What is the best film score of 1999?

[Hlao-roo 388]

I know I'm leaving off some notable scores (Rabin's Media Ventures theme, Poledouris's Hollywood swan song, a respectable Doyle score, an intermittently tolerable Bond score, something by Goldenthal, something that sounded like Rudy, something that sounded like something that sounded like Sneakers), and I'm sure people are wondering what The 13th Warrior is doing on the list (especially if you used to write for Deconstructing Goldsmith), but I thought these were the top candidates. I don't really like having "Other" as an option.

To me it's not an easy choice.

American Beauty, regardless how many people actually listen to it, is such a landmark in film/television scoring that I'd be remiss to leave it off.

The Iron Giant might be the weakest score on the list, yes it's also one of Kamen's best, if not his best.

The Matrix is an SF classic, and probably more than that.

You can't read about Goldsmith scores in the nineties without hearing the word "streamlined," but The Mummy represented something of a return to form and was widely regarded as the most entertaining score of the summer.

For once, AMPAS awarded Best Original Score to a deserving score in The Red Violin.

Williams's return to Star Wars received mixed marks at the time -- it sounded more like a hodepodge of Carl Orff, Miklos Rozsa, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, and Saving Private Ryan than a "Star Wars score" -- but fans seem to have embraced it more warmly over time.

Finally, The Thin Red Line is, for my money, one of the best things to ever come out of Media Ventures, making astoundingly effective use of the slow burn effect to complement the film's lyrical photography.

[Jay 27,216]

Phantom Menace and Fight Club for me, and of course The Matrix (though I like Matrix Reloaded much better)

A lot of people will say The Sixth Sense, Snow Falling On Cedars, and Galaxy Quest should be on the poll

Rich will say Sleepy Hollow

[Incanus 5,519]

Angela's Ashes for me followed by SW Episode I TPM and the Red Violin but that is a very high caliber list of candidates. They knew how to do swell orchestral swells back then.

[publicist 4,484]

I rate THIN RED LINE, ANGELA'S ASHES and RED VIOLIN above the 'cheesy' scores like THE MUMMY or EPISODE I, but seeing even a brilliant modernist score like MATRIX up there (which i seldom listen to) brings back fond memories of a year that still was full of highlights. What happened?

PS: Alan, the 13TH WARRIOR would get much more enthusiastic reviews from us today, but i i still think it got a deserved thrashing for the excessive simplicity in orchestration.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,765]

Sleepy Hollow?

[Incanus 5,519]

Sleepy Hollow?

Sleepy Hollow should also be in this poll. Just a terrific score from Elfman and among the best of that great year.

PS: Alan, the 13TH WARRIOR would get much more enthusiastic reviews from us today, but i i still think it got a deserved thrashing for the excessive simplicity in orchestration.

I would say that one factor is that it was another replacement score that Goldsmith had to churn out in a relative hurry I believe when Revell's score was rejected (I can easily hear why). And I can certainly hear the same kind of orchestrational streamlining going on in scores like Air Force One. Still Jerry somehow turned these fast jobs into something highly entertaining and craftful despite the extreme time limitations.

[indy4 152]

Phantom Menace. I almost gave it to Angela's Ashes, but it suffers a bit from repetition. TPM has enough thematic diversity that JW can't really afford to throw down near carbon-copy variations of themes too many times (if at all).

Sleepy Hollow would be next, followed by The Mummy. Haven't heard the rest outside of the films.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,765]

Anyway, for the poll I picked The Mummy. It was the first Goldsmith score I ever bought. Being a 14-year-old with very limited cash to throw around, this was a special CD for me at the time.

[publicist 4,484]

I would say that one factor is that it was another replacement score that Goldsmith had to churn out in a relative hurry I believe when Revell's score was rejected (I can easily hear why). And I can certainly hear the same kind of orchestrational streamlining going on in scores like Air Force One. Still Jerry somehow turned these fast jobs into something highly entertaining and craftful despite the extreme time limitations.

FYI: it was already written in the summer of '98, so i don't think JG was overly hurried.

[crocodile 6,294]

Whoa, in retrospect it seems like a great year.

Karol

[Incanus 5,519]

I would say that one factor is that it was another replacement score that Goldsmith had to churn out in a relative hurry I believe when Revell's score was rejected (I can easily hear why). And I can certainly hear the same kind of orchestrational streamlining going on in scores like Air Force One. Still Jerry somehow turned these fast jobs into something highly entertaining and craftful despite the extreme time limitations.

FYI: it was already written in the summer of '98, so i don't think JG was overly hurried.

Well I stand corrected. I wonder how long did he have to work on The 13th Warrior.

[chuck 154]

Didn't JG also worked on some concert pieces around that time? It's still a pretty busy time period for him at that time and he turned 70 too.

[filmmusic 925]

I voted for the Thin Red line, which I think is Zimmer's (and co) masterpiece!

Again, the most popular score (as it seems) (Phantom Menace), is among my 5 least favourite of Williams (post-1975), and I still can't find out why many people love this score.

[TownerFan 4,548]

The Thin Red Line is actually from 1998.

[filmmusic 925]

Oh, may we edit the poll then please?

(I knew something wasn't right)

[Naïve Old Fart 6,637]

"American Beauty", by a country mile, but I also like "SFOC" a lot.

Where is "Toy Story 2", "Sleepy Hollow", "The Green Mile", and "The World Is Not Enough"?

[publicist 4,484]

I would say that one factor is that it was another replacement score that Goldsmith had to churn out in a relative hurry I believe when Revell's score was rejected (I can easily hear why). And I can certainly hear the same kind of orchestrational streamlining going on in scores like Air Force One. Still Jerry somehow turned these fast jobs into something highly entertaining and craftful despite the extreme time limitations.

FYI: it was already written in the summer of '98, so i don't think JG was overly hurried.

Well I stand corrected. I wonder how long did he have to work on The 13th Warrior.

I guess his usual 4-5 weeks, the bootleg got into circulation by september 1998, he was done with US MARSHALS, MULAN and SMALL SOLDIERS by mid-June and started INSURRECTION late september and probably wrote 3 or 4 rejected scores in between, too.

[Jay 27,216]

Oh yea, I meant to say that in my earlier post. The Thin Red Line is absolutely a 1998 movie, and not a 1999 movie. Doesn't belong in the poll.

Remove it and add Sleepy Hollow, The Sixth Sense, Snow Falling On Cedars, and Galaxy Quest!

[publicist 4,484]

SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS in any case.

[Incanus 5,519]

That year sure was jam-packed with top rate film music.

[chuck 154]

It's truly the last great year for film music.

Before the dark times.

[Jay 27,216]

I'll take 2007 or 2011 over 1999!

[Incanus 5,519]

It's truly the last great year for film music.

Before the dark times.

Before the RCP Empire.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

The Thin Red Line is actually from 1998.

It's still the best score on there

[Romão 1,931]

What a great list of scores. It's hard to argue with Corigliano's Oscar win. Angela's Ashes is one of my personal favorites from JW. Episode 1 was a just tremendous showcase of what he can with a full orchestra, and is a score of so many different colors and moods that I'm in awe in the pure achievement of the thing. American Beauty was probably the most influential of the bunch. The Matrix planted the seeds for the (superior) later scores.

Out of sheer sentimentality, my vote goes to Angela's Ashes. But it could as easily had gone to the Red Violin or Episode 1, for different reasons

[SF1_freeze 104]

Of course TPM, the score that brought me to filmmusic. A glorious masterpiece that still impresses.

[Marian Schedenig 5,520]

Whoa, great line up. Couldn't choose between TPM, The Mummy, The Matrix and The Red Violin.

[KK 3,202]

I didn't think the score material itself was all that great, but The Red Violin Chaconne is one brilliant

piece of music!

[chuck 154]

TPM for me.

[KK 3,202]

It really was a brilliant year for film music. I'll have to think about my choice.

[Romão 1,931]

Besides the already mentioned Sleepy Hollow (which is one Elfman's very best, though it does lose some steam in the second half), I'm also quite fond of the Cider House Rules and I think The Talented Mr. Ripley is a terrific score. What a year indeed. It seems almost impossible to own 12 or 13 scores released in a current year nowadays

[Score_Fan 36]

Phantom Menace.

[Romão 1,931]

How about this for anti climatic:

I vividly remember this. Keanu saying: "And the oscar goes to...John (I jump in joy)...Corigliano"

[Trent B 317]

Since I had to chose I picked The Phantom Menace but for me runner ups would be The Matrix and The Mummy.

[chuck 154]

Keanu's in his "You are The One" suit!!!

Since I had to chose I picked The Phantom Menace but for me runner ups would be The Matrix and The Mummy.

True that.

[Uni 306]

What is it with this recent Goldsmith kick I've been on? Even with two JW scores on that list, my first instinct (and therefore my vote) was for The Mummy. Definitely a return to larger-scale stuff, and just a fantastic filling-out of an entertaining action yarn.

- Uni

[Quintus 5,391]

In 1999 I'd have said Phantom Menace, EASILY. But I feel that over a decade later the score to The Matrix has left a more indelible mark on not just movie going but also wider popular culture.

The only thing which survives from TPM is Duel of the Fates; which is a shame because original stuff like Anakin's theme and the underrated/entirely forgotten Trade Federation March are sublime and badass respectively.

[gkgyver 1,638]

The Matrix.

It's

1. an instant classic

2. memorable to this day, and

3. easily more unique and original than the rest of that list.

[Quintus 5,391]

It'll be a day long remembered.

[Wojo 2,442]

I wouldn't recognize The Matrix if you played it for me and said it was The Matrix. I only ever think of the awesome Rage song at the end. And I actually prefer The 13th Warrior over The Mummy.

[Quintus 5,391]

part-timer!

[Wojo 2,442]

Thanks.

[Quintus 5,391]

[Unlucky Bastard 7,765]

In 1999 I'd have said Phantom Menace, EASILY. But I feel that over a decade later the score to The Matrix has left a more indelible mark on not just movie going but also wider popular culture.

The only thing which survives from TPM is Duel of the Fates; which is a shame because original stuff like Anakin's theme and the underrated/entirely forgotten Trade Federation March are sublime and badass respectively.

Yeah I talk to the odd SW fan here and there and they often remember Duel of the Fates and praise it as the best piece from the franchise but they can't recall anything else from TPM's score.

[gkgyver 1,638]

Because there is little else to remember besides the concert suites.

And I'm not sure Anakin's Theme really caught on, brilliant in composition as it may be. It is mentioned very very rarely in talks about Williams' classic themes.

[Romão 1,931]

But none of that has actually anything to do with the quality of the music

[Red 73]

Angela's Ashes, followed closely by The Phantom Menace.

Looking at that list, 1999 was a great year for film scores.

[Incanus 5,519]

The Matrix passed me by without a whimper back in 1999. I was also one of those who didn't think the film was the bee's knees back then and still don't. And only music I remember from The Matrix is Du Hast by Rammstein thanks to my friends who played The Matrix song album to death at the time. My tastes were of course different in my innocent youth and Davis' at times challenging soundscapes and orchestral techniques didn't appeal to me then.

But I somehow doubt the score album was the first thing most here went to buy after seeing the film though.

The word on the mean streets of filmmusicdom says that those soundtracks are not half bad so I have to investigate the whole trilogy of scores someday. It's a promise!

[Quintus 5,391]

And I'm not sure Anakin's Theme really caught on.

It didn't. Probably because Lucas completely ignored it.