Re: Who is your favorite film composer?
James Newton Howard - His stuff is sometimes hit and miss. King Kong (2005), Defiance, I Am Legend, Dinosaur, Atlantis, Waterworld, The Village, Unbreakable, Lady In The Water, Snow Falling On Cedars and The Waterhorse are all excellent scores. Then there's his scores for Michael Clayton, The Interpreter, Freedomland, Collateral, etc. which tend to be more low-key and less memorable.
Basil Poledouris - Conan The Barbarian is considered to be one of the best film scores of all time. Other scores like Robocop, Hunt For Red October and Starship Troopers, along with other greats like Les Miserables, Farewell To The King, Quigley Down Under and Flesh and Blood are all worth checking out as well. But Conan The Barbarian is the best, hands down.
John Debney - His score for Cutthroat Island is also considered to be one of the best film scores of all time. If you're looking for the definitive pirate/adventure score, look no further. It's certainly the best of his career along with The Passion of the Christ. He also did the score for Lair, a video game, which is one of the best scores of 2007 in my opinion.
Trevor Jones - He hasn't done much recently, but his scores for tv movies/miniseries such as Merlin, Dinotopia, Cleopatra and Loch Ness are all excellent and highly addictive. He's no slouch in the feature film department either with scores like Dark City, Cliffhanger and The Last of The Mohicans.
James Horner - Depending on the genre or theme of the movie, his scores tend to sometimes sound similar to eachother. But, you can't deny his talent. He knows how to pull those heartstrings. Some of his greats include Titanic, Braveheart, Apollo 13, Legends of the Fall, Field of Dreams, The Land Before Time, Willow, Glory, A Beautiful Mind, The Spitfire Grill, The Rocketeer, Cocoon and Krull.
Christopher Young - A very well-rounded composer. His scores for Murder in the First, Hellraiser, The Shipping News and Flowers in the Attic are well worth checking out. He's also sometimes known as the master of horror scores.
Hans Zimmer - He gets a lot of criticism for creating the whole "Media Ventures" sound of generic action music. But much like James Horner, his music perfectly matches the scene. His power anthems are well known and are widely used in various movie trailers and he's got a lot of great scores under his belt such as The Lion King, Crimson Tide, Backdraft, Gladiator, The Dark Knight, The Prince of Egypt, Beyond Rangoon, The Thin Red Line, The DaVinci Code, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
Jerry Goldsmith - His skill with blending symphony with electronics and a talent for creative sounds made him very unique. His themes are always addictive and even though he scored some questionable films, the music was what was always memorable. Some of his best are Star Trek The Motion Picture, Total Recall, The Rambo Trilogy, Poltergeist, The Omen, Rudy, First Knight, Mulan, Medicine Man, Hoosiers, Under Fire, Legend, The Ghost and the Darkness and Basic Instinct.
