James Newton Howard

James Newton Howard is a remarkably versatile composer whose style has evolved from romantic pop and piano-based scores to intense action and full orchestral beauty. I have a particular fondness for his music, as two of his scores helped turn me into a soundtrack fan (see the About tab). Some of his best scores are for director M. Night Shyamalan. Although Shyamalan's films have steadily decreased in quality, Howard always provides superb music for his films that is among the best written today. Howard wrote an understated score for the Sixth Sense, added hip electronic beats to underline the low-key heroics of Unbreakable, wrote a three note motif that turns into a stunning finale in Signs, composed exquisite solos for violinist Hilary Hahn in The Village, lent power and otherworldly choral beauty to Lady in the Water, created tension and emotional release for The Happening, provided majesty and grand scale to The Last Airbender, and propelled the action with pulse-pounding cues alongside alien textures in After Earth. Howard has (oddly enough) written a superb run of scores for films featuring water: Atlantis, Lady in the Water, Water for Elephants, The Water Horse, and Waterworld (you could also stretch this to include The Prince of Tides and Snow Falling on Cedars, not to mention the "Flow Like Water" cue from The Last Airbender.) As mentioned, Howard's early scores featured lightweight melodies and easygoing tunes, as heard in Pretty Woman, Dying Young, Dave, and The Prince of Tides. Yet he soon showed an adeptness at action in The Package, The Fugitive, Falling Down, and Flatliners. He also has used dark choral textures for The Devil's Advocate and the massive "Tarawa" cue from Snow Falling on Cedars (used in the Matrix Revolutions trailer shown at the end of Matrix Reloaded). He created the more tender (and more interesting) material for Batman Begins and Harvey Dent's music for The Dark Knight. Howard isn't afraid to use electronics in scores such as Peter Pan, Collateral, Blood Diamond, I Am Legend, Salt, and Duplicity. His music for The Hunger Games and its sequels blends harrowing emotion with ferocious action. But perhaps his most striking music is for epic adventure, especially in the Disney animated films Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet, where majestic, catchy fanfares and soaring anthems abound. Similar adventurous music can also be found in Hidalgo, Alive, Vertical Limit, Wyatt Earp, The Postman, Waterworld, Peter Jackson's King Kong remake, and Maleficent. While he started his career in pop, arranging music for Elton John, Howard has turned into one of film's most stylish, reliable, and knowledgeable composers.

After Earth
Alive

Atlantis: The Lost Empire**
Blood Diamond
The Bourne Legacy

Collateral

The Dark Knight (with Hans Zimmer)

Dave

Defiance

The Devil’s Advocate

Dinosaur**

Duplicity

Dying Young
Eye for an Eye

Falling Down
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Flatliners

The Fugitive
Grand Canyon

Green Lantern

The Happening

Hidalgo
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
The Huntsman: Winter's War

I Am Legend
Intersection

King Kong*

Lady in the Water**

The Last Airbender*
Maleficent*
Outbreak

The Package

Peter Pan

The Postman
Primal Fear

The Prince of Tides
Restoration*
Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Salt

Signs**

The Sixth Sense

Snow Falling on Cedars
Snow White and the Huntsman

Treasure Planet**

Unbreakable

Vertical Limit

The Village**

Water for Elephants

The Water Horse

Waterworld*

Wyatt Earp