December 3, 200718 yr John Williams composing some of the all time classics in a recent Oscar telecast. Some of my favorites are in there. The Magnificent Seven score I find to be underrated.
December 4, 200718 yr I like to differentiate between film scored and soundtracks, I prefer the former. I also will preface this list (in no order, sans one) by saying I'm not a big fan of the robust, theatrical scores like a Star Wars, Superman, or Indiana Jones trilogy. Michael Nyman - The Piano (My absolute favorite) James Horner - Braveheart (A close second) Erich Wolfgang Korngold - The Adventures of Robin Hood John Williams with Itzhak Perlman - Schindler's List John Williams - Empire of the Sun Nino Rota - The Godfather Wendy Carlos (as Walter Carlos) - A Clockwork Orange Maurice Jarre - Lawrence of Arabia Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Ennio Morricone - The Mission Cliff Martinez - Solaris Carter Burwell - Fargo James Horner - Titanic Randy Newman - The Natural Thomas Newman - American Beauty Thomas Newman - Road to Perdition Thomas Newman - The Shawshank Redemption Vangelis - Chariots of Fire Vangelis - Blade Runner Jerry Goldsmith - Alien Danny Elfman - Sleepy Hollow John Corigliano - The Red Violin Alexandre Desplat - Hostage James Newton Howard - The Six Sense James Newton Howard & Hans Zimmer - Batman Begins (Hate Zimmer but Howard's strings are absolutely amazing) Air - The Virgin Suicides Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King I'm sure I left some off but I call all of those essential for any collection and outside a select few, I couldn't begin to rank them.
December 4, 200718 yr Craig Armstrong--Love Actually (at least I think that's who it is) John Williams--Jurassic Park James L. Venable--Eurotrip
December 4, 200718 yr Elfman - Pee Wee's Big Adventure (pure awesomeness) Mansel - Requiem For A Dream Morricone - Days of Heaven David Kitay - Ghost World Michael Nyman - Gattaca Trevor Jones/Randy Edelman - Last of the Mohicans I'm undoubtedly missing stuff... I also second Braveheart, Titanic, Fargo, and The Natural. I also dig all the John Williams stuff.
December 4, 200718 yr Mansel - Requiem For A Dream Trevor Jones/Randy Edelman - Last of the Mohicans Missed these.
December 4, 200718 yr Thomas Newman - The Shawshank Redemption Burt Bacharach - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid John Barry - Dances with Wolves Danny Elfman - Edward Scissorhands And, possibly my favorite score ever, The Fountain - Clint Mansell.
December 4, 200718 yr Author I've been lead to believe that 'soundtrack' is the correct term (or the political term). I personally prefer 'score' as well but I wanted to leave it more ambiguous. Absolutely no mention of Bernard Hermann yet. Citizen Kane Vertigo North By Northwest Psycho Cape Fear Taxi Driver I think John Williams' best work is Jaws, E.T., and Schindler's List. Also I need to mention Ennio Morricone's Days of Heaven and Cinema Paradiso.
December 4, 200718 yr I've been lead to believe that 'soundtrack' is the correct term (or the political term). I personally prefer 'score' as well but I wanted to leave it more ambiguous. Absolutely no mention of Bernard Hermann yet. Citizen Kane Vertigo North By Northwest Psycho Cape Fear Taxi Driver I think John Williams' best work is Jaws, E.T., and Schindler's List. Also I need to mention Ennio Morricone's Days of Heaven and Cinema Paradiso. Absolutely. A beautifully shot movie as well. Not that that's a surprise with Malick at the helm.
December 4, 200718 yr I would never in a million years sit down and listen to a Hermann score. I think of Psycho and Vertigo, and yes, those scores are very functional and add to the movie, but they're also sort of vaguely unpleasant. Which is obviously kind of the point. So, they're great scores in that sense. And, of course, Penguin would pick a movie I've never heard of.
December 5, 200718 yr Author I don't own any soundtracks so when I mention Hermann, I'm talking about his score in the movies themselves (which is excellent btw). I also heard a little of Kitay's Ghost World score today. It was quirky and I liked it.
December 5, 200718 yr Author Mabdul also mentioned Mansel's Requiem for a Dream score. That's another great one.
December 5, 200718 yr 13th Warrior - Jerry Goldsmith Jaws - John Williams First Knight - Jerry Goldsmith (sh*tty movie, great score) Dragonheart - Randy Edelmen Sleepy Hollow - Danny Elfman Braveheart - James Horner Glory - James Horner These are all outstanding John Carpenter (the director) has also composed some outstanding scores including Halloween
December 8, 200718 yr The Departed soundtrack was kinda sweet my favorites= i'm shipping up to boston, comfortabley numb by Pink Floyd
December 10, 200718 yr John Williams' original soundtrack for "The Empire Strikes Back" has always been my favorite. It's perfect.
December 10, 200718 yr Sergei Eisenstein's "Alexander Nevsky" probably has the best score of all-time. Great film, great score. Composed by Prokofiev, right?
December 10, 200718 yr Sergei Eisenstein's "Alexander Nevsky" probably has the best score of all-time. Great film, great score. Composed by Prokofiev, right? Indeed it was. :thumbup One of my earliest influences as a young music aficionado was Peter and The Wolf. I still listen to it every now and then. Prokofiev had a knack for musical storytelling.
December 10, 200718 yr Wait, are we talking scores or soundtracks? I'll say my favorite soundtrack is either HELP! or A Hard Day's Night. Can't really beat the Beatles, eh?
December 10, 200718 yr I am a huge fan of John Williams. Everything he touches turns to gold. Favorite Soundtracks Schlinder's List Gladiator Edward Scissorhands Phantom of the Opera- Andrew Lloyd Webber - another Ubermusician Superman Raiders of the Lost Ark Harry Potter Star Wars Although the next few weren't newly composed, I thought they married the scene to the music very nicely Forrest Gump Dirty Dancing Grease
December 11, 200718 yr John Williams' original soundtrack for "The Empire Strikes Back" has always been my favorite. It's perfect. Amen. I was about to post "how can this board ignore Star Wars?!" Even the original Star Wars theme triggers an emotional response.
December 11, 200718 yr I don't think film music is necessarily intended to be appreciated in a vacuum; it is supposed to serve the film. Prime example: the music from Halloween. One note repeated over and over and over and the effect is chilling. Jaws is similar in that it uses two notes over and over to build suspense. Great on their own? Doesn't seem to be a fair question.
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