What is your favourite film score?

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John Moore
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by John Moore » Mon Jun 20, 2011 8:48 pm

I am pleased to see that WitchfinderGeneral has been mentioned. An odd film in so many ways but the music is great!

John Hickman
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by John Hickman » Mon Jun 20, 2011 10:02 pm


Mick Norris
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by Mick Norris » Tue Jun 21, 2011 9:15 am

John Clarke wrote:England 4 West Germany 2 (from the 1966 movie Goal!) :mrgreen:

Seriously though: Lawrence of Arabia (by Maurice Jarre).
At least it wasn't 4-4 from Escape to Victory :lol:

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) best song
Any postings on here represent my personal views

William Metcalfe
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by William Metcalfe » Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:09 am

nearly all Tarantinos scores are works of art
I am speaking here for myself and not the NCCU which i am now president of

John Hickman
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by John Hickman » Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:04 am

William Metcalfe wrote:nearly all Tarantinos scores are works of art
Pulp Fiction!

Phil Neatherway
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by Phil Neatherway » Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:25 pm

What about the television series Edge Of Darness? (music by Eric Clapton)

George Szaszvari
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by George Szaszvari » Wed Dec 14, 2011 8:14 pm

Nick Thomas wrote:I want to expand my repertoire and need direction. My favourite is Ennio Morricone's "The Mission" although I am slightly loathe to admit it as it might make me seen obsessed with religious themes :shock:
A never ending search with so many great scores. A number of classics have already been noted, and here are a couple more.

As a sucker for Westerns and their theme music scores, Bob Dylan's "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid" has to be up there, but here's
a lesser known one, Rio Conchos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJq3QRQl ... re=related

And, as one who was frightened (albeit as a youngster) by the paranoia and panic of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the ending of
Dr Strangelove is a chilling master stroke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul3JCsG5qfQ

Nick Thomas
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by Nick Thomas » Wed Dec 14, 2011 8:48 pm

George Szaszvari wrote:
Nick Thomas wrote:I want to expand my repertoire and need direction. My favourite is Ennio Morricone's "The Mission" although I am slightly loathe to admit it as it might make me seen obsessed with religious themes :shock:
A never ending search with so many great scores. A number of classics have already been noted, and here are a couple more.

As a sucker for Westerns and their theme music scores, Bob Dylan's "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid" has to be up there, but here's
a lesser known one, Rio Conchos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJq3QRQl ... re=related

And, as one who was frightened (albeit as a youngster) by the paranoia and panic of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the ending of
Dr Strangelove is a chilling master stroke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul3JCsG5qfQ
Well now I know the rules I trump your Rio Conchos with one of my favourite non Leone westerns "They Call Me Trinity":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1ADphhMo3Y

Dr Strangelove - Who else in the world would have had the vision to have paired those scenes with that music?

George Szaszvari
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Location: USA

Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by George Szaszvari » Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:32 pm

Nick Thomas wrote: Well now I know the rules I trump your Rio Conchos with one of my favourite non Leone westerns "They Call Me Trinity":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1ADphhMo3Y
Ah, but the Spaghetti/Paella Western is really a genre of its own. Besides Trinity and Rio Conchos are chalk and cheese, humor compared with gritty drama, and each composer captures the spirit of their movie accordingly. However, I generally like those tunes with the lonesome whistling cowboy... kinda haunting if done well.

Speaking of haunting, do ya like the Ry Cooder sound from "Paris, Texas"? Great visuals of Route 66, and, as another song goes, I had to stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, too ;0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6ymVaq3Fqk

And how about this Ry Cooder soundtrack classic from The Long Riders?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEvBCnHP ... re=related

And just an unusual moment from Rio Bravo...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpXp90wi ... re=related

Some Western TV series had cool scores...The Virginian being a favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaQA-EzC ... re=related

This opening/closing theme score was slightly re-interpreted several times over the years during production and cast changes. I met James Drury (The Virginian) earlier this year, along with Clint Walker (Cheyenne) and John Saxon, and others at a Western stars get together here in the Valley of the Sun, and it was quite an experience! All these people are getting well into old age yet James Drury is incredibly vivacious and cogent, not to mention friendly and unassuming, while still retaining that authoritative demeanor he was so famous for, when it mattered, even off set. Like many of those actors, he just played himself. Mr Drury keeps his hand in with shooting his old Colt 45 (that he used in the TV shows which he still carries and uses, and I had the privilege of handling) by joining in the growing sport of Cowboy Action Shooting when he can. SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) members each have a Western alias to participate with (many members of even the same club only know each other by their alias after years of camaraderie) and Mr Drury tells us his SASS handle these days is...The Virginian, of course!
John Saxon freely chatted, too, and, of course, I had to ask him about the late Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon). Mr Saxon still works out regularly in his gym at home in California...anyway, I digress...

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri Dec 16, 2011 8:13 am

James Drury apparently had a horse called (I think) "Joe D", which used to fall asleep on set, so if our hero were doing dialogue, then riding away, he had to give the reins a tug a few seconds before the dialogue ceased. This woke up the horse and the Virginian could then seamlessly ride off...

I like the sound track for American Werewolf in London - they had great fun finding songs with "moon" in the title. 633 Squadron and Great Escape are good. From TV, I suppose my favourites are Twin Peaks, Virginian and Rawhide.
"Kevin was the arbiter and was very patient. " Nick Grey

Nick Thomas
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by Nick Thomas » Fri Dec 16, 2011 11:32 am

George wrote:
Besides Trinity and Rio Conchos are chalk and cheese
I don't see them that way at all, more like different generations of the same family. Trinity is a direct descendant and close relative of the gritty Leone type westerns which some believe had reached the end of their useful life by the end of the 60s/early 70s. A direct p*ss take and homage to all the Rio Conchos of the past 20 years or so.

George Szaszvari
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by George Szaszvari » Fri Dec 16, 2011 5:23 pm

Nick Thomas wrote:George wrote: Besides Trinity and Rio Conchos are chalk and cheese

I don't see them that way at all, more like different generations of the same family. Trinity is a direct descendant and close relative of the gritty Leone type westerns which some believe had reached the end of their useful life by the end of the 60s/early 70s. A direct p*ss take and homage to all the Rio Conchos of the past 20 years or so.
I know what you mean, but each to their own... or we'd have to shoot it out at High Noon...speaking of which the song sounds a bit understated for the opening credits, but the theme and few final lyrics winds things up nicely at the end...thus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZil728h ... re=related
And I'll be banking on my wife (with her daddy's M1 Carbine) to similarly help me out in a jam like that :)
Nick Thomas wrote:Dr Strangelove - Who else in the world would have had the vision to have paired those scenes with that music?
Right, I don't know who thought of that, but it is brilliant. It might be be explained in one of the talks/interviews about the making of the film. One interesting chess connection to the Dr Strangelove film is the participation of Robert O'Neill as Admiral Randolph, with a few lines in one of the war room sequences (I couldn't find the exact take on youtube, probably because it is an interim linking phase between main scenes.) Robert, or "Bob" as we knew him, was an American with an acting school in London, who took up chess in the late sixties and came along to the Bayswater Chess Club when it was at the Serbian Mihailovic social club near Notting Hill Gate. He was incredibly enthusiastic about the game and went to chess classes run by Kottnauer to help him improve and appreciate the game more... a very sociable guy, the memory of his company remains vivid but what happened to him, I know not. I guess that he probably went back stateside around the time the club moved to the Serbian Orthodox Church in Lancaster Rd.

George Szaszvari
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by George Szaszvari » Fri Dec 16, 2011 7:28 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:James Drury apparently had a horse called (I think) "Joe D", which used to fall asleep on set, so if our hero were doing dialogue, then riding away, he had to give the reins a tug a few seconds before the dialogue ceased. This woke up the horse and the Virginian could then seamlessly ride off...
My wife, a lifelong horse riding enthusiast, liked this story, thanks. She asked James Drury some questions, all about his horses (what else?), particularly one called 'Easter', a gift from a fan for the 2nd series. Easter was a bit too small to carry Mr Drury for the duration of the exactingly long filming sessions, so he had to change horses sometimes, which will explain different looking mounts suddenly appearing in some episodes.

Another Western theme tune, High Chaparral:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu4g-N8b ... re=related
Kevin Thurlow wrote: I like the sound track for American Werewolf in London - they had great fun finding songs with "moon" in the title. 633 Squadron and Great Escape are good. From TV, I suppose my favourites are Twin Peaks, Virginian and Rawhide.
Yes, American Werewolf in London is one of the better productions in that genre. Werewolves have been getting a bum rap recently, zombies and vampires grabbing all the limelight :P

A pub chess scene from Werewolf...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3FTkAS15zk

Yep, Rawhide is terrific, as Andy Martin frequently testified to in past blitz sessions...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ndInEV3 ... re=related

But my all time favorite Western song is Ghost Riders in the Sky, from the Gene Autry movie...called Riders in the Sky, funnily enough. Autry bought the rights to the song to record it and produce this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjZx_ACv ... re=related
In old age, just before passing on, Autry talked about how this scene and the song still brought a tear to his eye...
It is possibly the most widely recorded Western song of all time, including Debbie Harry (!), Bing Crosby, Tom Jones, etc. Johnny Cash did a great rendition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvGk0rNp ... re=related

James Byrne
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by James Byrne » Sat Dec 17, 2011 12:10 am

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Last edited by James Byrne on Sun Jan 12, 2020 6:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

George Szaszvari
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Re: What is your favourite film score?

Post by George Szaszvari » Sat Dec 17, 2011 5:17 pm

James Byrne wrote:For a non-disney film I'd say Braveheart.
But for Disney films I liked the following soundtracks the most:
Lion King
Pocahontus
Tarzan
Aladdin
Beauty & the Beast
A great list that could be much longer. All kinds of Disney productions are replete with superb music, many of the older generation (including yours truly) getting their first taste of the "classics" as kids via Disney cartoons. Apart from the obvious Fantasia, there are fun things like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYM84n-2 ... re=related

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