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Most brilliantly scored moments in film music


Delorean90

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The really emotional song from pleasantville always gets me. I believe it's played when jeff daniels character is painting a color mural.

A very beautiful song.

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Randy Newman did do a wonderful job on that spectacularly confused spectacular film.

Charging Fort Wagner when Shaw and the 54th are, well, charging Fort Wagner. ;)
I agree, Orff worked wonders with that scene!

Horner did adapt Orff's work very well, much better than anyone else before or since. His is much more hopeful, emotional.....Horner's seems to be about something. It has the soaring part in there, not from the original...I find it to be a much better than the original. I would have put it on my list, save for the fact that I didn't like the film Glory or it's visuals.

Also a great moment scored in film is Private Ryan, at the point where the invasion is done and Capt Miller says "Quite a view".

A wonderful moment in the film....but to me JW's music there sounds a bit too close to one of Zimmer's Lion King themes for comfort.

'The Ecstasy of Gold' (The Good The Bad and The Ugly)

How come nobody else mentioned this?

Marian - ashamed he didn't.

Well, since the music came before the scene, and the scene was shot to the music, I guess it's more of....best film music moment scored by a film.....or something along that nature.

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One that hasn't been mentioned yet is the destruction of the Enterprise from The Search for Spock. The moment when you see the fragments entering the atmosphere of the Genesis planet right before Kirk says "My God, what have I done". It's a complete rip off of Prokofiev, but it's still a fantastic moment in the score.

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Shower sequence from Psycho

Yes, and what's so perfect about it is that leading up to the moment, there is no music at all. It's the absence of score that makes it so suspenseful and chilling. Hitchcock and Herrman understood this so well. Then, finally, when the curtain is ripped away, the first note of music is synched perfectly to the action. Then, after the actual slashing, Herrman finds the perfect sound for the music, with the cellos playing almost rumbling notes as her life is slowly and inevitably drained, until the image of the blood going down the drain and we return to just the sound of the shower water. No music. This is one of the greatest score scenes in all of cinema.

Ted

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And when Marion is driving near the beginning, Herrmann builds up a whole load of tension out of practically nothing (a woman driving a car looking worried).

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Another classic moment of movie music is the silly rock and roll music before David becomes a werewolf for the first time in An American Werewolf in London. Not film score per se, but still very effective. There's a feeling of humour mixed with tension and expectation created by the silly music. Then when he transforms the music fades to silence... It's an amazingly scary effect.

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Two moments in recent films I found brilliant, and I'm sure many disagree; the first is the scene in A.I, in which David is praying to the Blue Fairy. Assuming you think that the scene has uncommon depth, Williams' score here is some of the most gorgeous and sumblime music he's ever composed. It's a true shame that this was never released on the album. Instead we have that woman wailing theme as opposed to the gentle hum in the film, which is far more effective.

The second scene I'd like to point out (if it hasn't been already) is in Return of the King when the Riders of Rohan charge into the fields of Pelennor. We've all seen the inspiring speeches before battle and heard the triumphant music as armies charge, but something about this has always resonated with me. I think Shore's music is perfect for the scene in how he builds it up with the strong brass theme and pounding drums before going into an emotionally charged rendition of the Rohan theme.

Both of these scenes bring tears to my eyes, both have incredible musical passages, and both are officially unreleased.

Ted

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The second scene I'd like to point out (if it hasn't been already) is in Return of the King when the Riders of Rohan charge into the fields of Pelennor. We've all seen the inspiring speeches before battle and heard the triumphant music as armies charge, but something about this has always resonated with me. I think Shore's music is perfect for the scene in how he builds it up with the strong brass theme and pounding drums before going into an emotionally charged rendition of the Rohan theme.

That is good, but Shore (or more likely Jackon's decision) annoys me as once again the music abrubtly silences the second the "armies colliding" SFX start. It wouldn't be so annoying if they hadn't done the exact same thing earlier in the movie, and it just grates on me after a while. It's so cliched, if anything that's become a recent trend could be called cliched. And the fact the next cue starts less than a minute later makes it stand out all the more.

And on a great moment note, there's just something about the Ring theme statement towards the end of FotR, when Frodo is standing in front of the statue head right before Borormir comes in for his big evil moment that really works for me.

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Two moments in recent films I found brilliant, and I'm sure many disagree; the first is the scene in A.I, in which David is praying to the Blue Fairy. Assuming you think that the scene has uncommon depth, Williams' score here is some of the most gorgeous and sumblime music he's ever composed. It's a true shame that this was never released on the album. Instead we have that woman wailing theme as opposed to the gentle hum in the film, which is far more effective.

great choice :|

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The Finale of A.I. The piano creates just the right impact. It is simple but touching. The music is like a lullaby that sends David of to sleep and where dreams are born.

The main title of Fellowship of the Ring. Shore simply did a perfect job. History of the Ring theme embodies everything the title wants to say and more.

Journey to the Island from Jurassic Park.

Becoming a Geisha from Memoirs of a Geisha.

There are simply so many great convergences of visuals and music in the history of cinema.

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Indeed. It's been a long time since a Williams cue has affected me that much, and still does after a good year since I first heard it. It has to go down as one of his greatest ever.

John- glad that there's actually a non-Zimmer thread to post in

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Anakin's Betrayal.In that scene JW's music hits you right in the gut.It would have been sad whatever the images were.

k.M.

Absolutely right. That music is so powerful it drives the emotion home better than any pictures. The scene was scored perfectly. One of those great Williams moments.

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I don't think this was mentioned. I do think that all of Air Force One by Goldsmith and McNeely is a very brilliant score in just a short time and also a good collabration between two composers.

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Despite being very powerful in the montage, I think the ending of Anakin's Betrayal does not suit the scene it finishes in at all. There needed to be a fade out or something for the music to finish properly. And the action music following it (with the Jedi kid) is so grating after the beauty of the previous cue.

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Anakin's Betrayal.In that scene JW's music hits you right in the gut.It would have been sad whatever the images were.

k.M.

I agree 150%! The second time I saw the movie, when it first came out on DvD and I had the Cd for a couple of months, when Anakin's Betrayal came on I like forgot to breath. It was totally breathtaking.

The same with Anakin's Dark Deeds, the scene where Palpatine announces the creation of the empire and the Senate is applauding, I felt like I got hit by a truck and everytime I hear that song I think of all the fictional deaths and that came with the Empire and how William's music captured all that.

Wow me being a bit emotional...wow, rare event.

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Anakin's Betrayal...no kidding. When I saw ROTS on opening night, I knew ahead of time that I'd end up buying the soundtrack shortly after. But hearing the "Lament" cue in the film was what made me realize that I needed it NOW. That's some of Maestro Williams' finest work right there.

I often enjoy the scoring that accompanies opening titles in films. Horner's Bicentennial Man comes to mind--that English horn solo a few seconds into "The Machine Age" is gorgeous, and the transition into the piano motif at 0:40 is fun. The similar transition culminating at 2:41 is, too.

Badelt's The Time Machine also has a great opening. "Professor Alexander Hartdegen" is one of the highlights of that film's OST, especially the first half.

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