Your Favorite Film Score?

[nightotter]

Lawrence of Arabia and The Year Of Living Dangerously. Both of them composed by Maurice Jarre

[fxreyman]

The Wind and the Lion, composed by the great Jerry Goldsmith:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31iNXfgWwWk

[fxreyman]

The War Wagon with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas

 

Score by Dimitri Tiomkin, song sung by Ed Ames.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kxgQRkKVtQ

[johnm001]

> {quote:title=fxreyman wrote:}{quote}

> The Wind and the Lion, composed by the great Jerry Goldsmith:

>

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31iNXfgWwWk

 

 

To me, there has never been nor will there ever be a more versatile and talented film composer, than Jerry Goldsmith. Nobody even comes close.

[kingrat]

I'll join everyone who hates the "put a bunch of pop songs on the soundtrack" scores. However, in STRAY DOG Kurosawa does a great job of showing by the variety of music, both pop and classical, how the Westernization of Japan is proceeding. The beautiful piano sonata played against the climax of the film is one of my favorite moments in film. Kurosawa pays great attention to the soundtracks of his films. THRONE OF BLOOD has an incredible soundtrack, as opposed to a great score.

 

Since no one's mentioned Bronislau Kaper, the theme he used in A LIFE OF HER OWN and re-used in INVITATION is quite haunting.

[johnm001]

> {quote:title=kingrat wrote:}{quote}

> I'll join everyone who hates the "put a bunch of pop songs on the soundtrack" scores. However, in STRAY DOG Kurosawa does a great job of showing by the variety of music, both pop and classical, how the Westernization of Japan is proceeding. The beautiful piano sonata played against the climax of the film is one of my favorite moments in film. Kurosawa pays great attention to the soundtracks of his films. THRONE OF BLOOD has an incredible soundtrack, as opposed to a great score.

>

> Since no one's mentioned Bronislau Kaper, the theme he used in A LIFE OF HER OWN and re-used in INVITATION is quite haunting.

 

Bronislau Kaper wrote such beautiful music. Love his work.

 

Another is Nino Rota's incredible score for Romeo and Juliet (the good one).

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d5suh6dMgA&feature=fvst

[clearskies]

A great thread here! So many of my favorites have already been posted but I haven't seen Aaron Copeland's score from The Red Pony nor Dimitri Tiomkin's from Red River. I also like Elmer Bernstein's score from The Magnificent Seven and of course John William's for Star Wars, which has already been mentioned.

 

I also concurr with you about the noisy explosions and other clattering that goes on in today's movies. I think many folks feel that they're not having fun unless there's a lot of noise going on.

[Ray Faiola]

Impossible to say which is best.

 

My FAVORITE? Steiner's KING KONG

[phroso]

Lots of good choices already, but I would add Prokofiev's score for ALEXANDER NEVSKY and Phillip Glass's score for KOYAANISQATSI. Also, the reggae soundtrack to THE HARDER THEY FALL.

[misswonderly3]

phroso wrote: "the reggae soundtrack to THE HARDER THEY FALL. " .

 

No argument here, good movie, good soundtrack. But doesn't this go against the general consensus on this thread that soundtracks with individual songs are not up to snuff, as compared to film scores, music composed specifically for a particular movie? Or is an exception made because reggae music is the focus of the whole film?

 

I actually don't agree with that opinion myself. I think it may have become a cheap and facile way to add music to movies, usually dumb ones. That seems to be why everyone objects to it. But it doesn't have to be like that, and it isn't always like that.

 

I've already mentioned the soundtrack to *Pulp Fiction*, a film which I gather most people here detest. I don't want to get into the film itself, but I would argue that the music was selected very carefully to go with the action of the story. Martin Scorsese, of course, is famous for doing this. And I say it works - for Scorsese's films, anyway. Another movie that comes to mind where the soundtrack of "pop" songs is integral to the narrative is *High Fidelity*. Since the film (and the book) is all about the main character's obsession with music, it's completely fitting that it has a soundtrack full of the type of music that plays such an important role in it.

Just pointing out that there are always exceptions. Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.

 

 

 

- Actually, I thought the reggae film in question was called "The Harder They Come" ? ?

 

Edited by: misswonderly on Aug 6, 2010 10:24 AM

 

Edited by: misswonderly on Aug 6, 2010 10:26 AM

 

Edited by: misswonderly on Aug 6, 2010 10:27 AM

 

Edited by: misswonderly on Aug 6, 2010 10:41 AM

[phroso]

Oops, you're right, I was having a groggy early-morning moment. The movie is called THE HARDER THEY COME. I included it on my list because most of the music is the work of the same composer/performer, Jimmy Cliff. THE HARDER THEY FALL is a different movie, with no reggae music, due chiefly to star Humphrey Bogart's refusal to wear dreadlocks.

[misswonderly3]

Right...but what do you think of my other points, about how sometimes a movie soundtrack with songs does add to the film?

[phroso]

I agree that certain anthology soundtracks can add a great deal of atmosphere to their movies; AMERICAN GRAFFITI and GOODFELLAS are other good examples. But now I'm wondering if we're getting off of the original topic of film scores. To settle this, I went back to JefCostello's original post, in which he seems to be looking for the work of one specific composer for a specific film. Therefore, my inclusion of THE HARDER THEY COME was probably out of bounds. Maybe one of us should start a thread for favorite soundtrack albums/CDs, which is a slightly different category.

[misswonderly3]

You're right, I just read it too. And I don't want to derail this interesting thread topic. Reading this thread got me thinking very consciously about the many differences between "score" and "soundtrack music".

I do agree with some posters who think perhaps the art of composing music for film is, sadly, a dying one.

[charliechaplin101]

God, I love Gone With the Wind's Score, It was so excellent. Also...i was Suprised with the new hit movie "Inception" That score was amazing too.

[lzcutter]

*To me, there has never been nor will there ever be a more versatile and talented film composer, than Jerry Goldsmith. Nobody even comes close.*

 

Elmer Bernstein does, for me.

 

I thought they were both superb.

[johnm001]

> {quote:title=lzcutter wrote:}{quote}

> *To me, there has never been nor will there ever be a more versatile and talented film composer, than Jerry Goldsmith. Nobody even comes close.*

>

> Elmer Bernstein does, for me.

>

> I thought they were both superb.

 

Next to the two I mentioned, Bernstein's *Hawaii* is extremely close. I love it so much. All of his scores are wonderful. So I have Pino Donaggio, Bernard Herrmann and Elmer Bernstein scores ahead of Jerry Goldsmith. I still find Goldsmith the most talented film composer, ever. His versatility and tremendous output are unsurpassed to me.

[wouldbestar]

Anything by Dimitri Tiomkin, with Gunfight at the OK Corral the best. Next comes Miklos Rozsa for King of Kings and Erich Wolfgang Korngold for Robin Hood and The Sea Hawk.

 

Izcutter and John are right about Goldsmith and Bernstein being the greatest of the post 60's scorers and James Horner and Hans Zimmer are the best today. Thanks to CineMaven I went to YouTube to hear her choices and found I can hear Breakheart Pass and other goodies when I want to. I can tell a Bernstein melody from the first notes and he never disappoints. In fact, I rile folks up because I can identify a movie by the score even when I'm in another room and they hear me call out the title and "Don't touch that dial, it's a keeper!" I would have loved to be a movie scorer. I have one idea if I have any talent in that direction but somebody has to be in the audience appreciating the work. Believe me, I do.

[lzcutter]

Wouldbe,

 

I will stop what I am doing to watch a few films, *LA Confidential* is one of them. Why? One of the reasons is the great score by Jerry Goldsmith. *The Last of the Mohicans with a score by Trevor Jones, *Gladiator* with a score by Hans Zimmer are another two I will stop to watch not only for the movie but for the music that drives those films.

[lindsayphoto]

My favorite film score would be Psycho! Psycho score was SOOOOO GOOD!!!!

[wouldbestar]

Izcutter, do the opening notes to LA Confidential sound like the ones for On the Waterfront to you as they do me? It doesn't matter to me which one it is as they are both great films and I still rate Waterfront as the all-time #1. I don't think Leonard Bernstein would be upset at the comparison. Jerry did it again. I watch the opening credits for Bandolero! And Rio Conchos just to hear the themes and of course Rudy. I do the same for The Comencheros, Katie Elder, and the other Wayne movies Elmer Bernstein scored as well as anything of Tiomkin even if I can't abide the movie. To me, the best scores seem to come from Westerns but not all. I can put on the cd for The Lion King ot Titanic and drift off.

[Zani]

I have many favorites, but one of the top ten would have to be the score of Jezebel (1938) by Max Steiner. It is used in the score and in the scene where Henry Fonda forces Bette Davis to dance the waltz. It gives me goose bumps.

 

zani

[misswonderly3]

Hi and welcome, lindsayphoto, hope you keep commenting. You're right, the score for *Psycho* is fantastic. It was written by Bernard Herrmann, who has been mentioned on this thread -you might want to scroll down and read about him. He was a great composer for film. He scored many other movies for Hitchcock, including *North by Northwest.*

[MovieFreak101]

My favorite is Now Voyager, hands down.

Magnificent Seven comes in second.

http://reelrevival.blogspot.com/

[johnm001]

I can't think of a single film, which Zimmer scored that I like (film or score). Not sure what it is about his scores that leave me cold, but they do. I feel I should like him, because so many score-lovers do. I like Trevor Jones, though, and his main title to *Arachnophobia* is a favorite.