Jerry Goldsmith seemed like he was primed for greatness since by the age of 13 he was already learning from one of the best concert pianists in the world and by the age of 16 was studying theory and counterpoint from yet another famed individual. The list of noteworthy directors that Goldsmith worked with in his time is longer than the number of A-list celebrities for many movies, and his contribution to the film industry is easily seen just by watching the opening credits of many of the movies that are to be found when conducting a simple search. He was one of the most successful and sought after composers of his time and there aren’t likely to be many more like him.
Here are a just a few of the movies he composed for that are worthy of note.
5. The Ghost and The Darkness
A lot of folks seemed to have forgotten that this movie was mostly about building a bridge to keep a railroad moving along. Once the lions came in they had a way of sticking in a persons conscious mind as the most important part of the film. The movie was based off of a true story, though of course a great deal of it was fictional since there was no man named Remington in the original story.
4. Rudy
Rudy is another film that was based off of a true story, albeit with a great deal of fiction added in. It was more or less the idea that giving up wasn’t a question or even a possibility that made this movie so great. Rudy was the embodiment of what it meant to be all heart even if he didn’t have much athletic ability and wasn’t the biggest guy on the field.
3. Alien
I’d say that most people didn’t know what to think about this film when it first hit, but everyone was likely buzzing when they left the theater. The first Alien film was so horrifying that it left your spine tingling not long after the movie even if Ripley did shove the thing out of the airlock. Even with just one alien it deservedly tops the franchise as being the most popular.
2. Total Recall
How horrible would it be to not know if you were awake or dreaming? There are still debates as to whether or not Quaid was still at Rekall or if he was in fact the double agent that he thought himself to be. So many years after the movie came out people are still willing to discuss this theory. Personally I think it’d be a severe downer to learn that he was just dreaming.
1. Patton
Patton was one of those rare movies that was as authentic as it could get. It played up the famed general was was deserved and showed the cruder, less desired side of him as well. There was no denying that the man that others called “Old Blood and Guts” was a great soldier, but he his own inner demons as well.
Jerry Goldsmith was one of the best.
Follow Us
