Hans Zimmer
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OK, let’s do it — let’s have a Zimmer topic already! Also appropriate, because of the news that he’s going to score the upcoming HARRY POTTER TV series (slated for a 2027 release), along with a couple of his Bleeding Fingers guys. I couldn’t care less about Harry Potter, but it’s a tantalizing composer assignment. Thoughts?
As for Zimmer in general, it’s no secret that he’s my second favourite film composer of all time. I will wax lyrical over him later, but let’s just test the waters first. I fear the worst on this issue, as I do on most messageboards, but all opinions are valid here!
As for Zimmmer in general, it’s no secret that he’s my second favourite film composer of all time. I will wax lyrical over him later,
You can just copy from other topics 😉 I had an eye on him since I first noticed him with the Buggles, no seriously, with RAIN MAN. I like a lot things by him but feel the best works up to the late 90s. It cooled down with GLADIATOR which is probably one of the “category 2” scores to cite your other topic.
I think RAIN MAN was the way in for a lot of people. Including mine, although I wasn’t aware of it at the time. I noticed the music while watching it in the cinema, I remember that, but this was before I was into film music. I think DAYS OF THUNDER shortly thereafter is my proper way in.
Zimmer was not really in focus before RAIN MAN. I got the soundtrack LP back then which I still have. But I already was into film music at the time and already starting to dig deeper into it as late 80s I discovered a local mail order and that a lot was already out there I didn’t know about.
I need to restrain myself a little, because I intend to have a long Zimmer podcast at some point (much in the style of the Vangelis one), and I don’t want to give away ALL the stories and favourites. Even if it will be in Norwegian, so of limited interest to anyone else. It’s been planned for 5-6 years, but it’s been terribly difficult to book the two other guests.
Anyway, as I alluded to above, I think RAIN MAN was my first meeting with the music of Hans Zimmer, even if I didn’t latch on to his name at the time. However, I do remember latching on to his name with DAYS OF THUNDER, which came out right at the cusp of when my film music awareness was born, in 1990.
He’s always been a top 10 composer to me, but moved a little bit up and down over the years. The reason he’s now at no. 2 is not because I think his work has been so spectacular in the last few years, but rather because of a newfound love of his golden period between 1988 and 2003. Especially the ethnic excursions and the power anthems.
In my research period for the proposed podcast, I’ve made a list of ‘early gems’, ‘runner-ups’ and then a proper ‘top 20’. I might possibly save those selections for later, but I’ve made it pretty clear that BEYOND RANGOON is my favourite of his work; in fact, it’s one of my top 10 favourite film scores of all time. I do wish some people that are critical of his work in later years (in many cases I agree with them!), would spend some more time with the 88-03 period.
I’ve met him a couple of times, at film music festivals, and snapped this cheeky selfie in 2011:
BLACK RAIN and RAIN MAN (note to self: try not to accidentally shorten this to “BLACK RAIN MAN”) were definitely the two scores that put Hans Zimmer on the map for me. RAIN MAN especially found new ways to score that type of road movie.
PS: Oh, cool. I have never met Hans Zimmer personally. (I have met very few film score composers.)
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