A poll; what is the best original movie theme song and/or fanfare?
I would suggest;
JAWS. Dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum…
STAR WARS. The score is great, but the main theme is a highlight in and of itself.
THE NATURAL. The main fanfare just gives you goosebumps, don’t it?
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Instantly recognizable.
Any other choices?
Lots of choices. I think my opinion’s in there somewhere.
PATTON (by Jerry Goldsmith)
The damned movie won all of its (what? 11? 12?) Oscar nominations, but one. And guess which one? Of course. The score. The score didn’t win. It should have won. It was a great score. And Geo. C. Scott didn’t even want his damned Oscar, but he got one. But not one for the score. It just wasn’t right. Sheesh.
(I’m sure my other choices [which would include Patton, I am sure] are also on BraheSilver’s linked thread.)
Well, I’m sort of a film score hound… I own about 50 or 60 movie scores currently, and I’ve listened to many, many more. The short list of my favorites, though:
Howard Shore’s score for Lord of the Rings… perfect, perfect, perfect. The best score of last year, out of some pretty good ones.
James Horner’s score for Aliens. One of the most recognizable pieces short of Star Wars, because excerpts from Horner’s score for this film are used in at least a few movie trailers every year. This year, I heard it (briefly) in the Minority Report trailer. Great score, though, on its own merits. Check out Varese Sarabande’s Special Edition if you can find it.
Thomas Newman’s American Beauty score. I’ve become a big fan of Newman’s in the past few years, but his best work is still this one. Can’t wait to hear what he did for Road to Perdition.
Sneakers, another James Horner offering. This one’s more subtle, but very moving. Features Branford Marsalis in the performances; a nice piece of work.
Hans Zimmer’s Gladiator. The whole score is great, but the rousing battle music is the clincher here. Feel that adrenaline flow!
And the one that started me down the road of film score fanboy-ism: Glory, yet another James Horner masterpiece. I’ve been listening to this one for 12 or 13 years now, and it still moves me deeply. That says something.
Favvorite score composers in general: James Horner tops the list, then Thomas Newman, Hans Zimmer, and some of Danny Elfman.
For me it’s John Williams’ score for 1941.
Runners up include Jerry Goldsmith - Legend, Basil Poledouris - Conan the Barbarian and James Horner - Aliens.
Honorable mentions for John Carpenter (the only director I know that composes his own music) for Halloween, The Fog and The Thing, John Williams - Superman-The Movie and whoever did the theme song for Rocky.
Are you from the UK, Horseflesh, or do you just know your films well?
I agree that Goldsmith’s score for the original British version of Legend is excellent… Tangerine Dream’s score for the Amercian version of the same film is also quite good, though it gives an almost completely different feeling. Interesting story behind that whole mess.
Goldsmith’s Legend score has been available in the USA since the film first came out. It is a GREAT score, and one of my favorites. (I’ve never seen the UK version of the film, but I do have a tape somewhere…)
I’m also a big Thomas Newman fan. The score for “American Beauty” was spectacular. I also like parts of Newman’s “Scent of a Woman”. And the same goes for Zimmer’s “Gladiator” score and Williams’ “1941” score. Good choices, all!
Other good themes are Goldsmith’s “Under Fire” (now finally re-released on CD). Then there’s Ennio Morricone’s “Marco Polo” (I don’t think there’s a CD, I have a LP) and Morricone’s “Days of Heaven” (once again, no CD that I know of) and “Frantic” (where is the CD for this?!?!). I have these on LP, I need to hook up my iMac to burn CDs of them all. Oh! Another rare treasure is Goldsmith’s “The 'burbs”. (It’s selling on eBay right now—I got my copy a year or two ago.) That’s a great score!
Avalonian—good start on your film score collection! In a little while, you may be as scary and pathetic as me, with hundreds of soundtracks in your collection. (I know I had about 300 LPs, and then I switched to CDs, and I won’t even attempt to count all of those, or all of the Classical CDs and LPs I have. I’m just pathetic, OK?)
Terminator
“DADUN dun dundun…DADUN dun dundun”
Anything with a theremin!
Actually I never heard Goldsmith’s Legend score until very recently with the release of the Ultimate Legend DVD (I highly recommend everyone get this). I really liked Tangerine Dream’s score along with the two songs by Bryan Ferry and Jon Anderson, but as you said it gives the film a much more “dreamlike” quality. I’m a rabid fan of the movie and read the Legend FAQ on a monthly basis to see if and when the UK release would ever make it to the States (so I’m not a resident of UK). I nearly wet myself when the release date was finalized (for the umpteenth time). 
Other Tangerine Dream scores I really liked were Risky Business and Three O’Clock High, itself being a very good movie.
Yeah, I’m a film nut and for quite a while collected hard to find horror movie soundtracks. Thank g0d for the Varese Sarabande label.
A last note: On the collectors edition of 1941 Williams states that he still thinks this score is some of his best work. I wholeheartedly agree.
Planet of the Apes! (the original of course) Dynamic and very atmospheric.
I’ve always loved James Horner’s Score to Bravheart.
Also Jerry Goldsmith’s Air Force One.
Elmer Bernstein’s score for The Great Escape, especially the main theme. I’ve been known to whislte an arrangement of the theme when leaving work.
Any theme composed by Danny Elfan, Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Batman, etc
That man is the dark genious of creepy movie music
Er. I meant to write Danny Elfman
The Third Man theme. Anton Karas is a god.
A distant second: Last of the Mohicans.
I agree with the posters who suggested;
The Third Man
The Great Escape
I’d also add
The Magnificent Seven (Elmer Bernstien again)
Everyone instantly recognizes the theme song from the Pink Panther movies - it’s a classic.
Cool, another TD fan. Some of my favorites among their film work are Near Dark (chilling) and Miracle Mile, of course… one of my favorite movies anyway. I have about a dozen TD studio and live concert albums as well, and the 5-disc “Tangents” boxed set.
You know it… I have so many VS discs, it’s almost silly.
I’m getting there, to be sure… grins Slowly but surely.
Since you said you liked Thomas Newman, have you heard his score for Meet Joe Black? I really enjoyed that one. And of course, the first score that made me sit up and notice Newman, The Shawshank Redemption. He has a real talent. Scent of a Woman is really good, too.
The only movie music you could really call a movie “fanfare” isn’t limited to just one movie: Alfred Newman’s Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare with Cinemascope Extension. One of the greatest pieces of movie music of all time. It’s playing in your head right now, isn’t it?