Favourite sci-fi/fantasy composer?

[AntonyF]

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I think some music does go out of date...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 Down the line, he may be out of date who knows.

[Alpha_Geek]

John Williams. Discussion OVAH!

[Nathan_Heller]

John Williams hands down..

[sbk1234]

^^^^Ditto.


However, honorable mention for Jerry Goldsmith

[Dorian Thompson]

John Williams, with an honorary mention for James Horner.

[Admiral2]

sbk1234 wrote:

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^^^^Ditto.

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.

[Neroon]

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.

[DevilEyes]

Bear McCreary. No contest there.

[RandyS]

Alpha_Geek wrote:

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John Williams. Discussion OVAH!

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.

[miraclefan]

Basil Poledouris. Jerry Goldsmith. Alan silvestri.

[Captaindemotion]

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.

[Greg Cox]

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.

[Starbreaker]

Howard Shore. Especially LOTR.

[Steve Mollmann]

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

[Kegg]

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.