Genius, but...

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he just can't score action.

Of course he can, and he's one of the very best at it. If you think it's just "fast trumpets and orchestra noise with no melody" then you clearly know very little about the subject. (Your "musical terminology" doesn't exactly bode well for that. "Fast trumpets" "orchestra noise", "dramatic noises"??? ).

I find the action scoring of composers like Hans Zimmer and his proteges to be far more distracting and generic. With grating bass-heavy orchestrations and loudly mixed percussion that results in an impenetrable and ear-shattering wall-of-noise that drowns out dialogue and sound effects. Granted, Zimmer's action scoring can be tolerable when it's scaled back but the heavy handed approach he utilizes for blockbuster films like The Dark Knight Trilogy and the Man of Steel films is utterly unbearable in and out-of-context.

What are you talking about? When does Zimmer 'drown out' dialogue? Yes sometimes the score is loud with heavy percussion but that is because the movie demands it. The Dark Knight score is one of the best scores of all time, because it handles the action, characters and the dark brooding mood in a perfect way. What I'm saying is that Williams always uses the same type of dramatic noises, yes I call them noises because they don't actually serve as any form of deliberate melody or sound tune in the film. There is structure and melody in there, which at times is brilliant, but it changes so quickly that it becomes messy and distracting, and sometimes even annoying if you pay any attention to it, which some people, including me, tend to do. Just go look at Indiana Jones, Minority Report, Star Wars, or any other film with some action sequences, fight or chase scenes. Then you compare that to for example Zimmer's 'Gladiator Waltz' in Gladiator's battle scenes, and you'll see what I mean. Forgive me for not using the exact 'correct' words in musical terms, I'm not a musician, but I still have ears.

No doubt Hans Zimmer has composed some good scores. Gladiator, Lion King, Backdraft, but his compositions today are a migraine to me. He and his Zimmer "wannabes" can NEVER be as memorable as John Williams'music.

That's exactly what I said, Williams will always be the one with the most iconic and memorable scores, because that's what he does best. Zimmer focuses not just on making a memorable score, but to find the right sound to perfectly match the picture. That's what makes him so transparent and a reason why his scores have such a wide range of sound, while Williams 'always' goes for the classic orchestra approach. I don't like Zimmer's copyists either, but just because a lot of people are copying him and produce bad music doesn't make his music any less great. Both Williams and Zimmer are masters at their crafts, but I prefer Zimmer because of his ability to find the simplest of notes and make magic out of them.

meh, too many orchestra noises and trumpet bang bangs. no sick bass drops and epic drums. john william straightup cant score action!!!

In all seriousness, while "Anderton's Great Escape" is a bit too "Star Warsy" for the noir context of the film, (the scene itself is a bit out of place to be fair) it's still a top-notch action-piece that Zimmer couldn't dream of composing. Far more interesting than the unintrusive yet monotonous low-range droning that modern-day Zimmer has popularized.

I agree with you, in his later career. He has become more generic over time (hard to avoid for any artist). But I don't agree with you regarding his early career. Jaws, Close Encounters, Superman, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, the 3 original Star Wars films and E.T. all contain marvelous, melodic and memorable action music. The Battle Of Hoth and The Desert Chase are outright masterpieces. The entirety of The Empire Strikes Back, the most action-packed Star Wars movie, is one of the best start-to-finish scores of all time. His late career music is hard to remember, but those early scores are imprinted on my brain.