I'll start it off with ten of my faves (no order):

A Busy Man (the search for meaning) - Star Trek V
Nuclear Scam (powerful and intense) - The Hunt for Red October
Theology/Civilization (friendship ^_^) - Conan the Barbarian
The Leaving/The Search (so moving) - Conan the Barbarian
Guide My Sword (mystical; and a wonderful scene) - The Princess Bride
The Asteroid Field (speaks for itself) - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Journey to the Island (again, speaks for itself) - Jurassic Park
The Orange Man (accompanies my favorite scene in the movie) - Unbreakable
Selena Transforms (delightfully appropriate) - Batman Returns
The Battle of Yavin (the trench run is forever) - Star Wars

Some that really stand out to me:

We Were Soldiers - main theme found in "What is War" (Nick Glennie-Smith)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - "The Blitz, 1940" and "Evacuating London" (Harry Gregson-Williams)
Clear And Present Danger - first and last tracks of the OST for sure, but the entire thing is awesome (James Horner)
Band of Brothers - "The Mission Begins" (Michael Kamen)
Batman - "Charge of the Batmobile" and "Finale" (Danny Elfman)
Braveheart - "Mornay's Dream" (James Horner)
Dragonheart - main theme stolen and used in tons of other movie trailers (Randy Edelman)
Far And Away - "The Land Race" and "End Credits" (John Williams)
The Mission - "On Earth As It Is in Heaven," "Falls," and "Gabriel's Oboe" (Ennio Morricone)
Signs - "The Hand of Fate" (when Merrill and Graham discover how to fight the alien) (James Newton Howard)

Edit: I need to add this one.

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust - "Grove" and "A Bit(e) of Hope" (Marco d'Ambrosio)

That was more than I planned on, haha. They are in no particular order and are certainly not comprehensive.

Good one and if I were to mention another superb James Newton Howard track, I'd go for the Chase scene in The Fugitive. There's a few good tracks in the movie, with the help of Wayne Shorter on sax.

"To the stars, Bowen.  To the stars." ^_^

I never saw Signs (never saw The Village or Lady in the Water either; I've heard that the later in particular has a really good score), but I've heard about its music now and then.  I like JNH, so I need to check it out sometime.

Cues and musical moments that most stand out in the context of the film:

Star Wars Episode IV - "Binary Sunset" (best single musical moment in any film ever), "The Battle of Yavin", "The Throne Room"
Star Wars Episode VI Special Edition - "The Battle of Endor II" (specifically, the operatic part), "Victory Celebration"
Lion King - "To Die For" and "This Land"
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - "The Bridge of Khazad Dum"
Braveheart - "The Princess Pleads for Wallace's Life"
Last Samurai - "The Way of the Sword" (the cherry blossom vision part)

Other absolute favorites:

King Kong - "Central Park"
Conan the Barbarian - "Leaving / The Search" and "Theology / Civilization"
Waterworld - "Escaping the Smokers", "Prodigal Child" and "We're Gonna Die"
Star Trek: First Contact - "First Contact"

Not to mention several opening or ending title sequences (Jurassic Park, Apollo 13, Independence Day, Superman, most of the Star Wars)

This thread should get more play!

Here are some more:

Black Hawk Down - "Leave No Man Behind" (Hans Zimmer)
Gladiator - "The Battle," "Barbarian Horde," (Hans Zimmer) and "Now We Are Free" (Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard, Klaus Badelt)
Gods and Generals - "Going Home" (Mary Fahl)
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou - "Ping Island ~ Lightning Strike Rescue Op" (Mark Mothersbaugh)

That's it for now. This time around I added who wrote (or, in the case of Mary Fahl, performed) the song, and I'm fixing to go back and edit my earlier post to include that info there as well.

I'll add more as well:

Hook - "You Are The Pan"
Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - "Anakin's Betrayal"
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - "The Penitent Man Will Pass"
Home Alone - "Setting The Trap"
Batman - "Descent Into Mystery"
Beauty and the Beast - "Transformation"
Tombstone - "Looking At Heaven"
Nausicaa - "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind ~Opening~"

Lots of John Williams, but then he's the master of 'audience involvement'.

What DID they do before 1977 when movies didn't exist, I wonder.

-Joshua

I'm not completely sure, but I'm going to take that as sarcasm (correct me if I'm wrong) since I know how some film score people find John Williams to be overrated.  That being said...

I wasn't trying to slight the composers who created movie soundtracks before 'Star Wars' (which I figure is why you used 1977 as a cutoff point).  It was just my opinion when I called him the master of audience involvement.  If you feel like someone else is/was better than him at involving the movie audience through music, that's fine too, and it doesn't matter to me whether they're from the golden and silver ages of film scores or afterwards.

I know that guys like Elmer Bernstein, Max Steiner, Miklos Rozsa, and Bernard Herrmann created memorable scores before John Williams had his megahit in Star Wars.  I don't think of myself as a film score buff, but I'm not the film score equivalent of a raving Uematsu fan who knows nothing about VGM outside of Square either, mmkay?

It was a reflection of the fact not one person on this thread has a track from before Star Wars, not just you.

-Joshua

So my comment about John Williams wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back?

Then you have a great opportunity to mention some favorites that you feel are getting overlooked.  I'm sure you could come up with some nice picks since this has weighed heavily on your mind.  I'm curious to see what you might mention as well.  Even better, it could be an opportunity to listen to something I haven't heard.

As for myself, I unfortunately don't own some of the pre-Star Wars soundtracks that might interest me. (and my movie score collection is modest, so I don't own some of the post-Star Wars soundtracks that might interest me either)  There are many reasons for this and one of them is that very old scores can be fairly tough to find.  I've always been on the lookout for the score to Vertigo, though I must admit that I'm just not sure which version to get.  I want the music to sound exactly the way I'd remember it from the movie, but the orchestral recording has the more complete score.

I also remember liking the music to Ben-Hur, but without owning the score it would be difficult for me to isolate a specific track.  I don't even have the movie itself to at least isolate a specific scene and the music which accompanies it.

... Then add some?

Does trailer music count? I pretty much like a majority of the epic/choir stuff from X-Ray Dog, Immediate Music and Two Steps from Hell more than any piece that's ever appeared in an actual movie. In fact, if they actually used music like those that appeared in trailer, I think the movies would have way more intensity and feel than they do now... I'm still not sure why music such as what is heard in trailers is not used in actual movies, it makes the trailers more epic than the actual scenes in the movie.

~Andy