MovieChat Forums > Aleksandr Nevskiy (1939) Discussion > The Greatest Film Score in the Universe ...

The Greatest Film Score in the Universe Contest!!!


I personally love the score for alexander nevsky but I'd like to hear what you think. Let me know what score (please no soundtracks) you think deserves the title of "The Greatest Film Score in the Universe". I'm interested to see how many people on these forums care as much about this as I do.

"These go To Eleven" -Nigel Tuffnel

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I usually go bonkers for anything that has Ennio Morricone involved in it. Another composer that i'm fanatical over is John Barry. It is hard for me to pinpoint "The Greatest Film Score in the Universe", but here are some of my personal favorites films with marvelous scores:

MELENA
ADRIAN LYNE'S LOLITA
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
LEGEND OF 1900
BUGSY
THE UNTOUCHABLES
OUT OF AFRICA
SOMEWHERE IN TIME
DANCES WITH WOLVES
THE DEERHUNTER
HALLOWEEN
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
JOHN WOO'S THE KILLER




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Out of africa and Schindler's list are definitely up there among the greatest of all time.

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No offense, but this is useful because everyone has a different opinion.

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I would like to add Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars to the list for now.

There are some film scores, that aren't epic, but original nonetheless and deserve a mention, for example: American Beauty.

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Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Wind and the Lion, Alien, Legend, The Rocketeer, Das Boot, Papillon, Chinatown

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Jurassic Park, Jaws, and The Lion King.

"Talk is cheap, but lawyers, bail, and hospital bills aren't." - Me

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There are so many... =)

But I would say Gladiator.

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Lion King does have a great score, for a children's movie, Hans Zimmer is one of my favs. I did enjoy the folk style score to Disney's Robin Hood also. John Williams is an obvious choice as one of the greatest film composers, on the topic of Robin Hood, his score for Prince of Thieves was pretty great, as well.

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You mentioned Robin Hood twice--which is ironic. One of the greatest film scores ever composed was the 1938 version of Robin Hood by Korngold.

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Gladiator is nice, but its too close to Holst to be considered any good...
The Lisa Gerrard parts are beautiful though.

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I hadn't thought of American Beauty. That did have good music...

"These go To Eleven" -Nigel Tuffnel

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I love Braveheart. You really see what it does for the movie when you see the trailor which does not contain it. It has a completly different feel.

I also think Close Encounters has an amazing score.

And then of corse Raiders of the lost Arc. Although I like The Last Crusade the best.

Music plays such a huge roll in movies. John Williams has to be one of the top 5 most important people in movie history.

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John Williams is incredible. Duel of the Fates is one of my favorite composed pieces ever.

"Talk is cheap, but lawyers, bail, and hospital bills aren't." - Me

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Well I've always loved the final 15 minutes including credits of Close Encounters. The visuals with the music is beautiful to watch. I heard Williams the other day say CE is his personal favorite. Followed by the scene in ET when theyre flying in front of the moon.

Ennio Morricone has some great scores too. I love the soundtrack to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I was amazed when I found out he did The Thing in 1982. Ive always liked the music in that movie. IMDB has him credited with 555 films over 45 years. Astounding.

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How the hell has no one mentioned Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings? I personally think it is the best film score yet written.
Close seconds:
E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindlers List , ok pretty much anything WIlliams has done. Star Wars of course.

"A wizard is never late Frodo Baggins, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

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Howard Shore also wrrote for Silence of the Lambs which I loved while Hans Zimmer wrote for Hannibal which is also great.

Other faves are:
- Smilla's Sense of Snow
- Days of Heaven
- The Edge
- Vertigo
- Raise the Titanic
- Crouching Tiger Hidden Drago

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Requiem for a Dream - Clint Mansell
Blade Runner - Vangelis
Snow Falling on Cedars (Average film, beautiful score/cinemtography) - James Newton Howard
Assualt on Precinct 13 (original!!) - John Carpenter
Twin Falls Idaho (Okay film, cracking score!) - Stuart Matthewman
2046 -
North by Northwest - Bernard Herrman
Once upon a time in the west - Ennio Morricone
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Ennio Morricone
Flash Gordon - Queen (Flash! Ahhh-ahh!
Last of the Mochicans - Trevor Jones
From Hell - Trevor Jones
The Thin Red Line - Hans Zimmer
Terminator 2 - Brad Fiedel
Back to the Future - Alan Silvesti (I mean who doesn't hum the theme tune when skateboarding?)

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Now I am completely biased as John Williams is my idol and every single one of his scores continually fills me with emotion.

However...
My favourite film score of all time is The Empire Strikes Back. Every time I listen to the entire score I get shivers. The Imperial March, Yoda's Theme, Han and Leia's Theme, it is just breathtaking. I especially like listening to the Carbon Freeze cue right to the end, just so action-packed and emotion filled, I just get chills listening to it.

So that's my pick for best score in the universe, and I fully think it is a worthy title. Following closely behind are Schindler's List, the original Star Wars and of course, for a bit of diversity, Mr Morricone with The Untouchables.

Thanks for finally giving me a chance to express my thoughts on John Williams.

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I'm surprised no one has mentioned Jerry Goldsmith yet. The soundtrack to The Omen is one of the best horror scores out there. Patton and The 13th Warrior are also worth a listen.

"These go To Eleven" -Nigel Tuffnel

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Somebody already mentioned "The Edge" (one of my personal favorites) which was written by Jerry Goldsmith... God rest his soul. I have that soundtrack, and I also love The Legend of Bagger Vance. Rudy is another great Goldsmith soundtrack!

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I can't believe I forgot RUDY! The Tryouts music is one of my favorite moments in movie music. I didn't know he did The Edge, but I'm not surprized. Keep up the good work.

"These go To Eleven" -Nigel Tuffnel

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I'm not sure how many people have seen the movie: WAKING LIFE

but it contains my favorite film score of any movie ever! it's just awesome and fits perfectly with the film content. (by Glover Gill and the Tosca Tango Orchestra)

OTher favorites include: The Godfather, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, John Williams pieces, Hans Zimmer, etc.etc.

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WAKING LIFE has been called a milestone in film composition.

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I cast my vote on John woo's: "Broken Arrow" music by hans zimmer, it is probably the best and most intense movie music i have ever heard, and I like it intense.......

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I like the music in OUATITW by Ennio Morricone.

Once Upon A Time In The West is the best film ever made!

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I like Aleksandr Nevskiy (1938) by Prokofiev and Scott of the Antarctic (1948) by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Of course, how can you not like Star Wars and the Good, Bad and the Ugly.

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Requiem for a Dream - Clint Mansell wins hands down.. nothing comes even close.

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Interestingly enough, James Horner was never that fond of the work he did for Aliens. He was rushed in the making of it and had to reuse some snippets from other movies, plus some outside sources (Gayane Ballet Suite (Adagio) By Rezhdestvensky). That said, I thought the music worked wonderfully for the movie (nothing can be done to improve an already perfect movie).

"These go To Eleven" -Nigel Tuffnel

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Has anyone mentioned "To Kill A Mockingbird" yet? That and Braveheart are probably the best powerfully.
Although there is nothing better than sitting in a movie theater and hearing the opening chords for Star Wars explode through the room.

It's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you

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So many to choose. Ennio Morricone's "Once Upon A Time In America" and Bernard Herrmann's "Vertigo" must be among the very best.

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