Favorite Jerry Goldsmith score and why?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Now I'm not saying they shouldn't care about Goldsmith scores for trashy 80s/90s movies, there are plenty of gems in that category.  It's just strange that so many don't seem to care at all for his accepted 60s/70s masterpieces like POTA, Papillon, Chinatown, Omen, Freud, etc.

[publicist 4,643]

It's better music, too.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

I think I could easily compile my ten favourite scores:

1. Alien
2. Papillon
3. Total Recall
4. Legend
5. The Ghost and the Darkness
6. Under Fire
7. The Mummy
8. Night Crossing
9. The Wind and the Lion
10. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

[Display Name 60]

Nice list! Here's mine:

1. Alien
2. The Wind and the Lion
3. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
4. The Burbs
5. The Secret of NIMH
6. Total Recall
7. Papillon
8. Masada
9. The Shadow
10. Under Fire

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

For what it's worth:

THE FINAL CONFLICT

STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE

POLTERGEIST

TOTAL RECALL

PLANET OF THE APES

STAR TREK: V

EXPLORERS

INNERSPACE

RUNAWAY (yes really!)

ISLANDS IN THE STREAM

 

[Amer 2,080]

My ultimate classics:

1. STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
2. SUPERGIRL
3. THE FINAL CONFLICT
4. POLTERGEIST
5. THE BLUE MAX
6. ALIEN
7. THE OMEN
8. RAMBO:FIRST BLOOD PART II
9. THE WIND AND THE LION
10. KING SOLOMON'S MINES
11. EXPLORERS
12. TOTAL RECALL

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

My personal favourites.

 

CHINATOWN

PATTON

THE BLUE MAX

PLANET OF THE APES

THE ILLUSTRATED MAN

ALIEN

CAPRICORN ONE

THE FINAL CONFLICT

PAPILLON

ISLANDS IN THE STREAM

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Oh really? Did you like them?

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Why are you doing this to me? WHY?

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Don't you think I know everything that goes on in this house?

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Helga, I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the dirt.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

My favorite JG bit of music is the Walton's Theme as seen in season 2 credits. 

It brings me peace, joy, and comtentment that I only thought Landru could provide.

[MikeH 768]

Psycho II

 

The colors and textures are really interesting, even though I'm not too big a fan of the synth "bwaaazzooooooong" motif.  However, the absolutely gorgeous main theme is what puts it at the top of my list.  One of my top favorite themes of any composer. 

[Brundlefly 2,385]

1 hour ago, MikeH said:

Psycho II

 

The colors and textures are really interesting, even though I'm not too big a fan of the synth "bwaaazzooooooong" motif.  However, the absolutely gorgeous main theme is what puts it at the top of my list.  One of my top favorite themes of any composer. 

The main theme is one of his best, however, the film score itself is quite redundant after a while.

[MikeH 768]

6 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

The main theme is one of his best, however, the film score itself is quite redundant after a while.

 

Yeah, I might go back and listen to the original album and see how it compares.  It's been awhile. 

[nightscape94 965]

I'm not a Goldsmith aficionado like some of you, but Star Trek TMP is my favorite of his by a long shot.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Anyone loves his terribly underestimated Night Crossing as much as me?

[RICHARDSTRAUSS68 107]

1 hour ago, Brundlefly said:

Anyone loves his terribly underestimated Night Crossing as much as me?

Haven't really listened to it. I have a friend who help produce the original album though.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

18 hours ago, dillweed97 said:

Haven't really listened to it. I have a friend who help produce the original album though.

Well, I highly recommend it to any Jerry Goldsmith fan, Jerry Goldsmith beginner and even film music beginner. It's compositionally one of his highly ambitious and meticulous efforts, like Total Recall, Alien, The Boys from Brazil and The Wind and the Lion.

 

A friend who helped producing the OST?  What exactly did he do? Was he involved in the artistical creation of the album?

[publicist 4,643]

Probably the guy who talked Goldsmith out of nixing the 'Main Title'.

[Josh500 1,615]

As a novice Goldsmith collector (so far I collected around 30!), I love this thread! 

 

My top 10, so far:

 

1. Poltergeist 

2. Basic Instinct 

3. Alien

4. Total Recall

5. Gremlins 

6. Rambo - First Blood

7. Dennis the Menace

8. Ghost and the Darkness 

9. Congo

10. Malice

 

[Jay 37,322]

That's a damn good top 5, damn good!

 

I surprised you don't like Star Trek TMP enough for it to make your top 10, its fairly Williamsy at times

[Naïve Old Fart 9,507]

Agreed. It is against the law for STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE not to be in someone's top 3.

[Jay 37,322]

Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, I'm just surprised it wasn't in Josh's wheelhouse

[Brundlefly 2,385]

I'm surprised he included Congo and excluded Not without My Daughter. 

 

No, seriously, I like Congo, but I think the short cues never gave the music space to build on themes motifs and to unfold. What is it that you appreciate so much with Congo, @Josh500? Maybe I can be able to enjoy it more, when you tell me.

[Josh500 1,615]

1 hour ago, Brundlefly said:

 

No, seriously, I like Congo, but I think the short cues never gave the music space to build on themes motifs and to unfold. What is it that you appreciate so much with Congo, @Josh500? Maybe I can be able to enjoy it more, when you tell me.

 

Well, first of all, I'm a novice Goldsmith collector, so I know far from all or even most JG scores. I only know around 30-40 JG scores (currently I own 30). So out of these, I like Congo quite a bit, particularly the main theme "Spirit of Africa." Such an adventurous, atmospheric, upbeat, and energetic "African-tinged" music. Kinda like Lion King meets Jurassic Park (it's also slightly reminiscent of JG's own Ghost and the Darkness, I thought, particularly when the horn section kicks in - conjuring up images of the African wildness). The action pieces are not too shabby either. It's just pure energetic and thrilling fun.

1 hour ago, Brundlefly said:

I'm surprised he included Congo and excluded Not without My Daughter. 

 

 

I considered including NWMD, believe me, but in the end Congo won the day. 

[Display Name 60]

14 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

 

Well, first of all, I'm a novice Goldsmith collector, so I know far from all or even most JG scores. I only know around 30-40 JG scores (currently I own 30). So out of these, I like Congo quite a bit, particularly the main theme "Spirit of Africa." Such an adventurous, atmospheric, upbeat, and energetic "African-tinged" music. Kinda like Lion King meets Jurassic Park (it's also is slightly reminiscent of JG's own Ghost and the Darkness, I thought, particularly when the horn section kicks in - conjuring up images of the African wildness). The action pieces are not too shabby either. It's just pure energetic and thrilling fun.

I think TGatD is far superior.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Maybe I will give Congo a second chance, but I don't think I will ever love it as much as its successor (TGanD (this abbreviation is maybe not so common (I should not put brackets into the brackets (it's too confusing)))).

[Josh500 1,615]

15 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

Maybe I will give Congo a second chance, but I don't think I will ever love it as much as its successor (TGanD (this abbreviation is maybe not so common (I should not put brackets into the brackets (it's too confusing)))).

 

This is not a competition! You don't have to love this score more than some other scores! And if you don't like it, that's fine too. Nobody forces you to like it!

 

Just take it for what it is, be grateful we have it, and try to enjoy it!

 

By the way, I just updated my list. I realized I forgot to include Ghost. 

[Brundlefly 2,385]

53 minutes ago, Josh500 said:

 

This is not a competition! You don't have to love this score more than some other scores! And if you don't like it, that's fine too. Nobody forces you to like it!

 

Just take it for what it is, be grateful we have it, and try to enjoy it!

 

By the way, I just updated my list. I realized I forgot to include Ghost. 

Of course, I'm just trying to get the most out of the music. Apart from that I've never really spent time listening carefully to Congo.

 

Congo and The Ghost and the Darkness are actually a cool listening exoerience when you combine them. It's like travelling from the deep jungle to the hot savanna.

[Josh500 1,615]

24 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

Congo and The Ghost and the Darkness are actually a cool listening exoerience when you combine them. It's like travelling from the deep jungle to the hot savanna.

 

I think these two offer some of the best ethnic-sounding African music in film (of course it's not really ethnic music, it's Hollywood!). Very atmospheric and somehow "visual" music. If you close your eyes while listening to these, it's not very hard to imagine yourself in Africa.

 

These two and, of course, John Williams's Amistad!