Who's your favourite film composer of all time? Once you vote, please share why that composer is your favourite and which film score they composed is best in your opinion. 
Who's your favourite film composer of all time?
- Thread starter tridon
- Start date
Hans zimmer for me and 2 great examples are -
The Rock.
Gladiator.
Poll's now up, humperklonk! Feel free to vote!
And great choice!
I love composed music in films; it's one of my favourite things about a film. Without the right music, a film can sometimes feel off. It bothers my fiancée sometimes how much I obsess over the music in a film. Whenever we watch a film, she always looks over to me with a cocky grin and says, "So, how epic is this music?" Apparently I use the word 'epic' a lot when describing composed music in film. 
Anyway, I've made a few choices in the above poll and here they are:
ALAN SILVESTRI - Alan's music for The Avengers was perfect and it's hard to forget his iconic score for Forrest Gump.
MARK MANCINA - He receives my vote for Speed alone. I haven't seen the film in quite a few years now, but that theme music is one that I hum to this day.
HANS ZIMMER - He's essentially a god of composed music. The Lion King... Broken Arrow... The Rock... Gladiator... M:I-2... Inception... hell, even the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 video game. The list goes on and on and on.
DANNY ELFMAN - Known for his dark and dreary Gothic themes, Danny's one of the absolute best out there. He's written iconic themes for almost every Tim Burton and Sam Raimi film, but he's also written themes that people wouldn't expect from him, such as Silver Linings Playbook and The Simpsons.
JOHN WILLIAMS - He's right up there with Hans Zimmer as one of the gods of composed music... he's actually even more up there. I think when it comes to composed music in film, John is probably the most well-known. His iconic music for Star Wars, Jaws, Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones are so well-known that someone could know which film they're from without even seeing the films themselves. He's truly a legend.
CLINT MANSELL - Requiem For a Dream. 'Nuff said.
HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS - Harry's written lots of music for film -- from Shrek to Man on Fire -- but it's actually his video game work that I've found most inspiring. His theme music for the Metal Gear Solid franchise is some of my favourite music ever.
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD - James is the last composer that I've decided to vote for, even though everyone on this list has written beautiful music and they're all vote-worthy. James, though, has given me some of my favourite film music ever, though. His music for the films of M. Night Shyamalan -- particularly Signs and Lady in the Water -- are some of my favourite themes ever. His music alongside Hans Zimmer for The Dark Knight Trilogy was incredible. Then there's his breathtaking theme for Peter Jackson's King Kong; James is one incredible talent.
Anyway, I've made a few choices in the above poll and here they are:
ALAN SILVESTRI - Alan's music for The Avengers was perfect and it's hard to forget his iconic score for Forrest Gump.
MARK MANCINA - He receives my vote for Speed alone. I haven't seen the film in quite a few years now, but that theme music is one that I hum to this day.
HANS ZIMMER - He's essentially a god of composed music. The Lion King... Broken Arrow... The Rock... Gladiator... M:I-2... Inception... hell, even the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 video game. The list goes on and on and on.
DANNY ELFMAN - Known for his dark and dreary Gothic themes, Danny's one of the absolute best out there. He's written iconic themes for almost every Tim Burton and Sam Raimi film, but he's also written themes that people wouldn't expect from him, such as Silver Linings Playbook and The Simpsons.
JOHN WILLIAMS - He's right up there with Hans Zimmer as one of the gods of composed music... he's actually even more up there. I think when it comes to composed music in film, John is probably the most well-known. His iconic music for Star Wars, Jaws, Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones are so well-known that someone could know which film they're from without even seeing the films themselves. He's truly a legend.
CLINT MANSELL - Requiem For a Dream. 'Nuff said.
HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS - Harry's written lots of music for film -- from Shrek to Man on Fire -- but it's actually his video game work that I've found most inspiring. His theme music for the Metal Gear Solid franchise is some of my favourite music ever.
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD - James is the last composer that I've decided to vote for, even though everyone on this list has written beautiful music and they're all vote-worthy. James, though, has given me some of my favourite film music ever, though. His music for the films of M. Night Shyamalan -- particularly Signs and Lady in the Water -- are some of my favourite themes ever. His music alongside Hans Zimmer for The Dark Knight Trilogy was incredible. Then there's his breathtaking theme for Peter Jackson's King Kong; James is one incredible talent.
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I had to go with John Williams. While Zimmer's work is very emotional and really top notch overall, I think Williams surpasses him with the iconic energy and what is in my mind THE best extension of the movie itself. I think every movie fan across the globe is grateful to have had the opportunity of experiencing some of the greatest cinematic works of art with the absolute perfection of a soundtrack to go along with them.
The music that defines epic to me (the songs that I could listen to over and over again)...
MARK MANCINA - Speed
HANS ZIMMER - Mission: Impossible 2
HANS ZIMMER - Gladiator
HANS ZIMMER - Broken Arrow
HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS - Metal Gear Solid 2
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD - King Kong
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD - Lady in the Water
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD - Signs
JOHN WILLIAMS - Jurassic Park
JOHN WILLIAMS - Superman
DANNY ELFMAN - Spider-Man
ALAN PARKER - What's Eating Gilbert Grape
BRAD FIEDEL - Terminator 2: Judgement Day
CLINT MANSELL - Requiem For a Dream
JOHN MURPHY - Sunshine
TREVOR RABIN - Armageddon
MARK MANCINA - Speed
HANS ZIMMER - Mission: Impossible 2
HANS ZIMMER - Gladiator
HANS ZIMMER - Broken Arrow
HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS - Metal Gear Solid 2
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD - King Kong
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD - Lady in the Water
JAMES NEWTON HOWARD - Signs
JOHN WILLIAMS - Jurassic Park
JOHN WILLIAMS - Superman
DANNY ELFMAN - Spider-Man
ALAN PARKER - What's Eating Gilbert Grape
BRAD FIEDEL - Terminator 2: Judgement Day
CLINT MANSELL - Requiem For a Dream
JOHN MURPHY - Sunshine
TREVOR RABIN - Armageddon
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Listen to the Man Of Steel OST and see if Hans Zimmer has not already surpassed some of these great composers. Hans Z to me is the Mozart of our time - yes there I said it
Listen to the Man Of Steel OST and see if Hans Zimmer has not already surpassed some of these great composers. Hans Z to me is the Mozart of our time - yes there I said it
I couldn't agree more. There are so many that I could list that I really like but the clear #1 for me is Hans Zimmer.
My favourite work of his comes from Gladiator. While TDK, Man of Steel and Inception aren't far behind. His work in other notable films for me has been also just brilliant: The Rock, MI2, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down, Tears of the Sun, Last Samurai, Matchstick Men, Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons. He even composed the track for the mini-series The Pacific and the video game Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 which was great. And thats all what I can remember off the top of my head.
To me when I hear Zimmer... its just divine.
There lots of others that I like as well which Im sure will get mentioned in this thread so I wont bother going into that but...
An honourable mention that perhaps gets over looked is the job Daft Punk did in Tron Legacy. What they did with there composing and music in that movie was nothing short of brilliant.
It's really hard to get it down to one but in the end I have to agree that Hans Zimmer is right up there with just how many memorable scores he's done. John Williams and James Newton Howard are right up there with him.
I agree, Daft Punk should mentioned for TRON Legacy. It's an amazing score and one of my favorites.
I agree, Daft Punk should mentioned for TRON Legacy. It's an amazing score and one of my favorites.
John Williams was, until Trent and Atticus came along and made two badass scores for The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo..
John Williams dwarfs the rest with his iconic themes: Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones, Jaws, E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Memoirs of a Geisha, Schindler's List, Angela's Ashes, Jurassic Park, Home Alone and the latest great accomplishment: The Adventure of Tintin. The only composer to achieve the scores artistically and commercially in one year: Schindler's List and Jurrasic Park. Jerry Goldsmith is the second best and no vote for him is a big joke. 
I was going to vote for Hans Zimmer. But I decided Thomas Newman needed some more love. His Finding Nemo/A Series of Unfortunate Events score made me bawl.
Lalo Schifrin, I think that is how you spell his name. He is the composer of many Clint Eastwood movies in the 70's
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