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Directors Your favorite film composers (1 Viewer)

Kirk Tsai

Screenwriter
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Nov 1, 2000
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Listening again to the RCA Gerhardt series, and realize how much I love film music. So here's my favorite composers, and my favorite five (if they have done so much) scores of theirs in order.

1. John Williams -- The Empire Strikes Back, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, Superman: The Movie, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Star Wars: A New Hope

2. Erich Wolfgang Korngold -- Adventures of Robin Hood, King's Row, The Constant Nymph, Escape Me Never, The Sea Wolf

3. Bernard Herrmann -- Vertigo, Three Worlds of Gulliver, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Jason and the Argunauts, Cape Fear

4. Ennio Morricone -- The Mission, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Good Bad and Ugly, The Legend of 1900, Cinema Paradiso

5. Franz Waxman -- Prince Valiant, Bride of Frankenstein, Taras Bulba, Sunset Boulevard, Spirit of St. Louis

6. Sergei Prokofiev -- Alexander Nevsky, Ivan The Terrible I & II

7. James Horner -- Legends of the Fall, Braveheart, Glory, Apollo 13, Field of Dreams

8. Elmer Bernstein -- To Kill a Mockingbird, Age of Innocence, The Great Escape, Far From Heaven, The Ten Commandments

9. John Barry -- Dances With Wolves, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Somewhere in Time, Raise the Titanic, You Only Live Twice

10. Patrick Doyle -- Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Dead Again, Great Expectations, A Little Princess
 

Rand

Supporting Actor
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Well, let's see, how about:

Bernard Herrmann - The Ghost and Mrs Muir

Erich Wolfgang Korngold - King's Row

Franz Waxman - Peyton Place

Elmer Bernstein - The Magnificent Seven

Dimitri Tiomkin - The Alamo

Jerry Goldsmith - Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Randy Edelman - The Last of the Mohicans

Danny Elfman - Edward Scissorhands

Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

John Barry - Dances With Wolves
 

SteveGon

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I pretty much enjoy the work of all of the composers already listed.

One not mentioned is Zbigniew Preisner who is best known for his work with Krzysztof Kieslowski. I recently picked up the soundtrack to The Decalogue and like it quite a bit. :emoji_thumbsup:
 

Walter Kittel

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No list of film composers would be complete without...

Jerome Moross - The Big Country

I also like -

Gabriel Yared - Map of the Human Heart, The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley

Vangelis - Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner, 1492: Conquest of Paradise

Of the composers already listed, favorites include

Ennio Moriconne
Bernard Hermann
Max Steiner
Franz Waxman
Angelo Badalamenti
John Barry

- Walter.
 

Jim_K

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Some favorites already mentioned

Bernard Herrmann
Ennio Morricone
John Williams
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Elmer Bernstein
John Barry
Jerry Goldsmith
Danny Elfman



and some favorites not previously mentioned

Akira Ifukube
Basil Poledouris
 

Justin Doring

Screenwriter
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Jun 9, 1999
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My list of favorite film composers is fairly predictable:

John Barry
Elmer Bernstein
Bruce Broughton
Patrick Doyle
Jerry Goldsmith
Bernard Herrmann
Maurice Jarre
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Jerome Moross
Ennio Morricone
Alfred Newman
Alex North
Basil Poledouris
Miklós Rózsa
Max Steiner
Dimitri Tiomkin
Franz Waxman
John Williams
 

Pascal A

Second Unit
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Aug 2, 2000
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Along the same vein as Zbigniew Preisner's work with Krzysztof Kieslowski, I am genuinely impressed by Eleni Karaindrou's work for Theo Angelopoulos' films. I don't know if this makes any sense, but her evocative, melancholic compositions make me "feel deeply". Anyway, she's consider a national treasure of sorts in Greece, and is often referred to as the "The Tenth Muse". I love her work.

Another one is Michael Nyman, particularly his compositions for Patrice Leconte's Monsieur Hire and The Hairdresser's Husband, and also Andrew Niccol's Gattaca.
 

Simon_Lepine

Supporting Actor
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Feb 19, 2003
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I like all the usual suspects like Herrmann, Morricone et the others mentioned in this thread, just wanted to add some horror composers I like, namely John Carpenter and Goblin
 

Brook K

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And I'll add Joe Hisiashi who writes the wonderful scores for Hayao Miyazaki's films and has also done several for Takashi Kitano.

Toru Takamitsu, especially Woman In The Dunes

Peer Raben, who did most of Fassbinder's scores

Popol Vuh, especially Aguirre The Wrath of God and Heart Of Glass

Ravi Shankar, Pather Panchali, other Ray films, Charley
 

Dennis

Second Unit
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Feb 4, 1999
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Two of my many faves:

Giorgio Moroder - Midnight Express, American Gigolo, Scarface, Top Gun.

Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer, Thief, The Soldier, Risky Business, Legend, Three O'Clock High
 

Kristian

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John Williams is by far my favorite film composer. I love most of his scores, but my favorite is definitely The Empire Strikes Back.

Other favorites include:

John Barry - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Danny Elfman - Edward Scissorhands
Jerry Goldsmith - Star Trek: The Motion Picture
James Horner - Braveheart
Alan Menken - Beauty and the Beast
Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Hans Zimmer - The Lion King
 

Nick Sievers

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Personally I like the theme music Williams creates but don't care for his overall score most of the time.
 

Steve Christou

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My top two...

Jerry Goldsmith

Bernard Herrmann

Others I enjoy listening to...

John Williams
John Barry
James Horner
Howard Shore
Ennio Morricone
Basil Poledouris
Danny Elfman
Miklos Rozsa
Dimitri Tiomkin
Elmer Bernstein
Maurice Jarre
 

Bill McA

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Oct 18, 2000
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Ennio Morricone
Angelo Badalamenti
Ennio Morricone
Michael Nyman
Ennio Morricone
Jerry Goldsmith
Ennio Morricone
Maurice Jarre
Ennio Morricone
Tangerine Dream
Ennio Morricone
Bernard Herrmann
Ennio Morricone
Mario Nascimbene
Ennio Morricone
Georges Delerue
Ennio Morricone
Gabriel Yared
Ennio Morricone
Philip Glass
Ennio Morricone
Vangelis
Ennio Morricone

:D
 

Angelo.M

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After Capturing the Friedmans, I'm eager to hear what Morricone's son (sorry, I can't recall his first name; embarrassing) has in store. Talk about a hauntingly gorgeous score.
 

Zen Butler

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Vangelis



Bernard Herrmann
Ennio Morricone
Max Steiner
Danny Elfman
Rachel Portman
Randy Newman
Tan Dun
Zhao Jiping
 

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