Who's the greatest film composer of all time?

I decided to go with the more "recent" production instead; which means you won't find any Tom Hanks here—though feel free to add him yourselves, with or without an explanation, in your own little section... Maybe having Sakamoto involved is a bit much, but I just couldn't resist because of femme Fatale...

John Williams is hands down the greatest film composer ever, period!👍
Just look at the track record:
Star Wars
Indiana Jones
Empire of the Sun
and a massive pile of other movies...

John Williams is hands down the greatest!
While I won't go so far as to dismiss Danny Elfman, Williams is clearly the heavyweight here. Just look at his work on Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Superman, and so on...

Ennio Morricone? Or maybe some Goran Bregović (give me a break)...😁

Yeah, I get it... most of them are great and I appreciate their work in their own way, but I ended up giving my vote to Williams. I mean, come on... I practically grew up on Star Wars and Indiana Jones. 👍

I honestly can't make up my mind!

Sophia Williams... what an amateur...

They paired Jaws with John Williams instead of Star Wars!!! 😂
And where are the other legends: Ennio Morricone, Basil Poledouris, Bill Conti, Jerry Goldsmith, Klaus Doldinger...

Man, this topic is actually great... but maybe dive a bit deeper into film scores first...

p.s. - Is anyone else here interested in Krzysztof Komed?

I voted for John Williams. After all, he’s the one behind the scores for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Superman, the Goonies, and more.

On the other hand, I would have picked Morricone (those Leone westerns), but he isn't even on this list.

northernotter3 said:The topic is solid... but maybe brush up on your film scoring knowledge first...

Facts!
This list feels super safe—like just grabbing the biggest names or the most prolific guys who snagged a bunch of Oscars. I'm pretty sure we're missing some real heavy hitters here:
- Angela Badalamenti - without him, those David Lynch flicks wouldn't be half as good
- Gabriel Yared - shows up a lot in modern stuff, but his work on Betty Blue is legendary
- Michael Nyman - if you’ve seen any Peter Greenway movies, you already know the vibe, otherwise, you should probably check out Zbigniew Preisner
- Zbigniew Preisner - absolute genius soundtracks for Krzysztof Kieslowski. Just watch the Three Colors trilogy, Double Veronika, or Damage...
- Richard Robbins - like for Howards End or The Remains of the Day.
- Eric Serra - Leon, The Big Blue...
And where are Nino Rota, Luis Bacalov, Ren Aubry, Philip Glass...
Also, I gotta know why Goran Bregović is getting a "lol." The Margot soundtrack is killer.

steelscout19 said:What about Ennio Morricone?

Oh, absolutely! That is a massive oversight!

And my vote goes to Morricone. Maybe the mod could toss in a few more options, just like how Blacky does on ST.

Good grief... I knew the second this went up that someone would start bitching about why certain composers didn't make the cut in the poll.

Why can't you people just vote and shut up? I could easily complain that Yoko Kanno isn't on there either, but I’m staying quiet and just voting for Williams. 😁
:darthvader:

And I see that BGMD was quick to remind us that the moderator should probably add more names to the list.

Besides, isn't the very last option in the poll literally "Wash"? 😉

Wash? I'm not familiar with that name... is he some kind of Japanese man? 😁

I’ve always been a pretty subjective person... I rarely found myself caring much about "objectivity," and lately, I’ve even started wondering if true objectivity is even a real thing...

And yet—when it comes to certain people and specific milestones, perhaps I can actually speak to an objective truth...
The way I see it—when we talk about John Williams—we can say he is OBJECTIVELY the greatest film composer of all time, which by extension makes him one of the greatest composers in human history, period...

To be fair, while I don't hold the American Academy's "Oscar" in particularly high regard (much like many of you probably don't), there is one fact that is so massive it commands absolute respect:
JOHN WILLIAMS has earned 42 Oscar nominations to date!

If anyone wants to dive into the specifics, feel free to check out http://www.johnwilliams.org/reference/awards.html

He has even walked away with 5 Oscars (I'm not sure if anyone else in the world has reached that kind of number):

1971 - Fiddler on the Roof
1975 - Jaws
1977 - Star Wars
1982 - E.T.
1993 - Schindler's List

🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

Ennio Morricone

...and honestly, what kind of heretic could possibly justify overlooking him in a poll like this?

Melissa Moore32 said:Good grief... I knew someone would immediately start bitching about why certain composers didn't make the poll.

Can't you guys just vote and move on? Besides, isn't the last option in the poll literally "Wash"? 😉

Fine, whatever. I'm just gonna cast my vote and call it a day... My vote goes to Mr. Wash.

Put Morricone in the "Wash" category!!!!!!!!!!!!
😲 😲 😲

So where else are you gonna put the composer from The Godfather? 😲

(Dammit, I can't remember his name, but I'm pretty sure it's Nino Nina😁 )

RZA absolutely nailed the soundtrack for Kill Bill
my vote goes to RZA

though I’ve got a soft spot for Bregović too (Margot, Underground, and all that)....

brightscout63 said:Nina😁 )

Nino Rota.

Ryan Wilson2 said:Ennio Morricone

...and what kind of blasphemer could possibly overlook him in a poll?

I have nothing more to add. Nothing to take away either.