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

Conan The Snowman? Now there's something to consider.

no argument from me on your choice Alan

Thanks for sharing this experience. I don't think I've ever had such an emotional response to a post as I've just had to your one.

I think that many of my choices are governed by emotional ties like your own - though I have been fortunate enough so far not to have gone through the trauma of the loss of a parent. These emotional or experiences with scores are why this isn't a "best soundtrack" list and why I sometimes do not articulate well the reasons why a choice is a choice.

Again, thanks for posting Tim at my insistence. With our 3rd anniversary of MainTitles fresh in the mind, peoples' willingness to share experiences such as this highlights one of the strengths of our community.

Indeed, Alan, indeed!

As for CONAN THE BARBARIAN, it's odd to look back on myself in 1982 and realise that I wasn't too taken with the score at fiirst, even a bit disappointed, I had honestly thought, for whatever reason, that Jerry Goldsmith would be scoring it ( maybe because he'd done Milius's THE WIND AND THE LION ), somewhere along the way I played it more and more until it became one of my all time favourite scores and a complete reversal of thought; it's not often you reflect and praise Crom that a composer of Jerry Goldsmith's calibre didn't score a particular film.

At a guess, I think CONAN may be the most played of ANY album that I own.

BLADERUNNER is without doubt one of the great scores ( and not just of 1982 ), I saw the film on it's release, imagine my disappointment that there was no soundtrack album

A few other great scores from 1982 that haven't been mentioned...

THE DARK CRYSTAL - Trevor Jones
INCHON - Jerry Goldsmith
THE SECRET OF NIMH - Jerry Goldsmith
HAMMETT - John Barry
FRANCES - John Barry
THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER - David Whitaker

If I were to give a Top 5 of the year, it would look like this:

1. BLADE RUNNER
2. PINK FLOYD: THE WALL -- if it counts
3. E.T.
4. CONAN
5. MONSIGNOR

I'm not really that hot on ST2 either, Peter. Too bombastic and all that. Used to like it in my teens and early 20's, though.

Anyone ready for another one?

1983 - The Dead Zone - Michael Kamen

This may be a choice that has many people running from this list shouting "This is just ridiculous!" and throwing titles such as Brainstorm, Krull, Return of The Jedi and many others as possible alternatives for 1983. But this is another film that I've poured over with the music on cassette by my side. I find the movie an enjoyable Stephen King adaptation and I think that Kamen nailed the whole feeling of what "might have been" with his score.

Admittedly, there's not much to the score that's on CD; there's no great standout cues but, as with Halloween III, the marriage of the score, the visuals and (maybe this can't be said for the Halloween sequel) emotional baggage elevated this score up the list to one of my favourites. Kamen manages to translate cries of anguish at what's happening to the two leads to music in cues such as "Hospital Visit" and "Lost Love" that always pulls on the heart strings. And Kamen's score throughout the film adds more gravitas to the climax of the film and makes it quite a poignant ending.

We all know scores such as Brainstorm, Krull and Return of The Jedi and we can all parade great tracks - I'm always saying how wonderful "Lillian's Heart Attack" from Horner's Brainstorm is - but it's the emotional punch that Kamen's score gives me that makes it a standout.

Other less well known standout scores from 1983 include Trevor Jones' Nate and Hayes and Richard Band's Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn. And Jerry Goldsmith's Twilight Zone: The Movie has some great music - though mainly from the "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet" portion of the film. BTW, I don't really know Horner's Something Wicked This Way Comes well enough yet to form a solid opinion on this.

This was a good year for TV: Mike Post/Pete Carpenter's music for The A-Team is a firm favourite and Robert Cobert's The Winds of War theme seemed to be on TV for many weeks this year! And when Cobert's music wasn't to be heard at home it would be Joe Harnell's music for the mini-series V.

Under Fire is one that was expecting to see mentioned. Always a popular Goldsmith score for people. It's one that I've just never connected with.

I didn't realise Marco Polo was from 82 ( because I didn't hear or buy it until years later ) but what a fantastic score it is, yet another reason 82 was one of the strongest years ever.

Have you got OHMSS yet?

Marco Polo is another score I don't really connect with. I don't really know why. Maybe if I see the TV (?) series that would change?

Return of The Jedi is my least favourite of the original trilogy. Although there are some top tracks on the expanded set l have never warmed to the lifts made from the earlier films or the music for the Ewoks.

Oddly, it seems to be the only Bond score that I never see in music stores ( it sold out? ), a shame because up until fairly recently I'd seen it going for cheap along with many other Bond scores, even the most recent, Quantum of Solace, I saw for only £2.

I guess I don't have to tell you to make sure it's the expanded/remastered OHMSS.

My choice for the year would have been Cross Creek but then again I'm a fan of Rosenman. I thought the movie was also quite well done. For those of you who don't know it is the story of Rawlings, the writer of the book The Yearling.