# What is the most iconic movie sound effect?

> Roars, hums, screams and thunderclaps that audiences recognise with their eyes shut. A few were made out of household junk.

*By YPB Team · Published September 27, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-most-iconic-movie-sound-effect*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Lightsaber hum** — score 1000/1000
   The buzzing Jedi weapon sound Ben Burtt made from old projector motors and TV interference.
2. **Chewbacca's roar** — score 731/1000
   The Wookiee's growl, mixed from bears, walruses, lions and badgers for Star Wars.
3. **Psycho shower strings** — score 577/1000
   Bernard Herrmann's stabbing violins from the 1960 shower scene, a sound as much as a score.
4. **Jurassic Park T. rex roar** — score 577/1000
   Gary Rydstrom's 1993 roar for the T. rex, built from recordings of real animals.
5. **DeLorean time jump** — score 500/1000
   The crackle and sonic boom of the time machine hitting 88 mph in Back to the Future.
6. **Transformers transformation** — score 409/1000
   The clattering mechanical shuffle of a robot changing shape, from the Transformers films.
7. **Godzilla's roar** — score 409/1000
   The 1954 kaiju roar made by dragging a resin-coated glove along a double bass string.
8. **THX Deep Note** — score 409/1000
   The swelling cinema-trailer chord that tells audiences the sound system is about to get loud.
9. **Predator clicking** — score 409/1000
   The alien hunter's rattling clicks from Predator (1987).
10. **Darth Vader's breathing** — score 300/1000
   The mechanical breath of Star Wars' villain, recorded through a scuba regulator.
11. **Castle thunder** — score 300/1000
   A 1931 thunderclap recorded for Frankenstein that became Hollywood's default storm.
12. **Xenomorph hiss** — score 300/1000
   The shrieking hiss of the creature in the Alien films.
13. **Tarzan yell** — score 0/1000
   Johnny Weissmuller's jungle call from the 1930s Tarzan films.

Tags: movies, sci-fi, soundtracks, sound effects