Movie/TV/Game Scores Through The Ages - Alan's Personal Favourites

...a bit like The Bridge On The River Kwai winning for Colonel Bogey March, except Kwai is worse as Arnold didn't even write Bogey.

Well, if I can, I will always bring up how the score worked in the film as well.

-Erik-

I only became familiar with the piece when I saw The Elephant Man in 1980.

Over use of a specific piece of music tends to diminish the impact of it for me when it's used over and over again. To such an extent that it spoils the original context because of the other uses - and it tends to be in something annoyingly trivial such as advertisement.

Williams' march from Raiders of The Lost Ark is a bit like that. But if you have a strong emotional tie to something like this march then that probably overrides any subsequent associations?

We agree to disagree. I'll never tire of Anitra's Dance, 1812, Fanfare for Common Man, and many others. I'm amazed at how often the material is used and how well it works in the film or ad.
Thomas

Good point, Manwe. For example, I'm kinda sick of Vivaldi always being associated with the lightweight (but still enjoyable) "Seasons". He's done so much more excellent stuff, like the beautiful "Stabat Mater".

Have you heard the Stabat Mater, Tom? It's one of my alltime favourite classical pieces, and quite famous too (although not as famous as the Seasons, obviously). You can listen to it here, if you wish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFuEQEs6A24

and the next release is????

Or I've just been too busy the last wee while. I'll get on this as one of my next jobs.

If you said 1982 as a whole is your favorite score(s) then I would have no problem with that. 1982 is one of the very best years for film music!

-Erik-

I will chose one that raises itself slightly above the rest but there's very little between five scores from five different composers. But excluding one top flight name that's going to disappoint some.

I'll have a name by the end of the evening.

Hm?

1982 - Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan - James Horner

I can't put my decision off any longer and I've gone with the one that I grew up with and have more of a connection with compared with the other possible choices for this year. Each one of the other scores I didn't see the movie at the time it was released.

I remember buying this LP and listening to it on our "music centre" (as they were called then). And I loved the original tracks featured. "Enterprise Clears Moorings" was a great track to hear at home after hearing it in the film to the (mostly) repeated footage taken from the first film. Goldsmith scored the scene better but Horner's version wasn't far behind. And tracks such as "Surprise Attack", "Kirk's Explosive Reply", "Battle In The Mutara Nebula" and "Genesis Countdown" were ones that were played again and again once I had transferred the LP to cassette. Great examples of Horner at his best both in terms of action scoring. Horner's main theme was a bit of a step down from Goldsmith's title theme but Horner's end title sequence is a great piece of music.

The recent expansion added a whole other dimension after having been so familiar with the LP selection: hiring out a VHS video of the film so I could hear the music in context again, buying the video when it was released and going through the film frame by frame (or as best you could with video) noting down where all the action happened with which passages of music. All that added suspense music for the Federation officers "under the influence" fills out the whole score wonderfully. A worthy expansion.

The other scores that get a very honourable mention are Poledouris' Conan The Barbarian, John Carpenter's Halloween III: The Season of The Witch, Goldsmith's Poltergeist (I would pick this as a first choice on any other day - and maybe after the upcoming FSM release) and Morricone's The Thing. Each one has its own merits and could easily be number one choice in most peoples' lists (except maybe for Halloween III!).

No First Blood or (and this is where I may get some grief) no E.T.? They do have their moments (and, for me, the Rambo franchise has a more enjoyable score to come.)

And TV theme(s)? Appropriately enough with the recent death of Leslie Nielsen, I'd have to mention Ira Newborn's Police Squad! (in colour) - a great pick-me-up track.

Surely 1983 can't be as hard as this year's crop of scores? (There's Dr. Rumack comeback just waiting to be said somewhere.)

Go on. Let me hear your perspective on an alternate choice.

You might be surprised!?