Had the LLL complete score on all day, and it is just absolutely gorgeous. The two love themes, the thunderous action, the heartfelt emotion of it all. And Outlawed Tunes on Outlawed Pipes.
This is Horner in a nutshell - the pure emotion on the screen. Magnificent.
I teeter between this score and Star Trek II as Horner’s best. ‘Making Plans / Gathering the Clans’ (hey, that rhymes!) gets me pumped up every single time.
For years I considered this to be Horner's very best, and there are quite a few scenes apart from the one highlighted in the above YouTube clip which showcase just how much Horner carries the show.
I taped this from CD to cassette in 1995 just because it was 75 minutes long, and I could slip it into the car cassette deck for playing on our journey to the apartment on the coast. I could calculate it so that it would start as I left the garage in town and draw to a close as I came to a stop in the apartment garage at the beach.
It might have been more fitting if I was driving through Scotland, but hey ho. My wife loves this score too.
I kind of grew away from it for a while when I was rejecting everything that seemed too heart-on-sleeve, or too jingoistic (as the film is), or anything which put me in mind of Mel Gibson and his sometimes atrocious acting, but when it's all said and done I still think that this might be in my Top 20 scores of all time, by anyone.
Had the LLL complete score on all day, and it is just absolutely gorgeous. The two love themes, the thunderous action, the heartfelt emotion of it all. And Outlawed Tunes on Outlawed Pipes.
This is Horner in a nutshell - the pure emotion on the screen. Magnificent.
Agreed that this is top notch, one of the best scores ever written, so definitely one of Horner's best as well. I rate Legends of the Fall a little higher - to me his masterclass in film scoring, and perhaps his magnum opus – and I'm on the fence where to put Apollo 13.
(By the way, my *favourite* scores is another question. Star Trek III and Krull will rate above both Legends and Braveheart.)
Had the LLL complete score on all day, and it is just absolutely gorgeous. The two love themes, the thunderous action, the heartfelt emotion of it all. And Outlawed Tunes on Outlawed Pipes.
This is Horner in a nutshell - the pure emotion on the screen. Magnificent.
Agreed that this is top notch, one of the best scores ever written, so definitely one of Horner's best as well. I rate Legends of the Fall a little higher - to me his masterclass in film scoring, and perhaps his magnum opus – and I'm on the fence where to put Apollo 13.
(By the way, my *favourite* scores is another question. Star Trek III and Krull will rate above both Legends and Braveheart.)
Agreed about Legends of the Fall...for me, it's pretty much the pinnacle of his career...just gorgeous from beginning to end, and so narratively powerful...the final track alone is staggeringly brilliant.
Agreed with the topic title: Horner's magnum opus, one of those scores that I can't get enough of. A brilliant work in the fantastic movie and also as a standalone listening experience.
For years I considered this to be Horner's very best, and there are quite a few scenes apart from the one highlighted in the above YouTube clip which showcase just how much Horner carries the show.
I taped this from CD to cassette in 1995 just because it was 75 minutes long, and I could slip it into the car cassette deck for playing on our journey to the apartment on the coast. I could calculate it so that it would start as I left the garage in town and draw to a close as I came to a stop in the apartment garage at the beach.
It might have been more fitting if I was driving through Scotland, but hey ho. My life loves this score too.
I kind of grew away from it for a while when I was rejecting everything that seemed too heart-on-sleeve, or too jingoistic (as the film is), or anything which put me in mind of Mel Gibson and his sometimes atrocious acting, but when it's all said and done I still think that this might be in my Top 20 scores of all time, by anyone.
Don't know why, but I find it surprising that such a lush, "contemporary" score (albeit with several dark and dissonant passages) would feature so high on your list, Graham. Somehow doesn't fit in with the Drasnins and Mellés and Kirchins and MULLENDORES and what-have-you.
Well Thor, I see I made a typing error which may have misled you. I wrote, "My life loves this score" when it should read, "My wife loves this score" I've since corrected it. Does that clear the matter up?
I veer towards the brittle, yes, moreso in the past few decades when I should be moving on to softer pastures, like your own move away from "bombastic" scores. But I'm finding myself keeping a balance. I never really liked the truly lush overly-saccharine sound of (just to pick an example) Basil Poledouris' THE BLUE LAGOON, but I loved and still love BRAVEHEART. What's more, in keeping with some others on this thread, I think that LEGENDS OF THE FALL is even "better". But if there's ever a competition between BRAVEHEART and just about anything by Mellé or Kirchin, BRAVEHEART's going to lose!
Ha, ha...yes, I wondered about that 'life' comment; I just took it to be one of your creative turns on the English language.
I salute your stamina in enjoying the "edgy" as you're getting up there. I had a phase with that in my late 20s and early 30s, but am too old and delicate and mushy and nostalgic and melancholic for that now. It's a young man's game!
Actually, I don’t quite agree—there are other James Horner titles that deserve this 'recognition' just as much. That said, I still really appreciate these "suggestions", as they give me a great reason to revisit some old albums that I haven’t listened to in a while.
