MovieChat Forums > Composers > The Late, Great Jerry Goldsmith

The Late, Great Jerry Goldsmith

posted 11 years ago by mikekuhlman-415-393642
3 replies | jump to latest

I really miss that man, and I'm rediscovering his scores all over again.

It took me awhile to catch on to Goldsmith's genius. What he did in the '70s didn't rock my world as much as the music of John Williams, which is not so much a reflection on Goldsmith's immense talent, but is simply the fact that, until Alien, John Williams was getting the cooler, more visually groundbreaking film projects at the time!

Then, in the early '80s, I think he really hit his stride and struck a nerve with Poltergeist and the first of the Rambo films, First Blood. Those two scores have such depth and soulfulness, treading deeply into fear, suspense and violence, yet also having this light beauty...the seasoning of my own age and deepening soul readily embraced such scores.

After that, I rediscovered all his earlier work...The Blue Max, A Patch of Blue, Patton, Alien, The Omen, Capricorn One, Magic, The Boys From Brazil, Star Trek-The Motion Picture, with a new and deeper appreciation...and relished new ones as he created them...Rambo-First Blood-Part II, Innerspace, Total Recall, Congo, The Russia House, First Knight, Basic Instinct, Sleeping With the Enemy, The Ghost and the Darkness...so many others. Jerry, you were truly a genius. Through your music, your spirit lives on! May future generations learn to love and appreciate your work!

Discuss favorite Goldsmith scores.

[–] mikekuhlman-415-393642 11 years ago

Yep! Those ARE good ones! I intentionally left a lot of his scores out, so you and others could fill in and discuss some that you like.

OK, let's get the ball rolling some more:

Coma: I'm not a big fan of doctors and hospitals in REAL life. This movie, and Goldsmith's music for it, does nothing to allay my fears! Creepy...

Even though I regard the film as only OK, I like his score to Twilight Zone-The Movie as well. Since the movie is an anthology made up of 4 separate stories, it's interesting to hear how varied Goldsmith's musical style changes with each story. And the Nightmare at 20,000 feet segment, with John Lithgow playing the William Shatner nervous airline passenger character from the Twilight Zone TV series, who sees a gremlin on the wing chiseling away at it and freaks out, has some exciting stuff with some nice, deep bass thuds!

[–] jztzt 11 years ago

Some favorites of mine from the 70s include The Last Run and The Wild Rovers; but the best from the 70s I think, is Islands in the Stream, which should have been nominated for an Oscar. These scores are so underrated, sublime, and bittersweet. They perfectly capture the nature and relationships of the characters and the themes of the films. Jerry was always redefining his composition style and exploring his options. He had so much invention, innovation, and variation in-between films and decades. His Oscar nominations were well warranted.

"...sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.” ~ Cool Hand Luke

[–] rnigma-1 11 years ago

Like Bernard Herrmann, Fred Steiner and Alexander Courage, Goldsmith began in radio. He composed a lovely theme to the 1958 radio western "Frontier Gentleman" (about a British reporter's adventures out west). From there, Jerry went on to TV, contributing scores to "The Twilight Zone," "The Man from UNCLE" and several other shows. Of course, it would lead to a step up to movies.