History AwesomeMusic / JamesHorner

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5cl_w3lVYc His theme for Universal Pictures, used in the 1990s,]] is so epic and beautiful there are fans who say the studio's current theme pales in comparison. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKh9sf92qgI Just listen to the full version, composed for the studio's 75th Anniversary.]]
%%* From ''Film/{{Willow}}'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jORgHv7zGc4 "Elora Danan"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxvf0ybG1og "Willow's Theme"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxuLd_OutE "Main Title"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXzGZ6GXnTw "Sons of Scotland"]] from ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhFamq3Snjw "Going After Newt"]] and[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uatyX2PkK8E "Bishop's Countdown"]] from the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo8XPKp0Hzc Aliens]]'' soundtrack, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHsB9uTfFzM main theme]] from ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'', and so on and so forth. Many of them are quite awesome tracks indeed.

%%** Honorable mentions go to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wz1xA5kxVI "Hymn To The Sea"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzS2mIwJlOY "Unable To Stay, Unwilling To Leave"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxtkg7Ryduo the opening music to the movie]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WVQXlVLzcU "Rose"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGp75RMAzHM "An Irish Party In Third Class".]]
%%** So many from ''Titanic'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hER7Gd85Sg8 "Southampton"]]; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpvGhh1UnwI "Leaving Port"]]; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itWGZRZhoXM "Take Her to Sea Mr. Murdoch"]]; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ63FV6GwSk "A Building Panic"]] (especially 4:19 to 5:26); [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZLdU6iazys "The Sinking"]]; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iegNVUjV80 "Death of Titanic"]].

* Horner's track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yoqAuBlaGU "Resolution and Hyperspace"]] from ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' is so awesome that it explodes out of the movie itself and reappears at the end of ''Film/DieHard'' instead. Or start at 03:06 during the track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn0hV53dykU Futile Escape]] from ''Aliens''. It's a theme that constantly builds, gets more intense, and really gets your adrenaline pumping. So awesome he used many cues from it for the themes of the Marines in ''Film/{{Avatar}}''.
* In Roger Corman's ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'', a cheezy rip-off of ''Star Wars'' and ''The Seven Samurai'', Horner gives out a terrific theme. Corman used it again for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQL0h2TNJG0 trailer]] of his terrible Fantastic 4 movie. He also reused the music in several entire ''movies'' (''Space Raiders'', ''Film/{{Sorceress}}'', ''Film/WizardsOfTheLostKingdom'' and so on).
* The soundtrack for ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'' is consistently praised as one of Horner's most solid all-around efforts. To name just a few highlights: the aforementioned main theme with the patriotic trumpets, the famous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6i5vgDJFb4 launch scene]], the edge-of-your-seat [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NZR35_GorU "Re-Entry and Splashdown"]], and last but definitely not least, [[Music/{{Eurythmics}} Annie Lennox]] ''harmonizing with herself'' beautifully over the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJRotVl2IJ8 end credits]]. The main theme from ''Apollo 13'' is frequently used on "teaser trailers" for movies that don't yet have soundtrack music written for them, to give them the appropriate level of awesomeness.
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzNhQefDvH0 main theme]] from ''Film/TheRocketeer'' is just lovely; sweet and soaring and wistful. Then the melody repeats, picking up a bit of speed and another layer of orchestration each time through, until finally it's become an action theme so badass that it's been repurposed as background music for pretty much every other action movie trailer released since then.
%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWpwZf3jebw A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics]] from ''Film/ABeautifulMind''.
* Regardless of the fact it's a "kid's movie," the score from ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' is haunting and effective and is nearly Pavlovian in getting you to cry. Just watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cky-2nOsFRU the hatching of Littlefoot]] without remembering that first traumatic viewing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObPneATgASs "If We Hold On Together"]] is another good one.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZZUmIj70_Y The main theme]] sets the tone for the whole movie.
** There's the first appearance of the Statue of Liberty with a choral version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzxHN5aOtZ4 "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor"]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XLhQHvhB-g "The Great Fire"]] is incredibly dark, deep, and emotional for having come from a children's movie.
** His score for the sequel, ''Fievel Goes West'', is a beautiful throwback to the classical Western scores of Music/DmitriTiomkin and Music/ElmerBernstein. The western flavor given to the familiar main theme in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhl7fREFycU the opening overture]] is noteworthy, of course, but he gets bonus points for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyV-rgzWjSw "In Training"]], which features an ''intense'' homage to Music/AaronCopland's "Hoedown".

%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-G4xAijMq4 Charging Fort Wagner]], from the soundtrack of ''Film/{{Glory}}''.
%%* Horner's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3pR4qHl3Ds Ride of the Fire Mares]], from ''Film/{{Krull}}''.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnom0VBG0Mk The final scene of]] ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', wherein Robert the Bruce at last rallies the Scotsmen to independence, the music starting slow and then building and building to a glorious crescendo, intermingling flawlessly the leitmotifs for heroism and for Scotland as Wallace's sword is thrown in the face of the English oppressor.
* For most of ''Film/{{Avatar}},'' the music is pretty good. It gets thrown into EPIC territory with the track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mw6Se1Wo4S4 'War']] It is better than sex.
** And what about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DMVbQNirA0 'Jake's First Flight']], at 2:15, where after two minutes of boys choir and native drumming it suddenly breaks into magnificent Christmas music? That'll sweep ya up right there.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FISk-Q4_hR0 'Quaritch Down']]. The BigDamnHeroes fanfare is simply epic.

%%* From ''Film/{{Commando}}'', the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_24YWy71RXo main theme]].
%%* From The ''Mask of Zorro'', much of the soundtrack, but especially "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpgNpYrkvtk The Plaza of Execution]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzxzbfowz8s The Fencing Lesson]]".
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIpFywiUMoc Windsong]] from the 1998 remake of ''Film/MightyJoeYoung'' is tear-inducingly beautiful.

* His ''[[TearJerker tear jerkingly]] beautiful'' soundtrack for ''Film/{{Casper}}''. Especially [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVQEAeRyIjI One Last Wish]].
* His [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XqVLgsFyUk theme]] for ''Film/ThePerfectStorm'' is heartrendingly poignant and heroic, capturing the mood of the film perfectly.
%%* This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAkDnIQ0yS8 beautiful and chillingly awesome moment]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}''.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-IZZwggKko The place where dreams come true]] [[spoiler: when Ray's father returns.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oASZSziXJ8 Doc Graham's Memories]], [[spoiler: when Moonlight Graham gives up his dreams to turn back [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6bD23vEigE into his future doctor self to save Karin]].]]
%%** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFcfHSOti9s The Cornfield]].
%%** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0fYNRgCmCU Shoeless Joe]].

* In Roger Corman's ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'', a cheezy rip-off of ''Star Wars'' and ''The Seven Samurai'', Horner gives out a terrific theme. Corman used it again for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQL0h2TNJG0 trailer]] of his terrible Fantastic 4 movie. He also reused the music in several entire ''movies'' (''Space Raiders'', ''Sorceress'', ''Wizards Of The Lost Kingdom'' and so on).

* From ''Film/{{Willow}}'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jORgHv7zGc4 "Elora Danan"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxvf0ybG1og "Willow's Theme"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxuLd_OutE "Main Title"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXzGZ6GXnTw "Sons of Scotland"]] from ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhFamq3Snjw "Going After Newt"]] and[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uatyX2PkK8E "Bishop's Countdown"]] from the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo8XPKp0Hzc Aliens]]'' soundtrack, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHsB9uTfFzM main theme]] from ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'', and so on and so forth. Many of them are quite awesome tracks indeed.
* James Horner really outdid himself with ''Film/{{Titanic|1997}}'' to the point where it is one of the best-selling movie soundtracks of all time.
** Honorable mentions go to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wz1xA5kxVI "Hymn To The Sea"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzS2mIwJlOY "Unable To Stay, Unwilling To Leave"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxtkg7Ryduo the opening music to the movie]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WVQXlVLzcU "Rose"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGp75RMAzHM "An Irish Party In Third Class".]]
** So many from ''Titanic'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hER7Gd85Sg8 "Southampton"]]; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpvGhh1UnwI "Leaving Port"]]; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itWGZRZhoXM "Take Her to Sea Mr. Murdoch"]]; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ63FV6GwSk "A Building Panic"]] (especially 4:19 to 5:26); [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZLdU6iazys "The Sinking"]]; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iegNVUjV80 "Death of Titanic"]].
** And yes, he did compose "[[Music/CelineDion My Heart Will Go On]]", too. Hey, it became a hit for a reason, right?

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWpwZf3jebw A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics]] from ''Film/ABeautifulMind''.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-G4xAijMq4 Charging Fort Wagner]], from the soundtrack of ''Film/{{Glory}}''.
* Horner's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3pR4qHl3Ds Ride of the Fire Mares]], from ''Film/{{Krull}}''.

* From ''Film/{{Commando}}'', the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_24YWy71RXo main theme]].
* From The ''Mask of Zorro'', much of the soundtrack, but especially "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpgNpYrkvtk The Plaza of Execution]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzxzbfowz8s The Fencing Lesson]]".
* Three Words: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWmmofD5YsU Field. Of. Dreams.]]

* This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAkDnIQ0yS8 beautiful and chillingly awesome moment]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Balto}}''.
* Film/FieldOfDreams has several beautiful parts.

* And yes, he did compose "[[Music/CelineDion My Heart Will Go On]]", too. Hey, it became a hit for a reason, right?

* From ''Film/{{Willow}}'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jORgHv7zGc4 "Elora Danan"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxvf0ybG1og "Willow's Theme"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxuLd_OutE "Main Title"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXzGZ6GXnTw "Sons of Scotland"]] from ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhFamq3Snjw "Going After Newt"]] and[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uatyX2PkK8E "Bishop's Countdown"]] from the[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo8XPKp0Hzc ''Aliens'']] soundtrack, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHsB9uTfFzM main theme]] from ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}, and so on and so forth. Many of them are quite awesome tracks indeed.
* James Horner really outdid himself with ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' to the point where it is one of the best-selling movie soundtracks of all time.

* Horner's track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yoqAuBlaGU "Resolution and Hyperspace"]] from ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' is so awesome that it explodes out of the movie itself and reappears at the end of ''Film/DieHard'' instead. Or start at 03:06 during the track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn0hV53dykU Futile Escape]] from ''Aliens''. It's a theme that constantly builds, getting more intense and really gets your adrenaline pumping. So awesome he used many cues from it for the themes of the Marines in ''Film/{{Avatar}}''.

For his work on ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'', see [[AwesomeMusic/SpiderMan here]]. [softreturn]

For his work on ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'', see [[AwesomeMusic/SpiderMan here]].

* He almost manages to top Goldsmith with the scores for ''Film/{{Star Trek II|The Wrath of Khan}}'' and ''[[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock III]]''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s5lQ-bGe6c "Stealing the Enterprise"]] is AWESOME!
** Oh, and listen to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeS0Eo8fAnw Enterprise Clears Moorings]]", too.
** No mention of ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan TWOK]]'' is complete without [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KilBvojsMdw "Battle in the Mutara Nebula"]]. Particularly at 0:55, 1:56, and 2:05.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1PejM57F8s "Genesis Countdown"]], whose motif at 0:49 was so awesome, it got recycled into "Stealing the Enterprise" in the next film. To say nothing of his little homage to Ligeti's "Atmospheres" at 4:32.
** ''Wrath of Khan'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoit0OdKt-I Surprise Attack]], particularly the cellos at 3:22 onwards - the track gives an utter sense of terror and dread at being ambushed.

* The entirety of his soundtrack to Creator/TerrenceMalick’s epic ''The New World'' is wonderful but it’s the track [[https://youtu.be/nFdxu2VmbEc A Dark Cloud is Forever Lifted]] that is absolutely breathtaking.

* The score from ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' is haunting and effective and is nearly Pavlovian in getting you to cry. Just watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cky-2nOsFRU the hatching of Littlefoot]] without remembering that first traumatic viewing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObPneATgASs "If We Hold On Together"]] is another good one.

* Regardless of the fact it's a "kid's movie," the score from ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' is haunting and effective and is nearly Pavlovian in getting you to cry. Just watch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cky-2nOsFRU the hatching of Littlefoot]] without remembering that first traumatic viewing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObPneATgASs "If We Hold On Together"]] is another good one.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Do not uncomment them without expanding them to provide proper context for why they belong on this page.

** And then the next track, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1PejM57F8s "Genesis Countdown"]], whose motif at 0:49 was so awesome, it got recycled into "Stealing the Enterprise" in the next filme.
*** To say nothing of his little homage to Ligeti's "Atmospheres" at 4:32.
** And then there's ''Wrath of Khan'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoit0OdKt-I Surprise Attack]], particularly the cellos at 3:22 onwards - the track gives an utter sense of terror and dread at being ambushed.

** To say nothing of his little homage to Ligeti's "Atmospheres" at 4:32.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZZUmIj70_Y The main theme]] -- need we say more? It sets the tone for the whole movie.