BOT's TOP 100 Film Scores: The Fourth Will Be With You, Always --- RECOUNT DONE, NEW TOP 100 POSTED

[4815162342]

#41 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)

 

Composed by John Barry

 

404 Points

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

 

Now this is a score that came almost out of nowhere to almost make the Top 40. John Barry's fifth Bond score in a row, the composer decided to branch out somewhat in his composition, using more electrical instruments and more aggressive sounds. The main theme is the incredibly rare instance where a Bond film has instrumentals play over the opening credits instead of a song.

 

 

 

#40-36 will be posted later tonight
 

[4815162342]

#40 The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

 

Composed by: Erich Wolfgang Korngold

 

407 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

Buckle your swashes people, since our next film score is from one of the oldest, and probably the best received of all 90235 adaptations of the Robin Hood legend. Korngold uniquely did not have a contract, but instead worked on a week-to-week basis, so that he could withdraw from production at any time, as he was initially reluctant to take the job and leave Vienna. Not long after he came to London to work on the film, his home country of Austria was annexed by Germany. Taking the job quite probably saved his life.

[4815162342]

#39 The Social Network (2010)

 

Composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

 

409 Points

 

 

The Social Network is the highest ranked film on the Top 100 that did not receive any Top 10 votes. The film has slightly dropped from its back to back #29 finishes in 2015 and 17. Reznor initially declined Fincher's offer, but would eventually accept. Reznor and Ross would only send sketches of compositions to Fincher for review, figuring he would come back to ask for revisions. Fincher instead was extremely satisfied with what was provided.
 

[4815162342]

#38 Up (2009)

 

Composed by Michael Giacchino

 

411 Points

Top 10 Placements: 1
 

 

Up is best remembered for the 4-minute montage that opens the movie and tracks the lives of Carl and Ellie, and part of what makes the montage hit as hard as it does is the jaunty, wistful, romantic main tune crafted by Giacchino. Giacchino considered his work on the film to be close to that of opera, in that the themes for all of the characters evolve at various points in the story. Up was the first Disney film to win the Best Score Oscar since Pocahontas.

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#37.How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

 

Composed by John Powell

 

414 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

We have back to back animated offerings, with Dreamworks narrowly beating out Pixar in this particular matchup. The film was the sixth collaboration between Powell and Dreamworks, and brought him his first Oscar nomination. The score relies heavily on Scottish and Irish-themed music and instruments. The film has settled into roughly the same spot as in 2017.
 

[4815162342]

#36 Tron Legacy (2010)

 

Composed by Daft Punk

 

419 Points

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

 

Speaking of 2010 films, we shift from animated dragons to motion capture Jeff Bridges. Director Joseph Kosinski deliberately looked for an outside the box choice to compose the music to follow up on the electronic score for the original film. The group began composing before production even began on the film, and chose to incorporate more orchestral elements in the score than their prior work usually entailed.

 

 

 

We'll pick up on the list tomorrow, and get to the point of the Top 25.
 

[4815162342]

#35 Braveheart (1995)

 

Composed by James Horner

 

425 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

Top 10 Placements: 2

 

 

James Horner, who'd popped up a little previously, is about to go on a bit of a run for the countdown. Braveheart marks one of Horner's 3 collaborations with Mel Gibson as a director. The score, befitting the subject matter of the movie, is heavily focused on Scottish and Gaelic tunes and instruments, with bagpipes everywhere. This score has dramatically improved its showing each successive countdown, going from middling support in 2015, to an Honorable Mention in 2017, to now almost the top third.
 

[4815162342]

#34 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

 

Composed by James Horner

 

426 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

 

The Horner Honor Hour continues. He was not the first choice for this film, but Jerry Goldsmith, the composer for the first Star Trek movie, was ruled out as too expensive, same with director Nicholas Meyer's prior collaborator Miklos Rozsa, as the studio heavily cut budget from first to second film. In composing the score, Horner was told to take the music for the film in a much different direction from the first film, which results in the nautical and swashbuckling score we get, with not a single reference to any of Goldsmith's work.
 

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#33 Chinatown (1974)

 

Composed by Jerry Goldsmith

 

430 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

We shift from epics and science fiction to the neo-noirs of the 1970s. The film was originally scored by Phillip Lambro, but at the very last minute the producer rejected it entirely. As a result, Jerry Goldsmith had to compose and record the score in a span of ten days. This score has slightly inched upwards from its 2017 position.
 

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#32 Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

 

Composed by Javier Navarette

 

435 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

Guillermo Del Toro's dark fantasy film now appears on the countdown, jumping over 60 places from its 2017 appearance, being one of the most impressive improvers of this time around. The score's haunting "lullaby" tune drives much of the emotion of the film's music. This is the only Spanish-language film to make the Top 100.
 

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#31 Princess Mononoke (1997)

 

Composed by Joe Hisaishi

 

442 Points

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

 

Miyazaki returns with another film that has impressively improved compared to its static 2015/17 placements. Miyazaki assisted via writing the lyrics to a couple of the tracks for the score. The score for the movie is centered around a theme for the protagonist Ashitaka, but spans a gamut from sweeping epic strokes, to more chaotic and eclectic tones representing the demonic corruption that threatens the characters of the movie.

 

 

#30-26 will be posted later tonight
 

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#30 Rocky (1976)

 

Composed by Bill Conti

 

447 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

The rousing score for the ultimate underdog is our next entrant for the Top 100. Conti wasn't the first choice to compose for the movie, and when he was finally approached, he had to put everything together, including hiring musicians and recording, on a shoestring budget. The result of course was one of the most iconic musical cues in American cinema.
 

[4815162342]

#29 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

 

Composed by Junkie XL

 

450 Points

Top 10 Placements: 2

 

 

A film score for which much of BOT went mad, jumping 50 spots from its 2017 debut.  Hans Zimmer, John Powell and Marco Beltrami were all attached at separate times to score the film, which went through development hell, until Miller finally settled on the little known Dutch composer. Junkie XL stated that major inspirations for him for the score was the work of Bernard Herrmann as well as rock opera. The result is an aggressive and relentless stream of music that evokes the constant peril and energy of the movie.

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#28 Inception (2010)

 

Composed by Hans Zimmer

 

453 Points

Top 5 Placements: 2

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

 

We have arrived at the BWAM. Zimmer's score for the Nolan mind heist movie has fallen a bit each successive time in the Top 100, indicating a slight cooling of support combined with participant turnover. Zimmer composed the score parallel to production of the movie. The booming, repetitive brass notes in the score have influenced a fair share of film scores and trailer music in subsequent years.
 

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#27 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

 

Composed by Brad Fiedel

 

458 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

Top 10 Placements: 3
 

 

Perhaps the most surprising result of the current Top 100. After falling far off the radar (and barely making honorable mentions in 2015), the cyborg sequel almost arrives in the top quarter. The iconic main theme is again front and center, though it faces off against the cue for the T-1000, which smoothly slices its way through sound. Fiedel noted that he achieved the recurring metallic sounds of the main theme by hitting a frying pan with a hammer.

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#26 Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

 

Composed by Jerry Goldsmith

 

460 Points

Top 10 Placements: 2
 

 

The OG Star Trek film now shows up with its best performance yet. This was the first of five Star Trek film scores for Jerry Goldsmith, and his main theme for the movie would live on, most notably as the main theme for the Next Generation TV show. Goldsmith's intention was to compose a sweeping and romantic score for the movie, to evoke the wonder and discovery of space exploration, though he also utilized electronic instruments and synths to represent the mysterious construct V'Ger. This is the only Star Trek film to feature a formal overture.

 

 

 

So there are 25 scores left to go. I will do 5 a day, Wednesday to Sunday.

[TomCruiseTop]

5 hours ago, 4815162342 said:

Fiedel noted that he achieved the recurring metallic sounds of the main theme by hitting a frying pan with a hammer.

Love this. 

[4815162342]

We'll be doing the Top 25 with five each day. Instead of doing all 5 at once, like previous days, I'll be doing them one here, a couple there, etc.

 

 

So let's get started.

 

 

 

#25 Conan the Barbarian (1982)

 

Composed by Basil Poledouris

 

 

465 Points

#1 Placements: 1

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

2015 Placement: #49 (+24)

 

2017 Placement: #60 (+35)

 

 

Riding a wave of significant extra support this time around is the film that first brought Arnold to the eyes of many cinemagoers. Poledouris was hired before production began and started composing based off of early storyboards, editing and revising his work as scenes were actually shot and completed. The film was originally envisioned as an sort of opera with minimal dialogue, and the lush, overpowering score was crafted to suit that model. It was one of the last films to be recorded as a mono soundtrack.
 

Edited July 17, 2019 by 4815162342

[4815162342]

#24 E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982)

 

Composed by John Williams

 

 

467 Points

Top 5 Placements: 2

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

2015 Placement: #55 (+31)

 

2017 Placement: #28 (+4)
 

 

Holding relatively static from last time around is John Williams' score about a boy and his alien. Like many of his collaborations with Spielberg, Williams' music was accepted with almost no requests for alterations, and in fact Spielberg would re-edit a number of scenes, including the climatic escape and chase, to flow in tandem with the music, when Williams had some trouble working the music to the original edit of the scenes. Only six film scores have won an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Grammy, of which this is one. Williams unsurprisingly is responsible for multiple of these.

[TomCruiseTop]

Here we go into the top 25! *sounds air horn*