Like many others, I was affected by James Horner’s death and touched by the various tributes paid by his friends, colleagues, collaborators and fans. There is little I can do in the way of tribute other than write about his music – and it strikes me that the body of work he developed over his 35-year film music career is one of the most impressive that anyone’s ever built up and one that’s particularly worthy of writing about.
I’ve reviewed many of his scores over the years, most of them some time ago and am now keen to re-explore his body of work and consider it in the context of what we now know is, sadly, the full extent of his writing (not to mention to reflect my own changing opinions – sometimes drastically so). Not all of his scores have been released on album – and I don’t have quite all the albums – so I can’t do everything, but over the coming weeks and months I intend to write about everything I can.
There is little point in me rewriting reviews I’ve written in the last five years or so, so with some exceptions they will remain untouched. The rest will be either updated or completely rewritten and the many gaps for scores I have never reviewed will mostly be filled. There’s no intention to sugar-coat any opinions given events – if I am generally rather enthusiastic (and sometimes very enthusiastic) about his work, it is only because that is how I genuinely feel about it. But I don’t like all of it and won’t shy away from saying so.
Below is a complete list of his scores, with links to titles already reviewed as part of this series (the old, un-updated reviews will still be accessible from the main review index but will not appear here until updated). I won’t be doing them in any particular order and given how many there are, it will take a long time to complete. The easiest way to keep informed when new titles appear is to follow Movie Wave on Facebook or Twitter.
As always, I encourage people to leave their own feedback in the comment sections of reviews – whether you agree or disagree with my own assessments, it’s always interesting to read yours.
2016:
The Magnificent Seven (completed by Simon Franglen)
2015:
The 33
Southpaw
Living in the Age of Airplanes
Collage (concert work)
Wolf Totem
One Day in Auschwitz
2014:
Pas de Deux (concert work)
2012:
The Amazing Spider-Man
For Greater Glory
2011:
Black Gold
2010:
The Karate Kid
Flight (aerobatic display music / concert work)
2009:
Avatar
2008:
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The Spiderwick Chronicles
2007:
The Life Before Her Eyes
2006:
Apocalypto
All the King’s Men
2005:
The New World
The Legend of Zorro
Flightplan
The Chumscrubber
2004:
The Forgotten
Troy
Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius
2003:
House of Sand and Fog
The Missing
Radio
Beyond Borders
2002:
The Four Feathers
Windtalkers
2001:
Iris
A Beautiful Mind
Enemy at the Gates
2000:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The Perfect Storm
Freedom Song
1999:
Bicentennial Man
1998:
Mighty Joe Young
The Mask of Zorro
Deep Impact
1997:
Titanic
The Devil’s Own
1996:
Ransom
To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday
Courage Under Fire
The Spitfire Grill
1995:
Balto
Jumanji
Jade
Apollo 13
Casper
Braveheart
1994:
Legends of the Fall
The Pagemaster
Clear and Present Danger
1993:
The Pelican Brief
We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story
Bopha!
The Man Without a Face
Searching for Bobby Fischer
House of Cards
Once Upon a Forest
Jack the Bear
A Far Off Place
Swing Kids
1992:
Sneakers
Unlawful Entry
Patriot Games
Thunderheart
1991:
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
The Rocketeer
Class Action
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Once Around
Norman and the Killer
1990:
Extreme Close-Up
Another 48 Hrs.
I Love You to Death
1989:
Glory
Dad
In Country
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Field of Dreams
1988:
Cocoon: The Return
The Land Before Time
Vibes
Red Heat
Willow
1987:
*batteries not included
Project X
P.K. and the Kid
1986:
An American Tail
The Name of the Rose
Captain EO
Where the River Runs Black
Aliens
Off Beat
1985:
Commando
The Journey of Natty Gann
Volunteers
Cocoon
Surviving
Heaven Help Us
Let’s Go
1984:
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
The Stone Boy
1983:
Uncommon Valor
Gorky Park
The Dresser
Testament
Brainstorm
Between Friends
Krull
Something Wicked This Way Comes
1982:
48 Hrs.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn
A Piano for Mrs. Cimino
1981:
The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper
A Few Days in Weasel Creek
Deadly Blessing
Wolfen
The Hand
Angel Dusted
1980:
Battle Beyond the Stars
Humanoids from the Deep
1979:
The Lady in Red
Up from the Depths
1978:
The Watcher
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