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Horner's Cocoon-like theme americana tune was based on this, ca. starting at 01:10

Not really, Elfman's repertoire of interest is much smaller. For him i might say that his ability grew a lot after the late 90's, but it didn't translate in a lot of good scores. I gave up on him after 'Corpse Bride', though Wolf Man, Alice in Wonderland and the concert works deserve honourable mentions.

It was heavily temped with Lonesome Dove and Dances with Wolves, both of which you hear very clearly. Though Horner tried to outdo them, of course.

Horner's career phases roughly went like this: - 1980 - 1986: highly ambitious young whiz with excellent academic credentials who was hungry for diverse work - 1986 - 1994: alignment towards more commercial fare and emotionally straightforward writing, with a beginning penchant for self-citation - 1994 - 2003: his most successful phase, where he cribbed himself and his temp tracks like there was no tomorrow and, last but not least, a slick, manipulative *fairy tale* style that treated even real-world narratives as if he were scoring myth (Titanic, Legends of the Fall, Braveheart, Apollo 13 and Perfect Storm attest to that), he must have been on to something, it's the period when many people fell in love with him 2003 - 2015: the comedown, with his over-emotive style being more and more out of sync with current trends, thus a return to less grandiose and showy approaches that only occasionally generated much interest So what you describe as 'bigger than it is' is really a reflection on commercial Hollywood movies of that era: streamlined, afraid of controversy, hungry for worldwide success (which mandated less and less rough edges, but an excess of audience-friendly sugarcoating). I love some his scores from that era, but i get sick when i hear them in combination with the movies they are associated with (the animation scores and the occasional Sneakers excepted).

There's also a distinctly american/populist streak going through it, which never sat well with german academia.

Except for Krull extremely disposable. Horner's talents lay elsewhere.

It's Asimov in the style of the SW prequels. Complex characters reduced to leering villains, lots of elaborate shiny surfaces and a complete travesty for people who actually read the book(s). I survived three episodes.

It's mediocre crap.

Both parties should suffer: three funny tiktok tumbling cat videos for every Raiders March.

You probably will dismiss it like Lionheart, it's from the same time.

Hmm, it should be ordered - especially for the weird synth stuff, which is what makes it so cutting-edge and sets it apart from the squeaky-clean LSO fantasy scores of the period - but i wonder what disc 1 really is? Is it the old Silva (which featured some notable alternates to the cues in the movie, i. e. The Ring and The Unicorns) with two new cues or is it the film versions, which are the lesser rewrites, obviously because the original versions were too good. That would make it necessary to keep the Silva. And additional point of confusion: there was an old cassette boot that had more music not featured here. be that as it may, Goldsmith last *real* masterpiece should be part of every self-respecting collection.

That's certainly true, in the bigger scheme of things. I just react against the (typical) bite reflex that opinions that aren't glowing praise should be condemned to eternal hellfire. Often from a perspective that is just as ignorant (not talking about you here). But i'm generally more interested in a broader discussion, not just about the arts but discussion culture in our time (we had some good ones a long time ago). And with growing discontent i note more and more interest in partisanship and less and less interest in personal enlightenment/education, in whatever form it may come.

The Egyptian for score, Land of the Pharaohs for movie: it's the shortest! (though the Tiomkin is a great score, too)

Oh i get it just alright.. You sound like Yavar here, but that's OK;). I have reserved myself a much less reverent opinion of the hobby and its top representatives. Hollywood composers earn millions of $$$ and recognition beyond most artists wild dreams, so i think there's really no need to defend them, as if they need our ego pampering - especially against some poor schmucks whose articles are read by 40 People at most.