Comments on: ‘Avatar’ score will be “epic,” “hugely cinematic”

By: Man With No Name

Man With No Name — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:33:03 +0000

Not a chance indeed.

The “right” man WON.

That makes a change in the joke that is the “Oscars”.

By: Man With No Name

Man With No Name — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:08:17 +0000

“It’s outrageous that he’s nominated for the oscar with this slush. Hans Zimmer’s Sherlock Holmes deserves to win, as it was the complete opposite of avatar – it was a breath of fresh air and reinvented both zimmer’s style and the action score genre.”

Are you serious?

Try listening to more Ennio Morricone.

Virtually NOTHING in Sherlock Holmes was original at all.

Zimmer in fact in this case is far more guilty of “ripping off” than Horner was.

He took the best of Ennio’s Spaghetti Western scores and made them sound crappy via his usual lack of being able to actually orchestrate well, creating that same old manufactured banal sound.

Zimmer win an Oscar for this? Not a chance.

By: PizzA

PizzA — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:02:14 +0000

The trouble with Horner is that his 4-note brass motif that he uses in nearly EVERY score isn’t even his own, he took it directly from Rachmaninoff’s first symphony! How does he get away with it?

The main theme from avatar is very similar to the main theme from Titanic, it even develops using the same structures.

And one of the other themes in avatar, ( i think it’s half way through track 5 on the soundtrack is a TOTAL COPY AND PASTE from his score to Glory)

He hasn’t done anything new since Braveheart and Titanic. Avatar sounded like a James Horner compilation CD.

It’s outrageous that he’s nominated for the oscar with this slush. Hans Zimmer’s Sherlock Holmes deserves to win, as it was the complete opposite of avatar – it was a breath of fresh air and reinvented both zimmer’s style and the action score genre.

By: David

David — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:20:45 +0000

James Horner FTW

By: Duncan

Duncan — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:07:40 +0000

I think it’s even funnier that fans compare “Aliens” to “Star Trek II: TWOK”, when the elements of both come from the even earlier “Wolfen” (which is also a favourite of mine, score AND film). Let’s face it. JH rips himself off consistently, but the results are still great! Other score bigwigs do it too. Williams used a bunch of themes and cues from Jurassic Park in Star Wars Ep I and II. Not quite as blatantly as JH, but they’re in there.

By: Brian Davis

Brian Davis — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:12:34 +0000

I just saw the film today, and was certainly impressed by both the special effects and the score. James Cameron definitely knows how a film should work, and to that end he knows the importance of epic, emotional music in a movie like this one. Very few composers, it seems, are working in Horner’s idiom these days, it’s almost as if big orchestral scores are looked down upon, or, what is more likely, that most current popular film composers don’t have the musical chops to write successfully in the fashion of Horner or John Williams. Give me a great, big, huge sounding score with enough variety of thematic material and the treatment thereof anytime. Horner’s recent score to “The Spyderwick Chronicles” was also quite wonderful, but did not receive much attention. I hope with this score he returns to his rightful place of recognition as one of Hollywood’s most talented and effective composers

By: An Avatar fan

An Avatar fan — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:36:44 +0000

Just saw the movie the other day, and, almost only because of the score, I nearly cried at the end! The film definitely wouldn’t have been as good for me with a different soundtrack.

By: Hidden Gem films

Hidden Gem films — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:47:13 +0000

Looks very good. Hopefully there is some substance to the story & all the time wasn’t spent on the CGI as many movies do. Judging by the scale of the film, James Horner looks like a good fit.

By: Ramon

Ramon — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:50:09 +0000

LOOKIE lOU is right James Horner may have had a couple of memorable themes but If you listen to Battle Beyond the Stars that’s where he took Ster Trek II from. He repeats himself note by note in some movies. don’t get me wrong most composer may use reworked themess in their movie scores. John williams has. Play the truck scene music in Indiana Jones and then play the beginning space battle scene in Return of the Sith. Same music reworked notes. Williams is still one of my favorites.

By: Ravi Krishna

Ravi Krishna — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:40:18 +0000

Very nice. This is one score I’m really looking forward to this year, and great to know a CD release is already planned! Very interested to see what Mr. Horner delivers here.