Was Brokeback Mountain the last movie to have a truly memorable theme?

[John1701D]

Originally Posted by Poya

Avengers is memorable in how generic it was.

[ltb2.0]

There have been plenty of truly memorable themes in the intervening 16 years.

There are of course the obvious franchise themes, such as the Captain America theme, the Snyderverse DCEU themes, Etc.

Giacchino has crafted his share of memorable themes.

I'd argue that very few average movie goers today even know what the Brokeback Mountain theme is.

[pikeman1]

Pacific Rim is the first theme comes to my mind, love it since the first time I heard

didn't like Avengers theme in the first movie (even though, I love the movie), but after Infinity Wars and Endgame, it's definitely memorable to me

[raptors661]

I had to look up the Brokeback Mountain theme to remember what it was.

The Fountain, Man of Steel, Sicario, The Social Network, Creed, Jurassic World, Logan, PJ's King Kong, and La La Land have had memorable themes.

[ltb2.0]

Originally Posted by raptors661

I had to look up the Brokeback Mountain theme to remember what it was.

The Fountain, Man of Steel, Sicario, The Social Network, Creed, Jurassic World, Logan, PJ's King Kong, and La La Land have had memorable themes.

"Death is the Road to Awe" is just amazing.

[raptors661]

Originally Posted by ltb2.0

"Death is the Road to Awe" is just amazing.

It's one of the best scores ever made.

[cinemaphile]

Brokeback had a memorable theme?

[ltb2.0]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

Brokeback had a memorable theme?

That was my first thought as well.

[EvaDK]

Originally Posted by Yeti4928

I don't mean the last good one, I'm talking about when you hear a theme you know the exactly where it's from. I think composers have run out of ideas, but I've also heard that studios tell them not to keep up with a memorable theme because it' too distracting or something.

The old guard, mostly yes.

The composer newcomers? Mostly disagree. There are plenty of young composers doing terrific and instantly memorable scores for film and tv. Jóhann Jóhannsson (rip), Hildur Guðnadóttir, Max Richter, Mica Levi, Jed Kurzel and others. They're reinventing the soundscape of film without leaning too heavily on what came before.

Originally Posted by ltb2.0

"Death is the Road to Awe" is just amazing.

The entire film is Aranofsky's masterpiece, as far as I'm concerned.

I also remember watching Danny Boyle's Sunshine in the cinema and being completely blown away by John Murphy's stunning score. Never heard of the composer before, but there it was.

[danny24]

The ending of this movie with it's score always gives me goosebumps. It's so beautiful. Definitely deserved Best Picture over Crash. I did enjoy Crash though.

[Magic Dusty]

The theme used in Disney's 2015 Cinderella is really unique and memorable. The one that you first hear when Ella and Kit first part ways, and that pops up in many places later. It's really easy to pick out and remember. And it's beautiful.

[meremortal]

Don't remember the soundtrack from the movie, but I do remember the local public outcry. There were boycotts and it created a lot of controversy at the time. Admitting to liking the film or being vocal about it with praise, etc. would attract ridicule or possibly even loss of your job with the wrong people. It was ridiculous how some people overreacted to a movie.

[50strat54]

Wonder Woman theme "Is she with you?"

BvS, Wonder Woman, JL WW84, ZSJL

[banjo!]

Jonny Greenwood's House of Woodcock from Phantom Thread

[imsounoriginal]

I don't even remember the theme from Brokeback Mountain.

[Al_The_Strange]

I very clearly remember the themes for...(takes deep breath)

Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, all the Avengers, the Kelvin timeline Star Treks, Pacific Rim, Tomorrowland, Rey's theme from Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, John Wick, X-Men First Class, The Hobbit, Grindhouse, La La Land, The Social Network, Sicario, The Fountain, 127 Hours, Harry Potter, Mandy, Ex Machina, Dredd, and Interstellar...probably more I'm forgetting.

Can't remember a thing about Brokeback Mountain's score, other than it sounded nice. Still, whether they're good or bad, I think it's extremely disingenuous to state that there haven't been memorable themes in the past 16 years.

[AreaFive]

Originally Posted by Yeti4928

Was Brokeback Mountain the last movie to have a truly memorable theme?

No.

[AreaFive]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

The Fountain

[trevanian]

Originally Posted by Gieferg

Avengers, TASM, Transformers, Jurassic World, Wonder Woman, Man of Steel, Star Trek 2009, first Thor and many more.

Can't stand any of those themes, myself. I think powerfully engaging melody, which has always been my thing, is practically a thing of the past in films. There's nobody working who touches Jerry Goldsmith's 20th Century work. I'd track any number of his scores over most 21st century films and relish the results.

I think this weakening in film music has been coming for awhile; I remember tracking Sol Kaplan's STAR TREK 'DOOMDAY MACHINE' music over a few TNG episodes, and while the music overpowered them to a degree (the visuals on the TNG shows tended to lack snap in terms of angle, lighting and editing), they made them a helluva lot more engaging. Try watching the of STARSHIP MINE with an ST-TOS cue and you'll see what I mean.

Even older work done more modestly, or in a more minor key, like Michael Small's stuff for MARATHON MAN and THE PARALLAX VIEW, still carries so much more emotional weight than the sturm-and-drang of most contemporary scores, which seem to be more about delivering volume than being useful supplements. I liked the forced docking music in INTERSTELLAR, but that is probably the exception when it comes to contemp filmmusic.

The guy doing THE MANDALORIAN and the lady who did JOKER might be bringing good filmmusic to table, but again, exceptions to the rule.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Yeti4928

I don't mean the last good one, I'm talking about when you hear a theme you know the exactly where it's from. I think composers have run out of ideas, but I've also heard that studios tell them not to keep up with a memorable theme because it' too distracting or something.

Well, whoever told you that is very mistaken. A composer is no different than an actor....everybody's on stage, supporting each other. Brokeback was 16 years ago. Are there no memorable movie themes in 16 years? Such an odd question for this community.