My favorite film composers

Special Mention:
Robert Rodriguez - Whether it's with his band Chingon or by himself working out orchestral scores with his keyboard, his rebel approach to all aspects of the art of filmmaking are worth mentioning. He proved it doesn't need to be hard to be a filmmaker as well as a composer.

7. John Carpenter - I'm pretty sure all of his scores involved a synthesizer, that's what makes him cool.

6. Danny Elfman - The man has done so much it's hard to pick my favorites.

5. Ennio Morricone - It's actually impossible to not include Morricone from any list that has the word film composer in it.

4. James Newton Howard - His work with Hanz Zimmer on the Dark Knight is where most people will probably have heard his name, but Howard has many great scores under his belt. I personally liked his work in M. Night's movies.

3. Clint Mansell - For a composer with such a limited filmography Mansell has made some of the most memorable and emotional scores in the last few years. His Requiem for a Dream score is by far the highlight of his career with the infamous Lux Aeterna, which keeps turning up in trailers for movies of a far less calliber. He's got great talent and is becoming a household name in the world of film composing.

2. John Williams - The man has just scored so many damn films and his work includes some the most memorable compositions in cinema history... Jaws, Indiana Jones, Close Encounters, Star Wars, etc. Out of respect he deserves the number one spot, but I feel that's like giving Citizen Kane the number one spot on the best movie list... Lets let someone else have a turn.

1. Hans Zimmer - I find Zimmer to be one of the most overlooked composers out there... I just love his scores so much. He knows which notes to hit to trigger the right emotion. His Pirates of the Caribbean scores are probably the best examples of scores that simply made the movies, both films give me goosebumps everytime I hear them. His work with the Lion King, The Prince of Egypt, Sherlock Holmes, The Da Vinci Code and Modern Warfare 2 are other great works that really prove the man knows what he's doing.


Next time you're watching a film, make sure to check out who scored it!

And if you're looking for a score, make sure to contact me and we'll discuss it!