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I'm looking for the best scenes in films scored by James Horner. Quickly searched I didn't find this particular conversation elsewhere, although surely it has been touched on and hinted at recently. What I'd like is a discussion of films that are really good and/or very entertaining AND have a great score by Horner, or just single particular scenes that work exceptionally well with Horner's music.
I have a little less than a hundred scores of James Horner. They are mostly entertaining, some are truly great, few work really, sincerely, perfectly with the visuals of the film. I haven't seen all the films of which I have the score. I'd like this thread to stay positive, as the title says, I'm looking for the best. So please, if you need to bash a score or a film scored by Horner, do it somewhere else of choose your words carefully, because emotions are high right now.
Even with nearly a hundred scores on my shelves, I'm afraid I'll have to go with the obvious: Braveheart. Though the story is apparently mostly fictitious, and though I do not believe in Jesus Christ, this is a powerful film, with the visuals and music. As a Finnish person I shouldn't be too interested in the rulings of England, but a story about the fight for independence and freedom is right up my alley. The crystal-clear Jesus-references of a person dying for the sake of others is also right up my alley, even more so than the previous aspect. Sacrifice can be filmed well or poorly. Here it is done well. And with great music to back it up.
I get teary and goosebumpy in the very first moments of film and music, especially with what happens to young William Wallace. There are many great moments of visuals and music in the film, but here are a few of my favourites:
(Revenge) Oh, the slow-motion and the building of the music. For the MTV-music-video-folks this will seem like forever, but for me, it is perfect. When William strikes the first blow and the music accelerates, ohboyo.
(The Battle Of Stirling) The percussions and sustained windy-sounding synth, bagpipe ontop, what in the world is that brassy/(excuse me) farty sounding thing, and whatever it is it's great, and then the build with synthy strings. Oy Vey! What greatness with the clash of battle.
(Betrayal And Desolation) Nice pounds of percussion, the strings build and the brass give great sad grandness, that combined with the sorrowful face, that of feeling betrayed, is just great.
A grown man and a film lover should probably have picked something less-easy, but that is the Best for me. I will be going through my Horner CD's chronologically soon. I will also check out some of those films, if they're easily available. I can then get back to this with something more.
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Shaun mentioned it in another thread, but I really love the way he scored the climax of Legends of the Fall. In a completely different direction, The Grinch is a terrible movie, but I really liked the way he scored the montage where the Grinch steals all the presents. I think it's the closest he ever came to writing out and out Goldenthal-esque malevolent music, and it makes the sequence in the film far more effective than it had any right to be.
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There's a scene in TWOK where there's a shot of the Enterprise leaving orbit around Genesis, and I always thought the music that Horner composed for that shot was some of the MOST PERFECT music for a scene I've ever heard! It was just astonishing. It only lasted about 10 seconds if that, but it left an indelible impression on me.
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Shaun mentioned it in another thread, but I really love the way he scored the climax of Legends of the Fall. In a completely different direction, The Grinch is a terrible movie, but I really liked the way he scored the montage where the Grinch steals all the presents. I think it's the closest he ever came to writing out and out Goldenthal-esque malevolent music, and it makes the sequence in the film far more effective than it had any right to be.
Thanks for the tip, I'll have to check that one out. I have had the Grinch score for a long time, but have never liked it too much, and I even watched the horrendous film around xmas-2014, but I didn't really pay much attention, as I felt the film wasn't worth it. Goldenthal is one of my personal life-savers, so if anyone writes music that can be compared to him, I'm all for it.
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There's a scene in TWOK where there's a shot of the Enterprise leaving orbit around Genesis, and I always thought the music that Horner composed for that shot was some of the MOST PERFECT music for a scene I've ever heard! It was just astonishing. It only lasted about 10 seconds if that, but it left an indelible impression on me.
Here's a confession: I have never seen an episode of or a movie of the Star Trek franchise. It's actually a principal that I have regarding certain film series. That may seem childish to you, but what it is what it is what it is. But someone claiming music being MOST PERFECT for a scene means I'll have to check it out. Could you perhaps link the scene from youtube or at least tell me at which point of the movie this occurs?
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Shaun mentioned it in another thread, but I really love the way he scored the climax of Legends of the Fall. In a completely different direction, The Grinch is a terrible movie, but I really liked the way he scored the montage where the Grinch steals all the presents. I think it's the closest he ever came to writing out and out Goldenthal-esque malevolent music, and it makes the sequence in the film far more effective than it had any right to be.
Thanks for the tip, I'll have to check that one out. I have had the Grinch score for a long time, but have never liked it too much, and I even watched the horrendous film around xmas-2014, but I didn't really pay much attention, as I felt the film wasn't worth it. Goldenthal is one of my personal life-savers, so if anyone writes music that can be compared to him, I'm all for it.
Bear in mind that I'm talking about Goldenthal in wacky, nasty saxaphones and theremins mode from stuff like The Butcher Boy and some of his Ridler music, not the grand orchestral mode most people love him for. But if yeah, if you like the wacky parts of Casper and Jumanji, I feel like that Grinch cue (I want to say "The Big Heist"?) is Horner's best version of that kind of music. Hate the film, but I think it's overall a really fun Christmas score - the last time Horner really cut loose like that.
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