and this track is no different. There’s space in this track for some team-up action, some one-to-one combat, and even scope for some dialogue moments that don’t break the flow of music.
Dooku vs. Yaddle
Another Star Wars track? Yes. Fight me about it. There are a few great showdowns in the Star Wars universe, and the lack of Duel of the Fates on this bound to rile some people. The issue with that track is that it’s a great piece of music that doesn’t fully feature in the movie. It’s cut up, stopped, merged, and mutilated to fit the action. This track, however, like most on the list, is purpose written and (from a writing perspective) all the better for it.
As the shortest track on this list, it’s a great showcase of how action and drama can be packed into a short space of time for maximum effect on the audience.
No Man’s Land
Technically not a final showdown track, No Man’s Land is one of the most iconic scores ever written, and it’s perfect for this list. Your hero has lost everything, or perhaps faces impossible odds. Despite knowing their likely end, they face up to the armies of evil surrounded by a rising heroic motif. The audience, aghast at the hero’s act, are forced to watch on until, in the final moments, they unleash their full power.
What happens after that is pure bombastic action, the audiences reward for coming along for the dramatic ride of a lifetime.
Battle of Times Square
Okay, hear me out. I know nobody likes this Ghostbusters movie, but this track is a banger. Listen to it and tell me you can’t see laser blasts, a race against the clock, rising tension, and a team of heroes fighting to save their world.
But if you really want to know why it’s on this list, listen from 2:10 and tell me that’s not the most epic version of the Ghostbusters theme you’ve ever heard.
The Ultimate War
Taking the edge off of the climax, this track is better suited to a lighter tone of script. John Williams’ themes are always iconic, but his soundtrack for Hook is one of his strongest when matching audio to visual. If you want darting about, swashbuckling, and that mid-action wit films seem to be so keen on these days, this is a great track.
Just remember the original film is called Hook, so expect his character motif to feature heavily.
War
Avatar is still one of the best performing movies ever made, and James Horner absolutely contributed to that with his score. This track is over 11 minutes long, musically charting the final confrontation on Pandora in an epic air and land battle. For you, dear writer, it’s likely a mood piece. But damn, what a mood.
Zen Ball Master
I’m not ashamed to say that Kung Fu Panda 2 is one of my favourite films of all time. The summer it was released on Sky Cinema (Sky Movies, it was at the time) I watched at least half the film almost every day for the full six weeks of the summer holidays.
Anyway, the track. We loom over a scene of devastation, but at the heart of it is a protagonist of whimsy and silliness. They dart about, making a mockery of the antagonist and their whole schtick, but don’t forget you’ve got to hit those action and emotional beats. Whimsy over, the track jumps into serious bombastic action. The characters theme lying in the foundations of the track as your protagonist lays waste to their antagonists plan. Maybe alone, maybe with friends, this is a climax to fill you with a giggling awe.
Then it changes. Don’t forget, even comedy is dramatic. There’s a long break in the track where the antagonist usurps victory and dominates their wasteland. But, undefeated, the protagonist rises and uses the journey they’ve been on to finally end the antagonists reign of terror.
God I love this track.
The Big Battle
Don’t judge me for putting so many animated tracks in this list. They know how to score a climax!
Feeding from my points on the last track, this is one that really knows what it is. It’s a riot! The world is at stake but we can have a laugh with it. This track takes itself far less seriously than Zen Ball Master, but there’s still some fun character riffs peppered throughout this track to really poke at your characters and get them to truly shine.
Berlin Foot Chase
What if your hero and villain couldn’t confront in the final act? An action packed will-they-won’t-they brimming with the rising tension the Bourne films are known for. Subtlety and espionage with the world at stake it as the heart of this track.
Big Hero 6
Henry Jackman is probably up there with Hans Zimmer with the best third act scores. They don’t weave drama into their music, they weave music into their drama. Big Hero Six’s final act in probably one of the more famous final fights in animation, and that’s in no small part due to Jackman’s exemplary score.
The track, like most here, starts with dread of an antagonists victory, though this time its rooted in something small, a character rather than their whole evil lair. But, as they move towards their victory, the panic grows, the scale increases, but still we’re in something personal. Room for dialogue, one final attempt to appeal to the villains humanity, but no! The antagonist becomes their most villainous self, so the hero rises to match. And we’re off! This track has some fun vibes, interesting peaks and valleys, a really great track if you want time to focus on your individual characters among the chaos of a final fight.
Racer Snakes vs Iguanas
But this track isn’t even from a film or TV show! I know, but shut up this is my list. Also, isn’t it dramatic, though?!
Yes it was very tense seeing that iguana getting chased around, wondering if it’ll live or die. It’s one of the core cultural memories of Planed Earth II, but it’s nothing without its soundtrack.
A master at work here.
Joy Turns to Sadness
A complete and total tonal shift here. There’s no great action here, no swashbuckling, shooting, or fisticuffs of any kind. Inside Out’s finale is poetic beauty, and Giacchino’s score matches it perfectly. Inverting most other tracks here, we start with a ahem joyous heroic entry, but the hero isn’t here to sweep evil away. No. This hero is required to do something even more difficult; be introspective. It’s difficult, almost impossible, but it is achievable.
As the track goes on, and the hero earns their victory, the track swells around them, welcoming them to their new-found identity.
Psychological Recovery… 6 Months
Rounding off with an odd one. There’s quite a few tracks I would have loved to include in this list. In fact, I have so many I may do another playlist. But this list ends with none other than Sherlock Holmes. Much like his final act track for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, this track is a beast of a thing, so only use it as reference if you’ve got a crazy set-piece to round your story off.
The reason I use this track? It’s impossible to tell who the winner is. Isn’t that wonderful? Writing your final act, good against evil, and though your story has a perfect rhythm and pulse, you just don’t know how it will end.
Don't forget, this list is not meant to be comprehensive. There are so many brilliant tracks out there that I simply couldn't cram into this list of 15. This is merely a jumping off point to get the creative juices flowing!
Listen to the Full Playlist Below!
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