Who's the greatest film composer of all time?

Sophia Williams · 2003-12-13T23:14:29+00:00

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 withou…

ruggedstag84 Member

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joined Dec 2003

#21 · Dec 16, 2003

Bill Gates said:Wrong.

Nino Rota was an absolute legend, basically famous for scoring those Fellini flicks (that theme from Amarcord is easily one of the most iconic pieces of film music ever).
But seriously, if Ennio Morricone didn't make the cut, why on earth would Rota? Forget Amarcord or The Godfather—just give us Harry Potter!

BTW, northernotter3, who actually is Krzysztof Komeda?😕

northernotter3 Member

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joined Dec 2003

#22 · Dec 16, 2003

ruggedstag84 said:northernotter3, who exactly was Krzysztof Komeda?😕

Ha! ruggedstag84, I am actually quite glad you asked...

Komeda stood as one of the most influential and significant jazz musicians of his era, yet to the broader public, his name remains largely unknown because he was overlooked by the American jazz mainstream for so many years. You see, Komeda wasn't an American; he was Polish. However, in recent years, that historical oversight regarding his legacy has finally begun to shift.

While he composed music for numerous Polish films, he spent the final years of his life crafting soundtracks for the movies of Roman Polanski. Perhaps his most famous contribution is that hauntingly iconic score for "Rosmary's Baby." For me personally, though, I discovered and fell in love with Komeda through his work on "The Fearless Vampire Killers." It is such a cult horror-parody, easily my favorite film by Polanski and one of my top ten favorites in the world. That brilliant soundtrack simply perfected the entire experience.

I would venture to say that with the music for "The Fearless Vampire Killers," Komeda essentially pioneered a whole new sound—what I like to call "gothic-jazz." Unfortunately, finding that soundtrack is nearly impossible; it took me months of an intense search about a year and a half ago just to track down about two-thirds of the music from that film.

Tragically, Komeda passed away in 1969 at the age of 37, right in the middle of working on a new project for Roman Polanski.

R.I.P.

northernotter3 Member

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#23 · Dec 16, 2003

placidranger said:RZA created the legendary soundtrack for Kill Bill
My vote goes to RZA too.

placidranger, I'm sorry, but I feel like this discussion is really intended for composers of classical or orchestral-style film scores.

If we started listing every famous musician who happened to score a movie, we'd basically be starting an entirely different conversation... maybe someone could open a new thread for that?

For instance:
Isaac Hayes - "Shaft"
Curtis Mayfield - "Superfly"
Queen - "Flash Gordon"
Barry De Vorzon - "The Warriors"
Public Enemy - "He Got Gamma" and "Do the Right Thing"
...and so on, and so forth...

placidranger Regular

339 messages
joined Sep 2004

#24 · Dec 16, 2003

Yeah, look, I get it—I honestly don't think RZA really fits into the category of composers either 😁😁😁

cosmictrucker132 Member

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joined Apr 2004

#25 · Dec 16, 2003

Give me a break... RZA is a top-tier producer, period. He's worth (another) mention in this thread.

😁

northernotter3 Member

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joined Dec 2003

#26 · Dec 16, 2003

True... while Prince Rakeem, also known as RZA, is an absolute master at production... this thread is really focused on the composers themselves... 🙂

ruggedstag84 Member

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joined Dec 2003

#27 · Dec 17, 2003

Sophia Williams said:Maybe Sakamoto is overkill, but I just couldn't resist because of Femme Fatale...

Heh, totally forgot to mention this. Ryuichi Sakamoto (the guy who started that legendary Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra—basically the Japanese version of Kraftwerk) scored some massive soundtracks. We're talking Bertolucci hits like "The Last Emperor", "Little Buddha", and "The Sheltering Sky", plus De Palma's "Snake Eyes"... and my absolute favorite, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" (where he even stars alongside David Bowie).
So yeah, his involvement probably isn't "overkill" after all...😁

northernotter3, thanks for the heads-up on Komeda. You piqued my interest so I did a quick deep dive online. There’s some bits and pieces on Amazon, but you gotta search under Christopher Komeda.

By the way, nobody’s even brought up guys like Henry Mancini or Ry Cooder... or that insane move by Mike Oldfield using "Tubular Bells" in "The Exorcist". Even though it wasn't actually written for the movie, it fits that terrifying vibe perfectly.

Bradley Ramos11 Active Member

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joined Jun 2003

#28 · Dec 17, 2003

Is it John Carpenter? If I’m not mistaken, he handles the music for most of his own films.

ruggedstag84 Member

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joined Dec 2003

#29 · Dec 17, 2003

When I first heard they were making a Final Fantasy movie, I thought—wow, what a soundtrack this is gonna be. I mean, the music for the FF games was handled by the genius Nobuo Uematsu (the score for Final Fantasy VII was absolute perfection), but then, for reasons nobody can even figure out, Uematsu was out. Honestly, that's just one more reason why the movie flopped at the box office. 😬I recently stumbled upon this quote: "If John Williams is the Beethoven of film scores, Uematsu is the Beethoven of video game scores."
Another master, Graeme Revell, did an incredible job with the Tomb Raider series, and he does film scoring pretty often too.

And nobody even mentioned Peter Gabriel. His soundtrack for The Passion is straight-up phenomenal. We actually just got the movie Rabbit-Proof Fence on DVD here, which features music composed by Gabriel.

northernotter3 Member

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#30 · Dec 18, 2003

Video game soundtracks for PC games... such an interesting topic to dive into...
I was personally blown away by the music in Ghost Recon.

ruggedstag84 - I'm really glad to hear that you found Komeda so intriguing.

By the way, what do you all think of the soundtracks from the Mad Max trilogy, specifically the work by Brian May on The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2)? 🙂

Are there any true aficionados of the James Bond film scores here? If so, which 007 soundtrack stands out as your absolute favorite?

cosmictrucker132 Member

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joined Apr 2004

#31 · Dec 18, 2003

northernotter3 said:Sure... Prince Rakeem, aka RZA, is a top-tier producer... but this thread is about composers... 🙂

Look... you're overthinking this compared to yesterday... I only intended to mention him once... but you just had to bring him up again...👍

If we’re strictly sticking to the classics... I know RZA doesn't fit the mold for this discussion... not by a long shot... mentioning him was just a bit of cultural noise.😁

...but since you've framed it that way... please answer if you actually know, because I'm not too familiar with the technical jargon, but to me, they seem like the same thing... so...

What is the actual difference between a music producer and a composer?

northernotter3 Member

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#32 · Dec 18, 2003

cosmictrucker132 said:What is actually the difference between a music producer and a composer?

When we talk about a producer in genres like rap, trip-hop, dub, jungle, or house, we’re talking about the person crafting the musical foundation, usually by layering samples—whether they’re sourced from elsewhere or played themselves.

In the context of rock, jazz, or classical music, a producer functions more as a technical director or a facilitator—almost like a "helper"—whose main job is ensuring the entire sound is captured and arranged perfectly according to the original vision. (That’s a pretty simplified way of looking at it, but I think it captures the essence.)

Meanwhile, a composer writes the actual music (for classical, rock, jazz, etc.) which is then performed by various musicians; occasionally, that composer might also act as the arranger or even the conductor, much like how John Williams conducts an orchestra when recording a soundtrack.

Though, I suspect you probably already knew all this, and perhaps the question was just a little detour from our main topic...

Melissa Moore32 Active Member

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joined Jan 2004

#33 · Dec 18, 2003

ruggedstag84> When I first heard they were making a Final Fantasy movie, I thought—wow, what kind of soundtrack is this going to have? Since Nobuo Uematsu did the music for the FF games, and the music for Final Fantasy VII was just perfect.

The OST for FF: TSW is honestly pretty bad; or maybe it's better to say it isn't even remotely close to the quality of any single FF game. But then again, it wasn't even written by Uematsu.

Anyway, I've been on this kick lately where I just keep listening to Uematsu. Even today, sitting on the bus, I was listening to the orchestral version of "Aerith's Theme" from that 2002 Live Concert, and I just thought, "Man, what a genius." To compose something that feels so calming and grand, yet is absolutely drenched in sadness... honestly, that's the kind of thing I'd want played at my funeral.

Back to the topic:

If I had to pick a favorite composer from this list above, it would definitely be Yoko Kanno. She's phenomenal, and an incredible producer to boot. When she puts together an OST, I know I can expect nothing but the best, both in terms of the individual tracks and how they actually fit the film.

And the sheer variety in her work... I don't even know where to start. It goes from fast-paced jazz, blues, rock, and country, all the way through techno, trance, and various electronic styles, to massive orchestral pieces built for epic battles or piano pieces that just hit you right in the feels. I seriously wonder if one person can actually be that versatile, or if it's even possible.