Randy Thom’s sound design on Forrest Gump (1994) is a masterclass in subtlety, shaping emotion while staying almost invisible. Spanning decades, the film’s soundscape grounds each era with authentic ambiences, news clips, and Foley details, while also reflecting Forrest’s perspective—like the muffled ringing and disorientation of battle in Vietnam. In the Vietnam sequences, Thom builds tension with layered jungle ambiences, sudden eruptions of gunfire, and the piercing whir of helicopters, then