That year you saw James Horner score no less than 10 movies. Ranging from live action to animation with the films:
Once Upon A Forest
The Pelican Brief
House of Cards
Jack the Bear
Searching for Bobby Fischer
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Bopha
We're Back:A Dinosaur's Story

While Jerry Goldsmith fresh off an Oscar nomination Basic Instinct, in which many still think that he should've won instead of Aladdin, was plenty busy himself scoring films like:
Dennis the Menace
6 Degrees of Separation
The Vanshing
Malice
and the Oscar snub Rudy to boot.

And John Williams playing with the dinosaurs and scoring the ironic true life tragedy of Schindler's List. Enough said. LOL

It also saw the emergence and return of few Hollywood standouts. James Newton Howard scored as many films as Goldsmith, scoring the hit films Falling Down, Dave and Alive, a small but somewhat memorable drama in The Saint of Fort Washington and of course, the megahit, The Fugitive, garnering his first Oscar nomination.

Then there's the legendary Elmer Bernstein. Who was practically type-casted in the late 80's and early 90's scoring comedies such as Oscar, The Cemetary Club and Lost In Yonkers. To smaller indepedent films like The Field, My Left Foot and A Rage In Harlem which blostered a terrific score. And last but not least the Martin Scorsese produced Grifters and his sparkling adaptation of Bernard Herrmann's classic score to Cape Fear. After those collaborations, it was only fitting that he would approach Bernstein to score the critically acclaimed Age of Innocence, which bloastered one his most memorable music in the 90's. And a much deserved Oscar nomination. And also scored the forgettable Macualay Culkin semi-thriller, The Good Son which it's best attribute is Bernstein's score.

After making a splash with his 1989 score to Henry V, along with 1991's Dead Again, Patrick Doyle came to the forefront with some great music of his own with his best friend Kenneth Brangah's Much Ado Bout Nothing and the Brian DePalma's gangster opus in Carlito's Way, which proved that he could not only write memorable melodic themes, but great climatic action music as well.

For the star studded Tombstone, director George Cosmatos was in desperate need a composer who had or came close to the chops of a Jerry Goldsmith, after he had to bow out due to scheduling conflict. After a high recomendation by Goldsmith, the scoring duties went to the much underrated Bruce Broughton. And with the power of the Sinfonia of London on the forefront, Broughton went onto provide the film with the score it needed and even more than that. One of the best scores of the 90's.

Oscar winning composer Dave Grusin provided another quality score for the overblown and really overlong Tom Cruise thriller, The Firm. A strange one at that because it was all performed on a single piano and another strange occurance, it garnered an Oscar nomination. Making The Fugitive and The Firm, the first two ever law and order film scores ever to be nominated in the same year.

To nitpick, My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys was 1991. Maybe I'm wrong.

Anyway, there are too many damned composers out there. That's one reason why the "big names" aren't doing the number of scores they used to.

First and foremost, you left out Danny Elfman's two great landmark scores of that year, Sommersby and The Nightmare Before X-Mas, the former being a wonderful break of style with beautiful, sweeping melodies, and the second a definitive Elfman score.

Also, you mentioned Bruce Broughton's Tombstone, but 1993 was also the year of his touching score for Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. And speaking of animal films, what about Basil Poledouris's Free Willy?

David Arnold made his feature film debut with The Young Americans. John Debney penned the rousing SeaQuest DSV theme, along with his much sought-after Hocus Pocus. Richard Band wrote a charming but horribly budget-constrained score for the children's dino fantasy Prehysteria! and Mark McKenzie did Warlock: The Armageddon.

This was also the year of one of my all-time favorites, Michael Nyman's brilliant The Piano. And who can forget Hummie Mann's golden-age score for Mel Brooks's Robin Hood: Men In Tights? Not to mention Shirley Walker's turn at Batman on the big screen, Trevor Jones's Cliffhanger, and Zbigniew Preisner's lovely score to the best version yet of The Secret Garden.

PeterK

Jurassic Park is also one of my favourites, so 1993 was really a damn fine year for film scores. And Goldenthal's Alien³ came out only one year earlier.

quote:

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Originally posted by Hard Target:
After those collaborations, it was only fitting that he would approach Bernstein to score the critically acclaimed Age of Innocence, which bloastered one his most memorable music in the 90's. And a much deserved Oscar nomination.

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FINALY! Somebody recognized this score! The movie was quite nice as well...very accurate towards the book. Plus it had Winona Ryder in it in a very rare dramatic role in which she got an oscar nom! And lost it to that little BRAT from The Piano.

FOR THE LAST TIME: Danny Elfman´s own personal favorite score of his is EDWARD SCISSORHANDS! NOT, I repeat, NOT Dolores Claiborne! Get it??!! He has said a million times in several interviews that ES is his favorite....just pointing that out.

Thanks,

SFT

Edward Scissorhands: "Still probably my personal favorite score. The movie was such a lovely blend of sentimental and peculiar. I could have done variations on Edward's theme forever."

Frankie Starlight, Elmer Bernstein (always gets forgotten, wonderful score)
And the Band Played On, Carter Burwell
Carlito's Way, Doyle
Much Ado About Nothing, Doyle
Shadowlands, Fenton
Golden Gate, Goldenthal
Dave,JNH
The Man Without a Face, Horner
Heaven & Earth, Kitaro
Hoffa, D Newman
Wind, Basil Poledouris
Joy Luck Club, Rachel Portman
M Butterfly, Howard Shore
The House of the Spirits, Hans Zimmer

I wasn´t trying to be rude, and I apologize if that is how I sounded. I just wanted you to realize that just because the Dolores Claiborne promo is the only one of Elfman´s that has gotten out in puplic, doesn´t mean he doesn´t have others of his own work - he may very well have a CD at home with an expanded version of Edward Scissorhands, Batman etc...how are we supposed to know?
All I know, is that Elfman says Edward Scissorhands is his favorite....isn´t that proof enough?

SFT

Addams Family Values (Marc Shaiman)
(The) Age of Innocence (Elmer Bernstein)
Amos and Andrew* (Richard Gibbs)
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (Nicholas Pike)
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (Shirley Walker)
Benny and Joon^ (Rachel Portman)
Body of Evidence (Graeme Revell)
Born Yesterday* (George Fenton)
Carlito's Way (Patrick Doyle)
(The) Cemetary Club (E. Bernstein)
Cliffhanger (Trevor Jones)
Coneheads (David Newman)
Cop and a Half* (Alan Silvestri)
(The) Dark Half (Chris Young)
Demolition Man (Elliot Goldenthal)
Dennis the Menace^ (Jerry Goldsmith)
Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story^ (Randy Edelman)
Fatal Instinct* (R. Gibbs)
(The) Firm (David Grusin)
Free Willy (Basil Poledouris)
(The) Fugitive (James Newton Howard)
(The) Good Son (E. Bernstein)
Groundhog Day (G. Fenton)
Grumpy Old Men* (A. Silvestri)
Guilty as Sin* (Howard Shore)
Hard Target (G. Revell)
Heart and Souls (M. Shaiman)
Hocus Pocus (John Debney)
Homeward Bound: the Incredible Journey (Bruce Broughton)
Hot Shots! Part Deux^ (B. Poledouris)
Indian Summer* (Miles Goodman)
In the Line of Fire (Ennio Morricone)
Judgment Night* (A. Silvestri)
Jurassic Park (John Williams)
Leprechaun^ (Kevin Kiner)
Loaded Weapon 1* (Robert Folk)
Malice (General Ponytail)
Man's Best Friend* (Joel Goldsmith)
Matinee (Goldsmith, Sr.)
Needful Things (P. Doyle)
(The) Nightmare Before Christmas^ (Danny Elfman)
(The) Pelican Brief (James Horner)
(The) Piano (Michael Nyman)
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (Hummie Mann)
Rookie of the Year* (Bill Conti)
Rudy (Guess who?)
(The) Sandlot (D. Newman)
Schindler's List (J. Williams)
Sommersby (D. Elfman)
Splitting Heirs* (Michael Kamen)
Stepmonster (Terry Plumeri)
Super Mario Bros. (A. Silvestri)
This Boy's Life* (Carter Burwell)
Tom and Jerry: the Movie (Henry Mancini)
The Vanishing (The Man)

* - I'd love a CD release!
^ - I own a copy.