Giorgio Moroder: A Filmography

Italian-born producer, composer, keyboardist, songwriter and legend Giorgio Moroder (b. 1940) has written music for many films during his long and varied career. This filmography features all films, TV shows and games for which Moroder has composed instrumental music. It does not include films/projects where he was only involved in the songs, so no Top Gun or Superman III here.

Be sure, also, to check out our podcast interview with Moroder, from 2015, while you’re at it. And feel free to comment on this topic on our messageboard.

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Die Klosterschülerinnen (1972)

Giorgio Moroder‘s first foray into film scoring was for this German comedy/drama about the problems girls face in the unisex environment of a convent school. Some of the music in the film was taken from the Moroder album Son Of My Father from the same year, but it seems like he also wrote some original music for it.

Oswalt Kolle: Liebe als Gesellschaftspiel (1972)

This was a documentary directed by Werner Lenz about the journalist, author and film producer Oswalt Kolle. Moroder is credited as co-composer with Heinz Kiessling. The song «Automation» from the album Son Of My Father is also featured in the film. No soundtrack has been released.

Midnight Express (1978)

Six years passed without any new Moroder scores (he did enjoy success in the world of disco music with Donna Summer and others), until director Alan Parker asked if he would be interested in scoring his upcoming crime drama about an American student caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison. The rest, as the say, is history. Moroder won an Oscar for best score, and changed film music for the foreseeable future, making it easier for artists like Tangerine Dream and Vangelis to enter the world of Hollywood.

Aided by young studio wizards like Harold Faltermeyer, Greg Mathieson and Keith Forsey, Moroder sculpted a melodic and exciting score, including the 8-minute «Chase»  (in the style of Donna Summer’s «I Feel Love», as was the directive from Parker), which became a hit single. The soundtrack album got a release on the classic Casablanca label, a company that also co-produced the film itself.

American Gigolo (1980)

Paul Schrader’s thriller starring Richard Gere was Moroder’s next hit. Once more assisted by Faltermeyer and Forsey, the film got an Oscar nomination for both the score and the Moroder-penned song «Call Me» performed by Blondie. Polydor Records rose to the occasion and released a soundtrack album which also featured the song «Love And Passion» performed by Cheryl Barnes and co-written with director Schrader, and Moroder arranging Mozart in the fittingly titled «Hello Mr. W.A.M.» The 80s had started and Giorgio Moroder was the hottest guy in town.

Foxes (1980)

Moroder turned down Alan Parker’s Fame in 1980, but agreed to work on Adrian Lyne’s debut drama film Foxes starring Jodie Foster. The soundtrack was a massive double album from Casablanca Records, with a mixture of songs (most of them with Moroder’s magic touch) and instrumental material/versions. Donna Summer’s «On The Radio» became a hit; on the album it can be enjoyed in both a 7-minute vocal version, and as a 4-minute instrumental. Keith Forsey also got a song by himself, but the highlight is probably Moroder’s 10-minute disco tour-de-force «Valley Of The Dolls». Turn up the volume!

Cat People (1982)

After the success of American Gigolo, Paul Schrader (and producer Jerry Bruckheimer) continued working with Moroder on his next film Cat People, starring Nastassja Kinski. Moroder had now drafted synthesizer specialist Sylvester Levay, who would do much of the arrangements and performances that Harold Faltermeyer had done since 1978. The result was a smooth and extremely well-produced score, released on the MCA label. Of course, the soundtrack was also helped by the hit song «Putting Out Fire» sung by David Bowie, and produced/written by Moroder.

D.C. Cab (1983)

This was a Joel Schumacher action comedy, with a soundtrack album featuring songs and one track of score. Most of the songs were produced/written by Moroder. The film producers selected artists for the album who were popular with a young, black audience, giving the record a different sound than several of the other Moroder soundtracks from the time. His sole track of score, «Knock Me On My Feet» is in essence an instrumental version of the song of the same name performed by the group Champaign.

Flashdance (1983)

1983 was probably the biggest year for Giorgio Moroder in film music. Adrian Lyne and Jerry Bruckheimer’s Flashdance was a massive success, and two songs from the film got nominated for an Oscar; «What A Feeling» by Irene Cara (which eventually won!) and «Maniac» by Michael Sembello, the latter without input from Moroder, though. The soundtrack album on Casablanca featured only one instrumental track by the composer, the beautiful «Love Theme», performed by piano/keyboard player Helen St. John. A total of five tracks on the album are written and/or produced by Moroder. Once again, Sylvester Levay had an important role as conductor, arranger and even songwriter (on Donna Summer’s «Romeo») on this project.

Scarface (1983)

1983 ended with a bang. Brian De Palma’s Scarface starring a riveting Al Pacino has received accolades ever since, and Moroder’s score got a Golden Globe nomination. The soundtrack on MCA included two tracks of score plus eight songs, all of them penned by Moroder. Almost 40 years later, in 2022, La-La Land Records released a 2CD-set limited to 5000 copies, including all the instrumental music (and songs) Moroder wrote for the film. Finally, the opening «Main Title» could be heard outside of the film. The liner notes featured a new interview with arranger Sylvester Levay, explaining how he and Moroder worked on the music. One of the absolute highlights of electronic scoring in the 80s.

Electric Dreams (1984)

Directed by music video specialist Steve Barron, Electric Dreams was partly funded by record label Virgin. So, music would indeed be an important part of the film. Moroder is represented with two score tracks on the soundtrack album (one of them based on Bach’s Minuet In G Major) in addition to a Helen Terry song and of course the massive hit «Together In Electric Dreams» performed by Giorgio with Philip Oakey of The Human League. The song was nominated for a BAFTA award. The six remaining tracks on the album, by artists like Culture Club, Jeff Lynne and Heaven 17, had no involvement from Moroder. Trivia: «Together In Electric Dreams» was the last song that MTV 80s played before it closed for good on December 31, 2025.

The Neverending Story (1984)

The hits kept coming for Giorgio Moroder. Wolfgang Petersen’s next project after Das Boot was this family adventure drama. Klaus Doldinger was the original composer on the film, and Moroder was brought in to write a song. The resulting title track from the film was performed by Limahl and became a smash hit, reaching number 4 on the UK charts. Moroder was then asked to rescore several scenes of the film version released outside Germany. The EMI soundtrack album ended up with one side devoted to Moroder and the other to Doldinger.

Metropolis (1927/1984)

In 1983, Giorgio Moroder bought the rights to the 1927 Fritz Lang film Metropolis and restored and produced the 80-minute 1984 re-release. Of course, Moroder also wrote the music for the film, resulting in an album with two tracks of instrumental score («The Legend Of Babel» and «Machines») and eight songs by artists like Freddie Mercury, Pat Benatar, Jon Anderson and Adam Ant. Mercury’s «Love Kills» was the Queen man’s first solo single, and entered the UK Top 10 list. As usual, Moroder had a team of arrangers working with him; Arthur Barrow, Keith Forsey, Richie Zito and Sylvester Levay.

The Fading Image (1984)

This is a short documentary which discusses the fragile nature of film and its role as the amalgamation of all the arts, and documents Moroder’s journey to restore and score Fritz Lang’s 1927 classic Metropolis. Moroder produced and scored the film. Gary Chang is credited as arranger, his first appearance in film music, in a career which would go on for decades. The music for this short film has never been released, but the film can be seen on YouTube.

Over the Top (1987)

The mid 80s saw Giorgio Moroder releasing the solo album Innovisions, working on a collaborative album with Philip Oakey after the success of «Together In Electric Dreams», and also contributing heavily to the songs of Top Gun in ’86. In ’87 he went out publicly stating he was about to start the film music company “MusicTeam” together with Harold Faltermeyer, Keith Forsey, Tom Whitlock, Reinhold Mack and Richie Zito. It seems like that never happened, as Faltermeyer stated in my 2023 interview that he had no knowledge of those plans back in the 80s.

But Moroder continued scoring movies. Over the Top is probably his last “big” film project. Directed by Menahem Golan fresh off of The Delta Force, the Sylvester Stallone armwrestling drama was a modest hit. The soundtrack album on CBS featured 10 tracks, 9 of them written and produced by Moroder. «The Fight» is the only track of score on the record, but on the B-side of the single «Meet Me Half Way» by Kenny Loggins, another score cue appeared: The intriguing «Semifinal», running for 3:45. A full score album for Over the Top is long overdue, but reports indicate the tapes may be lost.

Die Welt in der wir leben (1988)

This is a 29-minute video collage directed and scored by Moroder, made for German TV channel ZDF. The film shows the state of the world around this time, changing between beauty and ugliness, and set to Moroder’s dramatic music. An interesting and original part of his filmography, this instrumental electronic suite has never been released on album, but the film can be seen on YouTube.

Mamba (1988)

Directed by Mario Orfini, this was an Italian-produced horror/thriller (also known as Fair Game) starring Trudie Styler, with Moroder himself as associate producer. The LP/CD/MC on Ariola consists of five songs (one of them performed by Koreana of «Hand In Hand» fame) and four instrumentals, all of them written and produced by Moroder. Composers Anthony Marinelli and Brian Banks are credited as arrangers and keyboard players. The score continues in the Over the Top vein, with well-produced and melodic tracks perfectly suited for listening outside of the film. A hidden gem in the Moroder discography.

Another Way (1988)

One in a series of classic war films grandly released to commemorate the victory in the anti-fascist war, this was a Japanese production directed by Kosaku Yamashita where Moroder signed up to do all the music. The resulting CD on the Epic label is now very rare; you have to shell out at least $60 to get it on the secondary market. As with Mamba, Another Way is a mixture of songs, by the likes of Jennifer Rush and Cheap Trick, and five tracks of score. Giorgio again being assisted by Marinelli and Banks, the score is exciting and vibrant, and probably perfect for the film that few in the western world got the chance to watch.

Let It Ride (1989)

Joe Pytka’s Let It Ride was a not particularly funny action comedy starring Richard Dreyfuss, and Giorgio Moroder’s final score assignment of the 80s. His unreleased score is rather forgettable, and he also wrote two songs, «Money Talks» sung by Sherwood Ball and «Win Or Lose» sung by Jeffrey Koz, which have never been available outside of the film. So, Moroder said goodbye to the eighties with a film that didn’t even get a soundtrack release. Perhaps a surprise at the time, but maybe a sign of what would follow in the difficult 90s.

Jackpot (1992)

Mamba director Mario Orfini hooked up with Moroder again, on this Italian sci-fi/comedy, also known as Cyber Eden. This time, Anthony Marinelli received a co-composer credit. Moroder did not contribute to the songs in the film, as he may have been busy with his solo album Forever Dancing at the time. There has not been a soundtrack release for Jackpot, and the music in the end title sounds somewhat meandering and uninspired with synths in a symphonic landscape.

Fantastic Four: The Animated Series (1994)

Moroder scored one season of this superhero series for kids. None of his music has been released. He apparently also produced the track «Flame On» with actor Brian Austin Green. Season 2 of the show had a score by William Anderson. Certain fans have made their own versions of Moroder’s themes from the show, like this one:

Pepolino und der Schatz der Meerjungfrau (1996)

Another project for kids, this animated film translates to “Pepolino and the Treasure of the Mermaid”. The Karusell record label put out a CD single featuring four versions of the Moroder-penned song «Eines Tages Bist Du Mein», including an instrumental version. Steve Rucker and Thomas Chase are credited as arrangers on this film music.

Zugriff (1998)

Moroder composed the title music for this German crime series, translated to “Access” in English. He created the catchy and synth-heavy theme, a signature of his style. Sadly, the theme has never been released on album, and there are no clips of it online. The various episodes of the show were scored by Stefan Melbinger, Frank Fischer and Yull-Win Mak.

Impressionen unter wasser (2002)

Six years had now passed without any new Moroder scores, but he had been active in other areas, like the development of the Cizeta Moroder sports car, for which he even wrote a glorious instrumental theme in his 80s style. In 2002, he got a phone call from the 100(!)-year old German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, who had made the Nazi documentary Triumph des Willens in 1935, a decision that would come back to haunt her ever since. A far cry from her past, Impressionen unter wasser was a 48-minute collection of underwater footage filmed over nearly 30 years, with music playing continually. Moroder worked with composer Daniel Walker on the exquisite electronic score, which seem to be available as mp3 files on Walker’s website. Leni Riefenstahl passed away in 2003.

Tron Run/R (2015)

A staggering 13 years passed before Giorgio Moroder wrote another original score again. But during those years, he experienced a second wave of enormous popularity. In 2012, Hans Zimmer and Moroder collaborated on the enjoyable instrumental «Giorgio’s New Dancing Shoes», and in 2013, super-hip French electronica group Daft Punk released their album Random Access Memories, including their tribute track «Giorgio By Moroder», a 9-minute extravaganza in which Moroder talks about his career in music during the first few minutes.

The world realized that Moroder was still alive, and in 2015 he released Deja Vu, his first “solo” album since 1992, with several young, hip and famous guest artists. 2015 also saw him travel the world with his DJ sets, and he scored the video game Tron Run/R, together with new collaborator Raney Shockne. Sumthing Else Music Works released the very electro/EDM-based music as mp3 files, but not in physical format.

The Assignment (2016)

And would you believe it, Giorgio Moroder wasn’t fully done with film music either. Veteran director Walter Hill had wanted to work with Moroder for a long time, and in 2016 it would finally come to fruition. The Assignment was an action thriller starring Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver, and the new team of Moroder/Shockne composed the score with a battery of vintage synthesizers. A soundtrack has not been released, the closest we got is the song «Tomboy» written by Raney Shockne, Melissa Reese and Derek Whitacre, but sadly without Moroder’s involvement.

Queen of the South (2016-2021)

Giorgio Moroder and Raney Shockne scored all five seasons of this TV series focusing on a female drug dealer played by Alice Braga and her adventures in Mexico and Dallas. Drawing on inspirations from Scarface, the composers created an exciting and welcome throwback to that 80s style of music, and in 2019 Invada/Lakeshore Records released a deluxe 2LP-set featuring the score from the first three seasons of the show (reviewed here). A perfect way to end a long career in film and TV.

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The last five years have seen no new music scores from Giorgio Moroder, but he has continued working with famous names in music like Duran Duran and The Weeknd. In April 2026 he turns 86, and I guess it’s time to say “job well done” to one of the most important figures in the world of music through more than 50 years. He can safely rest on his laurels, if he so decides. Thanks for the music, Giovanni Giorgio Moroder!