Works to which Zimmer has contributed with their own pages:
- Call of Duty
- The Dark Knight Trilogy
- Dark Phoenix.
- DC Extended Universe
- Dune (Denis Villeneuve)
- Interstellar
- James Bond (specifically, No Time to Die)
- Kung Fu Panda 2
- Kung Fu Panda 3
- The Lion King (1994)
- The Lion King (2019)
- Madagascar
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- The Prince of Egypt
- The Road to El Dorado
- Spider-Man
- The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run
- The Finale
of The Lone Ranger: a beefed-up version of the William Tell Overture mixed in with variations and Zimmer's original compositions. One of the few saving graces of the film. - The Thin Red Line:
- "Journey to the Line" starts as a weird repetitive pinging sound in the background; builds to a heart-rending climax.
- Probably his most unified orchestral work,note the album flows seamlessly with the visuals from beginning to end. But that is easily the most famous snippet from the film and can be heard in other film trailers.
- "Coral Atoll" when Witt is AWOL in the Melanesian village and reflecting on his mother's death; "Light" is probably the most contemplative piece about the aftermath of a battle; "Stone in my Heart" when Witt floats the wounded soldier downriver; And then the Melanesian singing kicks in at the beginning and end...
- "Journey to the Line
- Black Hawk Down has a great score from start to finish, but the climax is with the last two pieces. The first is a beautiful song, "Gortoz a ran (I Await)," sung in Breton, and you can tell that it's a song of grief and loss even without understanding the lyrics (and they play it as they show the flag-draped coffins of the dead soldiers, the epilogue appears on screen, and an unknown soldier tells his wife to "be strong, tuck the girls in bed, and give them a kiss from daddy"). The second is "The Minstrel Boy", which runs as the credits begin. It has to be heard to be appreciated. Another music piece that stands out is "Tribal War", which is a more action-oriented piece. However, it subverts the typical "awesome" battle music by becoming immensely menacing in tone. It sounds less like an epic battle is happening and more like a monster is on the loose.
- Gladiator's musical finale is also extremely touching, climaxing with the track Now We Are Free, which is sung in a language that no one can understand but conveys the exact message as the title. The Battle is ten minutes of pure AWESOME.
- King Arthur (2004) sadly didn't quite come off because of the script... but Zimmer's score and Clive Owen makes you feel it at the end: "All Of Them" (Marriage of Arthur and Guinevere). And as for "Budget Meeting", face it - that sheerly epic instrumentation is the sole reason (aside from scrumptious donuts) that people would even bother to attend budget meetings in real life.
- For a film that is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Muppet Treasure Island's "Shiver My Timbers" and "Professional Pirate" are some great pirate songs. Then again, music composed by Hans Zimmer and sung by Tim Curry is automatically bound for awesome.
- The Muppet Treasure Island main theme is a great example of a rousing pirate score.
- The incomparable, gut-busting, and completely random "Cabin Fever".
- From The Da Vinci Code: "Chevalier du Sangreal." Also a Tear Jerker. Say what you will about the rest of the movie; the last scene WINS. It's so good that it's become Robert Langdon's theme, appearing prominently in the subsequent two films, usually to close out the movie as well.
- Mission Impossible 2 had a pretty fantastic score, and not only because of Zimmer's badass reworking of the main theme. "Mano-A-Mano" is pure epic, and the track "Injection" made the scene it was used in surprisingly moving - especially considering the silliness of the plot.
- Backdraft definitely deserves to be on here, if only for the song "Show me your firetruck", which, Food Network watchers might recognize... (Sadly, the rights expired for the use of Zimmer's score, and the old episodes of Iron Chef shown in reruns now use different music.)
- Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is an animated movie about a horse. The horse, amazingly, never speaks more than a bit of narration. It doesn't matter, because Hans Zimmer wrote the score, and co-wrote several of the songs, and it is AWESOMELY expressive:
- "Homeland" is equally graceful and majestic, especially with the big musical swell at the 2:46 mark. It helps that this track is basically an instrumental version of the film's thematic anthem, "I Will Always Return."
- "Reunion" — it perfectly expresses Spirit's unbridled (pun intended) joy at seeing that Rain is OK, and finally being able to go home (though there is a brief moment where he shares a tear-jerking goodbye with Little Creek).
- For that matter, there's "Swimming," a sweet piece that plays over the scene where Spirit and Rain begin bonding. Both tracks are instrumentals of the song "Nothing I've Ever Known," which narrates Spirit's conflicting feelings over his deepening love for Rain and his desire to return to his homeland.
- For that matter, there's "Swimming
- "Canyon Chase" must be, by far, Zimmer's greatest chase cue to date, after "Stampede." It never fails to get your adrenaline pumping.
- Almost immediately thereafter, we have "Leap of Faith" — the icing on the cake.
- Almost immediately thereafter, we have "Leap of Faith
- "Homeland
- While he is known largely for his movie soundtracks, he also composed the soundtracks for HBO showsBand of Brothers and The Pacific. The latter's opening theme, Honor, is particularly breathtaking.
- For an action movie example, The Rock. The first half of "Hummell Gets The Rockets" (from the opening scene) is an emotionally powerful piece.
- Angels & Demons:
- The first track, 160 BPM, also known as the Illuminati theme, is something diabolically epic and yet again entirely different from Zimmer.
- "Election by Adoration", carried by violin virtuoso Joshua Bell's solo, and an awesome backing on the organ.
- The first track, 160 BPM,
- The score of Kung Fu Panda deserves a mention for its awesome combination of Western and Chinese motifs.
- "Sacred Pool Of Tears" (stops at 2:55) is incredibly moving at the beginning, then made of awesomeness. "Oogway Ascends" is a tear jerker.
- Tai Lung's Theme, which appears at various points throughout "Tai Lung Escapes", "The Bridge", and "Shifu vs. Tai Lung" (Not to mention all the cool kung fu fighting music!).
- "Panda Po", "Hero" are also legendarily legendary pieces.
- From Kung Fu Panda 2, the track "Po Finds the Truth" where he finally learns how he became an orphan and takes a level in badass. Epic, heartwarming, and tear-jerking all in one.
- "Sacred Pool Of Tears"
- Inception:
- "Time". This ten-hour loop has over five million views. That's more than a quarter of the views on the official video.
- "Half Remembered Dream"; best introduction music ever made.
- The most epic of all: THE LIVE CONCERT.
- "Time"
- Crimson Tide: "Roll Tide". And an even more Epic Rocking version by Nightwish: "Roll Tide".
- The Sherlock Holmes (2009) soundtrack, especially "Psychological Recovery...6 Months", which gets bonus points for being more than eighteen minutes long. If you haven't got that kind of time, Discombobulate manages to encapsulate pretty much everything you need to know about the Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Holmes, the setting, and the music for the rest of the film in one quirkily awesome two and a half minute package. And while it's more sedate at the beginning, the last three minutes of "Catatonic" build up to an absolutely furiously paced climax that must have set a more than a couple violins on fire.
- Mention should also be made of Hans Zimmer's first collaboration with Lebo M., The Power of One:
- The opening track, "The Rainmaker" is absolutely EPIC. If ever there was a piece of music that could be described as the spiritual predecessor to "Circle of Life," this would be the one.
- Both versions of "Mother Africa." Pure musical gold.
- There's also the gentle, somber "Of Death and Dying."
- Three words: "Penny Whistle Song." Playful, jaunty, and utterly hummable.
- The opening track, "The Rainmaker
- From Rango, "Bats." Pretty interesting use of public domain music.
- Also, "Ride of the Valkyries" on banjos.
- Walk Don't Rango will make you want to rango all day long.
- His work on 12 Years a Slave brought many into tears, particularly with the track, "Nothing to Forgive".
- Drop Zone has Too Many Notes, Not Enough Rests and After the Dub, both of which would later become Recycled Trailer Music. The former also sounds similar to He's a Pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean.
- The beauty of his contibution for Planet Earth II will give you chills. Just watch the trailer and cry.
- Dunkirk: "Supermarine" is appropriately tense in regards to both the intensity of the dogfights over the English Channel and the race against the clock the gigantic evacuation is.
- His theme for The Critic, equal parts his score for Driving Miss Daisy and George Gershwin, complete with a clarinet glissando right out of "Rhapsody In Blue." It perfectly encapsulates the Big Applesauce feel of the show.
- Driving Miss Daisy has easily one of the best all-electronic scores of any major motion picture. Even cooler is that there's not a single other musician playing in it other than Zimmer himself. Every note of it is him on synthesizers (it eventually got a proper orchestral version during his Live In Prague show and still managed to sound catchy).
- "Skipping Stones" is a collaboration with Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons fame. If that doesn't convince you it's awesome, the rich violins and Dan's crooning voice will. It's probably the most heartwarming Hans Zimmer song this side of "Aurora".
- One of Zimmer's earliest TV scores is that for Millennium: Tribal Wisdom and the Modern World, in 1992. The score to this series boasts such musical gems as "Stories for a Thousand Years" and "The Journey Begins" (the latter of which was later used as the trailer music for Fly Away Home).
- Top Gun: Maverick, the long-awaited sequel to Top Gun, not only has Harold Faltermeyer returning to do the score, but also ups the ante by having him do a collaboration with the one and only Hans Zimmer. The best examples include "Canyon Dogfight", which plays in the epic Final Battle against the 5th generation fighter, "The Man, The Legend", a perfect and heartwarming theme for when Maverick and Rooster return to the aircraft carrier as heroes, their mission accomplished, and finally, the Triumphant Reprise of the "Top Gun Anthem", which will most likely be leaving you with a big smile on your face as the credits roll.
