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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

How many of you have a favorite film composer who's NOT John Williams

Discussion in 'Star Wars And Film Music' started by Mastadge, Jun 10, 2002.

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  1. David_Blue

    David_Blue Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 30, 2002
    This is a great thread. Now I have many new names I can look up. And I can't lose the list, because it's stored here and will only grow.

    For me, Richard Einhorn is boss. As far as I know, he only ever wrote music for one film, _The Passion Of Joan Of Arc_. But the CD of this music, _Voices Of Light_, moves more than any other CD I own. I would encourage anyone else to check it out.

    A friend who, like me, likes John Williams a lot, likes John Barry a lot more.
     
  2. JonathonVandergriff

    JonathonVandergriff Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 29, 2000
    An interesting score that struck me was a few years ago, and I never was able to find the CD or score. It was written by Stephen Endelman, and was to the movie "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain". I haven't been able to find any of his other work, but that movie had a great score.
     
  3. Commander Dan

    Commander Dan Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 2, 1999
    3-way tie for my favorite:
    Williams, Horner, Goldsmith.
     
  4. Vonn

    Vonn Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2000
    Wait a minute! Einhorn is Finkle. Finkle IS Einhorn! Einhorn IS A MAN!

    Johnathan,

    It is very interesting that you mentioned that about Hans Zimmer. I wasn't aware that he did that. I suppose he didn't do it for Gladiator and Hannibal (since we actually see him at the keyboard in BTS clips for Gladiator, and see him making changes with the orchestra in BTS for Hannibal).
     
  5. KNIRE_DARK

    KNIRE_DARK Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 18, 2002
    Well, my mother and I both LOVED the score to Pearl Harbor (we were shocked that it didn't get an Oscar nod...I mean, I love John Williams and all, but did he really have to be in there TWICE?). So I'm gonna go with Hans Zimmer (even though I know he gets a lot of help composing his music). Also, I seem to be the only person in my school who likes the Spiderman score, so Danny Elfman gets on my list for that, and his superb work on Good Will Hunting. Elliot Goldenthaal makes my list also for his Batman Overture in Batman & Robin, and his work on Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda would be at the TOP of my list if videogame composers were included, and yes, they do count as real composers!).

    Can't forget the above par work of James Horner in Titanic and A Beautiful Mind. And finally, Craig Armstrong's wonderful work in Moulin Rouge can't go unrecognized. Those are my other fav film composers and their respective works which I admire, but JW is the dude who got me STARTED on film music, so he'll always get top billing.
     
  6. dolphin

    dolphin Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 5, 1999
    "For those of you who are partial to Hans Zimmer's scores, you should be aware that it's not necessarily Hans Zimmer you like. Hanz Zimmer is part of a company that he created called "Media Ventures" which has several composers on its staff. Each Zimmer score is actually 5 different composers working together and Zimmer just "signs off" on the music. John Powell (who recently left media ventures) is one of those who was working under Zimmer. He did the score for "Evolution" (great score by the way).

    It's very similar to grad students working under a professor - the grad students do all the work and the professor gets the credit.

    I'm not saying that it's a bad thing - exactly the opposite. It distributes the work load so composers don't go stark raving mad. But, I'm just making sure that everyone knows what is actually happening on a "Hans Zimmer" score.

    Even my hero Danny Elfman did the same sort of thing on his early scores, and still does. Shirley Walker was co composer to many of his first films. Notice how once Shirley Walker stopped working with Elfman, his scores changed abruptly. "



    that's interesting. He was my 3rd favorite composer but now I'm not so sure. How much of Lion King and Prince of Egypt was he responsible for?
     
  7. PrincessLaura

    PrincessLaura Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 26, 1999
    Leonard Rosenman!!!
    I love the score from Bakshi´s Lord of the Rings and I really can´t stand the score from the new Ring-movie with all that flute-doodlie-doo!! It reminds me of Titanic, ugh!!
     
  8. blackjack86

    blackjack86 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jul 14, 2002
    I don't think I have a favorite composer as much as I have favortie soundtracks. Nino Rota's "Godfather" soundtrack is a classic of course. I like Danny Elfman's "Batman" very much, Elfman's best I think. Best use of a piano in a score. John Williams is up there; I think his best work was on "Empire Strikes Back" (it just all came together for that movie didn't it?). My favorite soundtrack of all time though is "Braveheart" which is James Horner I believe. Perfect combination of a love theme, sadness themes, all-out war, etc. And let me tell you, the first four tracks are perfect to make out to, and they give you a good 20-30 minutes I believe. Then it switches to war music, but at that point you can just go "Hold on a minute baby, I gotta' change the music." That's when ya put on Marvin Gaye and get back to work baby oh yeah!

    What was I talking about?
     
  9. TenorAprentice

    TenorAprentice Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2002
    I would have to initially say Danny Elfman, mostly for "Edward Scissorhands." great stuff there. Recently, I really did enjoy Spiderman by him. Not only does he do some great thematic work, but has some little tidbits in it (did anyone notice during the scene in the hospital between spidey and his chick, the melody is an expansion of the love theme from superman....a little JW tribute).

    As far a Zimmer goes, I believe that he has the potential to do some amazing work, but since he has opened up to help, the quality has gone down. I mean, it is hard to have 5 people working on a project and be able to keep contenuity. In Gladiator, Zimmer did some amazing work with the themes that created subtext for the plot of the movie, and gave clues as to key changes in characters and events (if anyone is more interested, I did a thesis on this that I could send).

    I am surprised that no one has mentioned Michael Kamen. Not only does he do GREAT thematic integration into incidental music during the movies, but he is also much more diverse as a musicain. He has performed in Jazz ensembles, rock bands, and orchestral ensembles. He also has written numerous songs for Brian Adams and other recording artists. Plus, his new "classical" compositions have been great. Overall, definately one of my favorites!
     
  10. PadmeAmidala007

    PadmeAmidala007 Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jul 1, 2002
    Although Williams is a favorite, I really like James Horner, too.
     
  11. DjFoNiX

    DjFoNiX Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2002
    Man, there are some good film composers out there: Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, John Barry's work of Somewhere in Time was amazing. But, come on!! John Williams has ushered in movies such as The Cowboys, 1941, Hook, Harry Potter, STAR WARS, Superman, Indiana Jones, almost all of which are some of the greatest movies of ALL TIME!!
    And, if you had never heard any heard any track of John Williams, at least hear 'The Battle of Yavin' and 'Love Pledge and the Arena'. I mean, it's so envigorating!!! John Williams is The Man, and I hope he continues making scores for films well into the future.
     
  12. IYUCLISIS

    IYUCLISIS Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    John Williams is the man
    but Yoko Kanno owns all when it comes to composing scores.
    She did work on anime movies such as Escaflowne and Cowboy bebop
    Dance of Curse is the only battle theme that can even touch Duel of the Fates.
     
  13. Ozzel

    Ozzel TF.N Foreign Book Covers Staff star 5 VIP

    Registered:
    May 14, 2001
    And, a preliminary selection would be Don Davis (The Matrix, Jurassic Park III).

    :eek:

    No...comment.

    [face_plain] Okay, maybe a little comment. Let me just say that I'm not too fond of Davis for what he did with JP's themes.
     
  14. Darth_Core_Dump

    Darth_Core_Dump Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 3, 2001
    The first 6 notes of the main Braveheart theme make me think of slower grandiose section of "Jupiter" by Holst every time I hear it.
     
  15. TenorAprentice

    TenorAprentice Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2002
  16. RikDuel_of_the_fates

    RikDuel_of_the_fates Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2002
    1. Goldsmith
    2. Williams
    3. Barry
    4. Herrmann
    5. Bernstein
    6. Kamen
    7. Korngold
    8. Jarre
    9. Rozsa
    10.North
    Just missing the top ten is Basil Poledouris

    M.
     
  17. ADMIRALSPUZZUM

    ADMIRALSPUZZUM Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 13, 2002
    Basil Poledouris is EXCELLENT. Anybody who hasn't yet, rush out and see the Hunt for Red October, listen to the main theme from the begginning of the movie and come back.
     
  18. DarthHomer

    DarthHomer Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2000
    Conan the Barbarian is a great score.

    But my two favourite composers are Williams and Danny Elfman. It's hard to choose between them, but I give Elfman the slight edge cause I think he takes more chances with his scores and has managed to apply his rock background to classical film scoring in a fresh way.
     
  19. DruKalita

    DruKalita Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 14, 2002
    Ooh, Yoko Kanno. I've just finished watching the entirety of Cowboy Bebop and am tempted to buy that $200 boxed set just so I can have the complete series score (and then some).

    I'm surprised no one's really mentioned Howard Shore. I loved his Dogma score, and was really happy with his work on LotR.

     
  20. RikDuel_of_the_fates

    RikDuel_of_the_fates Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2002
    Back to Basil...
    I just got the soundtrack to Robocop on cassette (it's a bit rough to find on CD, and the tape was $2) and I totally reccomend it. Along with Hunt (I sing the Hymn for Red October in the shower sometimes) and Conan the Barbarian. And maybe Starship Troopers.
    M.
     
  21. Jedi-Finney

    Jedi-Finney Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 22, 2001
    hey, DruKalita, i like yoko kanno too, ever see macross plus? the music is awesome!
     
  22. LeeKenobi

    LeeKenobi Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 13, 2002
    Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, The Lion King) and David Arnold (Independence Day).

    I also enjoyed Johann de Meijj's (sp.?)
    Original LOTR suite.
    (Before the films)
    Especially the Shadofax motif in the Gandalf movement.
     
  23. TenorAprentice

    TenorAprentice Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2002
    for the Yoko Kanno fans out there...
    some of her video game music is amazing. personally, I think that uncharted waters is one of the best works she has done. if you would like, PM me and I have a 3 disc sampler of a bunch of works that a friend of mine (and the webmaster for the YK web page posted above) made. I can send it to you...
     
  24. ST-TPM-ASF-TNE

    ST-TPM-ASF-TNE Moderator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 27, 2001
    (1) John Williams
    (2) Danny Elfman
    (3) Howard Shore (LOTR)
    (4) James Newton Howard (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable)
    (5) Hans Zimmer
    (6) James Horner

     
  25. Tobie_Wan

    Tobie_Wan Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2002
    I'll throw a vote in there for Angelo Badalamenti who scores most of David Lynch's movies. In particular, I really liked the score for The Straight Story.
     
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