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Really good movie scores

38K views 155 replies 92 participants last post by  Mark Dee 
#1 ·
Since there is no such topic either, I'm starting one. Off the top of my head I can think of these:

Last of the Mohicans
Exotica
A.I.
Jaws
Nightmare before Christmas
Batman
Dracula
Blade Runner
2001 Space Odyssey
Dances with wolves
The conversation
Signs
Catch me if you can
Requiem for a dream
The piano
Crash
 
#10 ·
Gottfried Huppertz's scores for Fritz Lang are tremendous works in a Straussian vein, especially the one for Metropolis; I wish the music would come out on CD.
Jerry Goldsmith's score for Robert Wise's Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a tour de force, and extremely well integrated symbolically with the underlying structure of the film.
Prokofiev's score for Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky is deservedly acclaimed; the 'Battle on the Ice' alone would elevate this one to the peaks of film scoring, imo.
Anything by Bernard Herrmann is going to be at least interesting, of course, but his scores for Wise's The Day the Earth Stood Still and Joseph Mankiewicz's The Ghost and Mrs. Muir are magnificent in quite different ways. Of his scores for Hitchcock, Vertigo is the stand-out, I think, though the choice is hard.... :)
And I've always liked David Shire's score for Walter Murch's Return to Oz; I'm not otherwise a big fan of Shire's work, but this one is beautiful, haunting, and at times very moving.
 
#17 ·
Think what you will about my cheesy tastes, but Basil Poledouris' brassy thunderous score for Conan, the Barbarian could not be more perfect for its subject, and the recording is phenomenal.

Most of my other favorites are already mentioned above - especially 2001. The score for ST: The Motion Picture mentioned above uses a device called the cosmic beam - a very long wire stretched over a girder with an electric guitar pickup underneath. It makes some very bizarre sounds that are used to represent V-ger. I hope it wound up in the soundtrack disc and was not just considered sound effects. For me it is part of the music. (I don't have the soundtrack CD.)

I should also mention Miklós Rózsa whose score for Ben-Hur is archetypal sword and sandal music, one of my favorite genres of movie scores.
 
#22 ·
Yes, it does a bit! I'm not a film music person but I do love a bit of Hans Zimmer.

Now here is a question: Is it true that Danny Elfman cannot read music?? I told this too a friend on my course who's ambition is to be a film composer and I think I broke his heart so some confirmation would be good! I don't think it can be though...
 
#23 ·
There are a few big name composers who's forte is not interpreting the dots. Howard Shore is one and It wouldn't surprise me to find that Danny Elfman who is a bit of a rocker, is another.

Don't get me wrong I don't mean they can't find middle c with a searchlight and a tem of bloodhounds but if a bach fugue alnded on the music stand they couldn't 'first time' it.

FC
 
#25 ·
Elfman can read and write music, but like many other film composers, he doesn't orchestrate his music. There are many film composers, such as John Williams for instance, who conduct their own music and are masters in orchestration. Elfman is not one of them.
 
#26 ·
Okay, I know I'm being stereotypical when I say this, but I really enjoy the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. Here me out here. I was listening to it the other day and was surprised by how competent, confident, and original the writing sounds; not just your average music score. I think Shore's got a good head on his shoulders when it comes to this sort of thing.
 
#27 ·
It's all well here.

It many sound a little immature but I immensely love the LOTR soundtrack (and the movies for that matter), it's so epic (more immaturity here) and special. My favorites are the "Rohan", "Minas Tirith", and "Shire" themes for their vivid images of the landscapes. The "Black Riders" theme is too cliched for me, probably because of its resemblance to every other "hooded ghouls" theme I've ever heard (a.k.a "O Fortuna").

Air
 
#28 ·
Thomas Newman's score to Oscar & Lucinda. Far and away the best film score I've ever heard. Road to Perdition also comes high on my list too (am listening to it now). Both scores are characterised by a gentle 'speaking' intimacy. Newman can handle big drama scenes too, made all the more effective by his previous delicate music which he ramps up to cover bigger sounds. Conjures depth very quickly. Unlikely to be the sort of composer chosen for an all out action film, though :)
 
#30 ·
Akira Ifukube's score to the original Godzilla (Gojira) (1954) is a classic. Now, before any of you snicker at this, I can tell you this is, for sure, an above average sci-fi/monster score for films of this period.

The score is dark, brooding and funereal. In the original film, Godzilla is a metaphor for the power, terror and destruction of atomic weapons. Ifukube's score perfectly complements the dark, despair-laden tone of the film.

Again, this is not typical 1950s Saturday morning sci-fi music. This is a unique score of much understated impact. I encourage anyone in here to seek it out; it's easily available on CD.
 
#35 ·
unknown childerns movie. i need help

HELLO!

i have been looking everywhere for the soundtrack or a copy of a movie i had as a child. i was hoping someone could help me with the title. i have no clue what it is.

"SYNOPSIS"
----
it is a cartoon in which 2 orchestras are different kingdoms. the "people" in these kingdoms are actual instruments. the son of one kingdom falls in love with the daughter from the other kingdom.... its like romeo and juliet. the kingdoms fight... but with music!!
its a great piece but as i said i have no idea what it is called or where i can find it.

DPS
 
#37 ·
HELLO!

i have been looking everywhere for the soundtrack or a copy of a movie i had as a child. i was hoping someone could help me with the title. i have no clue what it is.

"SYNOPSIS"
----
it is a cartoon in which 2 orchestras are different kingdoms. the "people" in these kingdoms are actual instruments. the son of one kingdom falls in love with the daughter from the other kingdom.... its like romeo and juliet. the kingdoms fight... but with music!!
its a great piece but as i said i have no idea what it is called or where i can find it.

DPS
Try the www.imdb.com (International Movie Database)
 
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