From discordant saxophone and wild steel drum action in COMMANDO to the quoting of Rachmaninoff (!) in THE WRATH OF KHAN; from the soaring heights of THE ROCKETEER to the labyrinthine depths of ALIENS––James Horner composed some of the most iconic scores of my childhood and beyond. I've written of his films on a few occasions (
COMMANDO,
48 HRS.,
PROJECT X,
TITANIC,
STAR TREK III), though not nearly enough. Suffice it to say, he'll be dearly missed.
Hear, hear. That was some random sad news, indeed. That "Commando" score is practically another character in that glorious mess of a movie; it's impossible to imagine the film without it.
ReplyDeleteYou know what? Vibes is a great score. Delightful movie, too. But Horner disappeared perfectly into the ethnic music wrote for it. So many great scores from him.
ReplyDeleteThe Journey of Natty Gann. Another forgotten film with a great but forgotten score.
Mike B.,
ReplyDeleteOh, absolutely. I like to give that soundtrack a spin whenever I need some insane-steel-drum-motivation.
Cannon,
You know, I haven't seen either of those films, but VIBES looks fuckin' amazing. Also, I gotta give a shout-out to WILLOW, which I'd stand up beside any John Williams score from the era, and I always enjoyed his THE NAME OF THE ROSE soundtrack, too.
His score for ALIENS is something else, esp. during the action sequences!
ReplyDeleteJ.D.,
ReplyDeleteIndeed!