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The Best Of The Rest


Dean1700

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Several posts/polls have shown that the majority of the members here believe that the best scores by John Williams are both Superman and The Empire Strikes Back.

Ok. So what is the best scores from the other major composers?

James Horner, Michael Kamen, James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, Basil Poledouris, Danny Elfman, David Arnold and the late, great Jerry Goldsmith and Elmer Bernstein.

James Horner - Titanic

Alan Silvestri - Back To The Future

David Arnold - Independence Day

Hans Zimmer - Crimson Tide

Basil Poledouris - Conan The Barbarian

Danny Elfman - Batman

Feel free to add others that I have missed.

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Several posts/polls have shown that the majority of the members here believe that the best scores by John Williams are both Superman and The Empire Strikes Back.

Did you noticed you forgot "Raiders of the Lost Ark"?!? :)

Althought I like The Last Crusade a little more.

Alan Silvestri's best are Forrest Gump and The Mummy Returns.

Regarding Kamen, I know him mostly for the De Hard Trilogy, but I can't choose one.

Ennio Morricone - The Good, the bad, the ugly

I add only this, because Morlock will do this for me, and I will agree with him ;)

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Rachel Portman - Only You.

Jerry Goldsmith - Basic Instinct.

Hans Zimmer - The Lion King.

John Williams - Schindler's List.

John Barry - Out of Africa.

Ennio Morricone - I only know a few scores by him, but for me Lolita.

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Sure. Raiders is a good score and you won't hear an argument from me but in the opinion of the majority of JWNet members, from previous posts/polls, is that both Superman and Empire is JW's best.

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Most of these composers are still alive..... do you even listen to music that's older than you. :)

Alex North- Spartacus

Miklos Rozsa - Ben Hur

Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo

Alfred Newman - The Robe

Max Steiner- GOne with the wind

Erich Wolfgang Korngold - The adventures of robin hood.

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- Hellraiser & Hellraiser 2 - Christopher Young

- Aliens & Willow - James Honer

- Conan - Basil Poledouris

- True Romance - Hans Zimmer

- Edward Scissorhands - Elfman

- Alien - Goldsmith

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James Horner - Braveheart

Ennio Morricone - The Mission

Jerry Goldsmith - Under Fire

Hans Zimmer - The Lion King

Elmer Bernstein - The Age Of Innocence

Danny Elfman - Edward Scissorhands

Basil Poledouris - Conan The Barbarian

Alan Silvestri - Forrest Gump

David Arnold - Independence Day

James Newton Howard - Dinosaur

Roald

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Jerry Goldsmith = Star Trek: TMP

James Horner = Braveheart

David Arnold = Tomorrow Never Dies

Alan Silvestri = The Mummy Returns

Howard Shore = The Lord Of The Rings

Ennio Morricone = The Untouchables

Basil Poledouris = Conan the Barbarian

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Best + Jerry Goldsmith = Star Trek: TMP

Hey, I like the score for Star Trek: TMP, but I never really loved it. The main title theme is a little too jolly, too carnavalesque for my taste. Love the Klingon theme though and the structure and complexity of The Enterprise cue (even due the latter uses the main title theme as it's orientation point).

The main title theme makes me do a nerdy, happy dance instead of giving me goosebumps or giving me the feeling: "Wow filmmusic can be so cool".

The Star Wars main title can do all those things for me.

Star Trek's TMP theme simply cannot.

I know I discard the entire score now based on my interpretation of the main theme. That's not really fair. On a whole Under Fire has nothing that I dislike; it's a unique score and there is no composer who wrote something that good in the same idiom. But to find an equal for Goldsmith's utterly romantic and modernistic The Motion Picture score... that can be done: The Empire Strikes Back or Superman. Both are vastly superior in my opinion.

Roald

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I know I discard the entire score now based on my interpretation of the main theme. That's not really fair. On a whole Under Fire has nothing that I dislike; it's a unique score and there is no composer who wrote something that good in the same idiom. But to find an equal for Goldsmith's utterly romantic and modernistic The Motion Picture score... that can be done: The Empire Strikes Back or Superman. Both are vastly superior in my opinion.

Roald

My guess is that this might have more to do with the fact that the theme suffered from overuse due to TNG, were it was performed by a smaller orchestra, kinda dulling the effects.

Forget TNG, Goldsmith Main Title for TMP is brilliant, better then Superman, better then TESB.

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Forget TNG, Goldsmith Main Title for TMP is brilliant, better then Superman, better then TESB.

It's extraorninary arrangment-wise. The orchestration of the piece is probably beyond Williams' capabilities. No doubt there. But purely thematically speaking, the theme is nowhere near the class of, let's say, The Imperial March, Luke Skywalker's Theme or even Superman's Theme.

But I'll listen to it tonight again. It was written during my favorite years in film music: the mid '70's to the early '80's when Williams and Goldsmith ruled the world with their great symphonic and romantic masterpieces...

Roald

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Forget TNG, Goldsmith Main Title for TMP is brilliant, better then Superman, better then TESB.

Superman may be equal to TMP, but they are both superior to ESB.

Neil

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Sorry folks but some of you are insane, please check yourselves back into your rooms now.

Star Trek the Motion Picture is a better score than ESB, without any doubt, and its probably a better score overall even over Superman.

Only the Love Theme from Superman rival's Jerry's Enterprise. I will grant that for 4 straight years the Oscars went to the wrong scores, but ESB is the least of these, and it takes a back seat to Raiders as well.

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just for the record jedimaster, here it the official JW's top 10

1. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, 1980, 917PTS, 109 VOTES OUT OF 129

2. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, 1982, 754PTS, 108 VOTES

3. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, 1981, 520PTS, 85 VOTES

4. STAR WARS, 472PTS, 1977, 75 VOTES

5. SUPERMAN THE MOVIE, 458PTS, 1978 81 VOTES

6. SCHINDLERS LIST, 1993, 423PTS, 75 VOTES

7. JURASSIC PARK, 1993, 348PTS, 68 VOTES

8. HOOK, 1991, 339PTS, 66 VOTES

9. JAWS, 1975, 283PTS, 61 VOTES

10. RETURN OF THE JEDI, 1983, 281PTS, 46 VOTES

And for those who care

the next 5 are

11. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977, 260pts, 50 votes

12. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 1989, 211pts, 44 votes

13. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, 2001, 190pts, 43 votes

14. A.I. Artificial Intelligence, 2001, 181pts, 43 votes

15. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 146pts, 35 votes.

Interestingly enough I do know several lists contained 9 of the Top 10.

Special kudo's to Sissorhands for his list which only contained one of the top 10. He has the most unique list of those who participated, which goes to show that we have a wide variety of tastes here.

while I don't agree with several of the choices, ESB, SL, and Hook, would never make a top 10 list for me, but I accepted the boards findings.

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Sorry folks but some of you are insane, please check yourselves back into your rooms now.

Star Trek the Motion Picture is a better score than ESB, without any doubt, and its probably a better score overall even over Superman.

That's what I've been saying! It seems Garth of Izar has let everyone out!

Neil

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1. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, 1980, 917PTS, 109 VOTES OUT OF 129  

2. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, 1982, 754PTS, 108 VOTES  

3. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, 1981, 520PTS, 85 VOTES  

4. STAR WARS, 472PTS, 1977, 75 VOTES  

5. SUPERMAN THE MOVIE, 458PTS, 1978 81 VOTES  

6. SCHINDLERS LIST, 1993, 423PTS, 75 VOTES  

7. JURASSIC PARK, 1993, 348PTS, 68 VOTES  

8. HOOK, 1991, 339PTS, 66 VOTES  

9. JAWS, 1975, 283PTS, 61 VOTES  

10. RETURN OF THE JEDI, 1983, 281PTS, 46 VOTES

It is impossible to disagree with that list. Unless for number 10, which is more arguable, it's all spot on.

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Am I having a dejà-vu?

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Goldsmith- Star Trek:TPM

Arnold- Independence Day

Silvestri- Back to the Future

Kamen- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Horner- Star Trek II or Willow

Shore- LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring

Uematsu- Final Fantasy VI :wave:

John- glad Joe dug up the old Official Top 10

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Goldsmith: ST:TMP

North: Agony & Ecstasy

Herrmann: Vertigo or Citizen Kane

Horner: Braveheart

Elfman: Edward Batmanhands

Bernstein: To Kill a Mockingbird

Goldenthal: Final Fantasy

Rosza: El Cid

Steiner: King Kong

As for Williams, I'd say the Star Wars Trilogy (with ESB as the high point), E.T., Schindler's List, CEot3K, and Raiders. Jaws may be a great score, but it isnt the same kind of total musical experience "gesamptkunstwerk" that those others are...

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Goldsmith's main theme for TMP is brilliant. I'd rate it above just about any Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or Superman theme (if not by a large margin). As for the score as a whole, I have yet to discover the brilliance or the V'gar cues (I'm only a callow youth), so the score is amazing, but not quite as good as the best of Williams from that period. I find the main theme a bit cumbersome in the movie, and while The Enterprise remains one of the absolute greatest cues in the history of man, in also underlines how cumbersome and unfocused the movie could be. While I thank whoever's reponsible for enabing Goldsmith to write the cue, everytime I listen to it I think about the unfocused qualitied that IMO sank the movie. And, alas, without discovering the mysteries of the V'gar, the score is still a number of amazing highlights including 3 of the absolute best themes ever written, not overall as amazing as Superman or ESB.

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Thomas Newman-Finding Nemo

James Newton Howard- Peter Pan

Micheal Giachinno(sp?) -The Inredibles

Bernard Hermann- Citizen Kane

Danny Elfman - Spiderman 2

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Jerry Goldsmith - Legend or The Omen Trilogy

Danny Elfman - Black Beauty or Sommersby

James Horner - Troy (I don't know his other works that well)

Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Bernard Herrmann - Vertigo or Citizen Kane

Basil Poledouris - RoboCop

Hans Zimmer - Crimson Tide (his only good score)

David Arnold - Stargate, Independence Day and Godzilla (poor David hasn't done anything noteworthy since then)

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Goldsmith = ST:TMP (or Patton, depends on the day of the week)

Horner = Brainstorm

Bernstein = The Magnificent Seven (or Hawaii, depends on the month)

Elfman = Batman

North = Spartacus (or Cleopatra, depends on the lunar cycle)

Rozsa = Ben Hur (or Spellbound, depends on the Wheel of Fish)

Newmans;

Thomas = The Shawshank Redemption

Randy = Ragtime (or The Natural depends on who wins the World Series)

David = Galaxy Quest (so far, his best is yet to come)

Alfred = Anastasia (or Song of Bernadette, depends on the Vatican's position)

Arnold = Tomorrow Never Dies

Steiner = Now Voyager

Korngold = The Sea Hawk

more to come

BKL :mrgreen: White Knight, David Arnold

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Newmans;

Thomas = The Shawshank Redemption

Randy = Ragtime (or The Natural depends on who wins the World Series)

David = Galaxy Quest (so far, his best is yet to come)

Alfred = Anastasia (or Song of Bernadette, depends on the Vatican's position)

Arnold = Tomorrow Never Dies

I didn't know "Tomorrow Never Dies" was scored by Arnold Newman. :mrgreen::mrgreen:

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Newmans;

Thomas = The Shawshank Redemption

Randy = Ragtime (or The Natural depends on who wins the World Series)

David = Galaxy Quest (so far, his best is yet to come)

Alfred = Anastasia (or Song of Bernadette, depends on the Vatican's position)

Arnold = Tomorrow Never Dies

I didn't know "Tomorrow Never Dies" was scored by Arnold Newman. ;):ola:

:ola::P:P

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Some of these lists are a bit hard to conjur up, but here goes: (this maybe different from an earlier list I did, but I'm now more familiar with more bits of work.

Goldsmith: ST: TMP - duhhhhh

Horner: Braveheart, with Apollo 13 a close second.

Arnold: Tomorrow Never Dies

Morricone: The Mission or Once Upon a Time in the West

Zimmer: Gladiator

Vangelis: Blade Runner

Kamen: Brazil

Bernstien: The Magnificent Seven

Shore: LOTR - Besides, what else is there? Seriously?

Basil: Conan the Barbarian

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Jerry Goldsmith: Total Recall or Alien

James Horner: Apollo 13 or Star Trek II

Michael Kamen: License to Kill or Lethal Weapon 3 (what the hell am I supposed to put? These are the only two I know)

David Arnold: Tomorrow Never Dies (yeah, this one's for sure)

John Barry: You Only Live Twice

Vangelis: Blade Runner (the main title came up as I was typing this)

Randy Newman: Maverick

Elmer Bernstein: To Kill a Mockingbird

Miklos Rozsa: Ben-Hur

Alan Silvestri: Back to the Future

Danny Elfman: Pee Wee's Big Adventure or Batman

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It seems Garth of Izar has let everyone out

Queen to Queens level 3, Moderator ;)

Shore: LOTR - Besides, what else is there? Seriously?

Silence of the Lambs. That's a good one.

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Michael Kamen: License to Kill or Lethal Weapon 3 (what the hell am I supposed to put?  These are the only two I know)

DIE HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a trilogy of films with Bruce Willis. You know, they're pretty famous ;)

Alan Silvestri: Back to the Future

I still prefer Forrest Gump or The Mummy Returns.

IMO, the Back to the future Trilogy scores are a bit overrated.

End of the post.

Smnol.

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Band of Brothers is pretty good too, and so is Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which features an awesome main theme. Too bad I've not really had the opportunity to dive into Kamen's work yet. I'm not really familiar with all of his stuff (certainly not the Die Hard/Lethal Weapon series), so I can't really say what his absolute best is. But his music is always pretty good to great. I even love his score to X-Men, which has been put down by a lot of people as lacking a strong superhero theme, and being simply too bland and quiet for a superhero movie.

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