I thought, "Wow, for someone like Jerry Goldsmith, who's written countless hundreds of hours worth of music, that's a pretty bold statement... and so short, too."

quote:

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Originally posted by PeterK:
I've been reading some of the reviews/comments on MovieMusic about various soundtracks in the database. One of the shortest comments I've seen was for The Haunting: "'Finally Home' is one of the best pieces Jerry Goldsmith has ever written."

I thought, "Wow, for someone like Jerry Goldsmith, who's written countless hundreds of hours worth of music, that's a pretty bold statement... and so short, too."

What do you think? Does Goldsmith have [b]one best-ever theme? Or is it just insane to even try to parse down such a huge body of work? Is "Finally Home" from The Haunting the best thing Goldsmith has ever written??[/B]

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He's just done TOO much.

--Kyp
Writer/Editor

--Kyp
Writer/Editor

BUT, I'm also very fond of "Bead Party" from A Patch of Blue and "The Bridge" from The Blue Max (even if it didn't make it into the film, it's on the soundtrack and it's great). I'd have to say "The Rock" from In Harm's Way would have to be on the 'to pick from' list. There are a few TV themes that might qualify--Man from UNCLE certainly. The Main Title to Patton and that neat cue with the French Horn slides (whose title eludes me right now) from The Prize where someone follows Newman (or is it the other way around?)--anyway, that's equally great. For me, it would have to be one of these.

” The highlight of the album (THE HAUNTING) comes with the astonishing ‘Finally Home’. A generally quiet (but interesting) opening gives way to one of Goldsmith’s most magnificent creations. Towering orchestra, electronics, and thankfully perfect acoustics combine with mesmerizing thematic material. And the music moves too, developing, sometimes tortuously, before reaching a climax almost (but not quite) as shattering as one found in a Mahler symphony.”

http://www.moviemusic.com/mb/Forum1/HTML/004524.html

In my opinion, whether ‘Finally Home’ is the best cue Goldsmith has ever written is almost impossible to determine, as others have pointed out, such cues as ‘The Enterprise’ and ‘The Mutant’, amongst many others, also provide some of the finest examples of film scoring.

1. "Breakout" from Capricorn One
2. "Main Title" and "All is in Vain" from Night Crossing
3. "Bees Arrive" from Swarm
4. "End Title" from Train Robbery
5. several cues in In Harm's Way
6. several cues in Blue Max
7. Rambo II-several cues
8. Under Fire-the rebel march
9. Many of those above-Final Conflict
and the themes in HOur of the Gun
10. many of his themes

• Clever Girl (Total Recall)
  
• Twisted Abduction (Poltergeist)
  
• Escape from Suburbia (Poltergeist)
  
• The Hunt (The Final Conflict)
  
• Bajo Fuego (Under Fire)
  
• The Enterprise (Star Trek TMP)
  
• Leaving Drydock (Star Trek TMP)
  
• Pot Luck (Gremlins 2)
  
• Over Bumps and Hollows (Legend)
  
• Main Title (Great Train Robbery)
  
• Rotten Row (Great Train Robbery)
  
• ...and TONS more I'm too lazy to write down now
  

you must get off those drugs.

Jerry Goldsmith is the type of composer who is better than most even when he is at his worst.

Impossible to pick a single cue that would represent his best.

I do love Rudy though.

"The Mutant" and "A New Life" from TOTAL RECALL
"Allergic Reaction/Athletic Type" from THE SECRET OF N.I.M.H.
"The Caravan" from THE MUMMY
"Assembly Line" from SMALL SOLDIERS
"The Hollow Man" from...oh, take a guess.
"The Carousel" from THE HAUNTING
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" from TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE
"Klopek House" from The 'burbs
"Trained Seals" from FIERCE CREATURES
"The Victor" from L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
"Bees Inside" from THE SWARM
"Meet Spengo" from MOM AND DAD SAVE THE WORLD

There's more where that came from...

NP: Dvorak Symphony No.8 - Walter/Col.SO

All the best,
Sean

dave

I'm really not a little school girl.

Of course I'm a bit of a "young-old fogey":P

I still play my LP of THE PRIZE, and have a CDR on the way of SEBASTIAN....and I cherish "old school" Goldsmith like Spiral Road, Lonely are the Brave, The Stripper,In Harm's Way.

My Goldsmith "Golden Age" is the 80's though, since that is when I got into it.
Eventually discovered the old stuff via APES(of course!) and gradually started finding everything else. I love his new work also, and have to say that all of it can stand comfortably together.

NP: Twilight Zone the Movie(Goldsmith) Ironic eh! How much IS missing from this album? It's been years since seeing the film..

The Fire Dragon - 13th Warrior
Hijacking - Air Force One (great stuff)
Main Title - 100 rifles
The Hanging - Bad Girls
Ray Peterson, Neighbor From Hell - The 'burbs
Bail Out - Congo
One Way Ride - Contract On Cherry Street
Stalking - The Edge
Authur's Farewell - First Knight (very good)
Gizmo Saves The Day - Gremlins
Gremlin Pudding - Gremlins 2
The Elevator - Hollow Man
A Lot Better - Leviathan
Final Fight - Lionheart (also great)
The Motel - Love Field (not really an action cue, but I love that action motif in this track)
The Road To Masada - Masada (falls in there with Lions Attack as one of my favs)
The Fire - Medicine Man
The Huns Attack - Mullan
Rebirth - The Mummy
Main Titles - Night Crossing
German March - Patton
Escape From Torture - Ramb: First Blood Part II
Vacation's Over - The River Wild
The Hotel - The Shadow (more great stuff)
The Ring - Sleeping With The Enemy (this one is also a fav)
Assembly Line - Small Soldiers
The Enterprise - Star Trek I
An Angry God - Star Trek V
Red Alert - Star Trek: First Contact
The Drones Attack - Star Trek: Insurrection
Overture - Supergirl
Main Title - Take A Hard Ride
End Of A Dream - Total Recall
The Horseman - The Wind And The Lion

Okay, that's 35+. And I have still more Goldsmiths I didn't mention! I guess I'm just indecisive.
And you know, I just realized this thread is best CUE, EVER, not best action cue. That's what I get for skimming a few posts.
Somehow, though, I think best cue would have been far, far harder than best action cue. I mean, look what I came up with for that!

NP: The Land Before Time, Horner

We'd have to generate a response that would be like the MTV/Rolling Stone 100 Best Pop Songs of All time (at least they had the decency to keep most of current music out of the list, but sadly not enough from the 80's-where I think most of the best cheesy pop songs were written, next to the songs for Elvis movies). If only we had an editor like David Fricke for Rolling Stone whose hairdo is perhaps the most out-of-date appearance of hair I've ever seen. Someone should tell him he is not the lost member of Gary Puckett and The Union Gap!

Sorry- was I ranting?

In any case, if I at least at to pick a top ten, this is how I would list it.

Main Title/Klingon Battle from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"
The Shaft from "Alien"
"Kick The Can" from Twilight Zone: The Movie
"Gremlins Rag" from Gremlins
"Lock-Ons" from Runaway
"The Flying Ballet" from Supergirl
"End of A Dream" from Total Recall
"The Construction" from Explorers
"Vejur Flyover" from Star Trek: The Motion Picture
"The Sand Volcano" from THe Mummy

"The Monument" - LOGAN'S RUN

Jeron

NW- Errr... about to go watch "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" << AWESOME MOVIE!