Favorite (non-John Williams) movie score.

I gotta love Alan Silvestri's Back to the Future scores as well.

 

Braveheart
The rock
Gladiator

I saw Kiss of the dragon and SHREK this week and I thought of it a few times during the movies that there were some great peaces in there...

 

The most beautiful score I've ever heard is Edward Scissorhands, by Danny Elfman.
I also like:
Batman
Mars Attacks!
Field of Dreams
Gladiator
Back to the Future

and too many more to mention

 

I don't know if all of the following are my "favorites," per se, but they are soundtracks whose themes I find memorable. A soundtrack might not be the "best," musically, but a good soundtrack helps carry and define a movie emotionally (IMO). So here are some that stick out to me:

Titanic, James Horner. Yeah, the criticism that it's a Braveheart knockoff is valid, but I thought that the Titanic score carried the movie more memorably (something that the Pearl Harbor soundtrack tried to emulate but couldn't reproduce).

The Man in the Iron Mask, Nick Glennie-Smith. I like the way it recalls the old French courtliness, yet is still sweeping and passionate. Actually, the score was probably the best thing about this film.

Forrest Gump, Alan Silvestri. I'm not so keen on the movie, but the FG Suite gets to you.

The Godfather Part II, Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola. It's like impeccable phrasing to a stunning speech.

I'm sure there are others, and my soundtrack knowledge is limited, but the ones I listed stick in my mind the most, that I can still recall without having to see the film again.

Fun thread!

 

My second and third favourite soundtracks (behind 'Star Wars') are 'Star Trek-TMP' and 'Psycho'.

Bernard Herrmann's use of only string sounds to create 'black and white music', as he called it, was brilliantly effective. The 'murder' theme must rank as the most instantly recognisable and evocative piece of movie music, alongside JW's 'Jaws' theme.

As has been mentioned in an earlier post, the bootleg version of the full 'Star Trek - TMP' soundtrack is excellent.

Can I include '2001: A Space Odyssey'? There are a few good pieces in that film.
Kubrick showed more inspiration in selecting existing music for his movies than some composers *cough*Horner*cough* do in their 'original' works.

(Incidentally, can anyone name that piano piece from 'Barry Lyndon'? I want to get it but can't think of the damn title!)

 

The Last Of The Mohicans soundtrack. Each piece is different and fresh.

 

That is a good one...

 

Cocoon - James Horner
Braveheart - James Horner
LEgends of the Fall - James Horner
Forever YOung - Jerry Goldsmith
Gladiator - Hans Zimmer
The Secret of NIMH - Jerry Goldsmith

 

The "Cast Away" Theme is also a very great peace of music......the composer was Alan Silvestri i think...

 

Conan the Barbarian by Basil Poledouris. Easily the best.

 

Kundun by Philip Glass is great.

 

Here are a few I could think of off the top of my head:


1) 'The Lion In Winter' (John Barry)

2) 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' (Jerry Goldsmith)

3) 'King Kong' (1933, Max Steiner)

4) 'Alien' (Jerry Goldsmith)

5) 'Gone With The Wind' (Max Steiner)

6) 'Citizen Kane' (Bernard Herrmann)

7) 'Batman' (1989, Danny Elfman)

8) 'The Bride Of Frankenstein' (Franz Waxman)

9) 'Taxi Driver' (Bernard Herrmann)

10) 'The Adventures Of Robin Hood' (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)

 

View to a Kill, scored by John Barry

Outstanding theme song for an otherwise average film.

 

I know I will get flamed for this...but best non JW score is the Star Trek theme from Jerry Goldsmith (the one introduced in ST: The Motion Picture).

 

Gettysburg
Gladiator
Cinema Paradiso
The Usual Suspects
Braveheart
Much Ado about Nothing
GalaxyQuest

 

I'm sure that most of these have been listed before, but since this appears to be an all-out opinion fest, i'll partake:

Batman - Elfman
Batman Returns - Elfman
Edward Scissorhands - Elfman
The Mummy - Goldsmith
Gladiator - Zimmer
Stargate - Arnold
Braveheart (Of course!!) - Horner
Willow - Horner
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan - Horner

I don't know, but there's always been something special about Star Trek: TWOK...I guess it's cause I grew up on it, and it is full of rich melodies and phrases.

But I gotta tell you guys...nothing beats John Williams: Hook, Indiana Jones Trilogy, Star Wars, Schindler's List, ET, CEOTTK, need I say more????

 

I'm sure that most of these have been listed before, but since this appears to be an all-out opinion fest, i'll partake:

Batman - Elfman
Batman Returns - Elfman
Edward Scissorhands - Elfman
The Mummy - Goldsmith
Gladiator - Zimmer
Stargate - Arnold
Braveheart (Of course!!) - Horner
Willow - Horner
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan - Horner

I don't know, but there's always been something special about Star Trek: TWOK...I guess it's cause I grew up on it, and it is full of rich melodies and phrases.

But I gotta tell you guys...nothing beats John Williams: Hook, Indiana Jones Trilogy, Star Wars, Schindler's List, ET, CEOTTK, need I say more????

 

I'm sure that most of these have been listed before, but since this appears to be an all-out opinion fest, i'll partake:

Batman - Elfman
Batman Returns - Elfman
Edward Scissorhands - Elfman
The Mummy - Goldsmith
Gladiator - Zimmer
Stargate - Arnold
Braveheart (Of course!!) - Horner
Willow - Horner
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan - Horner

I don't know, but there's always been something special about Star Trek: TWOK...I guess it's cause I grew up on it, and it is full of rich melodies and phrases.

But I gotta tell you guys...nothing beats John Williams: Hook, Indiana Jones Trilogy, Star Wars, Schindler's List, ET, CEOTTK, need I say more????

 

The Secret of NIMH by Jerry Goldsmith.

 

Cripes!

My sincere apologies for the multiple posts, my college's server went haywire thus causing this malady whilst I was trying to post. But that's what you get for going to a "superior" private school I guess. Geeez, with the tuition they charge, you'd think they would be able to invest in some quality products....

 

I'm thinking I'm adding FotR to the list. In no particular order:

Cutthroat Island (John Debney)
Gettysburg (Randy Edelman I think)
Gladiator (Hans Zimmer)
StarGate (David Arnold)
Fellowship of the Ring (Howard Shore)

and, my all-time favorite:

Conan the Barbarian (Basil Poledouris)

 

Conan?

Arrrgghhh! I don't like that soundtrack at all. But as we know everybody has a different taste. It feels to much like pop or rockmusic to me when it comes to the orchestration. Too simple somehow. But maybe that's why so many like it, I don't know. Simple can sometimes be good...

 

Conan, pop? ARe we thinking of the same Conan?

 

I used to love The Secret of NIMH. Ahh....Nicodemus. That was a really great movie when I was growing up. It almost seems forgotten nowadays.

 

Seven Samurai, Kagemusha, Barton Fink, Blade Runner, Dr. Zhivago, Shawshank Redemption, Tom Bandits, Brazil (albeit arrangements), Return of the Sun Devil, Godfather, The Third Man, Miller's Crossing, Raising Arizona, Psycho, The Shining, Lawrence of Arabia, Pink Panther, Dances with Wolves, King Kong (both versions), all of John Barry's James Bond work, Live and Let Die, The Soy Who Loved Me, Butch Cassidy and te Sundance Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Hidden Fortress, Singing In The Rain, Lolita, Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now, Akira, Chinatown,

and Forbidden Planet!