English Chess Forum

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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

Alan Menkin did all those. the last one on the list is probably the best. Surprised to see no Bernard Hermann or John Williams mentions from what I can see, yet Nyman (the marmite of film composing) has been.

Kevin Thurlow wrote:633 Squadron and Great Escape are good. From TV, I suppose my favourites are Twin Peaks, Virginian and Rawhide.

Yeah, I'd forgotten 633 Squadron - possibly because I think of it as a theme tune rather than a film score as such. But one of the greats, all right - thank you Ron Goodwin.

The Dam Busters (Eric Coates) would have to be pretty close too. Rousing where required, and melancholic as well when appropriate. Which prompts the question of what music Peter Jackson will use, if his own version of the story ever gets into production. I can't think of any other film where the theme has become quite so closely associated with its subject, to the extent where anything else seems almost inconceivable.

John Clarke wrote:

Kevin Thurlow wrote:633 Squadron and Great Escape are good. From TV, I suppose my favourites are Twin Peaks, Virginian and Rawhide.

Yeah, I'd forgotten 633 Squadron - possibly because I think of it as a theme tune rather than a film score as such. But one of the greats, all right - thank you Ron Goodwin.

The Dam Busters (Eric Coates) would have to be pretty close too. Rousing where required, and melancholic as well when appropriate. Which prompts the question of what music Peter Jackson will use, if his own version of the story ever gets into production. I can't think of any other film where the theme has become quite so closely associated with its subject, to the extent where anything else seems almost inconceivable.

While on the military theme there is some fine music supporting the dramatic battle sequence, the best one I've so far heard (interwoven very effectively with the film imagery) being Sir William Walton's from "The Battle of Britain". Quite extraordinary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43zVRey2 ... re=related

John Clarke wrote:

Kevin Thurlow wrote:633 Squadron and Great Escape are good. From TV, I suppose my favourites are Twin Peaks, Virginian and Rawhide.

Yeah, I'd forgotten 633 Squadron - possibly because I think of it as a theme tune rather than a film score as such. But one of the greats, all right - thank you Ron Goodwin.

The Dam Busters (Eric Coates) would have to be pretty close too. Rousing where required, and melancholic as well when appropriate. Which prompts the question of what music Peter Jackson will use, if his own version of the story ever gets into production. I can't think of any other film where the theme has become quite so closely associated with its subject, to the extent where anything else seems almost inconceivable.

Much of the military film stuff tends to be a pastiche on Military Band music as opposed to having a genuinely new outlook which works in collaboration with the film. The tunes may well be good and the music have an uplifting feel but the music is not inherently unique and tends to be regurgitated militaria adapted to fit. Morricone on the other hand transformed the film score for western films and at the time had a refreshingly new outlook on the instrumentation. The main theme to The Great Escape is good because of its slightly quirky nature and a great tune.

I don't know about the *whole" film score, but one of the greatest pieces of music from any film I've seen/heard has to be the song
"Somewhere Over The Rainbow" sung by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz". Even though the music is unusually effective, my guess
is that the older generations will appreciate this song more than the younger...when I first heard this as a youngster its qualities
didn't affect me anything like as much as it does now. Or am I just becoming hopelessly mushy and sentimental?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HRa4X07jdE

Further to the Robert O'Neill (as Admiral Randolph) chess connection to Dr Strangelove, I found this photo of the filming set of the movie via Facebook.

My favourite film score is the theme from
Murder on the Orient Express (1974 Original)
By Sir Richard Rodney Bennett
Sadly Sir Richard died in 2012.
There was a tribute to his music at the proms.
You can find it on You Tube from 2013.

Gavin Strachan wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 18, 2011 10:53 am

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

Alan Menkin did all those. the last one on the list is probably the best. Surprised to see no Bernard Hermann or John Williams mentions from what I can see, yet Nyman (the marmite of film composing) has been.

Menken did Pocahontas, Aladdin and B&tB, yes, but not Lion King (composer for the songs was Elton John, and for the score was Hans Zimmer) or Tarzan (composer was Phil Collins for the songs and Mark Mancina for the score).

I like a lot of the John Williams film Scores.

The Good the bad and the ugly.

Second probably Midnight Cowboy.

Yeah. Those two film scores were great.
I also like the Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park film Scores.