Favourite sci-fi/fantasy composer?

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by AntonyF, Oct 10, 2009.

  1. AntonyF

    AntonyF Official Tahmoh Taster Rear Admiral

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    Who are your favourite composers, for sci-fi and fantasy TV or film?

    I notice more with TV, and there are quite a few good ones.

    Christopher Franke was brilliant doing B5. There are some really memorable tunes from there... and the one from the end of Sleeping in Light makes the hairs on the back of my neck tingle... they're even doing it right now thinking of it.

    Christophe Beck did some really nice Buffy stuff... The Gift is another spine tingling momemt when Buffy dies.

    But I have to say I a completely blown away by Bear McCreary of BSG. He's just amazing. His work is so multi-layered so many instruments, and moods and stories being told...

    I think some music does go out of date... Trek is way too antiquated now IMO. Bear is very current. Down the line, he may be out of date who knows.
     
  2. Alpha_Geek

    Alpha_Geek Commodore Commodore

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    John Williams. Discussion OVAH! ;)
     
  3. Nathan_Heller

    Nathan_Heller Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    John Williams hands down..
     
  4. sbk1234

    sbk1234 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    ^^^^Ditto.


    However, honorable mention for Jerry Goldsmith
     
  5. Dorian Thompson

    Dorian Thompson Admiral Admiral

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    John Williams, with an honorary mention for James Horner.
     
  6. Admiral2

    Admiral2 Admiral Admiral

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    Megaditto.

    But I'll add a list:

    Jerry Goldsmith
    Joel Goldsmith
    David Arnold
    James Horner
    Brad Feidel
    Bear McCreary
    Bruce Broughton
    Mike Post
    Cory Lerios & John DeAndrea
    Hoyt Curtin
    Shirley Walker


    (shrug) I like music scores.
     
  7. Neroon

    Neroon Mod of Balance Moderator

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    Howard Shore, without question. Nobody has ever invested themselves in a project the way he did for "Lord of the Rings". The sheer breadth and depth he covered in creating distinctive themes for characters and cultures, blending them with a deft touch to create audio imagery I have never seen before. The Fellowship themselves had their own theme, separate and definite from everything else in the film. You had grand landscapes and intimate moments, echoes of ancient battles, strains of powerful love, poignancy in the death of kings. He even turned an inanimate golden ring into a character itself, full of temptation and evil. When you hear a theme repeated, it's with deliberate intent and an altered instrumentation for a definite purpose. John Williams is great and has earned his reputation, but my one criticism of him is that he tends to become repetitive between works such as in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Star Wars". But that's a minor quibble and nothing more.

    Howard Shore bows to no one. ;)
     
  8. DevilEyes

    DevilEyes Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Bear McCreary. No contest there.
     
  9. RandyS

    RandyS Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Agreed. His Star Wars, Superman and Indiana Jones themes are some of the best out there. In the case of The Temple of Doom, I hated the movie, but loved the music. The one time Williiams disapionted me was Return of the Jedi. I HATE, HATE, HATE the Ewok themes. Thankfully, he replaced his awful Ewok theme at the end of Jedi with that instrumental piece that I thought worked much better.

    I should also mention Jerry Goldsmith. I never cared for TMP's opening theme (and hated the fact that TNG co-opted it), but his opening theme for First Contact is my most favorite Star Trek theme.
     
  10. miraclefan

    miraclefan Commodore Commodore

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    Basil Poledouris. Jerry Goldsmith. Alan silvestri.
     
  11. Captaindemotion

    Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

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    John Williams by a mile.

    I'd also mention Jerry Goldsmith, Hans Zimmerman, Howard Shore and Danny Elfman, though I haven't been dying about anything he's done over the last few years. Still, his score for the Burton Batman movies are about the only area in which I'd give those movies the edge over the Nolan ones.
     
  12. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Going back a ways, let's not forget Bernard Herrmann:

    THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, PSYCHO, VERTIGO, THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR, THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, as well as various other Hitchcock and Harryhausen films. He also scored several episodes of the original TWILIGHT ZONE.
     
  13. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Howard Shore. Especially LOTR.
     
  14. Stevil2001

    Stevil2001 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Jerry Goldsmith. TMP still has the best score of any Star Trek film.
     
  15. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Bah. All the greats already got their nods - so I'll second Bernard Hermann (name-dropping Fahrenheit 451), Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams and Howard Shore. Lately, Bear McCreary has wowed me, but I've only just gotten into BSG while those lot would be on the tip of my tongue for years now.

    This said, I'll give additional nods to Gottfried Huppertz for his brilliant score in Metropolis (and Die Nibelungen), and also note I really liked Clint Mansell's work in The Fountain and Moon.
     
  16. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I find all of James Horner's music sounds the same. I remember watching The Perfect Storm. In the scene where the giant waves keep hitting the boat I remember thinking "I don't get it, are there waves coming or is the starship Reliant attacking?"
     
  17. miraclefan

    miraclefan Commodore Commodore

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    :guffaw:
     
  18. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The thing about James Horner is, he composed one great movie score. So great, apparently, it shouldn't be confined to just one movie. ;)
     
  19. tharpdevenport

    tharpdevenport Admiral Admiral

    In no order:


    John Williams
    "E.T."
    "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"
    First three "Star Wars" films


    Jerry Goldsmith
    "Capricorn One"
    "Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend"
    The first four Trek films he scored
    "Explorers"


    Christophe Beck
    "Buffy the Vampie Slayer" (TV series, for which he won an Emmy for his work)


    Velton Ray Bunch
    "Qauntum Leap"
    "Enterprise"

    James Horner
    "Willow"
    "Star Trek 2"
    "Star Trek 3"
    "Something Wicked This Way Comes"


    And of course other Trek series work, and Trek films (excluding Nemesis onward, and Brian Tyler's "Enterprise" efforts)

    Elmer Bernstein
    "Ghostbusters"

    Danny Elfman
    "Edward Scissorhands"

    Trevor Jones
    "Dark City"

    David Newman
    "Serenity"
    "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure"
    "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey"

    Basil Poledouris
    "Conan the Barbarian"

    Graeme Revell
    "Pitch Black"
    "The Chronicles of Riddick"

    Mark Snow
    "The X-Files"

    James L. Venable
    "Samurai Jack"


    The work on "Batman: The Animated Series", which I loved so much, I created this site:
    http://www.btasscores.150m.com

    Probably others I have forgotten. How broad a range is "fantasy"?
     
  20. Steve Roby

    Steve Roby Rear Admiral Premium Member

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    Jerry Goldsmith. To my ear, a lot of John Williams's scores are interchangeably bombastic. Goldsmith's Logan's Run doesn't sound anything like his Planet of the Apes which doesn't sound anything like his Star Trek - The Motion Picture.

    I'm also a big fan of Bebe and Louis Barron's Forbidden Planet, Howard Shore's Crash (the Ballard/Cronenberg movie), Vangelis's Blade Runner, Barry Gray's Space: 1999 year one, Cliff Martinez's Solaris, Yoko Kanno's Cowboy Bebop...