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The Color Purple
With music composed by 79 time Grammy nominee Quincy Jones, "The Color Purple" received an Oscar nomination for best original score, however lost to "Out of Africa." This was Jones' first film production and was influenced by his popular style. He is credited with introducing Whoopi Goldberg to the big screen.The film received positive reviews, while Roger Ebert specifically highlights the outstanding performance from Goldberg. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-color-purple-1985 -
Aliens
Composed by James Horner, the music of "Aliens" was a rushed score that Horner did not believe lived up to his satisfaction due to time restrictions in the production process. The score includes references to Gayane's Adagio and regularly repeated motifs that were influenced by the original "Alien" score. Reception of the soundtrack was so positive that it has been reused in many different film settings such as the trailer for "Misery." http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/aliens.html -
Braveheart
Inspired by true events, the film "Braveheart" credits its score to James Horner. Given the Scottish setting and cultural significance of "Braveheart," the score benefits from Horner, who is known for his frequent use of old styled Celtic motifs. Horner's later compositions for the "Titanic" actually borrowed melodies from "Braveheart." A platinum selling album, this score had immense positive reception. https://www.thewrap.com/james-horner-oscar-winning-composer-of-titanic-dead-at-61/ -
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Alan Menken creates a fusion of contemporary musical theatre and classic choral elements. Menken essentially wrote a "Dies Irae" for Frolo's iconic "Hellfire" solo. Hunchback has been made into an epic staged musical that actually incorporates original music from the film, as well as new songs composed by Menken. Criticism mainly came from Disney's changes in plot compared to the original novel by Hugo. https://variety.com/1997/scene/vpage/disney-s-hunchback-irks-hugo-progeny-1117342764/ -
Anastasia
With music by David Newman, "Anastasia" is one of the successful animated princess musicals that isn't produced by Disney. "At The Beginning" is a single that reached #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary genre, proving its positive commercial reception. The structure of the soundtrack is based on Disney's formula of diegetic show tunes and then re recorded pop versions that are found only on the soundtrack. https://www.allmusic.com/album/anastasia-music-from-the-motion-picture-mw0000595915 -
The Prince of Egypt
Stephen Shwartz and Hans Zimmer collaborated in this epic movie musical, portraying the book of Exodus. "Deliver Us" takes middle eastern motifs in the recognizable form of vocal tremolo (sung by Ofra Haza) in order to transport us into historic Egypt. Multiple soundtracks were released, each targeting a different audience, including country and gospel themed soundtracks, widening the positive reception to different demographics.
https://www.soundtrack.net/album/the-prince-of-egypt-1998/ -
Chocolat
The music of "Chocolat" is composed by Rachel Portman OBE, the first female composer to win an Oscar in the Best Musical or Comedy score category. "Chocolat" is heavily reliant on French themes, given its French countryside setting. Not only melody, but instrumentation as well is influenced by French elements, notably heard through Portman's use of the accordion. This remains one of Portman's most famous works in her illustrious career. http://www.filmreference.com/film/38/Rachel-Portman.html -
Ratatouille
A frequent composer for Pixar, Michael Giacchino wrote the score for "Ratatouille." The score is clearly influenced by French themes and incorporates many French popular songs to develop the setting. Giacchino wrote "Le Festin" which is sung by Camille in order to create a theme for the main character Remy. The themes can be categorized as Remy's desire to be a chef, and his social standing as a rat, and therefore thief.
https://www.slashfilm.com/michael-giacchino-talks-music-pixar-d23-expo/ -
Skyfall
The most popular aspect of the "Skyfall" soundtrack is undoubtedly the movie's theme "Skyfall," sung by Adele and written by Adele and Paul Epworth. However the score itself is by Thomas Newman, who became the 9th composer in the long running James Bond series. While the score did not win an Oscar, the single "Skyfall" won for best single in a film. This dichotomy between the popularity of the single and score represent the cross marketing aspect of film. http://www.filmmusicmag.com/?p=10217 -
Interstellar
The underscore of "Interstellar" is by Hans Zimmer. The instrumentation is recognizable by its use of sci fi organ motifs, as opposed to conventional classical themes, leading to rave reviews. Zimmer was given a letter from the director (Christopher Nolan) containing the the basic plot, he then had one day to write the score. The score is unique in that Zimmer began composing at the inception of the film.
https://ew.com/article/2014/10/16/interstellar-christopher-nolan-anne-hathaway/
