Hans Zimmer

Hans Zimmer, the "big Z" of film music, has had perhaps the largest influence on film scoring methods in the modern age. Whether this is a positive influence or not is debatable. Zimmer was born in Germany and quickly developed an interest for synthesizers and electronic music, working with groups like The Buggles and The Damned. He became a protege of renowned film composer Stanley Meyers and the two started developing the signature synth-orchestra sound that would come to dominate big-budget Hollywood action pictures. His score for A World Apart got the attention of Barry Levinson, who offered the composer his first big hit: Rain Man. Today, Zimmer is best known for his popular scores to films in the 2000s like Sherlock Holmes, Christopher Nolan's Batman films, Inception, Interstellar, Man of Steel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the Pirates of the Caribbean films, The Ring, Gladiator, King Arthur, The Da Vinci Code, and Pearl Harbor. All employ Zimmer's "wall of sound" effect, combining orchestra and electronics into massive blasts of audio in simplistic chord sequences. But for me, his best work lies among the scores he did before 1999. Scores like Black Rain, Pacific Heights, Point of No Return, Backdraft, Drop Zone, Crimson Tide, Broken Arrow, and The Peacemaker contain the best examples of the "power anthems" that would make Zimmer famous, and indeed one unfamiliar with these scores will be surprised at how similar they sound to Pirates of the Caribbean. These earlier action scores all contain an energy and inventiveness that is hard to find in his modern day scores, with exceptions like Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, The Last Samurai, Rush, and the brilliant "160 BPM" cue from Angels and Demons. Zimmer also excelled at lower-key scores in the '90s, with Green Card, A League of Their Own, The House of the Spirits, Beyond Rangoon, and The Thin Red Line all containing appealing music. Two of Zimmer's absolute best scores are for animated films: The Prince of Egypt and The Lion King. The former features a brilliant theme for God and more glorious music rare for Zimmer, and the latter has some of the most effective and emotional themes in modern films. Zimmer has also forged relationships with prominent directors, including Ridley Scott, Ron Howard, and Christopher Nolan, and he is head of music for DreamWorks Animation. His collaboration with Ridley Scott has been especially fruitful, with Black Rain, Thelma and Louise, Gladiator, Hannibal, Black Hawk Down, and Matchstick Men. He also composed Days of Thunder, True Romance, Crimson Tide, and The Fan for Ridley's brother Tony before Harry Gregson-Williams took over.

Speaking of Gregson-Williams, Zimmer also founded what was then Media Ventures and is now Remote Control Productions, taking in young composers and having them write additional music for him before sending them off on their own. The most talented alumni so far have been Gregson-Williams, John Powell, Mark Mancina, and Henry Jackman, and others have included Steve Jablonsky, Ramin Djawadi, Geoff Zanelli, Marc Streitenfeld, Lorne Balfe, James Dooley, Klaus Badelt, and Heitor Pereira. (Trevor Rabin was never formally part of MV/RC, despite his music sounding more like Zimmer's than that of many "true" MV/RC graduates). On one hand, it is extremely generous of Zimmer to offer these budding composers a chance to get a foothold into the film industry. On the other hand, many of these composers write (or are asked to write) music highly derivative of Zimmer's style. There are exceptions, like Gregson-Williams, Mancina, Powell, and Jackman, but they are few. In addition, Zimmer's own scores, especially from 2000 on, are co-written with a host of additional composers, which has noticeably diluted the big Z's own voice. He may be talented, but he is not Our Savior and the Lord God as many Youtube people claim. I may be quickly losing interest in the musical direction Zimmer is going in, with his increasingly simplistic and staid music, but his earlier works will always pack a punch. Zimmer has an undoubtedly sound dramatic instinct, and in many cases, he has followed it well.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Angels and Demons

Backdraft

Beyond Rangoon

Black Rain

Broken Arrow

Crimson Tide

The Da Vinci Code

The Dark Knight (with James Newton Howard)
Days of Thunder

Drop Zone

Gladiator (with Lisa Gerrard)

Green Card
Hans Zimmer Live in Prague (Concert)
Interstellar

King Arthur

Kung Fu Panda (with John Powell)

Kung Fu Panda 2 (with John Powell)

The Last Samurai

The Lion King**
Man of Steel
Pacific Heights

The Peacemaker

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (with a bunch of other people)

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End* (with a bunch of other people)
Point of No Return

The Prince of Egypt*

The Rock (with Nick Glennie-Smith and Harry Gregson-Williams)
Rush

Sherlock Holmes
White Fang