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Your Top 10 Best Scores of the 1990's


Jay

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This was inspired by the discussion going on in the ID4 thread.

What do you think are the 10 best scores of the 90's?

I'm still trying to narrow my favorites down to a list of 10... I personally have these contenders so far:

David Arnold - Stargate

David Arnold - Independence Day

David Arnold - Tomorrow Never Dies

Danny Elfman - Edward Scissorhands

Danny Elfman - Batman Returns

Danny Elfman - Mission: Impossible

Danny Elfman - Mars Attacks!

John Williams - Hook

John Williams - Jurassic Park

John Williams - The Lost World

John Williams - The Phantom Menace

Jerry Goldsmith - Total Recall

Jerry Goldsmith - Basic Instinct

Jerry Goldsmith - Star Trek First Contact

Jerry Goldsmith - Air Force One

James Newton Howard - The Fugitive

James Newton Howard - Waterworld

Trevor Jones - Cliffhanger

Don Davis - The Matrix

Dust Brothers - Fight Club

Michael Kamen - Die Hard 3

James Horner - The Rocketeer

James Horner - Apollo 13

James Horner - Titanic

Mark Mancina - Speed

Mark Mancina - Bad Boys

Mark Mancina - Speed 2

Mark Mancina - Twister

Michael Kamen - Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves

John Debney - Cutthroat Island

John Debney - Liar Liar

Basil Poledouris - Starship Troopers

Marc Shaiman - City Slickers II

Trevor Rabin and harry Gregson-Williams - Armageddon

Hans Zimmer - Crimson Tide

Hans Zimmer, etc - The Rock

Alan Silvestri - Back To The Future III

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Well the JW fanboys here are going to chime in quickly that you left out some key Williams 90s scores, like Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List, in addition to the Homes Alone, JFK, Far and Away, Nixon, Sabrina, Sleepers, Seven in Years in Tibet, Amistad, and Angela's Ashes. I can't say I heard all of them, but the Academy paid attention to most.

Here's mine:

David Arnold - Stargate

David Arnold - Independence Day

John Williams - Hook

Bruce Broughton - Tombstone

Jerry Goldsmith - Star Trek First Contact

James Horner - Apollo 13

James Horner - The Mask of Zorro

Mark Mancina - Twister

John Debney - Cutthroat Island

Basil Poledouris - Starship Troopers

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Well the JW fanboys here are going to chime in quickly that you left out some key Williams 90s scores, like Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List, in addition to the Homes Alone, JFK, Far and Away, Nixon, Sabrina, Sleepers, Seven in Years in Tibet, Amistad, and Angela's Ashes.

I personally wouldn't include any of those in my personal Best Of list... some of those scores I have never even heard. Saving Private Ryan is really dull, and I've never gotten into Schindler's List. Both Home Alones are great, I completely agree... but Best Of? I already listed 35 scores I like more than both of them ;)

A lot of people really like Braveheart too, but that's another score that never clicked for me. A lot of post 80's James Horner really hasn't.

OK here's my attempt to narrow down to 10 scores only:

1. John Williams - Hook

2. John Williams - Jurassic Park

3. David Arnold - Independence Day

4. David Arnold - Tomorrow Never Dies

5. James Horner - The Rocketeer

6. Danny Elfman - Mars Attacks!

7. Danny Elfman - Batman Returns

8. Jerry Goldsmith - Air Force One

9. Jerry Goldsmith - Basic Instinct

10. Jerry Goldsmith - Total Recall

(Though composers ended up being grouped together that is random; I tried to order them in order of my favorite)

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Some, I'm sorry, aren't on your list, Jason. ;)

10. The Mask of Zorro - James Horner

9. Titanic - James Horner

8. Dick Tracy - Danny Elfman

7. Batman Returns - Danny Elfman

6. Mars Attacks! - Danny Elfman

5. The Shadow - Jerry Goldsmith

4. Jurassic Park - John Williams

3. Stargate - David Arnold

2. JFK - John Williams

1. Independence Day - David Arnold

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Ok, Jay. In a second glance through your list, I see that it was not a catch-all for all 90s scores, just your favorites from that decade. I'm not a fan of SL or SPR, either, or all of the more artsy, less blockbuster JW scores of that decade.

I wouldn't consider Braveheart to be a glaring omission. I like it better than Titanic, for sure, but I think I like The Mask of Zorro better than either.

Besides, it's not like our iPods or CD collections are limited to ten albums.

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I see one glaring omission so far:

Braveheart

No, I mentioned it in my second post ;)

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Off the top of my head:

Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves

Braveheart

Total Recall

Basic Instinct

Jurassic Park

Schindler's List

JFK

ID4

Stargate

The Lost World

Angela's Ashes

Edward Scissorhands

Sommersby

Medal Of Honor

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5. The Shadow - Jerry Goldsmith

Hmm, I may have to check this score out. You really like this score more than all of Jerry's other 90's output?

Off the top of my head:

Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves

Braveheart

Total Recall

Basic Instinct

Jurassic Park

Schindler's List

JFK

ID4

Stargate

The Lost World

Angela's Ashes

Edward Scissorhands

Sommersby

Medal Of Honor

Anyone can just throw out 14 scores they like... the hard part is narrowing it down to 10... and ranking them ;)

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5. The Shadow - Jerry Goldsmith

Hmm, I may have to check this score out. You really like this score more than all of Jerry's other 90's output?

I really like it, even though I don't think it's necessarily "better" than some of Jerry's others from the 90's, but it's one I gravitate towards often. I like those brassy pulp scores.

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In no particular order:

Hook

Braveheart

Edward Scissorhands

The Phantom Menace

Angela's Ashes

Tombstone

Schindler's List

The Edge

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

The Shawshank Redemption

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5. The Shadow - Jerry Goldsmith

Hmm, I may have to check this score out. You really like this score more than all of Jerry's other 90's output?

I really like it, even though I don't think it's necessarily "better" than some of Jerry's others from the 90's, but it's one I gravitate towards often. I like those brassy pulp scores.

The theme is awesome. The score could use an expansion.

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1. Hook

2. The Nightmare Before Christmas

3. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

4. Batman Returns

5. Edward Scissorhands

6. The Rocketeer

7. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (though really I should include most of the work for Batman: TAS)

8. Jurassic Park

9. Robin Hood

10. Stargate

11. First Knight

Edit: Sh*t! I forgot Mask of the Phantasm (shame on me)... so I'll just go one step beyond and make it 11.

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1. Schindler's List

2. The Thin Red Line

3. Medal Of Honor

4. Saving Private Ryan

5. Snow Falling On Cedars

6. The Lion King

7. The Nightmare Before Christmas

8. The Rock

9. The Shawshank Redemption

10. Speed

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Jeez, this is hard. Trying to put variety in.

TOTAL RECALL - Goldsmith

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS - Shore

STAR TREK: INSURRECTION - Goldsmith

TOMORROW NEVER DIES - Arnold

BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM - Walker

HEAT - Goldenthal

STARSHIP TROOPERS - Poledouris

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS - Elfman

THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS - Goldsmith

TOY STORY 2 - Newman

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Off the top of my head and in no particular order:

1. Basic Instinct (Goldsmith)

2. Hook (Williams)

3. Rudy (Goldsmith)

4. Braveheart (Horner)

5. Titanic (Horner)

6. American Beauty (Newman)

7. Bram Stoker's Dracula (Kilar)

8. Edward Scissorhands (Elfman)

9. Interview with the Vampire (Goldenthal)

10. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Elfman)

Honorable Mentions: Alien 3, JFK, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, Tombstone, Dances with Wolves, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Sleepy Hollow, Sneakers, and Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control.

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Yea, I forgot about Dances With Wolves and The Mask of the Phantasm.

Someday soon, I believe this board is going to try and unequivocally rank. Every. Score. Ever. Written. By. Anyone.

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Yea, I forgot about Dances With Wolves and The Mask of the Phantasm.

Someday soon, I believe this board is going to try and unequivocally rank. Every. Score. Ever. Written. By. Anyone.

That would certainly keep us busy for a while.

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Medal Of Honor

If I included that I'd have to throw in a bunch of other VG games scores as well, like Zelda: Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasys VI-VIII, and Chrono Trigger.

I think my top two would pretty definitively be

Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace

Independence Day

After that, in chrono order:

Total Recall

Star Trek VI

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Far & Away

Schindler's List

Jurassic Park (despite how much I think it's overrated)

Star Trek: Generations

Star Trek: First Contact

The Mummy

Galaxy Quest

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1. Total Recall

2. ID4

3. Angela's Ashes

4. Dances With Wolves

5. Schindler's List

6. Medal Of Honor

7. Jurassic Park

8. The Edge

9. Tombstone

10. Braveheart

Ask me tomorrow and I'll have a different list.

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I dunno, I'm at a point now where I'm tired of defending MOH.

As far as I'm concerned the music speaks for itself. It has its own fresh voice.

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(no order - I suck at ordering)

ID4

Jurassic Park

Air Force One

Sleepy Hollow

Shawshank Redemption

Deep Impact

Legends of the Fall

Species

American Beauty

Snow Falling on Cedars

Dante's Peak

And like several others, this'll be different in a week.

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A couple people have mentioned American Beauty now. Is the score really that good, or are people just remembering how much they loved the film?

I have mp3s of it somewhere, I'll have to revisit it. Don't remember a thing about it.

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In no particular order:

Schindler's List

Sleepers

Seven Years in Tibet

Angela's Ashes

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

JFK

The Russia House

Mulan

Batman Forever

Princess Mononoke

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Damn Jay you picked a tough topic as it's very difficult to narrow it down to 10 choices, especially from that era. If I really had to choose, here are mine in no particular order and I'm adding one to the list because I can't leave it off.

Independence Day - David Arnold

Stargate - David Arnold

Godzilla - David Arnold

The Matrix - Don Davis

The Hunt For Red October - Basil Poledouris

The Phantom Menace - John Williams

The Mummy - Jerry Goldsmith

Air Force One - Jerry Goldsmith and Joel McNeely

Twister - Mark Mancina

Starship Troopers - Basil Poledouris

Hook - John Williams

Hook was the one I couldn't leave off.

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The 90s was so much better for film scores than the new millennium. I feel like we're in a dark age now.

I agree. Even between 2000 and now some good scores have come out but not as many as it did during the 90's.

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Very true. For me, it's been a steady decline since about 1989, with a few bright spots along the way.

Difficult to pick my 10, but here they are, in no particular order.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Independence Day

Jurassic Park

Bram Stoker's Dracula

Dances With Wolves

Hook

Nightmare Before Christmas

Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

Rocketeer

Star Wars The Phantom Menace

Honorable Mentions: The Lost World, First Knight, Sleepy Hollow, Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands, Mars Attacks, Forrest Gump

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1. ID4 - David Arnold

2. Dances with Wolves - John Barry

3. Rocketeer - James Horner

4. Jurassic Park - John Williams

5. Terminator 2 - Brad Fiedel

6. Hook - John Williams

7. Braveheart - James Horner

8. Shawshank Redemption - Thomas Newman

9. Thomas Crown Affair - Bill Conti

10. First Knight - Jerry Goldsmith

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1. Hook - John Williams

2. Edward Scissorhands - Danny Elfman

3. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Alan Menken

4. Titanic - James Horner

5. Nightmare Before Christmas - Danny Elfman

6. Far and Away - John Williams

7. The Lost World - John Williams

8. Pocahontas - Alan Menken

9. Sabrina - John Williams

10. The Phantom Menace - John Williams

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): Jurassic Park, Home Alone, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, The Lion King, JFK, The Mummy, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Forrest Gump, Beauty and the Beast

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was amused to see Basic Instinct repeated in several earlier posts.

Well, in no particular order, here goes my list:

1. Total Recall

2. RoboCop 2

3. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

4. Alien 3

5. Demolition Man

6. The Fugitive

7. Jurassic Park

8. Heat

9. The Fifth Element

10. American Beauty

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I see one glaring omission so far:

Braveheart

Make that 3:

NIXON,

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL.

I wouldn't put any of those anywhere near a 'top' list, to be frank. L.A. Confidential, from hearing the iso on the DVD, appears to be just loads of rhythms and a bit of trumpet. I've never understood why it's so revered. However, this opinion comes with my usual disclaimer that I'm not a fan of Goldsmith one bit.

My problem with Braveheart is the synth elements. Around half the score seems to be just pounding on some sort of keyboard turned to 'breathy choir', with the other half being genuinely moving celtic music.

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