What?
I’m going to have to go with Kill Bill. The blending of eastern and southwestern themes, often in the same cue, is brilliant. And some of the cues have that classic action movie feel to them. And the inclusion of the Ironside theme? Inspired.
First runner up goes to Schindler’s List. Absolutely awesome.
Star Trek II would be my 3rd choice.
But for opening titles, North by Northwest is the king daddy.
*Last of the Mohicans
Requiem for a Dream*
You know it’s a good score when they just keep getting ripped off.
Hear hear on all three sentences.
Also: Jurassic Park and Nightmare Before Christmas
Hackers
Lawrence of Arabia.
Godfather.
Blade Runner.
Lord of the Rings,
Vertigo is the definition of haunting music.
I LOVE Star Trek II’s music, I think he nailed that score.
Signs’ music is ripping scary. Not terribly complex, more akin to a roller coaster ride.
I still think King Kong (Jackson’s) has some absolutely beautiful music, but perhaps not the whole thing.
I came in to say Lawrence of Arabia. Majestic.
Kill Bill does not a score, it has a soundtrack. A score is generally understood to be an original (or sometimes adapted) piece of music specifically written for the film in question.
KB does not have that. It simply assembles and uses previously released music cues (albeit quite well).
The Shawshank Redemption has a gorgeous score–I love the music that plays the first time they pan over the prison grounds.
And yet Horner didn’t win an Oscar until Titanic. What a shame.
ArchiveGuy, really, none of that was original? How disappointing. Still a great soundtrack, though.
I forgot about The Boys from Brazil. Goldsmith was one of the all time greats.
There’s a very obscure Al Pacino/Robin Williams film called Insomnia. The opening title is really compelling. It was scored by David Julyan, who also did Memento. Everything else he did was even more obscure. I hope to hear more of him in the future.
Batman Returns has a great score, perfectly matching its tone and pacing.
My Top 10 film scores (off the top of my head; this week):
Bride of Frankenstein (Franz Waxman)
Alexander Nevsky (Sergei Prokofiev)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Bernard Herrmann)
The Big Country (Jerome Moross)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Ennio Morricone)
The Lion in Winter (John Barry)
Two English Girls (Georges Delerue)
The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams)
Under Fire (Jerry Goldsmith)
American Beauty (Thomas Newman)
Yeah, QT really knows his music and so mines genuine obscurities that many people might confuse as original because they don’t recognize the tracks. In KB especially, he uses quite a few Morricone pieces from the 70s for films that practically nobody would know–great musical moments, but appropriated, not commissioned.
Yes! I forgot about those.
Elliot Goldenthal is someone I’ve never heard of before, but his Batman Forever score is may favorite from all of the Batman movies.
See post #2
He’s done some terrific work for directors Neil Jordan and Julie Taymor, including his marvelous Oscar-winning music for Frida.
Blade Runner, as mentioned.
The Last Temptation of Christ
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
There Will Be Blood, and Crash (the 1996 version.) Runner up - The Dead Zone with Christopher Walken (God, those loud screeching string-section hits when he grabs the peoples’ hands…startling as fuck. Great bass-clarinet solos too.)
The Natural.
Unconventional picks-
Actual scores:
A Clockwork Orange
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Soundtrack:
The Devil’s Rejects