Favourite Film Composer(s)

[PhantomScreenwriter]

I am listening to the Total Recall soundtrack composed by Jerry Goldsmith as I create this thread. Awesome score, one of my favourites and Jerry Goldsmith is one of my favourite composers alongside John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Basil Poledouris, Alan Silvestri, Howard Shore to name but a few.

What I like about Jerry's scores is the sense of fun whether it's Total Recall, The Burbs or The Mummy, there's that fun factor in the music. I like how emotional his music is as evidenced by his score for First Blood and its sequels (I like that in Rambo they keep many of his themes).

Then there's his Oscar winning score for The Omen which is a masterpiece and suits the tone of the film really well. I also like his score for Warlock which is the only other horror film he's scored aside from The Omen that I know of.

 

[The Tune Peddler]

I think one of the most underrated composers is the late Fred Myrow. He composed the music for Soylent Green, but I believe his best work is Phantasm. It is one of the most original uses of a non orchestral score that doesn't really sound dated. It's incredibly catchy and without it I don't think the film would be as good.

Here's the main theme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9vpG_b8beQ

 

[MiniJamesW]

I'm just going to list the composers of some of my favorite soundtracks but I won't include classical composers or pop music composers that had their work featured in films. Fumio Hayasaka, Bernard Herrmann, Joe Hisaishi, Leonard Bernstein, Alex North, Akira Ifukube, Chico Hamilton, John Williams, Joseph Koo, Remedios, Masahiro Ikumi, John Carpenter, Michel Legrand, and Georges Delerue

 

[Jack Lynt]

Cliff Martinez (for Only God Forgives, Solaris 2002...)

John Williams (for ...)

Elliot Goldenthal (for Interview...)

I am listening to the Total Recall soundtrack composed by Jerry Goldsmith as I create this thread. Awesome score, one of my favourites and Jerry Goldsmith is one of my favourite composers alongside John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Basil Poledouris, Alan Silvestri, Howard Shore to name but a few.

What I like about Jerry's scores is the sense of fun whether it's Total Recall, The Burbs or The Mummy, there's that fun factor in the music. I like how emotional his music is as evidenced by his score for First Blood and its sequels (I like that in Rambo they keep many of his themes).

Then there's his Oscar winning score for The Omen which is a masterpiece and suits the tone of the film really well. I also like his score for Warlock which is the only other horror film he's scored aside from The Omen that I know of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZuMebiZnGo

Say, that is nice.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jintml12qaY&list=PL7374F7C406CAE786 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX6s-e9Og-k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1q03OUMTZk&list=PL30D469411BAEB2D0

 

[ChimpPhobiaFilms]

Nino Rota, Angelo Badalamenti, and Carter Burwell.

 

[Doghouse Reilly]

Ennio Morricone, primarily for his westerns. John Williams for Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Scindlers, Jurassic Park, ET, etc, etc,etc.
Also the 'Back to the Future' soundtrack is pretty awesome too!
Oh, and 'The Third Man'. Can't remember the composers name off my head, but it's maybe my favourite film score.
And Bob Dylan for 'Pat Garret and Billy the Kid'.

 

[Scoopicman]

John Williams - STAR WARS, JAWS, RAIDERS (I grew up on his scores for LOST IN SPACE, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, etc.)

Jerry Goldsmith - STAR TREK: TMP, PLANET OF THE APES, CAPRICORN ONE (I also like TOTAL RECALL!)

Tangerine Dream - NEAR DARK, FIRESTARTER, RISKY BUSINESS

Giorgio Moroder - CAT PEOPLE, AMERICAN GIGOLO, SCARFACE

John Murphy - 28 DAYS/WEEKS LATER, SUNSHINE (The latter is used in KICK-ASS, WALKING DEAD and many movie trailers.)

Steve Jablonsky - THE ISLAND, TRANSFORMERS (regardless of what you feel about these movies, the music is really good!)

I was never really into Hans Zimmer, but INCEPTION and BATMAN changed that.

Henry Jackman - X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. (This is my favorite modern soundtrack; just brilliant!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LYzQIZeuRg&list=PL1FCA70A1BB67CFF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frqYK1EZ3O0

There are so many more.....

 

[JHar888]

Harry Manfredini. From all the Friday the 13th films.

 

[JoshL]

Tons and tons of composers I love. Hard to argue with Shore, Williams, Badalamenti or Morricone, for example. But I started making film music for three main reasons:

1) Tangerine Dream - Legend
2) Goblin - Susperia (seeing them live on Friday!)
3) Danny Elfman - everything by (I am a huge Oingo Boingo fan as well)

 

[JHar888]

I think one of the most underrated composers is the late Fred Myrow. He composed the music for Soylent Green, but I believe his best work is Phantasm. It is one of the most original uses of a non orchestral score that doesn't really sound dated. It's incredibly catchy and without it I don't think the film would be as good.

Here's the main theme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9vpG_b8beQ

This is one of my favorite horror theme songs ever. I thought this was Don Coscarelli.

 

[Scoopicman]

This is one of my favorite horror theme songs ever. I thought this was Don Coscarelli.

Coscarelli is the writer/director, not the composer.

1) Tangerine Dream - Legend
2) Goblin - Susperia (seeing them live on Friday!)
3) Danny Elfman - everything by (I am a huge Oingo Boingo fan as well)

How could I forget Danny Elfman? Told you there were heaps more!

 

[kjones]

John Barry (too many to list, stand outs for me are Body Heat and Dances with Wolves)

Vangelis (Blade Runner, of course)

 

[JHar888]

Coscarelli is the writer/director, not the composer.




How could I forget Danny Elfman? Told you there were heaps more!

I could've sworn he pulled a John Carpenter and composed the theme song tho. I guess you learn something new every day.

 

[KnightsFan]

Ennio Morricone, Howard Shore, Hans Zimmer and Yann Tiersen are some of my favorites. I began putting together a playlist of my favorite tracks on YouTube a while ago. It's got some video game tracks in there, too.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaKEx2CJjJ6iezg3bsNL91p5vw1Ytweod

 

[moonshieldmedia]

Surprised nobody has listed my favorite, James Newton Howard. Every one of his scores is a masterpiece!

Sometimes I will watch the bad M. Night Shyamalan movies just to hear the music

 

[Scoopicman]

I could've sworn he pulled a John Carpenter and composed the theme song tho.

BTW, I ordered the PHANTASM soundtrack from the back of a Starlog magazine, back in 1980. Love that score. I since got the CD version, which includes the score for PHANTASM II.

Speaking of Carpenter, he was probably my biggest influence.

 

[JoshL]

James Newton Howard is indeed awesome. His scores for Signs and The Hunger Games are both really great among many, many others.

Scoopicman that is quite the impressive Carpenter collection!

 

[MileCreations]

I'm also surprised nobody mentioned John Powell scoring the likes of Bourne and How to Train your Dragon... Pretty epic scores!

Also love Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard

 

[Jack Lynt]

Oh, that X-Men First Class music is very nice.

Tan Dun (for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...)

David Arnold (for Tomorrow Never Dies, other Bond films, Stargate, )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5AjtMNnWf0&list=PL11E6A8DB20BFE89C..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WgVUzVxUkM&list=PL3CD06F1ABB7B659C..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGwQXL5igcM&list=PL561B898C30436ABC

 

[The Tune Peddler]

BTW, I ordered the PHANTASM soundtrack from the back of a Starlog magazine, back in 1980. Love that score. I since got the CD version, which includes the score for PHANTASM II.

Speaking of Carpenter, he was probably my biggest influence.

WOW!!! That is the coolest soundtrack collection I've ever seen, and I'm guessing that's just a small part of it. Big Trouble in Little China is one of my all time favorite films and the score rocks hard. I too have the Phantasm cd with the sequel's soundtrack. I dig that score as well. A little more 80's-ed up but stlll awesome.