RE: Issue 24- Super Themes! Movie Edition!
Excellent list here, @comicscorner. I especially love seeing John Williams' Superman: The Move theme here in the top spot. Richard Donner knew what he was doing with that film, and understood that unless the director, the actors, and the production team all took the movie and its mythology seriously, audiences wouldn't. Part of that 'taking it seriously' bit was hiring a top-tier composer to score the movie, and making sure they understood the dramatic theme it was going for. Superman: The Movie without Williams' iconic theme isn't a serious superhero film, just as Star Wars without Williams' iconic theme isn't a serious space opera.
I know people are quick to disregard it these days, but I want to give a shout-out to John Ottman's work scoring Superman Returns. While it's true Ottman got to borrow from Williams' original composition, I think the work he did for everything unique to the film is elegant, emotional, and perfectly-keyed for the story the film was trying to tell.
That, right there, is the entire movie condensed down to three beautiful minutes by Ottman. I couldn't recognize a single track from any of the recent big-screen blockbusters I've seen, but I walked out from seeing Superman Returns in the theater with that song burned into my brain. That, right there, is magic. :)
Returns wasn't bad per say, it was just, forgettable. That was it's biggest misstep. It didn't try anything new with the character which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it also didn't add anything either. It tried to recapture the magic and the idea of the original movies and did it but without really rising to the heights that made the original, first two at least, work.
Still, this music really works well and captures the feel of what they were TRYING to go for.