Trivia

The first film that Zimmer scored was «Moonlighting» (1982). However, it was not until 1988 when the turning point of his career happened. His work on which comedy-drama film, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, earned him the first Oscar nomination?

Rain Man

. Hans Florian Zimmer was born in Germany in 1957. His last name, Zimmer, means room in German. In the beginning of his career, Zimmer partnered with his mentor, Stanley Myers. Among the first films that they scored were «Moonlighting» (1982), «Eureka» (1984), «Success Is the Best Revenge» (1984), «My Beautiful Laundrette» (1984), «Insignificance» (1985), «The Lightship» (1985), «Castaway» (1986), «Terminal Exposure» (1986) and «Burning Secret» (1988). «Rain Man» won the Best Picture award at the 61st Academy Awards held in 1989. Dustin Hoffman took home the Best Actor award for his role as Raymond «Rain Man» Babbitt. Also, Barry Levinson won the Best Director award. The film received a total of eight nominations and won four of them. Zimmer was nominated for the Best Original Score award but the award went to Dave Grusin, who scored «The Milagro Beanfield War».

Zimmer won his first Oscar for the Best Original Score award in 1994. His work in this Disney animated film also earned him a Golden Globe. The album featuring soundtrack from this film was a great success, selling more than ten million copies in the US alone in 1994. Which film was it?

The Lion King

. The album accompanying the film, entitled «The Lion King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack» featured songs written by Elton John as well as scores composed by Zimmer. Zimmer’s work on the score of the film earned him an Oscar at the 67th Annual Academy Awards held in 1994. In the same year, he also won the Best Original Score award at the 52nd Golden Globe Awards, beating Alan Silvestri, who scored «Forrest Gump» (1994). The IMDb or internet movie database website honored Zimmer with the title of «the father of integrating the electronic musical world with traditional orchestral arrangements».

Instead of using conventional orchestral instruments, Zimmer employed synthesizers when composing the main theme for this submarine film directed by Tony Scott. His creativity proved to be fruitful when he won his first Grammy. Which film, released in 1995 and starred Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, won him the Best Instrumental Composition award?

Crimson Tide

. Zimmer won the Best Instrumental Composition award at the 38th Grammy Awards held in 1996. In an interview with Edwin Black from filmscormonthy.com, Zimmer revealed that the score he composed for the film «Crimson Tide» was one of his favorites. He said, «Ironically, despite all the scores I’ve written, there are very few I’m proud of. [They are] «A World Apart», «Driving Miss Daisy», and a couple of cues in «Crimson Tide». «Black Rain» had somehow set up a new way action movies should be scored. Soon everybody was doing the «Black Rain» thing. In «Crimson Tide», I managed to break out of that trend, push it a bit further. So it was an evolutionary step.» The music in the action-thriller film, «Black Rain» (1989) was also scored by Zimmer.

Zimmer delivered another spectacular piece of work when his collaboration with Lisa Gerrard in the song «Now We Are Free» won him a second Golden Globe award. Which epic film, released in 2000, which won the Oscar for Best Picture starred Russell Crowe did Zimmer score?

Gladiator

. «Gladiator» won the Best Picture award at the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001. The main actor in the film, Russell Crowe also took home the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Maximus Decimus Meridius. The score for «Gladiator» was also nominated for both Oscar and Grammy. The first album, entitled «Gladiator: Music from the Motion Picture», released in 2000, featured 17 tracks. Due to its success, a second album, entitled «Gladiator: More Music from the Motion Picture» was released in the following year, which featured 18 tracks, including a remix of the popular song, «Now We Are Free». The first few lines of the lyrics of the song «Now We Are Free» are: «Anol shalom Anol sheh lay konnud de ne um shaddai Flavum Nom de leesh Ham de nam um das La um de Flavne» The lyrics of the song were written by Lisa Gerrard, who wrote the song in an idioglossia (a language she invented herself).

Zimmer composed the amazing scores for which popular film series that starred Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow?

Pirates of Caribbean

. The first film of the series was released in 2003 and although uncredited, Zimmer composed the score together with Klaus Badelt. The second, third and fourth installments were released in 2006, 2007 and 2011, respectively. Initially, Alan Silvestri was chosen to compose the scores for «Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl» (2003). However, the producer of the film, Jerry Bruckheimer and he had different views so the director Gore Verbinski suggested Hans Zimmer. Unfortunately, Zimmer declined the offer because he had another project at that very same time, namely composing scores for «The Last Samurai» (2003). He recommended his colleague, Klaus Badelt. Zimmer eventually helped Badelt write most of the scores. For the second, third and fourth films, entitled «Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest» (2006), «Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End» (2007) and «Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides» (2011), respectively, Zimmer was credited as the music composer of the films.

The year 2003 marked another milestone for composer Hans Zimmer in his music career when he scored his 100th film. Not only did this work receive a Golden Globe nomination, but it also won the Satellite Award for Best Original Score. Which epic film, starred Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe did Zimmer score?

The Last Samurai

. For his work in «The Last Samurai» (2003), Zimmer won the Satellite Award for Best Original Score at the 8th Golden Satellite Awards. His works also received a Golden Globe nomination, but the award went to Howard Shore, who composed the scores for «The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King» (2003). Commenting on his work in «The Last Samurai», Zimmer wrote on ew.com (Entertainment Weekly’s website), «I’m dealing with a culture I have no clue about. I kept endlessly researching Japanese music, and the more I researched it, the more I realized I had no clue about it. I went to Japan to sort of test-drive it – to see if I got it wrong. I played it to a whole bunch of people and they came up to me and said, ‘How do you know so much about Japanese music?’ So, I should worry maybe a little less.»

One of Zimmer’s most notable scores is «Chevaliers de Sangrea», which is the main theme of a mystery thriller film that was released in 2006. This amazing soundtrack was played toward the end of the film when Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks, finally deciphered the difficult codes and found the exact location of the Holy Grail. The film was based on a novel of the same title by Dan Brown. Which film was it?

The Da Vinci Code

. The director of «The Da Vinci Code» (2006), Ron Howard elaborated on the difficulty and challenge of composing the scores for the film. He commented, «Like every other facet of this movie, the score for «The Da Vinci Code» demanded a range of textures that recognized and reinforced the layers of ideas and emotion, which unfold as the basic story does.» He praised Zimmer for his truly original and spectacular work. He said, «Hans Zimmer has given us extraordinarily memorable music to appreciate within the framework of a film or completely on its own, where you can let the sounds carry you on your own private journey.» Zimmer collaborated with Ron Howard again in «Angels and Demons» (2009).

Apart from being well known for composing scores for Hollywood blockbusters, Zimmer also did an excellent job in composing scores for animated films. The scores he composed for the animated film «Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron» (2002) earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Which of the following animated films did Zimmer NOT score?

Toy Story

. The music in «Toy Story» (1995) was scored by Randy Newman. The first animated film that Zimmer scored was «The Lion King» (1994), which earned him an Oscar. He then composed the scores for several other animated films. Among the notable ones were «Shark Tale» (2004), «Madagascar» (2005), «Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa» (2008), «Kung Fu Panda» (2008), «Megamind» (2010), «Rango» (2011) and «Kung Fu Panda 2» (2011).

The science fiction action movie «Inception» (2010) marked the third collaboration between Zimmer and director Christopher Nolan. His work in «Inception» earned him yet another Oscar nomination. Prior to «Inception», Zimmer composed the scores together with James Newton Howard for two superhero films. Which superhero films were they?

«Batman Begins» and «The Dark Knight»

. Commenting on his scores in «Inception», Zimmer said, «It’s a very electronic score. There is orchestra, but the electronics share an equal spotlight.» Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard composed the scores in «The Dark Knight» (2008). Their work won them the Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack Album (Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media). The theme for «The Dark Knight» was introduced at the end of «Batman Begins» (2005). In an interview on soundtack.net, Zimmer revealed, «There’s a whole theme that’s written and on purpose not in the movie. We were basically betting that this movie might work out alright and there would be another one, so we wanted the character to develop.»

Throughout his career, Zimmer received numerous nominations and also won many prestigious awards. From 1989 to 2011, he received a total of nine Oscar nominations and won one of them. Which of the following Oscar Best Picture winners, starring Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman did Zimmer score?

Driving Miss Daisy. The score in «Titanic» (1997) was composed by James Horner, who also wrote the song «My Heart Will Go On», sang by Celine Dion. Horner won two Oscars at the 70th Annual Academy Awards, namely Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Song. «The King’s Speech» (2010) was scored by Alexandre Desplat while «Slumdog Millionaire» (2008) was scored by A. R. Rahman. From 1989 to 2011, Zimmer received a total of nine Oscar nominations for his work in «Rain Man» (1989), «The Lion King» (1994), «The Preacher’s Wife» (1997), «As Good As It Gets» (1998), «The Prince of Egypt» (1999), «The Thin Red Line» (1999), «Gladiator» (2001), «Sherlock Holmes» (2010) and «Inception» (2011). «The Lion King» (1994) won Zimmer his first Oscar. In his acceptance speech, he thanked his wife and daughter. He said, «I’d like to thank my wife because she’s my best friend. I’d like to thank my daughter because she now thinks I’m cool because I did «The Lion King.» I’d like to thank the directors Rob Minkoff, Roger Allers. I’d like to thank the nicest producer in the business, Don Hahn. I’m incredibly nervous. I tell you what, writing a score is much easier than this.» The movies «Rain Man» (1989), «Driving Miss Daisy» (1989) and «Gladiator» (2001) won the Oscar Best Picture award for their respective years. Zimmer composed scores for all these three films.

by Compositor