Hans Zimmer

Should you ever decide to make a high-octane glossy action Hollywood blockbuster and are looking for a brassy and kickass soundtrack to complement the CGI wizardry on screen, Hans Zimmer will be pretty high up on your list. Most famous for his music for The Rock, Crimson Tide, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, The Lion King, Gladiator, Rain Man, Inception and (for the gamers out there), the theme for Modern Warfare 2, among some 200 movies he composed for. Of course, he did other genres, but its usually the big brass and violin numbers he wrote for action set pieces that get remembered.

Known for working with directors Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan and for having trained a number of other composers including Mark Mancina, Klaus Badelt, Steve Jablonsky and for composing a number of animated films from DreamWorks Animation. His closest equivalent is Yuki Kajiura, known for her eclectic blends of synth with real instruments and soloists.

Some of his more well-known projects include (chronological order)

 * Rain Man (1988)
 * Twister (1989)
 * Thelma and Louise (1991)
 * The Lion King (1994)
 * Crimson Tide (1995)
 * Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
 * Black Hawk Down (2001)
 * The Pirates of the Caribbean films (2003-2011)
 * Batman Begins (2005, with James Newton Howard)
 * The Dark Knight (2008, also with James Newton Howard)
 * Inception (2010)
 * Rango (2011)
 * The Dark Knight Rises (2012, this time without James Newton Howard)


 * Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly
 * Production Posse: Owns a large studio where he trains and collaborates with a lot of other young composers from around the world helping them with conducting, writing additional music, or even co-composing. His future plans appear to be retirement with the focus of training more composers.
 * Self-Plagiarism: Compare this Modern Warfare 2 Soundtrack with Blackhawk Down. Still very epic.
 * Smoking Is Cool: I wake up around noon, light a cigarette, get a cup of coffee, sit in the bathtub for an hour and daydream, and I usually come up with some ideas... It's a very irresponsible life. The only decisions I make are about the notes I'm writing.