James Horner

• Genre: Orchestral Scores
• Hometown: Los Angeles
• James Horner Website

About

Academy Award-winning film composer began his career scoring Roger Corman's productions in the 1970s. While Humanoids From the Deep and Battle Beyond the Stars are fun and all, Horner soon went on to much bigger things -- the '80s found the composer to be a very hot commodity indeed. His scores to Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan and Aliens were huge successes, showcasing his bombastic dramatic sense and epic, sweeping style. Recent years have brought Braveheart as well as his most well-known score to date, Titanic. Critics often bash him for his notorious tendency to borrow from past works, something he does more than even, perhaps, John Williams. Originality aside, however, Horner's music has a knack for keeping the audience teetering on the edge of their seats, and that's something no one can complain about.

- Doug Russell