R.I.P. James Horner

[dws1982]

With John Williams, you can just say "Jaws" or "Star Wars" or "Indiana Jones" or "E.T." (as well as some other titles), and plenty of people can hum the melodies to the main themes. Horner certainly never hit that level with his scores. Even though he composed scores for the two highest-grossing movies of all time, I don't think many people think of the scores when they think of Avatar or Titanic. (His song for Titanic is another matter.) But on the other hand, even though they don't realize it, most people would recognize his scores for Aliens and Glory, both of which have been used extensively in trailers for the past twenty-plus years.

Horner's tendency to recycle and repeat his own (and other composers') themes is well-known, and that'll always be brought up in any discussion of his work. But he definitely had his solid moments. I think he tended to be at his best on smaller films. His Field of Dreams score may be my favorite of his; I think it evokes some almost undefinable type of American nostalgia really well. I also really like his Searching For Bobby Fisher music, as well as The Mask of Zorro and House of Sand and Fog. I know his collaboration with Terrence Malick on The New World left him embittered, and almost all of the music he composed was replaced by classical pieces, but the fact is that the music he composed (which was made available on CD) is excellent. He had scaled back his work over the past few years; looks like the upcoming Jake Gyllenhaal boxing movie will be his final score.

[anonymous1980]

He was killed in a plane crash.