James Horner to score Gibson's "The Passion" (2004

[Pelzter 0]

According to the IMDb. Damn, this is just what should not happen. Sure, Horner's score is sure to be stunning and well suited to the visuals of the film, but lets face it... it will be just like the rest of Horner's scores... Had Williams only had a shot at scoring the picture...

--Pelzter.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Thank goodness, i was really hoping Horner would get this film.

He will do a brilliant job with it i'm sure.

I hope Gibson and Horner will use the LSO like in their last 2 films.

Braveheart is da bomb, i hope this score will be even better.

Stefancos- who LOVES Horner's epic scores.

[Pelzter 0]

Don't get me wrong, I love Horner's epic stores to. Braveheart, Legends of the Fall and The Mask of Zorro feature some of the most beautiful, lush themes of the 90s... I'm just scared that the music will reflect those scores too much...

--Pelzter

[scissorhands 16]

It might be very good. It will (surely) have chorus, and you know, Horner knows how to use the chorus (unless it's synthesized, which won't happen this time).

[Elmo Lewis 6]

Leave it to Horner to score Jesus Christ.

[Jango Fett 0]

Thank goodness, i was really hoping Horner would get this film.

He will do a brilliant job with it i'm sure.

I hope Gibson and Horner will use the LSO like in their last 2 films.

Braveheart is da bomb, i hope this score will be even better.

Stefancos- who LOVES Horner's epic scores.

I think you said it all Stefan

[Rogue_Leader 2]

All his scores in the last several years have been "Meh".

I expect this one to be no different.

Sheeeesh! What a unworthy composer for such a story.

Expect more typical Horner style musiucal borrowing.

-Rogue Leader who think Gibson should be Crucified for this decision.

[A24 4,345]

In comparisment with Williams, James Horner is just a skillful pro who's lacking real compositorial depth. It's good, it works, but that's it.

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Alex Cremers

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

When Horner REALLY gets going, he can compose better then anyone in Hollywood, it's a pity that he recent work has been a bit lacking.

He's written plenty of scores that i would rate as good or better then most of Williams works.

The Passion NEEDS a real no holds barred EPIC score, Horner can pull that off, Williams too perhaps, but i fear he would take a to subtle approach.

Stefancos- who's up to late...as usual.

[A24 4,345]

STEFANCOS WROTE:

He's written plenty of scores that i would rate as good or better then most of Williams works.

He's written plenty of scores that i would rate as good or better then most of Williams works.

He's written plenty of scores that i would rate as good or better then most of Williams works.

Stefancos, you forgot the winky smiley. Haha, James Horner.

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Alex Cremers

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I guess we must agree to disagree.

Your reaction is not uncommon on this MB, which is filled with JW fans who consider every other composer utterly inferiour.

You probably have not even heard most of Horner's work.

Stefancos-

[A24 4,345]

Well, it's good to know your true standpoint on things here.

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Alex Cremers

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

This standpoint is hardly a new one for people who have been here for a while.

There are a bunch of people here who thinks John Williams rules and everybody else is crap.

I disagree, i think John Williams is one of the most talented and dependable film composers out there, but there are many others who are able to produce high quality works on a regular or semi-regular basis.

Horner, though he's been in kinda a lul for the last few years is among those composers IMO.

Stefancos- who's NOT a Williams fanboy.

[A24 4,345]

OK, Stefancos, I feel your passion.

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Alex Cremers

[FrenchHornMoron 0]

I was looking forward to this movie, and just found out about James Horner doing the score. Therefore, I'm not going to see it.

No, not really.

I'm not a big fan of James Horner because I can't stand most uses of synthesizer. The Titanic chorus thing just sickened me. I like some of his music, like Field of Dreams and Deep Impact, but really can't get into his music for some reason. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't like all composers except Williams! You can't think that or you'll never be able to enjoy any other film scores. I love James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman, John Barry, Howard Shore, and ESPECIALLY Elmer Bernstein.

I feel that John Williams, out of all of those, can produce the best film score for any type of film. I think John Williams, especially with his interest in silent film, would have loved to have done this score with the exception that he will be very busy soon with the last Star Wars, the third Harry Potter, Indiana Jones 4, and Walter Mitty, and he tends to stick with the directors that he's previously worked with. I was never expecting to see Williams do "The Passion" although I would have loved to have seen Elmer Bernstein do a final epic score like this, or however he wished to approach it.

Chris

[King Mark 3,631]

In comparisment with Williams,  James Horner is just a skillful pro who's lacking real compositorial depth. It's good, it works, but that's it.

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Alex Cremers

yes,but he's still writing classically styled orchestral music,so that's good news.I still like the Horner sound better than the "Media Ventures "sound.

K.M.

[pianoman1 0]

Maybe im out of it, but I don't know the plot line for "The Passion." Can someone inform me so that i have an idea of what it is?

Anything that's epic though is good. I like epic, hence, Star Wars, LOTR and other such films. Not to say that i don't enjoy "non-epic" films, because i do tremendously.

[Romão 2,274]

Well, it depicts the last days of Jesus Christ, no more no less.

[pianoman1 0]

oooh ok, hence the Passion stories.... ok i get it now... thanks

[Yoda Longbottom 0]

Thank goodness, i was really hoping Horner would get this film.

He will do a brilliant job with it i'm sure.

I hope Gibson and Horner will use the LSO like in their last 2 films.

Braveheart is da bomb, i hope this score will be even better.

Stefancos- who LOVES Horner's epic scores.

James Horner can write beautiful themes and if he tries hard, real hard, he does them in an absolutely stunning way. But he rarely bothers about orchestrations. I don't know if he cannot do it better, but he simply under orchestrates his works devoting most of his time to melodies punched into themes. The orchestration note leads me to believe that there may rest a reason to reason his sounding pretty much the same all the time. On the other hand, it makes his scores very easy to recognize and almost a sure buy for all his works to come. In these regards, this guy cannot disappoint. (The gentleman who mentioned The mask of Zorro as one of his best must have been kidding).

Anyway, James Horner would have been a great pop composer rather than a epic-proportions craftsman. He has a knack for catchy melodies and his score songs are just plain well done (Zorro, Titanic, Land before Time,...). But as I suggested, Williams flat-out beats him in orchestration and elaboration of themes and ideas. But it is not a impediment on Horner's side. It's the way these two giant of music composing work.

Williams is more of a classic composer while Horner can craft up pretty damn wonderful themes. But I am not a melody hunter so this might be the reason why I prefer Williams, not slightly, if you asked me, but very much over anyone. I wouldn't even put them in the same line inside of talk. I like to listen and find beauties within music, music in general, not just get captivated by grand melody. Horner has never taken me beyond "feeling good", even with his best-acclaimed works.

Steef, don't please get mad at me. I love Williams as much as you love Horner, and that's it. Shame on us if either of us thinks one of us is more right than the other...

Roman.-)

[Morlock 11]

Horner knows exactly what people like to hear, and composes something to work along those line. That's why. despite his lack of originality in the past few years- he has still made some pretty damn good scores. I loved A Beautiful Mind.

and @Stefancos: The fact that I think that JW is the best composer (Which I do, I'm not just a devoted fan) doesn't mean I think all the others are uttery inferior- Thomas Newman, James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman and Alan Silvestri have all had scores as good as the very best Williams in the past few years- I just think Williams is the only person ever whom I can depend on liking at least part of every single new score he comes out with. Whereas Identity, The Salton Sea, Treasure Planet and MIB II held nothing of interest for me.

[Adam 1]

I think Horner is one of the best in terms of being versatile and writing music that meshes well with the visuals. I give him his share of the credit for Titanic's success although I thought it had plenty of faults, also.

As pure music, I agree with a lot of what Roman said. Although he's capable of quite a lot. A track like Charging Fort Wagner from Glory is extremely impressive - not only as good underscore but as a musical piece on its own. He's deserving of his place as a top tier composer. But, yes, I think he's inferior to JW which says more about JW then it does about Horner.

Adam, who's not sure if this post still qualifies him for JW fanboy status

[Nemesis 245]

Some of Horner's scores would be, if they would stand alone without the other scores he has written, as master pieces (Perfect Storm,Mighty Joe Young, Breavehart, Iris...)! Sure, often he takes musical material he used in his other scores, but I understand this!

And that's way I love most of the music he has written, beautiful themes and harmonic games!

This is my opinion, don't try to "heal" me

Nemesis

[Guest]

To me, I think Horner rips himself off out of style, rather than lack of originality. The four-note antagonist motif, the three-note martyr motif (from Glory and Braveheart), the three-note motif from Star Trek II and Rocketeer, are all just his trademarks. I just spent three weeks on vacation and for most of the trip, I went back and forth between listening to Williams and Horner. Willow, Enemy at the Gates, The Perfect Storm, and Star Trek II are all Horner scores because of the four-note bad guy motif. It's like Horner isn't just scoring one movie, but the body of his career. Just like most composers will repeat the same motif in the same movie, Horner does it throughout his entire career wherever necessary and he feels like it. Movies, to Horner, are more like "Moviements" in one long symphony that spans his career. But someone like Williams takes the movies one score at a time, trying to make each one its own creature.

But onto the real topic at hand: the Gibson-Horner collaboration. I can imagine the trailer music for The Passion will be nothing less than "Freedom/Execution/Bannockburn". I don't really get emotional when I think about William Wallace being martyred when I listen to "Freedom/Execution". But when I think about Jesus exhaling His last breath on the cross where, in Braveheart, Wallace cries, "FREEDOM!", it gets hard to hold back the tears. I usually imagine the sword-throwing cue to score the Ascension and the glory of Christ there. Just to think that Gibson and Horner originally put that together about a man who died for a country, not the entire human race. I can't imagine what they'll throw together for a man that is more near and dear to Gibson's heart than William Wallace. I think The Passion is going to say, "Shove this in your Bodhean pipe and blow it!" to Braveheart.

[Ollie 1,059]

At one time I used to be a big fan of Horner. Now I find him to be extremely lazy. He has shown that from time to time he can do a good score, like Braveheart or be inspired in the case of Titanic. However he hasn't done anything other than Braveheart over the last 15 years that I can say I honestly enjoy.

Other than Braveheart I've pretty much gotten rid of any score he's written since 1988.

Who knows, maybe working with Gibson on a project like this he can pull a miracle.

[MrScratch 294]

Don't lose all hope... There's still plenty of time for Horner to be fired or have his score rejected.

[Guest]

I'm not really surprised that Gibson chose Horner, either. Of the two films he's already got under his belt for directing, Horner's scored both of them. And the last one ended on an extremely good note. Not only that, but I've heard from various people here that Gibson is very pleased with Horner's work on his films. Can you blame him? I mean most people here like Braveheart, hands down. I think that even goes for most people everywhere. I don't know how many times I had guys wanting me to burn Braveheart for them when I was living at school.

[A24 4,345]

Some Horner fans say he sure can write a tune. Yeah, he's lazy but, boy, can he write a tune. How come the man in the street, who isn't into the soundtrack thing, can't hum one Horner tune?

Williams is already imbedded in our culture for that. Horner? Nay!

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Alex Cremers

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Hmmm....interesting.

First of all, almost ANYBODY can hum Horner's Theme From Titanic, cause the song and rthe score CD, both by Horner were a huge success.

Secondly, if we are gonna judge film composers by how many non-film music fans can hum one of their tunes, then John Williams, Morricone, Herrmann and Horner are probably the only ones who get any of their music hummed.

My opinion of a composer is based on what MY estimate of his talent is, not if some ignorant git an some streetcorner can whistle The Star Wars Theme...

I'm sorry, Lord, but your statement is as ill concieved as your screenname.

Stefancos- :roll:

[A24 4,345]

Titanic????

Nobody can hum that tune anymore and they certainly not humming it 10 years from now. And if some lonely soul still manage to hum it then it's because it's a song with voice and lyrics. MTV corniness.

Nobody hums instrumental music made by Horner!

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Alex Cremers

[Guest]

Like you could really prove me wrong on either account, Steef.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Don't try to draw me into a debate about Religion, it's against the MB Rules.

As for proving you wrong, how could I, we are stating opinions, subjective opinions can never be proven wrong or right.

Off course you probably disagree with that.

Stefancos-

[Guest]

I think it's fairly obvious you started to walking the line of "religious tolerance" when you chose to insult me, knowing it wouldn't add anything constructive to the discussion. I suggest you try and be a bit more diplomatic in the future before you go too far, friend.

[Lurker 5]

I think it's fairly obvious you started walking the line of "religious tolerance" when you chose your screename.

Anyway, lets try to stick to film scores here, okay fellas?

Neil

[Magnus 0]

I dunno what this picture is about and after finding out it is a combination of Gibson and Horner I still really don't care.

I can't think of any score made by Horner as of late that doesn't sound pretty much the same as the previous one :-/

Magnus - Who have no confidence in this picture, whether he knows anything about it or not

[Guest]

I think it's fairly obvious you started walking the line of "religious tolerance" when you chose your screename.  

Anyway, lets try to stick to film scores here, okay fellas?  

Neil

Okay, Neil. But what did your first statement have to do with them?

[Morlock 11]

Let me just say that although The Lord is Judge's screenname may be dabatable- he has one hell of an Avatar!

[HPFAN 1]

Horner will come through.

[Guest]

Should I take that as a compliment, Morlock, or are you talking about "A Christian Film Score Website"?

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

He's talking about Homer.

Ray Barnsbury

[Guest]

I didn't know Horner went by my screenname, too. Or what...are you saying I'm Horner?!

[PBL 0]

I didn't even noticed your signature until I was to post.

I only noticed your Homer head screenpicture.

Anyway, I'm not aware myself of this film, but I hope Horner won't screw it and will be able to empower the meaning of the film, such as Rosza's Ben Hur.

Philippe

[Jango Fett 0]

Anyway, I'm not aware myself of this film, but I hope Horner won't screw it and will be able to empower the meaning of the film, such as Rosza's Ben Hur.

He did a great job on Gibson's past movie Braveheart!

[hitman20 0]

Haha. Ya'll are some funny people. Anyways, stop hating on Horner. He's a great composer. I realize that many people will not accept him because he's not John Williams, but he has contributed a large deal of music to the film industry, and anyone who can at least do that, and succeed, is worthy of some kind of praise. So I'm pretty much in agreeance with Stefancos and I feel that JW is good, but there's more to life than favoring only one composer. But don't get me wrong, I'm sure that JW would have done a great job, but I do wanna see someone else's perspective on the film.

[ocelot 508]

It's not like Horner is going to do a bad job here guys. Give him a break. he's a good film composer. There are many of his scores that I think are wonderful scores. His orchestrations do suck, I know, but he does a good job on films.

[A24 4,345]

I don't hate Horner. But it baffles me how some folks put him right next to John Williams who's already a legend many times over for reasons so clear. I will even go so far by questioning their opinions from now on.

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Alex Cremers

[ocelot 508]

thank you......

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I will even go so far by questioning their opinions from now on.

Oh, of course. Once somebody doesn't agree with you, what chance do they deserve to be listened ever again?

[A24 4,345]

Ocelot, one day I hope you will forgive me.

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Alex Cremers

[A24 4,345]

Ender, only the people who think Horner should be buried in the same soil next to Williams should be questioned for there opinions about great composers. Is that better? I mean he's a fine craftsmen, I'm sure he did a wonderful job on Braveheart but putting him in the same league as Williams is a bit unthoughtful.

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Alex Cremers