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RAIN MAN is an excellent film score, among the finest Zimmer's ever done. And it's from that period.
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For me, I only really liked Zimmer with THE ROCK, BROKEN ARROW, and GLADIATOR - that basic sound. I understand those being the turning point though as they marked the beginning of film music become a bit homogenous, at least with action scores at the time.
I find his earlier works to be a bit dated and often trying a bit too hard to be dramatic or contemporary in an amateurish way. RAIN MAN and REGARDING HENRY are both in that vein - RAIN MAN has some good stuff, but gets a bit bogged down in melodrama. REGARDING HENRY feels like it's trying too hard to be contemporary (to its time).
My problem with scores like THE POWER OF ONE and A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN is the good stuff is usually by the other people who did composing or producing, and the less-good bits are when Zimmer's melodramatic overload tendencies squash those contributions. LION KING and THE POWER OF ONE to me are best when Lebo M's work is in the spotlight. A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN is best when Ladd McIntosh's work is in the spotlight.
With THE ROCK and BROKEN ARROW, there was almost a purity of the messy Remote Control Productions mish-mash of just big, dumb, unpretentious action music with great melodies and rhythms. It's not trying to be anything other than matching the bold ridiculousness of the action on-screen.
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Zimmer from 1987 to 1996 wlll always be a golden period for me.
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Posted: |
Jul 15, 2022 - 6:08 PM
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By: |
Mephariel
(Member)
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Maybe this is not a popular opinion, but I don't care for his early years. The only scores I truly loved from that era are The Lion King and Beyond Rangoon. I like parts of Crimson Tide and parts of Backdraft, parts of Days of Thunder, but that is about it.
I much prefer his 2000 scores: Gladiator, Pearl Harbor, The Last Samurai, Pirates 1-3, Frost/Nixon, The Dark Knight, Angels and Demons, Spirit, The Holiday...
I would even say that I prefer his 2010 scores: Wonder Woman 1984, Interstellar, Rush, The Lone Ranger, Kung Fu Panda 3, Dune...
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A Lovely child. His pram was full of sunshine.
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I really liked DRIVING MISS DAISY and RADIO FLYER. Kinda gave up after that.
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This - without him being a genuine favourite there aren’t any eras that I can point to and prefer more than others. Seems pretty facile to be honest to say “I liked him up to 19xx but he was crap after that”. Interstellar is brilliant, for example and Dune worked really well in the film.
I can certainly understand why some listeners don't like his output beyond a certain point.
I don't think it's facile, it's just being discerning about what was once original work and what became repeating a formula.
For instance, I love "Rain Man" and "The Lion King" but I feel much of what came afterwards was not quite as inspired.
But to answer the OP, the early years is what I most enjoy.
Don't know who wrote that first comment because I must have blocked them, but I can see it was a good decision on my part.
What you said about "being discerning" is right on target for me, as I do think there is a really distinctive difference between early-years/Media Ventures-Zimmer and Remote Control-Zimmer. Also worth noting that I hear the same types of comments here about a lot of composers for whom people only like a certain period of their output.
I forgot about BLACK RAIN which was also a great early favorite, energetic and pulpy, a great fit for the film. To me, Zimmer's early years felt very scrappy and straightforward and sometimes could be cheesy but other times would be a great fit. Listening to RAIN MAN again, it still is a bit heavy-handed but there's more variety than I remembered, like some of the more rhythmic cues which are pretty fun.
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