Favorite Scores, Film Composers, Soundtracks...

[dc]

has no one said gladiator? that score was so h-o-t HOT that it's borderline obscene.

[Lady Sheridan]

I won't echo the other great ones mentioned. I'm not sure anyone's mention Williams' Harry Potter though. I love the main theme. I can't think of a more perfect theme for the story--it's sad, but enchanting all at once.

I always liked the soundtrack he did for Seven Years in Tibet--great overture, it ought to be played by symphonies.

I love Shore's LOTR soundtracks as well. And Horner's score for Braveheart is great, and then he just totally lost his talent.

No one's mentioned Maurice Jarre yet. Lawrence of Arabia has a great soundtrack. My personal favorite is Doctor Zhivago--it gets a bit overlooked because the movie uses "Lara's Theme" so heavily (something Jarre was really annoyed about) but the soundtrack itself is more expansive. The actual "love theme" (it plays when Lara leaves Zhivago at the dacha) is so heartbreaking.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Can't quite speak for Doctor Zhivago. The movie bored me to be quite frank and therefore can't remember the scpre that much. I was disspointed not just in the movie but maybe myself for not 'getting it' as many people would have thought I should have, same as Lean's other film 'Bridge on the River Kwai'. Have yet to see Lawrence properly now that I'm old enough for it, so again, no comment.

Other than that I didn't know Maurice Jarre went back that far and is such a veteran of such 'great' films.

One of my favourite scores has always been the one for Witness. The way the music plays over the Armish land and the fields is quite transcending. So, Brava for Maurice again.

[estel_mm]

Cmon guys!
Nobody mentioned Mask of Zorro!

Personal favs in no partucular order:

Jown Williams - SW, Indy, Superman, the patriot, hook
Shore - LotR
Horner - Legends of the Fall, Zorro, Troy
Goldsmith - 13th warrior, Rudy, the mummy, first knight, supergirl
Last of the Mohicans
Zimmer - Last Samurai, gladiator, batman begins
Michael Kamen - Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves, Three Musketeers

And others:

Joh Barry - Dances with Wolves
Elfman - Batman 1 and 2
Desperado
Equilibrium
Kill Bill vol 1-2
Kingdom of Heaven
Matrix albums - mostly Reloaded
Pirates of the Carribean
Phantom of the Opera - new one
Gabriel Yared - Troy (rejected)

[JabberJaw]

I agree with all the John Williams score - any of them are great...Jaws, superman, star wars, raiders etc...

The Good The Bad and the Ugly
Pulp Fiction
Platoon has a great score

[magicmonkey]

Sorry man, you may need to enlighten me on him.

Sorry Kirk, only just noticed your enquiry. Badalementi scores Lynch's films. His score for the straight story is the film. Seek him out.

[Doc Holliday]

Difficult though, eh? I'd got my list down to about, oooh, fifty. Then realised I was just listing music I really liked and/or associated with cool movies - particularly Summer blockbusters.

I guess a movie score needs to be more than that, otherwise its just music - so out went Pulp fiction...though I spent time considering it. QT does put significance into his choices and the key is that they add to the scene...so perhap I was too harsh, but hey thats me.

John Williams is I think the single greatest composer for film because he adds to the story. He would be the best INDIVIDUAL because he has done it several times....you could come up with all kinds of menacing sounds and still get nowhere near THAT Jaws theme. Kudos. Star Wars IV without a doubt...he effectively wrote the first act of a 3 act opera there...and successfully built/augmented his work in V & VI...at a time when those films weren't guaranteed to be made.

Ennio Morricone is fantastic. Sure, there's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...but of his westerns my favourite was "A Few Dollars More", which has several instant classics on...and if you listen to just the music it tells the tale just as well as the visuals. For me Morricone comes just behind Williams in terms of pedigree...but an honourable mention too goes to Vangelis for BLADE RUNNER score if nothing else.

Like tears...in the rain.

Finally I reckon the winner is Howard Shore and LOTR trilogy. His music alone is a stunnning achievement and I cannot think of a score right now where the music so faithfully and invetfully captures its visual equivalent. Now listen to his early work for Cronenburg to get a sense of how far he has come in terms of scoring for film (not meant as a slight at all - versatility is what I'm praising here). Now watch the documentaries on post-production for those LOTR films and try to understand a) how much work he had to pump out, b) against the deadlines he was given, c) sometimes without seeing the footage...or more commonly finishing one bit only to be told to rescore as PJ has added a scene d) then factor in a complete rewrite ion essence for the extended edition.

Man...it truly was a feat of great score-writing...most importantly of all the music is absolutely enrapturing and takes you on the same journey if not more so as the visuals.

IMO, naturally......

[TonyWilson]

Has anyone heard the score for Ravenous by Michael Nyman and Damon Albarn? It uses traditional songs and instruments but it has a remarkable otherworldly feel.

Oh and Kevin Shields work in Lost In Translation is marvellous.

[minstrel]

I don't get the love for John Williams. The only score of his that I like is for The Patriot, and it's the one that sounds the least "Williamsy". The rest of the stuff he's done sounds repetitive and dull, and he always seems to have the most unimaginative orchestrations. (For imaginative use of orchestras, check out Harry Gregson-Williams. He's not above using kazoos if it works for the movie!)

And John Williams did a lot of aimless, meandering, thoughtless work earlier in his career. The score for Towering Inferno is just plain annoying.

Anyway, the BEST score I've ever heard is Once Upon A Time In The West. Just gorgeous.

I'm glad someone pointed out Basil Poledouris's work on Conan the Barbarian. That's a great score!

Jerry Goldsmith hasn't been mentioned on this thread yet, I don't think. But his work is generally excellent, and his score for The Edge ranks way up there on my list.

Thomas Newman is a composer who tries to stay in the background a lot, and a lot of his music sounds pretty ambient. But he does have a wonderful and unique sense of melody - Road to Perdition is another great score.

[jgraphix]

James Horner usually does exceptional score

[minstrel]

Horner is spotty, to me. Apollo 13 works very well, but his score for A Beautiful Mind makes me cringe. Especially the opening theme - all that crazed piano bashing. Ugh.

[You Know My Name]

Lord of the Rings trilogy - Shore
Star Wars original trilogy - Williams
Braveheart - Horner
Truman Show - Glass, Dallwitz
Dances with Wolves - Barry
Batman - Elfman
Gladiator - Zimmer
Raiders of the Lost Ark - Williams

[Hollywood_Bob]

Ok for me...one of the most memorible movie scores out there is Born on the 4th of July...just one of those ones that hangs with ya...

[millsy]

Lock Stock and two smoking barrels.
Platoon.
The Godfather

[ZombieZoneSolutions]

- Akira
- A Clockwork Orange
- The Shining
- 2001
- The New World (mostly Wagner, but used beautifully)
- Eyes Wide Shut
- Apocalypse Now
- Haute Tension (spooky ambient weirdness!)
- Yojimbo
- Barry Lyndon
- Empire Strikes Back (really, all the Star Wars movies, even the crappy ones, have great music)

[Seppuku]

Ever heard the story about how Erich Wolfgang Korngold got to do the score for Adventures of Robin Hood? If so feel free to skip this rant (I bet you already decided to do that the moment you read the words seppukudkurosawa, right?). Korngold had been asked to do the score for the film, but he turned it down because it had far too much action to suit his musical style; his quote was, "Too many notes!". A couple weeks later the Nazis began to encroach upon his native Austria, and it became clear to the former wunderkind composer that he'd have to clear-out quickly because of his Jewish ancestry. Warner Brothers arranged it, and he and his immediate family just managed to catch the very last train out of town before the Nazis officially overtook Austria. Almost out of gratitude he ended up making one of the greatest, most colourful scores ever produced. So yeah, I dig that score...

Runners-up:

Superfly (One of my favourite albums too)
Star Wars
Ghost Dog
Amadeus
The Harder They Come
The Hitcher
Menace II Society
Halloween
Easy Rider
Performance
The Sea Hawk
A Hard Day's Night

[monorail77]

Come on you guys, where is the love for Angelo Badalamenti.

I second the love for Badalamenti. I love his Twin Peaks stuff (TV I know)

[monorail77]

Passions, Peter Gabriel's soundtrack for The Last Temptation of Christ. Awesome!

Seconded. I love that score.

[monorail77]

One of the most memorable scores for me is Jerry Goldsmith's score for Planet of the Apes. I used to listen to that over and over while sudying (at law school, no less!) Its such a weird, cool score.

[monorail77]

Lots of John Williams already mentioned. But I am particularly fond of some of the "different" pieces he did for the Prisoner of Azkaban soundtrack. I also think the Chamber of Secrets soundtrack has some lovely pieces.

[MasterWhedon]

I said it in the other thread, but I think Howard Shore's Rohan theme from Lord of the Rings is my personal favorite from any movie ever. Nothing else is both as beautiful and as haunting as that piece.

[havocSchultz]

I said it in the other thread, but I think Howard Shore's Rohan theme from Lord of the Rings is my personal favorite from any movie ever. Nothing else is both as beautiful and as haunting as that piece.

BAH!


it's nothing compared to the firefly theme...

[MasterWhedon]

BAH!


it's nothing compared to the firefly theme...

I will kill you, funny man.

[havocSchultz]

BA H!


it's nothing compared to the firefly theme...

I will kill you, funny man.

[MasterWhedon]

I will kill you, funny man.

Crying will only make it a slow death.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Not as moving as the Jack Bauer 24 theme.

[havocSchultz]

Not as moving as the Jack Bauer 24 theme.

hahhahaa....GRAVITASILASH...

[MasterWhedon]

Not as moving as the Jack Bauer 24 theme.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA--DEAD !!




ZZZZZACKT!!!

[monorail77]

I said it in the other thread, but I think Howard Shore's Rohan theme from Lord of the Rings is my personal favorite from any movie ever. Nothing else is both as beautiful and as haunting as that piece.

Its also one of my fav's. Good call.

I also have this compilation CD of Bernard Hermann score excerpts, like from Psycho and whatnot. He was tits!

[Doc Holliday]

I said it in the other thread, but I think Howard Shore's Rohan theme from Lord of the Rings is my personal favorite from any movie ever. Nothing else is both as beautiful and as haunting as that piece.

Its also one of my fav's. Good call.

I also have this compilation CD of Bernard Hermann score excerpts, like from Psycho and whatnot. He was tits!

I thought all the soloist pieces across all 3 LOTOR were equally moving/excellent - particularly Gollum's Song...

[bastard_robo]

My favs.

Terminator 2
Back to the Future
The Street Fighter (sonny Chiba!)

and 2 im sure a lot of you dont know,

The MARCH OF THE MONSTERS theme from GODZILLA's REVENGE

and

MECHAGODZILLA's Theme from GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA (74)


Not to mention the flut from SNATCH

[brainiac]

Gabriel Yared's The English Patient -- haunting and sad

Forbidden Planet -- Louis Barron and Bebe Barron's electronic tonalities

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

The use of music, though a bit too swamping at times, from A Death In Venice works toward telling the story very well, as it provides the tragic feeling of life that is beyond saving, in a film that is otherwise virtually silent.

[RaulMonkey]

Conan The Barbarian - Basil Poledouris
LOTR - Howard Shore
Lost Highway - va
Barry Lyndon - va
Pulp Fiction - va

Mostly Scores not Soundtracks I suppose.

Many many others.

Yep, I think it begins and ends with PULP FICTION. At least in terms of borrowing and adapting preexisting music: Tarantino is the king of doing that. If I give PULP the crown over all, I would have to say that RAGING BULL does the exact same thing extremely well, but with a preexisting classical score as its base, as opposed to popular music of the 20th century (but there's some of that too).

[RaulMonkey]

The KILL BILLS are wicked too, and Tarantino got to use some more classical stuff with the Morricone. I'm really looking forward to see what he'll do for music in INGLORIOUS BASTARDS. If it takes place in his Realer than Real universe, then typically he would have most of the music that we hear actually playing somewhere in the movie--on a radio or record player or something. And since it takes place in the 1940's, that would force him to explore an entirely new era of music. It will be very interesting to see how he handles it.

It's also possible he'll get Rodriguez to score it. A Spanish flavour might seem out of place in a WWII flick, but BASTARDS is QT's ultimate homage to the Spaghetti Western, so RR's music could be perfect.

[Alex DeLarge]

I just rewatched Spirited Away and thought i should proclaim my love for the amazing score, I need to get my hands on it. I haven't seen Howl's Moving Castle yet, is the score good?
Some of my other favorites are LOTR, the Godfather, really anything by Morricone, Elfman is usually good, and i really like the song during the openeing credits of Raging Bull, anyone know what its called?

[Lady Sheridan]

I just got back from hearing CSO perform the Lord of the Rings symphony--wow!

Shore's music ranks as one of my favorite scores ever and hearing it live (full orchestra, male and female choirs and a children's choir) is a real experience. Sadly, they didn't show the maps and Alan Lee drawings they have done at other performances across the country, but the music is so strong that it doesn't even matter. I don't know of many movie scores where a few notes tell you precisely what scene of the film it is.

It takes alot to make me cry, but certain parts of the LOTR score always make me get all choked up and of course they played them all--the death of Gandalf, the lament for Gandalf, the Shire theme, the Gray Havens...I was a wreck. But you could hear people sniffling all over the place, you have to love sitting in a whole auditorium with people as in love with all things Tolkien as you.

So if you ever get a chance to hear it live, go!!

[silentbobafett]

I recently got on CD:

Superman Returns - John Ottman (JW theme!)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest: Hans Zimmer
The Mission: Ennio Moriconne
Platoon (but its soooonnnggsss! but good)
Gladiator 2disc SE soundtrack - Hans Zimmer

Haven't had chance to fully listen to them yet. But as CD are usually so expensive I only buy ones I really know I like or wold like to expolore. Such as Returns and Dead Mans Chest!

What you guys got recently? What you think of my recent purchases?


NOw this thread hasn't been used since MAY! EEK!

[ThisIsTheGirl]

NOw this thread hasn't been used since MAY! EEK!

Yes it has. It was used today, in fact - at 11:08am BST

I ordered the extended 2046 score from Caiman last week, which will probably mean I get it in about a month. I think the Oldboy score was the last OST I bought before that.

I dunno if anyone heard the LOTR adaptation on BBC radio in the early 80s, but that has a fantastic soundtrack, but it used to be hard to come by. Dunno if that has changed.

I love pretty much everything Bernard Herrmann ever did - notably Cape Fear, Psycho, Marnie and of course Taxi Driver

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

I wanna get teh John Williams born on the Fourth of July Soundtrack (yes, it's got songs on too, but htey are great, but the score is terrific alone) and the double disc of Superman The Movie, but it seems they are deleted and I'd rather get the original than a used one from Amazon. Anyone know where to look?

[silentbobafett]

Yeah, by me!

[Al Shut]

I didn't buy anything recently but I want to mention two OSTs that I didn't see here before

Amelie: Yann Tiersen
Princess Mononoke: Joe Hisaishi

I recently got on CD:

Platoon (but its soooonnnggsss! but good)

I hate it when sound effects from the movie can be heard on the soundtrack. Especially if a piece as beautiful as adagio for strings is disrupted by explosions.

[silentbobafett]

I have (well my dad has) the Fourth of July soundtrack. It is very good. Songs fit but the score is very good!

Oldboy OST i proudly own as part of my handmade brass Oldboy extremely limited edition box set

Oldboy score is fucking fantastic. Talk about a score complementing a film! I loe that brooding, waltz like score so fucking much!

My friend has a SE of the LOTR BBC version. I mayhave the soundtrack CD of that. I have listened to that Radio Play and is a lovely adaptation! Great voices! Holm as Frodo! heh heh! But who the fuck don't know that by now!!!

Love Bernard Herrmann as well. Some of Micheal Giachinno's (sp?) scores remind me hif hium. The wayhe uses strings to turn your stomach upisde down when some shit is about to go down. I fucking LOVE the lost score! I own it on CD and it is right here in my office right now! Along with Pirates: Dead Mans Chest and LOTR: Return of the King!

[Seppuku]

Yes it has. It was used today, in fact - at 11:08am BST

I ordered the extended 2046 score from Caiman last week, which will probably mean I get it in about a month. I think the Oldboy score was the last OST I bought before that.

I love pretty much everything Bernard Herrmann ever did - notably Cape Fear, Psycho, Marnie and of course Taxi Driver

Two things:

1) You use Caiman U.S.A. too? They're my go-to importers, I've bought tons of stuff from them (mostly very cheap albums). You're right, they can take a while, but I normally order stuff from them right before I go on holiday/away, so that it's sitting there on my doorstep by the time I get home.

2) I love Herrmann too. I'll admit I haven't got any of his stuff on CD, but I'll happily listen to his scores on the DVD menus all day. In fact I think I once fell asleep with the Vertigo score left playing...which explains why I dreamt of dyeing my hair blonde and marrying Jimmy Stewart I guess.

[ThisIsTheGirl]

The Mission: Ennio Moriconne

Every self-respecting geek should have that one at home. I love his Untouchables theme too. Apparently, De Palma is working on a prequel to The Untouchables, with Morricone coming back to score - supercool. He also scored that videogame Red Dead Revolver.

He made an extremely rare appearance and concert in England recently, at the Hammersmith Apollo - I totally missed it

There's a recent interview with him here, if you're interested!

[silentbobafett]

Thank you

Untouchables is a film I'mnot mad about and the sequel sounds like a bad fucking idea if its gonna be as camp as Untouchables

Red Dead Revolver was fun but I prefered Gun

Does anyone know if you can get the soundtrack to Battle Royale! I fucking love that music but the sndtrk has never been available. But ain't checked in a couple of months! Anyone know anything I don't? WHich I doubt...

[Seppuku]

Does anyone know if you can get the soundtrack to Battle Royale! I fucking love that music but the sndtrk has never been available. But ain't checked in a couple of months! Anyone know anything I don't? WHich I doubt...

I got my copy from Japan- as far as I know it's not been released anywhere else yet. If you can find a copy, it'll probably be pretty expensive, but it's a great selection of classical numbers, so it's definitely worth trying. It's a bit weird when you think that this music was played behind images of teens shooting each other to pieces, but I think it only adds another dimension.

[colonel_lugz]

Untouchables is a film I'mnot mad about and the sequel sounds like a bad fucking idea if its gonna be as camp as Untouchables

Untouchables......camp?

You sir, are on the list

[silentbobafett]

I remember fuckng DenIro hamming it up big time! I ain't seen it he film in years! And loved the rip off begining etc.

Ita a fun film

But you wanna even begin to try and compare it to Godfather or Goodfellas? I guess Godfather is a bit fairer compare!

I don't mean campy like Rocky Horror campy. I mean it like its just fucking DePalma doing "his" thing and...ohhhh I just remember DenIro hanging off a building or something and it looking fucking awful.

I'm sure if I watchedit back I'd respect it more. And i don't hate it or thik its vile. BUt I can't bring my self to watch it. There are gangster masterpieces out there to see. Untouchables IS NOT A MASTERPIECE!

[colonel_lugz]

Watch it again...............go out now, buy it and watch it then we will talk more. I think you need to watch it again if you think it was Deniro hanging off the buildint

Incidently I see the Untouchables as a Cop drama not a Gangster film as that is where the character focus lies


*end of thread jack, honest*