Is Hans Zimmer the next John Williams

[mastar cheef]

This is a thread for the experienced music/movie lovers. Now I know it is a huge claim to say that anybody is anywhere near close to the Great John Williams, when it comes to great movie soundtracks, John has the market pretty much wrapped up. With masterpieces such as Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, and Indiana Jones, just to name a few of masterful soundtracks. Yet Zimmer is coming into the spotlight now with his soundtracks for Gladiator, the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, and more recently The Dark Knight soundtrack.

So my question is do you think that Zimmer will pass Williams anytime in the future, if so how long will it take.

 

[Shaif_Hirbush]

I don't think anyone will ever beat out John Williams.

I consider The Empire Strikes Back to be the greatest film score of any movie I've ever seen followed by Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

[calpoon]

sure. and Howard Shore too, while we are at it. Nothing against Williams, he might be the most recognized sound, but that doesn't mean he's the best that ever was or will be. James Newton Howard is good too, just to name some of the heavyweights.

 

[Shaif_Hirbush]

I'd like to mention James Horner, too. His best work was in the film Glory.

 

[Chex]

Didn't Horner do Braveheart too? That's a fantastic soundtrack.

Zimmer has done a lot of epics - Last Samurai, Gladiator, Tears of the Sun, PoC. I think he's one of the best.

Whoever did Last of the Mohicans is really good too, but their name escapes me.

 

[Embryoyo]

Hans Zimmer and John Williams both sound very similar to me, and I love 'em both. I like Jeff Beal alot too, he did some amazing things for Rome among other great HBO shows. Favorite from Zimmer... the second track on the Rock soundtrack... Goddamn awesome. I feel like I'm in my own action thriller whenever I play it. I'd have to get back about Williams.

 

[hedonis]

No- Hans Zimmer is NOTHING like John Williams, who has composed definite, different, and memorable themes for a whole lot of movies. Hans Zimmer has created a bunch of soundtracks which essentially sound the same.

Disagree with me? Stack up a few Zimmer soundtracks, and then compare them to some themes I'm sure can be remembered with ease:

Star Wars, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Superman, Harry Potter, and Close Encounters to name a few.

 

[Lust]

Zimmer is certainly adding to his legend with each score he makes. Love John Williams but Zimmer is in a position to overtake.

lately i've been rehashing Gustavo Santaolalla and Ryuichi Sakamoto scores. not to sound cliche' but Ennio Morricone is still my favorite "Once upon a time in America" and "The Mission" scores are just beautiful pieces of music

 

[hedonis]

Actually, this whole notion is ridiculous. Overtake how? Is there a race to see who can compose more soundtracks? These are composers of music- each one has had plenty of work, and does some good stuff. Which one is better is all a matter of opinion and taste- I'm just saying that I bet you can whistle or hum a hell of a lot more John Williams themes than you can Zimmer ones.

Ennio Morricone makes awesome music, and so does James Horner, David Arnold, James Newton Howard, and we certainly can't forget all the memorable, great scores from Jerry Goldsmith and John Barry.

But I noticed no one mentioned Danny Elfman....

 

[Lust]

"overtake" as in who i listen/enjoy more. as you said its a personal decision. so i dont think its a ridiculous notion for me to think i may grow fonder of zimmer due mainly to the fact of how much his compositions have grown on me lately. but i agree it'd be ridiculous for me to say who's better so i chose not to. "love williams work but zimmer is in a position to overtake" which basically means zimmer's stuff could certainly overtake my love for william's work. again...a personal decision that effects me and my listening habits.

as far as humming or whistling, yep, williams would probably be more likely than zimmer but morricone's work would be most likely over both of them combined.

elfman's stuff is awesome imo and not just his movie scores but the original Fable score was brilliant work.

another that i really like is Angelo Badalamenti. the Straight Story score is simply wonderful.

no idea on a race for composing, no interest in discovering if one exists.

 

[ILovePorn82]

Well Hans Zimmer has a great Resume but John Williams made the Legends with his Scores.

 

[Member2019]

I'm a huge Zimmer fan ...

He's my favorite musical score composer, and has been for the past decade, with everyone else a distant second. He's only getting better with time. I play Zimmer on my iPod more than anything else (and yes, I'm getting old).

However, I don't see him being comparable to John Williams. Again, I like Zimmer's work more than Williams', by far -- new and old. Never was a huge Williams fan in general. But Williams really set a standard, well before computer-based composure and other tools that Zimmer can and does leverage.

So no, I don't consider Zimmer the "next Williams." I consider Zimmer my favorite composer, without needing to make the Williams comparison. Williams will always be a great without peer, even if not my fav.

 

[Member2019]

James Horner v. John Williams ...

Now if you want to make a similar comparison, I'd focus more on ... say ... James Horner v. John Williams. I'm actually a bigger fan of Horner than Williams. In fact, I don't think Horner gets remotely as much credit for his works as Williams has.

But that's just me.

 

[zell]

Zimmer is awesome,no doubt,but Williams in in a whole 'nother league than anyone else.His score on The Dark Knight give me chills.

I also really like Eric Serra,who I feel is underrated.His stuff in Leon and The Fifth Element are great.

And another one of my favorite composers is Harry Gregson-Williams.I love his stuff for the Metal Gear games.

 

[Curious Plumber]

No bro

 

[hos]

uncomparable.

both are great audiovisualists and there is absolutely no need to raise one above the other. on the other hand you can't beat bernstein.