Best composer of movie music? (1 Viewer)

[Brook K]

Bernard Herrmann - Taxi Driver, Psycho, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. He was the best.

Nino Rota also deserves mention here. His work with Fellini is suberb.

For someone newer, I really like Clint Mansell's scores for both Aronofsky films.

 

[Iain Jackson]

Basil Poledouris - his score for Robocop is probably my favourite film score. His other scores for Conan the Barbarian, Starship Troopers and The Hunt for Red October were also great. I find it shocking that (according to the IMDB) he has never even been nominated for an award, let alone won any... there's no justice.
John Williams - enough said.
Jerry Goldsmith - some fantastic scores. I especially like Total Recall's music.
Hans Zimmer - His score for Gladiator deserved to win the Oscar, rather than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
James Newton Howard - Unbreakable has recently become one of my favourite scores. The music in the train station scene is just incredible.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

All the biggies have been mentioned already! Funny this question should come up today... I was just talking with a friend about how much I L-O-V-E Morricone's music for The Untouchables. All of it!
These guys mat not be the "best", but I like lots of their stuff:
Clint Mansell (Requiem for a Dream)
Danny Elfman (Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and a billion others)
Hans Zimmer (The Peacemaker)
Mark Mancina (Speed)
Trevor Rabin (Armageddon)
Basil Poledouris (The Hunt for Red October)

 

[Zen Butler]

Ennio Morricone- haunting, sometimes dark, and one of the most original.
Vangelis -moody, ethereal, I actually get through 1492 because of him.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

I can't believe that I forgot to mention Maurice Jarre! :b
He has done some great work, including David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and A Passage to India.
He has won 9 Oscars!

 

[Tom Ryan]

I can't believe that I forgot to mention Maurice Jarre!
He has done some great work, including David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and A Passage to India.
He has won 9 Oscars!

My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw that last sentence. Until I looked him up on imdb. Jarre has been nominated nine times, he's won "only" three .
Anyways, for my money the best film composer of all time is easily John Williams. A five-time Oscar winner, he's the most Oscar-nominated individual of all time. He's scored countless classics, and, just like his counterpart Steven Spielberg, remains fresh and relevant today.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Bernard Herrmann and John Williams.

 

[Justin Doring]

"Best" is really an impossible question, but I'd say:

Best Film Composer of All Time: Miklos Rozsa

Honorable Mention:

Bernard Herrmann
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Jerome Moross
Alfred Newman
Alex North
Max Steiner
Dimitri Tiomkin
Franz Waxman

Best Film Composer Currently Working: Jerry Goldsmith

Honorable Mention:

John Barry
Elmer Bernstein
Bruce Broughton
Patrick Doyle
Maurice Jarre
Ennio Morricone
Basil Poledouris
John Williams

 

[Clayton Smith]

I agree, I'm not going to label one person as best, when there are plenty of great composers out there. But my favorite composer for film music would have to be Danny Elfman. I just have a thing for his music.

 

[Chucky P]

All above mentioned including

Lalo Schifrin: Enter The Dragon!

John Carpenter: Most of his themes are still stuck in my head!

Goblin: Ditto!

 

[Paul_D]

Tangerine Dream
:b
:frowning:

 

[Rob Tomlin]

My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw that last sentence. Until I looked him up on imdb. Jarre has been nominated nine times, he's won "only" three

Sorry, my bad! :b
Jarre is still an incredible composer, even if he has "only" won three Oscars!