A "note" on Horner

Okay, anyone that knows me knows that I am a movie junkie. Those that know me well know I'm also a soundtrack and musical score fan. It's easy to say, "I love the work of John Williams". Any kid born in the 70's or early 80's should be able to cite William's best work like the alphabet, if their childhood was even mildly entertaining. Star Wars, E.T., Indiana Jones, etc. Big or small, Williams scores are always classic.

It's nearly cliche to say he is the master.

Now, the composer I actually own the most scores of is James Horner. Admitting you are a Horner fan is a bit more daring, but his body of work is deep and memorable. I think he is second only to Williams in finding a way to enhance the movie through the music. Here are my favorites:

1) Braveheart - My favorite score ever. Enough said.
2) Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan - Yes, I'm a Star Trek nerd but I have to put this at the top of the heap when it comes to Star Trek cinematic scores. The Khan theme is fantastic, but I can pinpoint the moment I fell in love with movies in this film. It's Enterprise powering up and leaving spacedock. This scene doesn't play nearly as well without the swelling Horner score building anticipation. Don't believe me? Watch it with your sound down.
3) Glory - Lots of brass. The Harlem Boys Choir. A heroic but tragic fate playing out to the Charging Sumptner climax. The only album that I have played through a tape and a CD! I have bought it four times in my life.
4) Field of Dreams - Seriously, I don't think that I have made it through the last ten minutes of this movie without a tear in the corner of my eye. Horner plays it soft until Costner asks, "Dad? Wanna have a catch?" The theme builds and cue the waterworks.
5) Apollo 13 - One scene cements this score in my all-time favorites. The astronauts boarding their Saturn rocket and the launch sequence for Apollo 13. Excellent.
6) Cocoon - The first of many collaborations for Ron Howard and James Horner.
7) House of Sand and Fog - Little known but beautiful!
8) A Beautiful Mind - A fractured score for a fractured tale.
9) Aliens - A suspenseful score for a great action movies that all other action movies strive to be in the 80's and 90's. Easily the sci-fi cousin of Wrath of Khan.
10) Willow

honorable mention: The Mask of Zorro and Battle Beyond the Stars

Horner's most popular work is of course Titanic. The third highest selling soundtrack of all time and best selling score. However, I think this is where I begin to have problems with what Horner does. It's clear that the guy draws inspiration from his own work. When you listen to Titanic, you can clearly hear Braveheart. Perfect Storm? You can take sections of the end credits and not be able to distinguish them from Cocoon. Bicentennial Man? I swear the hook in the main theme is a direct rip from Braveheart. You can do this over and over and over again and find similarities in just about all of his scores. A little pan flute. Celtic chants. Clanging brass.

All that being said, I love them all. I'll continue to listen!