FSM # 20: Final scores – best and worst?
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Yes, WAR WAGON is decent, as is 36 HOURS. But not on EMPIRE level for me. Thanks for the link, does indeed seem like GREAT CATHERINE was his last — the later two projects were in different capacities than composer.
Francis Lai’s final score was Claude Lelouch’s LES PLUS BELLES ANNÉES D’UNE VIE (2019), released posthumously. Lai died in 2018. It was also the last film of actor Jean-Louis Trintignant and actress Anouk Aimée. I seem to remember sampling this score somehow, when it came out, and it was okay. But we have to go back all the way to 1988 to what I consider his last GREAT score, i.e. BERNADETTE. Then again, there are many scores in the interim there that I need to properly investigate.
(I mean, I quite liked AMORE E LIBERTÀ – MASANIELLO [2006], which I even own on CD, but that was mostly Marco Werba’s baby, I think).
Franz Waxman is my favourite Golden Age composer. According to IMDB, his final film was a TV film called TO DIE IN PARIS (1968), which must have been released posthumously, since he died in 1967. But he had a spectacular last great year in 1962, with TARAS BULBA, HEMINGWAY’S ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG MAN and MY GEISHA, all wonderful scores. But HEMINGWAY remains my favourite of the three (featuring a young John Williams on piano).
Gerald Fried is an interesting case. Was away from film music for so long, and then he suddenly made a comeback with his retro score for the Snoop Dog STAR TREK spoof UNBELIEVEABLE!!!! in 2016 (his first feature-length film score since the late 80s). Where he could nurture his old style for the original series. Impressive note to go out on, he died in 2023.
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek died way too early, at 71 in 2024. We’ve talked a little bit about him in the Polish film music thread, as well as the ‘erotica’ thread that I’m the only person interested in. His final score was apparently something called LEGEND OF THE HAPPY WORKER, released posthumously in 2025, which I’ve never seen or heard. But his last GREAT score was LEONIE in 2010, IMO.
Jerry Fielding’s final score appears to be the wrestling comedy BELOW THE BELT (1980), although it was produced as early as 1974. So maybe that doesn’t count. Maybe it’s the slasher film CRIES IN THE NIGHT instead, released the same year. I’ve not seen or heard any of these. But the year before, he did the classic ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ. Not a lot of music in it, so maybe not the last “great” score as such. I think that honour possibly goes to THE GAUNTLET from 1977.
Been a while but BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE or THE BIG SLEEP were not bad either and come after THE GAUNTLET (and before ALCATRAZ). Never heard (of) BELOW THE BELT (imdb lists him for lyrics???) or CRIES IN THE NIGHT.
I vaguely remember sampling BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE years ago, and it didn’t make much of an impact, I’m afraid. Never seen or heard THE BIG SLEEP, I think. Is it considered a great score?
Well, it’s been a while I listed to both or even seen the movies (same for ALCATRAZ)… All probably not the Fielding top league in general. Maybe some Fielding expert here has some input on that.
I actually rewatched ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ just a few months ago, for the first time since I was a kid. The film still held up very well, but I was struck by the sparseness of the music.
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid IMO was perfect final score for Rozsa, being a return to his classic noir sound (which is my favorite Rozsa).
Taxi Driver may be the greatest final score among composers I care about. And while many film composers are still alive, I wonder if any composer has (or will have) a set of career bookends as great as Citizen Kane and Taxi Driver.
John Barry’s final score was ENIGMA (2004), although he died several years later, in 2011. I’m not familiar with that, and I’m semi-Barry-critical in general, but what was his last great score? I don’t think I have anything by him after DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990), although I might have sampled a thing or two.
I do know most I think later scores but would indeed say DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990) is his last really great score and the peak of his “later style” I would say. I generally find his 60s to 70s work most interesting.
I’ve come to appreciate his broad and slow and romantic themes in later years (which makes me think I would possibly like some of those post-DANCES WITH WOLVES scores if I gave them a chance), but yes, I do like some of those loungey efforts from the 60s and 70s too. Barry used to be outside the city walls, but he’s now in The Reception.
I’ve come to appreciate his broad and slow and romantic themes in later years
I became indeed more forgiving as well. There are nice bits in later scores but overall not much is happening generally.
I do like some of those loungey efforts from the 60s and 70s too.
Yes, those with jazzy flavour. And there are those like LION IN WINTER or THE LAST VALLEY with some dramatic choral parts that rather unusual for him.
There’s a new SPACEBALLS movie coming out next year, but sadly without the involvement of composer John Morris, who died in 2018. He seems to have lived his last many years “off-grid”, because his last assignment seems to be the TV film THE BLACKWATER LIGHTSHIP in 2004. And I have to go back aaaaaall the way to 1980 to find his last great one, THE ELEPHANT MAN. That’s 38 years before he died. Weird.
Had to look up what he did afterwards. Somehow I thought SPACEBALLS was way before 1987… I heard parts of his YELLOWBEARD only but that nice swashbuckling adventure like. No idea how it holds up completely. And I think SCARLETT is the latest of hos I generally heard but I don’t remember it…
Mark Snow died last year. Mostly a TV composer, he dabbled in films now and then. Snow is ALL about X-FILES to me, and I have no idea if he did any great things after that (that was not new X-FILES iterations). SMALLVILLE? But that’s still 2001-2007. I had this Mark Snow compilation once, but probably traded it off at some point. But that was only up to 1999, when it came out. I’m completely clueless here.
I first noticed him with other series HART TO HART. T.J. HOOKER, CRAZY LIKE A FOX or DARK JUSTICE way before X-FILES. Only later learned he wrote one of the more unknown STARSKY & HUTCH themes, too. And of course only via Michael Kamen I learned of his band New York Rock Ensamble later.
Not familiar with all he did since X-FILES, but he had at least two long(er) running series incl. the theme after that:
- GHOST WISPERER
- BLUE BLOODS (edit somehow just learned the theme is actually by Rob Simonsen! But Snow for sure did lots of episodes)
And he also scored a couple of Alan Resnais movies but I am not familar with them.
I had this Mark Snow compilation once,
Sonic Images, the great label run by Chris Franke. A pity they are not active.
I haven’t heard too much Snow, but I have always thought of picking up JAKE SPEED on Varese from 1986.
And he also scored a couple of Alan Resnais movies but I am not familar with them.
Wow, mind blown! A Resnais-Snow collaboration is not something I would have envisioned in a million years.
I’m generally not a fan of late-career Bernstein, but FAR FROM HEAVEN is amazing.
It is. You could, technically, call it his swan song, and as such an unusual high point to go out on. Although it was soured a bit by GANGS OF NEW YORK coming out a couple of months later, wherein his music had been replaced by Shore.
I think the only one he did after that was the documentary CECIL B. DEMILLE: AMERICAN EPIC (2004), but I don’t know the ratio of original music and existing music from his De Mille catalogue in that one.
ENIGMA was good, typical late style Barry… if you like that, you’ll like it, if not, not.
I think John Barry’s last truly “great” score was his penultimate film score, PLAYING BY HEART (1998), which is just a great album on its own, so much so that the album cover even downplays its soundtrack origin and features the primary musicians instead.
Yes, I hear so many good things about PLAYING BY HEART. Need to give that, and his other post-DANCES WITH WOLVES works, another chance soon.
We were talking about Maurice Jarre in another thread recently. He’s an interesting case too. Here, it’s pretty easy for me. His last film score was a 2001 TV movie called UPRISING, which I haven’t heard. Before that, he did Hugh Hudson’s I DREAMED OF AFRICA (2000), which I need to check out one of these days. But before THAT again, he did the superb SUNSHINE (the Istvan Szabo film, not the Danny Boyle) in 1999. And yes, I know it uses a classical piece extensively. But still. Easily his last great score, ten years before he died. Szabo actually came to teach at the institute I studied at back then, and I remember he talked a bit about the Jarre collaboration; or actually I think I asked him about it. Can’t remember what he said, though.
PLAYING BY HEART is basically a light jazz album if I recall right.
We were talking about Maurice Jarre in another thread recently.
I wanted to name AGAGUK as a good later score (and even with quite convincing synth usages). While it is it is from 1992 already and nowhere near a last score. I think I head I DREAM OF AFRICA some time but don’t remember it. In any case I don’t have it…
Well, JACOB’S LADDER is my alltime favourite Jarre score, but thankfully, he did many other good things after 1990. But from 2001 to 2009, he did nothing. Attended a few events and concerts, that’s it. Even before his health started to fail, I think he’d had enough of the industry.
PLAYING BY HEART plays indeed like a stand alone concept album, there are three cool jazz tracks by Chet Baker, and John Barry takes these as a starting point to and fuses his own lush orchestral romantic jazz‑infused film music style and adds cool jazz sensibilities with Chris Botti’s excellent trumpet playing. Great album. Not a “romantic orchestral dramatic film score” though.
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