Line #42 Music/JamesHorner


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/james_horner.jpg]]
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3	James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was a professional purveyor of both OrchestralBombing and {{Award Bait Song}}s. Born in Los Angeles, California, he was the son of the late set designer Harry Horner and the elder brother of filmmaker Christopher Horner. He wrote the score for numerous films, working alongside Creator/JamesCameron for three of his most successful films. He composed the scores for many family and AnimatedFilms before his commercial success scoring ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}''.
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5	Most of his work is known for his incorporation of the EtherealChoir and Celtic instruments, string orchestras, rhythmic percussion, ''very'' multi-layered pieces, as well as synth sounds. However, listeners tired of his "cute" sound, heard most prominently on his scores for ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'', ''Film/LegendsOfTheFall'' or ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', can find much more epic (and seminal) material in his music for ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' (his breakthrough within the industry), ''Film/{{Krull}}'', ''Film/{{The Rocketeer}}'' and ''Film/{{Willow}}'', and dark, edgy and thrilling themes for the likes of ''Film/PatriotGames'', ''Film/GorkyPark'' and ''Film/{{Commando}}''.
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7	Known somewhat less fondly for reusing his music from previous films. Also along these lines, he had a habit of directly quoting themes and motives from 20th century Russian masters.
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9	Horner, a private pilot in his spare time, was killed on June 22, 2015, when his airplane crashed near Santa Barbara, California. He was 61 years old.
10	----
11	!!Some of his scores include (reverse chronological order)
12	* ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven2016 The Magnificent Seven]]'' (2016) - Director Antoine Fuqua expected he would need another composer after Horner's death, but discovered he had already written part of the score and had intended to surprise him with it. The rest of the score was done by long-time friend and collaborator Simon Franglen.
13	* ''Film/TheThirtyThree'' (2015) - this was the final score to be completed by Horner.
14	* ''Film/SouthPaw'' (2015)
15	* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' (2012)
16	* ''Film/TheKarateKid'' (2010)
17	* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' (2009) - Third and final collaboration with Cameron; after Horner's death, Simon Franglen succeeded him for the sequels.
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19	* ''Film/{{Apocalypto}}'' (2006)
20	* ''Film/{{Flightplan\|2005}}'' (2005)
21	* ''Film/TheLegendOfZorro'' (2005)
22	* ''Film/{{Troy}}'' (2004)
23	* ''Film/{{The Missing\|2003}}'' (2003) - His final collaboration with Ron Howard.
24	* ''Film/ABeautifulMind'' (2001)
25	* ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'' (2000)
26	* ''Film/ThePerfectStorm'' (2000)
27	* ''Film/BicentennialMan'' (1999) - Second collaboration with Music/CelineDion following ''Titanic'' for the film's AwardBaitSong "Then You Look at Me".
28	* ''Film/MightyJoeYoung'' (1998)
29	* ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro'' (1998) and its sequel (see above).
30	* ''Film/{{Titanic\|1997}}'' (1997) - The defining film for Horner, much like ''Franchise/StarWars'' for Music/JohnWilliams.
31	* ''Film/{{Ransom}}'' (1996) - A last-minute score he wrote when Music/{{Howard Shore}}'s original music for the film was rejected.
32	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}'' (1995)
33	* ''Film/{{Jumanji}}'' (1995)
34	* ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'' (1995)
35	* ''Film/{{Casper}}'' (1995)
36	* ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' (1995)
37	* ''Film/LegendsOfTheFall'' (1994)
38	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePagemaster'' (1994)
39	* ''WesternAnimation/WereBackADinosaursStory'' (1993)
40	* ''Film/HocusPocus'' (1993) - with Music/JohnDebney (Horner did one theme while Debney did the rest of the film)
41	* ''Film/SwingKids'' (1993)
42	* ''WesternAnimation/OnceUponAForest'' (1993)
43	* ''Film/UnlawfulEntry'' (1992)
44	* ''Film/PatriotGames'' (1992)
45	* ''Film/{{Thunderheart}}'' (1992)
46	* ''Film/TheRocketeer'' (1991)
47	* ''Film/ILoveYouToDeath'' (1990)
48	* ''Film/{{Glory}}'' (1989)
49	* ''Film/FieldOfDreams'' (1989)
50	* ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' (1989)
51	* ''Film/RedHeat'' (1988)
52	* ''Film/{{Willow}}'' (1988)
53	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' (1988)
54	* ''Film/BatteriesNotIncluded'' (1987)
55	* ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' (1986) - Also its sequel ''[[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTailFievelGoesWest Fievel Goes West]]'' (1991). It was the first score that won him some awards.
56	* ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' (1986) - He had such a hellish time scoring this due to the movie's famously troubled production and initially swore he'd never work with Cameron again. However, he relented on this, and had better experiences with the other Cameron movies. The source of "Bishop's Countdown"; easily his [[RecycledTrailerMusic most trailered piece]].
57	* ''Film/HeavenHelpUs'' (1985)
58	* ''Film/{{Commando}}'' (1985)
59	* ''Film/{{Volunteers}}'' (1985)
60	* ''Film/{{Cocoon}}'' (1985) His first collaboration with Creator/RonHoward.
61	* ''Film/TheJourneyOfNattyGann'' (1985) Replacing a score by Music/ElmerBernstein.
62	* ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' (1984)
63	* ''Film/{{Testament}}'' (1983)
64	* ''Film/{{Krull}}'' (1983)
65	* ''Film/GorkyPark'' (1983)
66	* ''Film/{{Brainstorm}}'' (1983)
67	* ''Film/FortyEightHrs'' (1982)
68	* ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' (1982) This was his big break and launched him into the Hollywood scene; he later declined the offer to score later Trek movies (apart from the third one above). Debate still rages over whether his or Music/JerryGoldsmith's music is superior.
69	** Nicholas Meyer famously quipped that Horner was hired for ''Khan'' because they couldn't afford Goldsmith again, and then when he returned for the sixth film, he discovered he couldn't afford Horner.
70	* ''Film/{{Wolfen}}'' (1981) Replacing a score by Craig Safan.
71	* ''Film/DeadlyBlessing'' (1981)
72	* ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'' (1980) - Ironically considering his later career, music from this film would be used in several other Creator/RogerCorman productions (''Space Raiders'', ''Film/{{Sorceress}}'', ''Film/WizardsOfTheLostKingdom'' etc).[[note]]Conducted by David Newman.[[/note]]
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74	!!Works for television include:
75	* ''Series/AmazingStories'' ("[[Recap/AmazingStories1985S1E3AlamoJobe Alamo Jobe]]")
76	* ''Creator/{{CBS}} Evening News With Katie Couric'' (yep, that was him; the theme was replaced with the 1987 Trivers/Myers theme when Scott Pelley took over in 2011; he also did the theme for several other CBS divisions in that period)
77	* ''WesternAnimation/FishPolice'' (he not only did the theme for this short-lived cartoon,[[note]]Only 6 episodes were produced...and Creator/{{CBS}} cancelled the series after three episodes aired![[/note]] and he also did one of his very few episodic TV scores for the pilot)
78	* ''Crossroads'' - he composed the theme music for this short-lived drama (9 episodes, which was still more than ''Fish Police''!)[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOst0rTso_U Here's the theme in its pilot arrangement]]. This is unrelated to [[Series/{{Crossroads}} this]] or [[Film/{{Crossroads}} this]]. And it predates [[Film/Crossroads2002 this]].
79	* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' ("Cutting Cards")
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81	!! Tropes associated with this composer:
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83	* AdventurousIrishViolins: Horner's score for''Film/Titanic1997'' celebrates the resilience and optimism of the Irish spirit with liberal and frequent use of this trope. It becomes especially heartwarming when you remember that Horner was himself Irish, and the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic'' was an Irish ship. Having been built in Belfast, like its sister ships the ''Olympic'' and ''Britannic'', many of the ship's crew and third class passengers were from that community, and the sinking hit them hard.
84	* AssociatedComposer: For Creator/JamesCameron, Creator/RonHoward, and Creator/MelGibson.
85	* AwardBaitSong: Warmly embraced this trope, remarkably more so than his peers, especially in animation. Witness his working with Music/CharlotteChurch, Music/CelineDion and Music/MariahCarey among others.
86	* CherubicChoir: ''Film/Apollo13'' includes sparse but dramatic examples as the astronauts re-enter the Earth's atmosphere while the whole world watches on. It becomes more prominent after they safely splash down.
87	* OrchestralBombing:
88	** Horner's score for ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' uses this a lot, particularly in the ambush of the Marines as they enter the hive and Ripley's escape with Newt from the exploding atmosphere processor.
89	** ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' has both an epic ''Trek'' theme, along with Khan's, both of which come to a head in "Surprise Attack" and "Battle in the Mutara Nebula''.
90	** ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' reprises the theme from its predecessor and features a new, percussion-heavy Klingon theme, which would return in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Defector".
91	* RecurringRiff: Horner uses his unique theme from ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' throughout the film. His "Spock" theme from the film is also upgraded into the main theme for ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'', which also uses snippets of the ''Wrath of Khan'' main theme.
92	* RecycledTrailerMusic:
93	** Horner's score for the film ''Film/TheRocketeer'' has probably been heard in trailers for other films by more moviegoers than ever saw the film itself.
94	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX1rxPBTyEY "Bishop's Countdown"]] from ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' pops up a lot in trailers involving action sequences building up to a crescendo.
95	* SelfPlagiarism: As shown in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glsyYJksGtg this YouTube video]], Horner had a habit of repeating melodies he'd already used in previous soundtracks of his.
96	* ThemeMusicAbandonment: None of the themes from Horner’s soundtrack for ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' returned in any of the following films, despite "Bishop’s Countdown" becoming common StockTrailerMusic.

Context Music / JamesHorner