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Forums Forums General Discussion Hey everyone! What’s your favorite film scores?

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  • #37170
    ComposerRyan
    Participant

    Hi everyone,

    I’m new here to this community and just wanted to drop in and say “hi!” I’m a HUGE Danny Elfman fan and his work simply amazes me. So, Danny, if you’re listening, keep up the great work because we’re all listening. ;)

    And, from one Ryan to another, I just want to say that this is a great website and that your hard work with putting this together is greatly appreciated by me and the community. I really enjoy downloading audio clips from the website and browsing all of the informative pages as well.

    I’m also a composer and LOVE film music. I “fell in love” with music when listening to the unforgettable themes in my favorite movies and here’s a list of some of my favorite movie music…it took me a while to compile this list of movie music and please forgive me if I left out something:

    -The Last of the Mohicans (Trevor Jones/Randy Edelman)
    -Spider-Man 2 (Danny Elfman)
    -Batman/Batman Returns (Danny Elfman)
    -The Mummy Returns (Alan Silvestri)
    -Lord of the Rings (Howard Shore)
    -The Truman Show (Burkhard Dallwitz)
    -Desperate Housewives Theme (Danny Elfman)
    -Dances with Wolves (John Barry)
    -Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tan Dun)
    -Crimson Tide (Hans Zimmer)
    -Gladiator (Hans Zimmer)
    -Edward Scissorhands (Danny Elfman)
    -Men In Black (Danny Elfman)
    -Mission: Impossible (Danny Elfman)
    -The Lion King (Hans Zimmer)
    -The Rock (Hans Zimmer/Nick Glennie-Smith/Harry Gregson-Williams)
    -Conspiracy Theory (Carter Burwell)
    -Star Wars: Episode 1 (John Williams)
    -Saving Private Ryan (John Williams)
    -Home Alone (John Williams)
    -Jurrasic Park (John Williams)
    -The Saint (Graeme Revell)
    -Ice Age (David Newman)
    -The Simpsons Theme (Danny Elfman)
    -The Fifth Element (Eric Serra)
    -007: GoldenEye (Eric Serra)
    -Batman (Danny Elfman)
    -Edward Scissorhands (Danny Elfman)
    -StarGate (David Arnold)
    -Children of Dune (Brian Tyler)
    -A Beautiful Mind (James Horner)
    -Sneakers (James Horner)
    -Apollo 13 (James Horner)
    -The ShawShank Redemption (Thomas Newman)
    -The 13th Warrior (Jerry Goldsmith)
    -Speed
    -Twister
    -The Matrix
    -The Matrix: Reloaded

    So, while were on the topic of favorite film music, what is your favorite film scores? I know that I’ve probably left a lot of great music off of my list – so please be sure to list the stuff that I missed. There’s so much good music out there!

    Talk to you later,

    Ryan

    #54097
    Ryan Keaveney
    Keymaster

    Batman
    Poltergeist
    The Last of The Mohicans
    Empire Strikes Back

    Ryan

    #54100
    Spider-Fan
    Participant

    Good choice, new Ryan. You must love Edward Scissorhands (it’s listed twice, but honest mistake because it’s an amazing score). Lots of scores on that list, most of then I’ve heard and others I haven’t, but the ones I have heard are great selections. I saw the first two Matrix scores there, but the third one was probably the best (the last 3 tracks were amazing). Welcome to the site, hope to see you around.

    #54101
    TenderLumpling
    Participant

    Lawrence of Arabia
    El Cid
    Thunderball
    The Man With The Golden Arm
    Alexander Nevsky
    Vertigo
    Madame Bovary
    Battle of Neretva
    The Egyptian
    The Adventures of Robin Hood
    Spartacus
    Jason and the Argonauts
    Psycho
    Dead Presidents
    Black Beauty
    Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
    The Nightmare Before Christmas
    Batman Returns
    Pee-wee’s Big Adventure
    Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
    The Empire Strikes Back

    #54105
    ooshmaster
    Participant

    Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is awesome.

    #54103

    Edward Scissorhands
    Spider-Man
    Spider-Man 2
    Batman
    Batman Returns
    Titus
    Psycho
    Vertigo
    The Saint
    Tomorrow Never Dies
    The Empire Strikes Back
    Revenge of the Sith
    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
    Paycheck
    The Passion of the Christ
    The Matrix
    The Matrix Reloaded
    The Matrix Revolutions
    X-Men 2
    The Mummy Returns
    What Lies Beneath

    #54104
    PHIL
    Participant

    Here are the scores I love. Some of them are inseparable; others stand well on their own, and others went on to become “movie preview staples.”

    Although I love Danny Elfman and have a huge collection of his music I listed my favorites, so I’m not just writing down info you can get from the “Music from a Darkened Theatre 1 and 2 series.”

    1492: Conquest of Paradise, Vangelis
    A Simple Plan, Danny Elfman
    AI: Artificial Intelligence, John Williams,
    American Beauty, Thomas Newman
    Back to the Future, Alan Silvestri
    Backdraft, Hans Zimmer
    Batman; Batman Returns, Danny Elfman
    Being There, Johnny Mandel
    Black Beauty, Danny Elfman
    Dragonheart: Randy Edelman
    E.T., John Williams
    Edward Scissorhands, Danny Elfman
    Empire Strikes Back, John Williams
    Fargo, Carter Burwell
    Forrest Gump, Alan Silvestri
    Gladiator, Hanz Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard
    Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, John Williams
    K2 (music inspired by the film) Hanz Zimmer
    Legend, Tangerine Dream
    Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, Eric Sera
    Midnight Run, Danny Elfman
    Pee-Wee’s BIG Adventure, Danny Elfman
    Rain Man, Hans Zimmer
    Robo Cop, Basil Poledouris
    Scrooged, Danny Elfman
    Secret Garden, Zbigniew Preisner
    Sleepy Hollow, Danny Elfman
    Straight Story, Angelo Badalamenti
    Superman, John Williams
    True Romance, Hanz Zimmer
    Wisdom, Danny Elfman

    #54108
    Spider-Fan
    Participant

    Ha, I made a post but not a list. Here goes:

    Spider-Man (1 + 2) – Danny Elfman
    Batman (+ Returns) – Danny Elfman
    Men in Black – Danny Elfman
    Edward Scissorhands – Danny Elfman
    Sleepy Hollow – Danny Elfman
    The Rocketeer – James Horner
    Apollo 13 – James Horner
    The Passion of the Christ – John Debney
    Harry Potter (1 + 2) – John Williams
    Jurassic Park – John Williams
    The Patriot – John Williams
    Independence Day – David Arnold
    61* – Marc Shaiman
    Dinosaur – James Newton Howard
    Lord of the Rings (all of em) – Howard Shore
    Armageddon – Trevor Rabin/Harry Gregson-Williams
    Rudy – Jerry Goldsmith
    X2 – John Ottman
    The Incredibles – Michael Giacchino
    The Time Machine – Klaus Badelt
    The Prince of Egypt – Hans Zimmer
    The Matrix Revolutions – Don Davis
    North by Northwest – Bernard Herrmann
    The Rescuers Down Under – Bruce Broughton
    *SPECIAL MENTION: Spaceship Earth – Edo Guidotti (from a Disney ride, but incredible nonetheless)*

    #54110
    Aki
    Participant

    the land before time from James Horner is amazing too.

    #54115
    elfmanguy
    Participant

    Too many to post but heres my top ten(in no particular order):
    1. Batman Returns – DANNY ELFMAN
    2. Edward Scissorhands – DANNY ELFMAN
    3. Hook – JOHN WILLIAMS
    4. Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith – JOHN WILLIAMS
    5. Giant Robo Episode 2 – MASAMICHI AMANO
    6. Majou no takyu bin(Kiki’s Delievery Service) – JOE HISAISHI
    7. Nightmare Before Christmas – DANNY ELFMAN
    8. Back to the Future – ALAN SILVESTRY
    9. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – DANNY ELFMAN
    10. Corpse Bride – DANNY ELFMAN

    Yes, i went out on a limb and declared that, without hearing them yet, Danny’s next two will be great and will be among my favs.

    #54126
    Knight
    Participant

    Hmm, WAY too many to list so here is some of the CDs I currently have lying around:

    Don Davis – The Matrix Revolutions
    Thomas Newman – Meet Joe Black
    Danny Elfman – Batman Returns
    Klaus Doldinger and Giorgio Moroder – The NeverEnding Story (don’t laugh, it’s a good listen)
    James Newton Howard – The Village
    Michael Kamen – Robin Hood, Price of Thieves
    John Williams – Star Wars Episode II – Attack of the Clones

    And my current favorite cue: Batman Returns – Selina Transforms

    Knight

    #54124
    mike
    Participant

    sleepy hollow (elfman, duh)
    the two towers (shore)
    the matrix 1 and 3 (davis)
    harry potter 3 (williams)
    ed scissorhands (elfman)
    van helsing (silvertri)
    men in black 2 (elfman)
    batman (elfman)
    men in black (elfman)
    the phantom menace (williams)
    passion of the christ (debney)
    kingdom of heaven (williams)
    batman and robin (goldenthal)
    hellboy (beltrami)

    #54149
    ooshmaster
    Participant

    The only track on The Matrix Reloaded I really liked was the last one. Revolutions has it all.

    #54150
    ooshmaster
    Participant

    two that i don’t think have been mentioned yet are I Am Sam (John Powel) and Winged Migration (Bruno Coulais)

    #54152
    PHIL
    Participant

    I really should add, “Henry V” by Patric Doyle. Also “City of Angels,” by Gabriel Yared.

    #54156
    stanleyfilms
    Participant

    the top fifty american film scores of all time, if you ask me, are in chronological order…

    City Lights – Chaplin, 1931
    King Kong – Steiner, 1933
    The Bride of Frankenstein – Waxman, 1935
    The Adventures of Robin Hood – Korngold, 1938
    Gone With the Wind – Steiner, 1939
    Citizen Kane – Herrmann, 1941
    Kings Row – Korngold 1942
    Now, Voyager – Steiner, 1942
    Laura – Raksin, 1944
    Spellbound – Rozsa, 1945
    The Best Years of Our Lives – Friedhofer, 1946
    Captain From Castile – Newman, 1947
    The Ghost and Mrs. Muir – Herrmann, 1947
    The Red Pony – Copland, 1949
    The Day the Earth Stood Still – Herrmann, 1951
    A Streetcar Named Desire – North, 1951
    The Bad and the Beautiful – Raksin, 1952
    On the Waterfront – L. Bernstein, 1954
    East of Eden – Rosenman, 1955
    The Man With the Golden Arm – E. Bernstein, 1955
    Forbidden Planet – B. Barron / L. Barron, 1956
    The Spirit of St. Louis – Waxman, 1957
    Touch of Evil – Mancini, 1958
    Vertigo – Herrmann, 1958
    Anatomy of a Murder – Ellington, 1959
    Ben-Hur – Rozsa, 1959
    The Alamo – Tiomkin, 1960
    Psycho – Herrmann, 1960
    Lawrence of Arabia – Jarre, 1962
    To Kill a Mockingbird – E. Bernstein, 1962
    The Lion in Winter – Barry, 1968
    Once Upon a Time in the West – Morricone, 1968
    Planet of the Apes – Goldsmith, 1968
    The Wild Bunch – Fielding, 1969
    The Godfather – Rota, 1972
    Murder on the Orient Express – Bennett, 1974
    Jaws – Williams, 1975
    Close Encounters of the Third Kind – Williams, 1977
    Star Wars – Williams, 1977
    Altered States – Corigliano, 1980
    Chariots of Fire – Vangelis, 1981
    Conan the Barbarian – Poledouris, 1982
    The Natural – R. Newman, 1984
    The Mission – Morricone, 1986
    Batman – Elfman, 1989
    Glory – Horner, 1989
    Edward Scissorhands – Elfman, 1990
    The Piano – Nyman, 1993
    Schindler’s List – Williams, 1993
    Kundun – Glass, 1997

    #54163
    ooshmaster
    Participant

    Woah. Aaron Copland composed film music?

    #54166
    stanleyfilms
    Participant

    Ah yes, a few scores to his credit – every one of them beautiful.
    1939’s Of Mice and Men, 1949’s The Red Pony and The Heiress (which won the Academy Award that year for best original score), and a few more I am yet to hear. If you haven’t heard any of these, at least in parts, get to it right away. And thanks for reading my post.

    #54232
    Fox chum
    Participant

    well, i have a LOT of fav. scores! here is what i like in movie scores:

    1.NmBC (Nightmare Before Christmas)
    2.Edward Scissorhands
    3.Big Fish
    4.Spider-man 1
    5.Batman
    6.Lilo and stitch (sorry about my spelling!)
    I also like most of the scores found on Music For A Darkened Theatre (except Dick Tracy)

    #54233
    ooshmaster
    Participant

    Dude, you should listen to some Morricone. And Dick Tracy was awesome.

    #54245
    Fox chum
    Participant

    who are they???? never heard of them.

    #54249
    ooshmaster
    Participant

    Ennio Morricone. He’s not a ‘they’ , he’s an absolute god in the world of film scores. Pick up the soundtrack to “The Mission” now.

    #54262
    ooshmaster
    Participant

    I’m not sure if this has been mentioned in any of the previous lists above, but Elmer Bernstein’s score for The Age of Innocence was pure genius.

    #54264
    Fox chum
    Participant

    I disagree with you, ooshmaster. I think Danny Elfman is better.

    #54278
    ooshmaster
    Participant

    I never said that Morricone was better than Elfman, no, I’ll always stay loyal to Elfman. But the two men are different — from different generations of filmscoring, and different “voices” of their own.

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