HANS ZIMMER

More favorites coming at you! Like some of you, my first introduction to Hans Zimmer was through The Lion King when I was a kid, but his composing prowess was really cemented in my life when I first heard the score to The Rock. Since then, I've really appreciated his experimental approach to film scoring, and that his scores become more characters all their own within his films than some composers.

1) Man of Steel
I really love this score. Some for obvious reasons, as a big Superman fan, but even without him, I still think it would be my favorite superhero score. It has a deep emotion to it and vulnerability which it such a wonderful juxtaposition to the "invincibility" that Superman has. In a film about family and duty, about belonging and loss, the music communicates that even in our insecurities, there is strength and I love that ebb and flow throughout the score. It really hits a deep emotional chord.

2) Gladiator
Saving up my allowance for this score in high school was never money better spent! I've loved it since listening to the first few notes on my CD disc-man. What an experience it is! The haunting vocals, all of my favorite middle eastern instruments, the thundering percussion, the glimpses of hope and sadness in the themes. It's all the things a score for an epic historical drama should be. It's such a special score and beautiful storytelling.

3) The Rock
I think this still counts even if it was a group effort. It definitely has the full Zimmer sounds and variety. Sometimes I wonder if its sound is a little dated for me now, but every time I play it, that thought gets washed away and I just thoroughly enjoy it equally the same as when I first heard it as a teen. It's such a classic and for good reason. It really showed me how "cool" film scores could be.

Runner-Up
I was trying to have Black Hawk Down or Wonder Woman 1984 usurp The Rock's position, but just couldn't do it. My love for The Rock score is long and deep I guess! Cemented in my film music loving history. So BHD, and WW84 you'll have to be runners up this time. Also Interstellar has grown on me more and more. I still don't love the tracks with the high pitched single sound in the background, but have really been enjoying this score more in general each time I listen to it - and weirdly enough it's become more relaxing, even though the first time I heard it, it stressed me out. Hmmmm.

The rest of my collection:
As Good As It Gets
Backdraft
Batman Begins
Batman v Superman
Beyond Rangoon
Black Hawk Down
Crimson Tide
The Dark Knight
The Da Vinci Code
Driving Miss Daisy
Drop Zone
Dunkirk
Green Card
Hannibal
Hidden Figures
The Holiday
Inception
Interstellar
King Arthur
The Last Samurai
The Lion King
The Lone Ranger
Madagascar
Matchstick Men
Nine Months
Pearl Harbor
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
The Power of One
The Prince of Egypt
Rain Man
Rush
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Spanglish
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
The Da Vinci Code
The Thin Red Line
Wonder Woman 1984