Indianagirl

That was more out of relief it was over.

Indy 4 also opened with a standing ovation at Cannes, so take it with a grain of salt.

The tracks have been revealed!

In its defence, plane sequence itself is better than the entirety of Man of Steel.Karol

Not so far.
JJ Abrams is kinda average, but I'm far more worried about, say, Colin Trevorow.

I made a dance video of my son, set to "Swing Swing Swing!" Took me three months to film and over a month to edit. Just thought you fellas here might appreciate it.

Why not? Unless you are saying there was more depth and intrigue to the music than there was the character. That I could see. I thought the music seemed to reflect more what the character was intended to be rather than what showed up on screen.

I get there eventually
Although I can watch it. For me this is Speilberg's only real miss in his entire career.

Why not? Unless you are saying there was more depth and intrigue to the music than there was the character. That I could see. I thought the music seemed to reflect more what the character was intended to be rather than what showed up on screen.

Why not? Unless you are saying there was more depth and intrigue to the music than there was the character. That I could see. I thought the music seemed to reflect more what the character was intended to be rather than what showed up on screen.

I don't understand what he's talking about either. It is like he is trying to appear smart by correcting his complaint with score that is already an important part of the movie.

How can someone have seen The Secret Of NIMH and not remember anything about it?!
I guess there's only one thing left for you to do: rewatch it!

The bad guys outfits of the original trilogy where inspired by Nazis... this one seems to be a little Mao-esque!

It reminds me of something out of the old Soviet Union. The entire picture actually feels cold. You can relate to it very easily. The prequels in many instances were beautiful to look at but they didn't have spark a feeling that could easily be related to. IMHO

In no particular order







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BlUumhXw1Y

No one's questioning the gender gap in the music industry. What's utter bull crap is that women are inherently designed to have a lower preference to leave a legacy behind...
Speaking of female composers, Jennifer Higdon is a good one!

Goofy? It's utterly haunting.

I'm not a prequel hater. I'm not naive either. The Originals were far superior to the prequels. The Scores as well as the films. That doesn't mean the scores for the prequels were bad. I think Across the Stars was a beautiful piece of Star Wars music. In my opinion John Williams writes to and defines what is on the screen better than any composer in history. Maybe a better way to put it is he musically interprets what is on the screen better than anyone I know of. He defines it. Who can think shark and not simultaniously think of the Jaws score? Admit it anytime you see a representation of a dinosaur, whether related to Jurassic Park or not, John's Jurassic score comes to mind. I think this is why the scores to the original trilogy are superior to the prequels. He is THE absolute master at musically interpreting what is on the screen.
I say this as one who does not have a background in music. But as a lover of films and film music....that's how I see it.

Expanded scores never change my opinion on a score. When I buy expanded scores, it's because I already know previously unreleased music from the score, and want to have it.

I'm going to take a stab at this because I'm a glutton for punishment.
I think Hanz Zimmer is a good film composer. He has his own style which may not be for everyone but he can churn out some interesting work. He is very good at what he does. The problem may be that what he does isn't what John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith or even James Horner did. It could be that a lot of the annymous comes from that we are living in an era where we don't get those types of scores very often anymore. In fact I feel like a lot of movies today don't even have scores. In many cases it's just noise. But I don't believe Zimmer falls into that category. I think the problem is that he is overflooding the market. And those movies that he doesn't do often sound like cheap imitations of him. Gone are the days of the great score that would knock your socks off and the entire world could hum by the mention of the films name. And that makes some people angry and Hanz Zimmer becomes the natural punching bag through no fault of his own. At least that's my theory.
I miss those old scores too. Here's hoping Star Wars the Force Awakens will be just that.

I suppose, even though it is easy to own anything your heart desires via the internet, I look at film scores being rare in today's world because I don't know anyone outside of this board who listens to them. Let alone buys them. I listen to popular music today along with my friends as well but to me film scores are more special. Maybe I'm just weird but orchestrated music feels deeper and more emotionally complex than pop music. Well actually acknowledging that I don't think makes me weird. Even still buying and listening to film scores, despite them being more easily acquired in this age, feels rare and special to me. Perhaps that makes me weird lol
On another note I am definitely going to have to listen to Krull. It has been mentioned a lot since reading these boards.

You know I'm against revisions but I would LOVE this (Ok.... NOT)

Arright . . . this was a tougher haul than I imagined it would be, but I don't think I'm gonna settle things any more specifically than this. As has been the case with others, the order of the first three or four wasn’t easy, but I knew which ones would be vying for those positions. What surprised me more was the fierce competition for the last two spots on the list. Frankly, it's still in contention to some degree, but I could probably go on with this forever, and enough is enough.
I was originally going to do mine as a countdown to the best one, but since the action at the bottom was more interesting anyway, I'll just do it like everyone else (though I couldn't resist some commentary tributes for each one). So here's my list for James Horner's Top 10 Scores:
Apollo 13 - He got it so right so many times,you know the top spot was going to be no easy decision to make. Ultimately it came down to the one that not only had me emoting the first time I heard it, but still continues to do so on a regular basis. Whether you take it in consideration with the movie it accompanies or just listen to it on its own, A13 has the most goosebump-inducing moments throughout—and no small amount of variety in mood and texture as well. From the simplicity of the opening sequence to the majesty of "The Launch" to the tensely pensive adagio of "Docking" to the pulsing action of "Master Alarm" to the haunting vocals of "Darkside of the Moon" to the triumphant fanfare of "Re-Entry and Splashdown" and "End Credits," Horner made this story come alive for me. (I was another who had never really heard the account of this mission before seeing the movie, and I had no idea whether that heat shield would hold or not . . . and Horner opening up along with those parachutes became one of the most emotional moments in my own cinematic history.) Other fine scores might've held this spot, and I would've been all right with that, but I have no compunctions about calling this one the best of the best.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - I'm hoping it's not knocking Horner, after a career of more than three decades of greatness, to say that his first big-studio film remains one of his best works. But there's no getting around the fact that a newbie in his mid-20s had no business writing a score this bold, sophisticated, and beautiful—especially for the second entry in a franchise beloved by fans around the world and preceded by an entry considered one of the best works of another modern maestro of film music. He won the job with his score for Battle Beyond the Stars, a fine work that was full of many of his typical tricks and treats in a much less refined package. With TWOK, he revised his approach and nailed it. The result is as good as anything the final frontier ever heard. I think what I love most about it (and the sequel that followed) was you could tell Horner got it. He understood the relationships between the characters, the subtext beneath the science, the operatic scope of the story. Too many other composers would've provided a straight-up sci-fi adventure score. Bless Nicholas Meyer for his superb direction, and his superber decision to offer Horner the job.
Glory - This one could easily have taken the top spot as well. It takes a quieter, more subdued approach to its subject matter, but it's hard to think of a score that does more to express such complex ideas and emotions with pure, wordless music. The proof of this is in the movie itself, an epic that encompasses and expresses the best and worst of the American Civil War without an overabundance of dialogue. Most of the best-understood sequences need no words to communicate the underlying meaning of matters . . . and most of the reason for this is due entirely to James Horner who, with pieces like "After Antietam," "Lonely Christmas," and especially his personal masterpiece "Preparations for Battle," says everything that needs to be said without requiring the characters to say a thing. It also features yet another of his trademark end credit sequences that expresses all the major concepts of the movie with a slight twist in pacing and texture at the start. Just a classic work.
Braveheart - People talk a lot about the romantic aspects of Horner's repertoire, and often cite this score as a prime example. I think there's a better word, though, both for the subject of this movie and much of what JH expressed throughout his career: passion. As mellifluous and gorgeous as the purely romantic pieces here are ("The Secret Wedding," "For the Love of a Princess," etc.), Horner rises even higher when elucidating the passions of William Wallace—for freedom, for his countrymen, for his women. That's what gives the best pieces of this score ("'Sons of Scotland,'" the several battle scenes, and the inimitable "'Freedom'/The Execution/Bannockburn") their stunning power. And, like Glory, this one excels at filling in the subtext of the film with a master artist's brush. Another one that could easily have vied for the top spot.
Krull - This one may come across more as a diamond in the rough, particularly since it's the first score on the list to accompany a truly inferior film. But that's part of what makes it so great: Horner showed himself as capable as the likes of Jerry Goldsmith of treating a bad film with the same respect and serious work ethic he would've brought to an obvious Oscar contender like the films mentioned above. And that serious work ethic is another reason this score rates so highly with me: Horner took the job just as he was becoming one of the most sought-after and prolific composers in Hollywood, and as a result was sick with exhaustion throughout the entire five-week process of writing and recording. Yet to hear it, you would think this music was penned by the most ebullient and energetic musician in the business. It bears all the grandeur (and aforementioned passion) of the best from Korngold and Rózsa, awarding a goofy fantasy picture with a biblically epic feel. He earns his kudos for that, if nothing else (and there's plenty else to be had here).
Field of Dreams - There are some movies that simply couldn't have been scored by anyone but James Horner. This one stands tall among the preeminent examples. The magic in this film didn't come from an Iowa cornfield. It emerged straight from the conductor's baton. And lest you dismiss this as the exaggeration of a twitterpating fanboy, try watching the scene where Shoeless Joe appears for the first time without any sound (your imagination can easily fill in the click of the lights turning on and the light scraping of a few footsteps). The soundscape Horner lays down here is deceptively simple, yet the scene would have failed utterly without it. The same is true of the rest of the film, which relies on some of Horner's most recognized traits used to their best effect to make us believe something this amazing could actually happen. And as a young man watching in the dark theater the first time, something in me did believe it, almost to the point where I forgot I was watching a movie at all. The beautiful and captivating pieces in the second half of the score—and particularly at the end—sealed the deal, and to this day continue to express something that for me feels more like a familiar personal memory than a recollected cinematic experience.
Willow – Following Krull, Horner would have to wait five years to score his first successful epic fantasy. Ron Howard gave him better material to work with than Peter Yates did, for sure, and though the results weren’t quite as epic as Krull, they fit the film perfectly and managed to express a wider range of moods, settings, and characters. This was one of the first scores that Horner wrote similarly to a self-contained symphonic work, almost like a ballet, with longer pieces stretching over several sequences and setpieces (such as “Elora Dannon,” “Canyon of Mazes,” “Bavmorda’s Spell is Cast,” and the outstanding finale and end credits suite, “Willow the Sorcerer”). It’s also acknowledged to this day as both a cornerstone and corner-turner in the composer’s career, and one of his most respected works.
The Rocketeer – Horner did it better than this, but I’m not sure he ever made it look easier than he did here. There’s a good-natured simplicity to this score that’s both beguiling and completely winning, and may be the best instance of the music single-handedly leading us to root for the flying hero since the original Superman—along with another one of the most sweeping love themes to accompany it. Horner excels at anything related to flight, and it was clear that the subject matter and period of the story combined to enchant him into writing music that strikes the perfect balance between heroism, nostalgia, inspiration, and romance. There’s hardly a misstep here from beginning to end, and even if it doesn’t tip the scales of epic as much as some of his others, it’s just right for the movie it represents.
The Perfect Storm – The surprise entry on my own list, and the only one for which I’ve never actually seen the movie itself. I picked it up during my completist quest, and didn’t listen to it for a while after acquiring it. When I did, I noted that it was a solid piece of writing on Horner’s part, but didn’t give it another serious thought for a while. When I went back to give it another listen months later . . . something clicked. I listened to the first piece (“Coming Home from the Sea”) over and over again, and absolutely fell in love. This is another Horner “passion” work, but rather than that of astronauts, soldiers, or legendary historical figures, this one draws from the passion of the common man—for his job, his family, and for the open sea (which provides the first and takes him away from the second). It’s another one with simple themes, but the way it interweaves them throughout the score is both triumphant and heartrending, sometimes both at once. This is the anchoring work between the great scores of the 90s and the newer movements of the 2000s. The 10th place spot was the hardest, and came down to a battle between two Legends. In the end, there could be only one:
The Legend of Zorro – This one actually had to win out over two other scores. First there was Legends of the Fall, which I had thought was a shoe-in for top 10. But in the end it was both the magnificent ethnic flourishes and (once again) that incredible passion he brought to the Zorro character that advanced it past the quieter passion of LOTF. As for the other score, I originally had The Mask of Zorro up for the spot . . . until I gave Legend a closer listen, and found it to be the more sophisticated and polished of the two—all of what made the first score great, but mellowed and expanded and given more of those wonderful flourishes. In the end, I couldn’t deny that this is a better work than both of the others (which, in a way, makes it another surprise occupant on my list). And “The Train” stands tall among the best action pieces of other heroic scores (such Willow and Krull).
And the runners up:

Legends of the Fall – Oh, how the somewhat mighty have sort of fallen. There was a time this would’ve been a fixture in the top 10, but it’s lost just a touch of its shine for me. It’s still a phenomenal epic romance, though, and vital to the movie it represents.
Cocoon – Not quite top-10 material, but it remains one of the finest of his 80s works, as well as one of the best representations of his particular voice and sound during that period.
The Mask of Zorro – The only-slighty-lesser sibling to its sequel. If not for Legend, this would’ve taken the #10 spot.
Searching for Bobby Fischer – This one had a shot, but it’s just a little too pensive to stand out. Still, it has some classically unmistakable Horner moments, and one of my favorite Horner themes.
Titanic – It’ll never be one of my all-time favorites, but there’s no denying how well it worked in the highest-grossing film of all time. (I still sometimes wonder how much more I might appreciate it if Celine Dion hadn’t crooned the love theme to death on the radio. . . .)

I'm still awaiting the whole march that is to be written for Mr. DNA. Until then I have to go with Doctor Know

Please! We attend the church of the immaculate heart.