Best musical scores in film?

Forums: Film Scores, Movies
Email this Topic • Print this Page

well, after watching the ext version of the "FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING" about 25 times now, i thiink the work done by Howard Shore is the best.

His score is awesome. you can not extract the score from the film. it works seamlessly with the visual images. that's as good as it gets when sound and sight enhance each other.

also, all of david lean's major works are tremendously scored. bridge on the river kwai, lawrence of arabia, and dr zhivago.

and this from cyber space.......which i checked out only after i wrote my own opinion above. great minds think alike.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/entertainment/film/2218587.stm

Rings tops film score poll
Lord Of The Rings has beaten a host of cinema classics to be voted the best film soundtrack of all time, according to a new survey carried out by Classic FM.
The poll of more than 52,000 listeners saw the recent blockbuster beating off competition from such memorable movie soundtracks as Dr Zhivago, Gone With The Wind and ET.

Top 10
1 Lord Of The Rings - Howard Shore
2 Star Wars - John Williams
3 Schindler's List - John Williams
4 The Empire Strikes Back - John Williams
5 Gladiator - Hans Zimmer
6 ET - John Williams
7 Out Of Africa - John Barry
8 Lawrence Of Arabia - Maurice Jarre
9 Dances With Wolves - John Barry
10 Titanic - James Horner

"Lord Of The Rings composer Howard Shore, who won an Oscar for the film's music, said he was delighted with the results. "It's great to translate Tolkien's work into music. I'm as thrilled as can be," he said. Shore, who has composed over 60 film scores including those for Silence Of The Lambs, Philadelphia and the recent hit Panic Room, is currently working on the soundtrack to the next Lord Of The Rings film, The Two Towers. Meanwhile composer John Williams saw nine of his soundtracks making it into the top 30, including Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Superman, ET, Schindler's List and the recent Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone. However, his memorable score for Jaws was a surprise omission from the list.

"British composer John Barry scored three mentions, for Out Of Africa, Dances With Wolves and the 1968 film The Lion In Winter - but none of his James Bond soundtracks, for which he has become famous, reached the top 30. Others to feature included Maurice Jarre for Lawrence Of Arabia and and Dr Zhivago, and British composer James Horner for Titanic, Braveheart and The Mask Of Zorro.

A number of classical composers also received votes, including Rachmaninov, whose music was used in the classic romance Brief Encounter, and Strauss, who was featured in the score to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 4,950 • Replies: 33

No top replies

kuvasz, I hate to sound like a broken record, but the best musical score that I have heard in some time is from" O Brother Where Art Thou". Why is was not nominated for an award still remains a mystery to me.

0 Replies

Letty wrote:

kuvasz, I hate to sound like a broken record, but the best musical score that I have heard in some time is from" O Brother Where Art Thou". Why is was not nominated for an award still remains a mystery to me.

sorry, but a musical score is not defined as previously released material used as a part of the plot, ie., songs sung or played by the actors. if so, "amadeus" would probably take the prize.

we are talking about the use of original music scores that blend with the visual effects of the film and have been scored especially for complimentation with these visual effects.

what you are desribing is essentially a "cut & paste" of earlier works into the body of the film.

i am referring to ORIGINAL music designed for providing particular scenes enhanced emotional impact.

0 Replies

Sorry, Kuvasz, I guess I didn't get the tenor of your question. For it's impact, then. Williams' "Jaws" theme might be a consideration.

0 Replies

Shore's score has given the film score new life. There are original aspects to his score for LOTR and, of course, some tried and true incidental and dramatic music. I've the same respect for the score to the second film. There's some dissonance of the great modern composers as well as some great tunes worthy of Ralph Von Williams and Benjamin Britten. My other favorites are "Krull" by James Horner, "Raise the Titanic" by John Barry and "The Blue Max" by Jerry Goldsmith. Williams is great but he's naturally become repetitive although I do laud his thematic materal. My favorite Williams is still "Close Encounters."

0 Replies

kuvasz

Without giving it a lot of thought (which your discussion surely deserves), I will offer the first film that came to my mind.

I would love to know if you think this score should be on any short...... or even, very long list?

"The Magnificent Seven"

0 Replies

KYN2000 wrote:

kuvasz

Without giving it a lot of thought (which your discussion surely deserves), I will offer the first film that came to my mind.

I would love to know if you think this score should be on any short...... or even, very long list?

"The Magnificent Seven"

yes, certainly. elmer bernstein's score is, well, magnificent.

i chose the term "score" instead of "soundtrack" because they can be different, the former is composed based upon what the composer understands the director wants to accomplish with the mixture of sight and sound. slipping into a film the strains of a beatles tune or something from pink floyd's the wall hardly deserves the same admiration as a newly composed film score. of course andy warhol got away with such stuff with his cans of campbell soup.

0 Replies

Lightwizard wrote:

Shore's score has given the film score new life. There are original aspects to his score for LOTR and, of course, some tried and true incidental and dramatic music. I've the same respect for the score to the second film. There's some dissonance of the great modern composers as well as some great tunes worthy of Ralph Von Williams and Benjamin Britten. My other favorites are "Krull" by James Horner, "Raise the Titanic" by John Barry and "The Blue Max" by Jerry Goldsmith. Williams is great but he's naturally become repetitive although I do laud his thematic materal. My favorite Williams is still "Close Encounters."

yeap, wiz, i noted the pastoral flavor in shore's score for the scenes of the Shire, and they reminded me of vaughn williams 3rd symphony (the pastoral) and his "variations on a theme by thomas tallis".

the major themes, the "shire" theme, the "fellowship" theme and the "isengard" theme all blend in together at times like a bach fugue and each evoke emotions in conjunction with the scenes that the visuals alone would not. that's the point of the score and it was done exceptional well.

i was a little disappointed in the film score of the Two Towers, but have only seen the film twice. so i am open to hearing it again to see what i missed. i guess that shore's score for the Fellowship of the Ring might have spoiled me.

BTW word is that the theatre version of the Two Towers will released in june on dvd..yahoo! but we are going to have to wait until october of 2003 for the extended version's release. Crying or Very sad

ps i loved george peppard in the Blue Max.

0 Replies

k -- the second film was wisely brought off as an action flick (Tolkien did have a problem with digression from time to time, at least as far as I'm concerned -- thank God we were spared the second rate poetry, my only problem with the novels). There's more Stravinksy and Shoenburg dissonance and tonal contrivances that accentuate the action. It's not thematically inferior if you listen to the score on CD.

0 Replies

George Peppard's only great role except for perhaps "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

0 Replies

The first film in which I noticed the musical score as a tremendous assett was "Summer of '42" (Legrand?)

Later, I enjoyed a lot of Nino Rota's scores in Fellini movies. I believe he's also responsible for "The Godfather", but I'm not sure.
I also think it was a Rota piece what the orchestra was trying to play in "Prova d'orchestra". There it got me desperate.

Another one I loved was Menken's "Beauty and the Beast"

I prefer Vangelis in "Blade Runner" than in his famous "Chariots of Fire" (But, well, I love everything about "Blade Runner").

John Williams is usually very very good, but I like PAUL Williams' score in "Phantom of the Paradise".

0 Replies

I believe the Nino Rota music for "La Strada" was turned into a suite and danced as a ballet but I'd have to research it (I have the CD somewhere in my collection). It's haunting theme sticks in my head. His score for "Death of the Nile" is one of my favorites with a very Tchaikovskyesque flavor. With the Jack Cardiff cinematography, the film is redeemed by these two geniuses.

0 Replies

Let's not ignore another film music great, Henry Mancini, whose Breakfast at Tiffany's score was only one of many.

Without his music, The Pink Panther series would have been much less enjoyable.

0 Replies

Minimalist composer Philip Glass raised his profile with his work in the recent film "The Hours". What is your reaction to his music in this film?

I remember viewing "Koyaanisqatsi" (1983) and hearing his music for the first time. Some of his films since then: "Thin Blue Line", "Kundun", "Noqoygatsi".

0 Replies

Has no one been into the Swinging Scores thread?One which (ahem),I started.Michel Legrand does it for me.

0 Replies

couzz, Glass' score for "Mishima" is invigorating with its intricate tunes and inventive rhythm, punctuating what is happening on the screen with an uncanny proficiency. Have you heard his re-scoring of Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" and Hooper's "Dracula?"

0 Replies

Lightwizard:

No, I have not heard Glass' scores to "B&B" and "Dracula". I would be very interested in doing so. Thanks for bringing the scores to my attention.

0 Replies

Anything by Bernard Herreman. The music in Hitchcock's thrillers added a great deal to the atmoshphere. The shower scene in Psycho, is probably as well known for the music, as the visuals.

0 Replies

I picked up the CD not long ago on the Marco Polo label of Hermann's score for "Garden of Evil," the only western he ever wrote music for. I wondered why such an average film still stuck in my mind as hauntingly atmospheric and...it's the soundtrack!
His music, with Alfred Newman, of "The Egyptian" also raise an average historical epic artistically (even with it's polished linoleum floors in Pharoah's palace).

Vangelis' score for "Blade Runner" has caused me to become a collector of his music on CD. It's one of my ten favorite scores -- the music for the opening vista of a future L.A. is a soundfield that is gripping and establishes the whole atmosphere of the film. I'm even sure Philip K. Dick approved whole heartedly with that aspect of the film although I've forgotten how he felt about the whole package.

0 Replies

Purple Rain.

0 Replies

Best musical scores in film?

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know