Tangerine Dream: A Filmography

German electronica band Tangerine Dream scored lots of films and TV shows during their career, most of them in the 1980s. This filmography features all the scores TD composed under the band name, it does not include solo projects from the members of the group.

Be sure, also, to check out Jon’s 2020 interview with TD alumnus Paul Haslinger, and for Scandinavian readers – our podcast special on the band’s film music, from 2015.

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Auf Scheißer schießt man nicht (1969)

Tangerine Dream’s first film score was for this Hansjürgen Pohland film from ’69, before the band had released any music at all. Both Edgar Froese and “Tangerine Dream Band” are credited as composers, and Froese even had a role in the film.

Vampira (1971)

TD’s next foray into film music was this 45-minute TV movie directed by George Moorse, who would later work with Edgar Froese solo on the early 80s films Daniel and Brandmale. The band consisted of Froese, Christopher Franke and Steve Schroyder at this stage.

Geradeaus biz sum morgen (1972)

Directed by Peter Adam, this was an 80-minute TV movie with the English translation Straight Ahead Until Morning. Peter Baumann had joined the band now, and Schroyder had left. The music is partly reminiscent of another German band from around this time; Ashra Tempel.

Ein für allemal (1973)

Another Peter Adam film. Here we can hear Froese’s electric guitar at the forefront, in addition to Franke’s percussion and the “Berlin School” sequencer patterns. Director Adam would hook up with Tangerine Dream again on some early 80s episodes of the hit series Tatort.

Sorcerer (1977)

Considered by some as Tangerine Dream’s magnum opus for film, their music for William Friedkin’s Sorcerer was totally unique for an American movie in 1977. Among the first electronic scores for a Hollywood film, parts of the music were written before filming, and used by Friedkin on the set. A 44-minute album was released in ’77, and in Copenhagen in 2014 TD played the full score live in their first ever concert in Scandinavia. A 2CD set from the concert was released, with 9 tracks of previously unreleased music on disc 2.

Kneuss (1979)

TD’s final 70s score before the frenetic 80s started, Kneuss was a Swiss/German production directed by Gaudenz Meili, with Ingold Wildenauer in the titular role. Peter Baumann had left the band at this stage, so this is probably a Froese/Franke co-work. A soundtrack was never released, but as usual, the YouTube uploaders can apparently find everything:

Thief (1981)

Director Michael Mann chose Tangerine Dream to score his first film of the 80s. The band had recently recruited Johannes Schmoelling as its third member, and they sculpted a brilliant electronic score for the hard-boiled thriller, both melodic and with Franke’s clattering sequencers at the forefront. It would also become a template for Miami Vice later in the decade. Towards the end of filming, some additional music was needed, but TD had already gone to their next project, so Craig Safan was brought in to compose the track «Confrontation», which sounded more like Pink Floyd than TD. An album of both TD’s score and the track by Safan was released on Virgin Records.

Strange Behaviour (1981)

For this low budget horror movie directed by Michael Loughlin and filmed in New Zealand, TD composed a dark and unsettling score. The music remained unreleased for 4 decades, until labels Terror Vision and Buysoundtrax Records put it out on vinyl, cassette and CD in 2022. Probably for completists only.

The Soldier (1982)

Directed by James Glickenhaus (who would later hire Chris Franke for McBain in 1991), this was an action movie where TD composed a score that did not get a soundtrack release. Later, the band released part of the score on albums like Logos, Poland and Underwater Sunlight. In 2020, Virgin Records released the 10CD set Pilots Of Purple Twilight, where one of the discs featured the score TD wrote for The Soldier back in 1981/82.

Tatort (1982-1984)

Tangerine Dream scored three feature length episodes of this German crime show between 1982 and 1984: Das Mädchen auf der Treppe from 82, Miriam from 83 (7″ single released with the tracks «Daydream» and «Moorland») and Heisser Schnee from 84. Their theme for  Das Mädchen auf der Treppe became one of their most beloved tracks. The series has been running continuously since 1970. The main theme of the show was composed by the late Klaus Doldinger.

Spasms (1983)

Eric Robertson is credited as composer and conductor of the score for Spasms, but TD wrote the «Serpent’s Theme» for the film, which can be heard during the end credits. Honestly, it sounds like Chris Franke switched on the sequencer and then went for a coffee. The film is directed by William Fruet and starred Peter Fonda and Oliver Reed.

Risky Business (1983)

Time for another classic. Paul Brickman’s comedy made a star out of Tom Cruise, and choosing Tangerine Dream for the score was a brave decision. Repetitive musical elements inspired by Steve Reich’s «Music For 18 Musicians» gave the film a unique sound, and «Love On A Real Train» became a highlight at TD concerts for decades to come. The soundtrack album features five tracks of score, along with songs by the likes of Phil Collins and Prince.

Wavelength (1983)

Science fiction thriller directed by Mike Gray about stranded alien children detained in a military base. TD’s moody score got an early LP and CD release on the Varese Sarabande label. Parts of the music were lifted from earlier albums like Quichotte, Tangram and Exit. In 2014, shortly after director Gray’s death, La La Land Records put out the album again, with no new music, but with newly written liner notes by Randall D. Larson.

The Keep (1983)

After the success of Thief, Michael Mann turned to Tangerine Dream once more for his next movie The Keep. The group delivered one of their most beloved scores, even incorporating Howard Blake’s «Walking In The Air» into the tried and true TD sound. A definitive soundtrack album has not been released, even if the 2020 10CD set Pilots Of Purple Twilight features one disc with music “inspired” by the film. It’s probably as close as we will ever get to the real thing and worth seeking out.

Firestarter (1984)

Mark Lester helmed this stylish Drew Barrymore movie, and TD’s score is considered a classic. The track «Charly The Kid» bears an uncanny resemblance to the intro of Foreigner’s 1981 hit “Waiting For A Girl Like You», but that is probably a coincidence. MCA Records released the soundtrack album, and a couple of tracks are recorded slightly different to how they sounded in the film. «Between Realities» must be one of the scariest tracks available on record! In 2022, a remake was made, this time scored by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.

Flashpoint (1984)

The debut film of director William Tannen, this was a Kris Kristofferson film with another fine and moody TD score. «Going West» has been played a lot in the band’s live concerts in modern times. The album got a release on EMI and Heavy Metal Worldwide, and includes the score along with an incredibly trite title song performed by The Gems.

Heartbreakers (1984)

The first collaboration (of six in total) between TD and director Bobby Roth. Roth had met Edgar Froese through Michael Mann, and wanted TD to score his romantic drama movie Heartbreakers starring Peter Coyote and Nick Mancuso. This resulted in a pleasant and listenable score, released on Virgin and re-released ten years later on Silva Screen.

Forbidden (1984)

A busy 1984 ended with a bit of a U-turn. Forbidden was an Anthony Page drama movie starring Jaqueline Bisset and Jurgen Prochnow and set in WW2 Germany. For some reason, the Tangerine Dream score has never been released (maybe the tapes are lost?), which is a pity, as the music is quite different to other efforts from the band around this time. Quite classical in tone and sound.

Vision Quest (1985)

Harold Becker directed this romantic drama film starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino, also known as Crazy For You, after Madonna’s hit song. Tangerine Dream wrote a full score, but for some reason very little of it made it into the finished movie. A soundtrack album without any TD material was released on Geffen Records. Let’s hope one of the specialist labels can put this score out.

Street Hawk (1985)

TD scored all 13 episodes of this TV series. Sadly, a soundtrack album did not materialize, only a 7″ and 12″ single with the highly catchy main theme. The sequencers of Chris Franke are an important part of the music for this show. Reportedly, hours of music for the series is locked somewhere in a Universal vault. The band wanted to release it, but it failed to see the light of day. On the 1985 TD studio album Le Parc there is a track called «Le Parc (L.A. Streethawk)», which is probably the best version of the Streethawk theme.

Red Heat (1985)

Rather obscure thriller directed by Robert Collector and starring Linda Blair and Sylvia Kristel, set in Germany. Not to be confused with the Schwarzenegger film from 1988. Yet another TD score that never saw a release, although bits and pieces showed up here and there under other titles. The main theme is very enjoyable, and the suspense music is also good.

The Park Is Mine (1985)

Tommy Lee Jones starred in this Steven Hilliard Stern action-thriller. Tangerine Dream’s enjoyable score got a release on the Silva Screen label 6 years after the film had come and gone. Highligths are the massive one-minute sequencer-fest of a main theme, and a beautiful love theme which gets a reprise in the end credits. These kinds of albums, in which the band had no involvement, were not very popular at Froese’s house, as TD liked to have creative control of the music. A film composer’s predicament, then.

Legend (1985)

Ridley Scott brought in Tangerine Dream to re-score this film for the American market, after Jerry Goldsmith had scored the European version. In addition, Bryan Ferry recorded a fine song for it, and Jon Anderson performed vocals on TD’s beautiful «Unicorn Theme». MCA released the music on vinyl, before Varese Sarabande took care of the CD version in the mid 90s. After the completion of this score, Johannes Schmoelling left TD after 6 incredibly busy years and was replaced by 23-year-old Austrian poster boy Paul Haslinger.

Zoning (1986)

This was a German thriller directed by Ulrich Krenkler, and starring, among others, Dieter Meier from pop group Yello. TD’s score remained unreleased until 1996, when Repertoire Records released a CD with newly re-recorded music from the film. The two best tracks, «The Conspiracy» and «Missing Link» were composed by Edgar Froese and his son Jerome, who would join the band in 1990. Jerome had a gift for writing energetic and exciting tracks, while Edgar’s efforts had a tendency to go into meandering territories. It is unclear how much similarity there is between the original music from 1986 and the re-recorded version.

Tonight’s the Night (1987)

Second collaboration with director Bobby Roth, this was a TV movie also known as The Game of Love. Roth travelled to Berlin to work with Chris Franke in the studio, while Froese stayed in Vienna to work on another project because there was a storm and Edgar couldn’t travel. Roth became closer with Franke during this, and would work him lots of times, starting with Kidnapped: In the Line of Duty in 1995. The score from Tonight’s the Night has never been released, possibly because there is not enough material for a full album.

Deadly Care (1987)

Another TV film, this was a David Anspaugh “medical drama” starring Cheryl Ladd. This was a Froese/Franke collaboration, new guy Haslinger is nowhere to be seen here. In 1992, Silva Screen Records released the score on CD, and a re-issue on BSX Records appeared in 2023. The music is very sedate and slow-moving, with only small hints of Franke’s sequencer work. A rather dreary listen, to be honest, and possibly one of the reasons why Franke decided to leave the band later in the year, as he was burned out by the massive work load of being in Tangerine Dream in the 80s.

Shy People (1987)

Andrei Konchalovsky helmed this drama movie starring Barbara Hershey and Jill Clayburgh. The distinctive director visited Tangerine Dream in their Berlin studio, an entertaining story vividly told by Edgar Froese in his autobiography Force Majeure. Parts of the score has a clear 70s Pink Floyd feel, while other parts are up-tempo and melodic, some even with vocals. Highlights are «Civilized Illusions» and «The Harbor». The soundtrack was released by both Varese Sarabande and Silva Screen, and in 2016 Dragon’s Domain Records released an expanded version with 8 minutes (3 tracks) of extra material and informative liner notes by Randall D. Larson.

Canyon Dreams (1987)

This was a 40-minute video of the Grand Canyon set to the music of Tangerine Dream. It originally got a VHS and Laserdisc release, and it was not until 1991 that American label Miramar Recordings decided to give us a CD, with a new additional track called «Colorado Dawn» composed by a 20-year-old Jerome Froese, where he showed his chops as a TD composer for the future. The music on Canyon Dreams partly harkens back to earlier TD styles, with both sequencers and ambient material.

Near Dark (1987)

Kathryn Bigelow’s classic vampire movie benefitted greatly from the stylish score by Tangerine Dream. The band mostly worked without interference from the filmmakers, and a 44-minute album was released on Varese Sarabande and Silva Screen. Highlights are «Rain In The Third House» and «Fight At Dawn», while «Caleb’s Blues» is a rather bizarre electronic blues track which is best forgotten. In 2013 Buysoundtrax re-released the album, sadly without any new material but with informative liner notes by…you guessed it, Randall D. Larson.

Three O’Clock High (1987)

Director Phil Joanou was only 26 when he helmed this cult high school comedy, with Steven Spielberg as uncredited executive producer. The director went to Berlin to work with TD, a meeting where two worlds collided in more ways than one. Eventually, TD delivered the score, but the filmmakers decided they needed more music in the same style, so they wisely contacted composer Sylvester Levay to write some additional cues when they returned to the US. An album with both TD and Levay compositions materialized on Varese Sarabande, and in 2022 a re-release with some liner notes by Joanou saw the light of day on the same label.

City of Shadows (1987)

TD’s seventh and final film project of 1987 (they also had time to release the studio album Tyger and play some concerts) was this obscure action thriller directed by David Mitchell. No soundtrack album is available, so this should be another job for the specialist labels. The most striking part of the music is the end credits song «Brother Or Stranger», which actually is a plain and clever pop tune written by TD, with vocals by Suzanne Pawlitski. And then 1987 was over and Chris Franke took his sequencers with him, never to return.

Red Nights (1988)

If possible, even more obscure than City of Shadows, this was an action movie directed by Izhak Hanooka, in the only film he was ever involved in. The film doesn’t seem to be available to watch online, but there is a whole chapter about TD’s involvement in this film in Edgar Froese’s autobiography, even if the film is not mentioned by name. The film’s producer Moshe Diamant was a peculiar guy, who actually paid Froese in diamonds instead of money. Has to be read to be believed! A soundtrack was never released.

Dead Solid Perfect (1988)

Collaboration number 3 with Bobby Roth, this is a golf movie made for TV starring Randy Quaid. Tangerine Dream wrote this score in a California hotel room while they were on tour in the autumn of ‘88. One of the few projects that short-lasting TD member Ralf Wadephul was involved in, this score is vibrant and strictly electronic, and got a 36-minute CD release on Silva Screen in 1991, and a re-issue on BSX in 2023. The celestial opening track «Theme From Dead Solid Perfect» is sadly not in the film, as director Roth instead decided to put in a rather trite song by Billy Vera for the opening titles.

Miracle Mile (1988)

Steve de Jarnatt’s tense action drama about an impending nuclear war, Miracle Mile is considered among the very best films Tangerine Dream was involved in. The band was now a duo of Edgar Froese and Paul Haslinger, and in their Austrian studio they wrote a chilling and exquisite score which got a release on the Private Music label. In 2017 Dragon’s Domain Records released an intriguing 2CD where one of the discs featured “the complete film score” how it could be heard in the film, plus “music effects”. The other disc is the original 1989 soundtrack album.

Destination Berlin (1989)

This was a documentary showing the city of Berlin in a 360 degree cinema called Imagine 360. Due to its format, the film is almost impossible to find now, but the music by Froese/Haslinger got a release on the Hansa label in ’89 and is readily available. Possibly TD’s most commercial-sounding album ever in the history of the band, Destination Berlin features 10 tracks, mostly in the melodic and toe-tapping style, plus a few reflective ballads like «Berlin Summer Nights». Several tracks from this album got played in the first concert TD played in the liberated Germany in February 1990 in East Berlin.

Catch Me If You Can (1989)

TD’s 31^st and final film/TV project of the 80s was for this mediocre high school action comedy. Catch Me If You Can was director Stephen Sommers’ debut film, and TD delivered a score typical for its time, with pretty keyboard melodies and vibrant electronic percussion. Short-lived label Edel Screen released the soundtrack 5 years later, and once again BSX re-released it, this time in 2023. And then the 80s faded out for Tangerine Dream. The next decade would prove to be a challenging one for the band, and their work in film would eventually slow down to a standstill.

Rainbow Drive (1990)

Bobby Roth still made movies, and he continued hiring Tangerine Dream for a few more projects. This was a thriller starring Peter Weller, Sela Ward and David Caruso, and the score by TD still hasn’t received a soundtrack album. Jerome Froese was now an official member of the band, but he did not contribute to this music. Director Roth was pleased with the score, but he felt that the music couldn’t help with the film’s inadequacies.

The Man Inside (1990)

Also known as L’Affaire Wallraff, this film was a labor of love for Bobby Roth. It starred Jurgen Prochnow and Peter Coyote, and again Edgar Froese and Paul Haslinger were brought on board for the music. The band wrote the score at several different periods in time, in between other projects, so it was difficult for them to get a wholeness to it. That said, the album from EMI France is an enjoyable listen, with developed full tracks more than the short snippets we partly had get used to from the band. In the film itself, the music is sadly not a very important part of the action.

Mandala (1990)

24-minute piece to demonstrate HDTV for NHK in Japan. A quite different style from other compositions of the period. An interesting piece with no official release. Composed by Edgar Froese and Paul Haslinger.

Tatort (1991)

Almost 10 years after TD’s last contribution to TV series Tatort, the band again rose to the challenge, scoring the 90-minute episode «Bis zum Hals im Dreck», or «Up to the Neck in Dirt» in English. Father and son Froese, plus 22-year old sax player Linda Spa, worked on this score. A CD single featuring the vocal track «I Just Want To Rule My Own Life Without You» composed by TD and sung by Chi Coltrane got a release on the Polydor label. The disc also included the track «One Night In Medina» and an instrumental of «I Just Want…» A real rarity in the TD discography.

Rumpelstiltskin (1991)

This was a 30-minute audio/video book for children narrated by Kathleen Turner. Rabbit Ears Productions released TD’s score on CD and cassette. The album consisted of a 22-minute suite of the score, in addition to the suite divided into 7 individual tracks. The music is symphonic synths and piano, producing rather sleepy muzak that doesn’t really go anywhere. It probably fits the story though.

The Switch (1993)

This Bobby Roth TV movie actually became TD’s final score for a dramatic movie. Roth travelled to Vienna to meet Edgar in the studio. Edgar didn’t even tell Roth that Paul Haslinger had left the band in December 1990; clearly Roth had not seen the booklet of the 1992 TD studio album Rockoon where Haslinger was absent from both pictures and writing credits. As Roth put it, “Edgar is a circumspect fellow, though I love and admire him”. Roth and Froese didn’t quite agree on how the music for The Switch should be, so the finished solo score by Edgar was a compromise between the two.

Roth also stated that he simply stopped working with TD after this because it was expensive travelling to Europe for scoring, and that he worked with film producers who had their own ideas when it came to music. He would continue working with Franke and Haslinger solo though. A soundtrack album from The Switch has never been released. Froese soon stated that TD would no longer write music for “violence and car chases”, and he kept to his promise, although the band was in negotiations to score Michele Soavi’s Cemetary Man in 1994. An era had come to an end.

Oasis (1997)

This is a 45-minute video with “natural wonders of the American southwest” produced by Gray Warriner for Camera One Productions in Seattle, with music by Tangerine Dream. The soundtrack was also released on CD from both TD’s own label TDI and Miramar Recordings. The best tracks are the three energetic tunes «Flashflood», «Waterborne» and «Summer Storm», all of them mainly composed by Jerome Froese. In 2008 it also received a re-release from TD’s new label Eastgate.

What a Blast: Architecture in Motion (1999)

Directed by Michael Boydstun (of Beyond the Mind’s Eye fame), this was a 35-minute documentary about the collapsing of buildings, with Tangerine Dream’s music continually playing through it all. Like Oasis, a soundtrack CD was released on both TDI and Miramar. There is a mixture of both up-tempo and more tranquil music on the album. The band still consisted of father Edgar and son Jerome Froese at this period in time. (PS: The TD discography also features three albums from this time that are labelled “soundtracks”: Transsiberia, Great Wall of China and Mota Atma. It is pretty clear that those are soundtracks from movies which never existed.)

Grand Theft Auto V (2013)

The years passed without any new soundtracks from Tangerine Dream. Then, in 2013, Edgar Froese was hired for the high-profile video game Grand Theft Auto V. He composed many hours of music for the game, most of it is still unreleased, but TDI released a CD with one hour of music. There is also a (now very expensive) box set of various music from the game, where some of the music (“The Score”) is by TD, Woody Jackson, The Alchemist and Oh No.

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In 2015, Edgar Froese passed away, 70 years old. His son Jerome had left the band in 2006. Since then, there have been various line-ups, and from 2020 the members have been Thorsten Quaeschning (who joined in 2005), Hoshiko Yamane and Paul Frick. Quaeschning scored the movie Cargo in 2018 under his own name, but TD has still only done one soundtrack (GTAV) in this century. Surprising and rather disappointing, given the renewed interest in the band after GTAV and Stranger Things (which used some older TD material), and the rise of the synthwave genre in movies and TV. In 2023, director Ben Affleck licensed music from five different 80s TD scores for his movie Air. Let’s hope Tangerine Dream once again will enter the scoring business in the near future.