Hey, guys. Quint here to talk a little about the late, great James Horner. His death in a plane crash has been rumored throughout the day, but it was just recently confirmed by his assistant and The Hollywood Reporter.
I wonder what his legacy is going to be. I ask this to the ether because even though I've loved his scores since I was a kid the majority of cinephiles usually blew him off for being too repetitious. He was never talked about with the same reverence as John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith despite turning in some of the most classic queues in an era filled to the brim with 'em.
Will that perception change now that he died an untimely and tragic death? I certainly hope so. Horner showed a diversity that his harshest critics denied he had. Listen to Aliens and then listen to Titanic or go 48 Hrs to Braveheart and you'll see that range.
That's not to say you can't spot a Horner score a mile away, but the same could be said about John Williams' work, no? There are a couple of scores in his early career that are surprisingly close (there's a whole lotta Wrath of Khan and Aliens in his Battle Beyond the Stars score, for instance), but if you really listen to the whole scores you see the intricasy of the aural tapestry he weaved with each one.
Without a doubt Horner's most iconic scores are Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Aliens and Titanic, but if I had to pick a personal favorite I'd probably go with his score to The Rocketeer. There's just something perfectly innocent and adventurous to that score that always puts a smile on my face.
A close second might be Krull. Say what you will about the movie (and despite its flaws I will totally fight you if you straight up shit on it), but man is that score epic. I think I'm discovering I adore his adventure scores. That bleeds into Khan, Aliens and Battle Beyond the Stars, naturally. Aliens in particular shines. That metal on metal military rhythmic pulsating score is pure writing music. You listen to his Bishop's Countdown cue and your heart rate is guaranteed to increase. There's a reason it was on every action/genre trailer between 1987 and 1996.
Another great score from him that doesn't get a lot of love is for the great Ray Bradbury creepy kids flick Something Wicked This Way Comes. He did a lot of great work for family films (Cocoon, An American Tale, The Land Before Time, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, *batteries Not Included and The Journey of Natty Gan to name a few), but none really gave him the opportunity to go eerie, at least not as much as Something Wicked. Damn, what a tonally perfect score for a dark, dark, crazy dark kiddie flick.
The '90s saw him turn in more serious, but no less brilliant work. Apollo 13 and Sneakers are fantastic, but you can't really beat the double whammy of Braveheart and Titanic. Both would be career best work for most composers and he turned them in within 3 years of each other.
Before I use the magic of the internet to list a great deal of his complete soundtrack work, I want to highlight one more of his scores that I believe is underappreciated (much like the movie it's for) and that's Enemy at the Gates.
I'm not good at describing scores in an intelligent way (those who really excel at that remind me of wine connoisseurs listing off all the components of a pinot noir), but I can say that his Enemy at the Gates score really gives the movie a dire, foreboding tension that makes it a pleasantly uncomfortable watch.
Tonight I'll be listening to his work, many samples of the soundtracks I listed above and even some I didn't get around to talking about (like Wolfen, Willow, Troy, Jumanji, The Perfect Storm and Glory). He gave us brilliant work for almost 40 years and I'll mourn the other 20+ years of output that damned private plane robbed from us.
My thoughts go out to Mr. Horner's friends, family and fans.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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