Composing : Is Hans Zimmer overrated as a movie composer? by Amanda Toney

Hans Zimmer is an incredible composer in my opinion, Amanda Toney! I talked with him way back about composing a feature film I was making. He was busy though, and I probably wouldn't have had the budget to hire him. He's a nice guy.

I prefer the old-school melodists like Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone…oh and John Barry!

Boy is this a tough question. His success is completely undeniable so I would say he, like many famous composers found his sound or niche, does that make him over rated probably not. I would say, it makes him different that attracted many director / producers to his sound, which I think is a bit more synth based in a lot of cases, not all though. He comes from a synth back ground which he carried in to the film score world. That all being said I agree with Ville Hilden I prefer the amazing melodies of, John Barry, Ennis Marricone, John Williams (the theme master in my option), Dimitri Tiomkin, Eric Korngold...

So I would say, he's not over rated just different, and different in some ways that make him unpopular with a traditionalist composer for sure.

I have always loved his scores...

I think Hans Zimmer is excellent and has revolutionised film music, but I also think he has kind of taken over, even netflix and so because of his success and production company there are less opportunities for people that haven't trained under him

I always confuse Hans with Max Richter…How do you view him?

Ville Hilden Max Richter, it turns out comes from Buckinghamshire in UK so that makes me really proud. Hans Zimmer is all about the main theme whereas Richter is more about subtle minimalism. Zimmer's music stands out more on first listen but Richter's music is more subtle and can really be impactful at certain points in a film

Let's say he is an excellent sound designer and electronic music maker

I think that he unfairly may get compared to John Williams who has running woodwinds and counter melodies running all through his pieces Amanda Toney. Hans Zimmer is very simplistic but that doesn't make the placement of his music and themes any less beautiful. I took a MasterClass of his which was fantastic. One interesting tidbit about his "Man of Steel" theme - although it was very different than the '78 Superman theme, they were both written in the same key. You can easily superimpose one on the other. The first two notes in each theme are the same, just played differently. That's talent.

Alessandro Sicardi I would credit him with more than that. In the 80s he was all about electronic music but since working with top scorers on the Lion he has really mastered orchestration. Violin-centric that I am, 'Sherlock Holmes' was great and the cello section in Inception was fantastic. I think for overall understanding of the orchestra and using each instrument to it's full capacity - his work on Pirates of the Caribbean

Hannah Woolmer it’s totally normal in Hollywood having orchestrators working after composers, so I honestly wouldn’t bet he orchestrated something… And if so, it’s anyway all so pop and without movement, counterpoint… It really seems written by a producer, rather than an orchestrator.

He made some interesting stuff in Dune.

Alessandro Sicardi Well he claims he does, so I guess it's your word against his

Hannah Woolmer as they're not very sophisticated, no wonder if he does them :)