# BBC: Hans Zimmer to retire from "superhero business"



## JohnG (Mar 30, 2016)

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35925151

One of the composers for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Hans Zimmer has told BBC HARDtalk he is retiring from composing music for superhero films.

"I did Batman Begins with Chris [Nolan] 12 years ago, so The Dark Knight Trilogy might be three movies to you, to me it was 11 years of my life," he said, explaining that he then worked on Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

"This one was very hard for me to do, to try to find new language," he said.


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## givemenoughrope (Mar 30, 2016)

He'll be back for Batman vs The Stay Puff Mashmellow Man vs the gofer from Caddyshack. That's a given though.


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## dannymc (Mar 30, 2016)

deadly. i"ll be watching that interview tonight thanks for the heads up 

Danny


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## jononotbono (Mar 30, 2016)

I was just about to post this. Good man. I wonder what Hans Zimmer will bring to the World next? Please don't make 400 Piece Bag Pipe Choirs Fashionable! haha


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## Greg (Mar 30, 2016)

One step closer to the Backdraft sequel my heart desires.


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## AR (Mar 30, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> I was just about to post this. Good man. I wonder what Hans Zimmer will bring to the World next? Please don't make 400 Piece Bag Pipe Choirs Fashionable! haha


Why not?? Bag Pipe choir for the next Chris Nolan WWII movie Dunkirk. Imagine the Brits marching accompanied by Scottish music. That instantly reminds me of the movie "A Bridge Too Far"


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## ghostnote (Mar 30, 2016)

tl, dr ;D


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## germancomponist (Mar 30, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> I was just about to post this. Good man. I wonder what Hans Zimmer will bring to the World next?


Maybe happy music? I know he can and he can do much more....!


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## rgames (Mar 30, 2016)

Opera?


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## RiffWraith (Mar 30, 2016)

Hunting Songs of the Mbuti?


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## rottoy (Mar 30, 2016)

He should only produce scores with a DX-7 from now on.
Seriously though, that might be a fun challenge. Write entire scores on the DX-7, make it the new "thing".


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## jononotbono (Mar 30, 2016)

AR said:


> Why not?? Bag Pipe choir for the next Chris Nolan WWII movie Dunkirk. Imagine the Brits marching accompanied by Scottish music. That instantly reminds me of the movie "A Bridge Too Far"



Cool. Do it for one movie. That's not a fashion. And I was only messing around mentioning Bag Pipes (they have never done anything to offend me personally - yet) but do you want Bagpipe Choirs on every film, TV show and Advert? Cause if you wish hard enough, Zimmer can make that happen if he wanted. I can see it now. Loads of people rushing out, panic buying 8Dio's New "Deeply Blown" Bagpipe Collection haha!


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## zacnelson (Mar 30, 2016)

I'd love to hear some more scores like The Lion King and Beyond Rangoon…. they are my favourites!


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## jononotbono (Mar 30, 2016)

Lion King is so good. Man, I would love to see Hans Zimmer do a Pixar Movie!


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## Rob Elliott (Mar 30, 2016)

Hey no one here would walk away from this sort of 'gig' - the exposure, visibility, $$$ just would be too much to say no....BUT...I for one am looking forward to Hans doing things along the lines of 'The Holiday', 'Spanglish', etc. My bet, when exposure, money, etc. are not in the consideration - he'll do what floats his boat - as he should. Looking forward to this next creative chapter.


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## dannthr (Mar 30, 2016)

Good for him! The one time I visited RC, while they were crunching on Spiderman, he seemed to me (my impression, not his words) creatively bored with Superhero films--like he kept reaching out for ways to make the production more engaging and interesting to himself (tesla coil, woodwinds, other writers, etc.)--and all he could talk about were the smaller, more artistically engaging projects (12 Years a Slave).

(Again, this was my impression)

When I looked around, it seemed like his studio needed to eat blockbuster action films for breakfast to stay alive--it was a huge operation, but maybe the man has just met his threshold for that kind of thing.

I look forward to seeing what he decides to do and I applaud him for not only putting aside what another person called his bread and butter (on FaceBook), but the genre he helped to redefine. The man has been trendsetting for Superheroes since Batman Begins.

So good on him for declaring the projects he actually wants to work on--he's more than enough earned the right to do that.

My favorite Zimmer scores usually were his smaller scaled works. _Rain Man_ still gives me chills, so do _Lion King_ cues, and I loved _As Good as it Gets_ and _Sherlock Holmes_--just gorgeous textures in the Holmes scores.


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## marclawsonmusic (Mar 30, 2016)

I think it's safe to say he's mastered the genre.


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## dannthr (Mar 30, 2016)

I think that's a great way to put it, Marc!

I am a strong believer in reaching for projects where we have the most opportunity to grow and sometimes that means we need to step away from a type of project that is stagnating our creative output.

Again, I'm not trying to put words in Hz's mouth, he can speak for himself (I'm mostly speculating), but I think beyond his personal reasoning, there's something to be said for the creative opportunities that feed our soul and our own journey in music and storytelling--sometimes that means we make a concerted change in our project profile to achieve that.


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## zacnelson (Mar 30, 2016)

Rob mentioned The Holiday…. that's another favourite of mine!


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## ScarletJerry (Mar 30, 2016)

Jono - "8Dio's New "Deeply Blown" Bagpipe Collection" That's hilarious! It got me thinking...with April Fool's Day approaching, it would be fun to make up some fake instruments from our favorite VI companies.

-Scarlet Jerry


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## Rodney Money (Mar 30, 2016)

I don't know why y'all are picking for, I would purchase a bagpipe choir in a heartbeat. If y'all only knew...


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## SterlingArcher (Mar 30, 2016)

dannthr said:


> My favorite Zimmer scores usually were his smaller scaled works. _Rain Man_ still gives me chills, so do _Lion King_ cues, and I loved _As Good as it Gets_ and _Sherlock Holmes_--just gorgeous textures in the Holmes scores.



I'll personally add Frost/Nixon to that list. Love that score. Just pushed that movie along.


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## dannthr (Mar 30, 2016)

I haven't seen it yet, it's on my list though!


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## SterlingArcher (Mar 30, 2016)

dannthr said:


> Good for him! The one time I visited RC, while they were crunching on Spiderman, he seemed to me (my impression, not his words) creatively bored with Superhero films--like he kept reaching out for ways to make the production more engaging and interesting to himself (tesla coil, woodwinds, other writers, etc.)--and all he could talk about were the smaller, more artistically engaging projects (12 Years a Slave).
> 
> (Again, this was my impression)
> 
> ...



It'll be a shame that Hans has to retire his Super Hans t-shirt but good for him. I certainly would like to see and hear a less bombastic Zimmer.


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## dgburns (Mar 30, 2016)

My first thought is one of sympathy.Exhaustion (creative or otherwise) is not something I wish on anyone.

My second thought is a little selfish as I would like to work with him at least once before all is said and done.I fear at the moment that time and life will get in the way of that.Screw the money,I just want to work with Hans and try to create something really special.I don't care on what,or with whom.There I said it.

In any case I'm sure he'll be fine.


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## kunst91 (Mar 30, 2016)

I must say I am REALLY looking forward to Dunkirk.


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## Udo (Mar 30, 2016)

Getting away from those bombastic extravaganzas, hz may now find time to try and compose some real music.


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## Gabriel Oliveira (Mar 30, 2016)

Udo said:


> Getting away from those bombastic extravaganzas, hz may now find time to try and compose some real music.



don't even start it, get some life


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## afterlight82 (Mar 30, 2016)

I really cringed at the paycheck question. The BBC, fine establishment as it often is despite criticism, sometimes mistakes "arsey" for "edgy". Gary Coleman plugging cashcall back in the day was someone doing it for the paycheck. This...please. Crass question. The non-sequitur of "all sequels are cashing in" - which may be true, may not be true - to "everybody working on a sequel must just be cashing a paycheck" is ridiculous, particularly as he'd just made the point about finding something fresh to do with it being the most difficult aspect. It's not like any of us working on a sequel greenlit it, and everybody I've known who has worked on a sequel (and I'm on one now) has actively strived to do something new. I can't remember ever hearing from anybody "ooh, sequel, just edit the old stuff and lets go home, ker-ching!"...ever.


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## gpax (Mar 30, 2016)

Oddly, I just saw "A Leauge of Their Own" for the first time recently, having no clue it was also a Hans Zimmer score. Listening was refreshing, both stylistically and creatively (if not also a dated film in some respects). And even though it was a retroactive listen, akin to bookends, it had me pondering the scope and body of that composers work. 

With respect to superhero fatigue, he's not the only one invoking this recently, that genre arguably on the wane.


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## Mundano (Mar 30, 2016)

dear Hans, if you read this, please go the "Inception" & "Interstellar"'s OST direction. love this!

Lieber Hans, wenn du dieses liest, hoffe ich du komponierst weiter in der Richtung der obergenannten OSTs. Die Musik da ist der Hammer! LG


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## Mundano (Mar 30, 2016)

Michael Chrostek said:


> tl, dr ;D



worst interviewer ever.... stupid dumb didn't let Hans express himself


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## tokatila (Mar 31, 2016)

Mundano said:


> dear Hans, if you read this, please go the "Inception" & "Interstellar"'s OST direction. love this!
> 
> Lieber Hans, wenn du dieses liest, hoffe ich du komponierst weiter in der Richtung der obergenannten OSTs. Die Musik da ist der Hammer! LG



Blaah. I'm still waiting for the re-surfacing of the Crimson Tide and The Rock - style. Those were the good days. Anthems, you can't have too man(l)y anthems.


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## Baron Greuner (Mar 31, 2016)

I caught HZ on Hard Talk yesterday and the most interesting part was how Hollywood is basically the last bastion of orchestral music.
As far as super hero films are concerned, they are basically made as bottom up movies and thus make enormous amounts of money, which then hopefully can be streamed into the occasional top down film that intelligent people might want to see.


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## SymphonicSamples (Mar 31, 2016)

Finally my dream for world Super Hero composer domination is starting to take shape. Clearly Odin smiles upon me. Now that step one is finally complete one must remove Tom Holkenborg next !! Yes, yes... I confess I've been watching Vikings  Mr. Zimmer's always been ahead of the game forging new territory so I look forward to whats in stall for the next few years. Bring it on !


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## AR (Mar 31, 2016)

Rob Elliott said:


> Hey no one here would walk away from this sort of 'gig' - the exposure, visibility, $$$ just would be too much to say no....BUT...I for one am looking forward to Hans doing things along the lines of 'The Holiday', 'Spanglish', etc. My bet, when exposure, money, etc. are not in the consideration - he'll do what floats his boat - as he should. Looking forward to this next creative chapter.


I personally liked his scores for Last Samurai, Tears of the Sun, and all the other ethnic scores... plus, Pirates 3, because they kinda edited the film to the music. So tight!!


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## AR (Mar 31, 2016)

tokatila said:


> Blaah. I'm still waiting for the re-surfacing of the Crimson Tide and The Rock - style. Those were the good days. Anthems, you can't have too man(l)y anthems.



Yessss. I'm waiting for that period resurfaced too. But that doesn't going to happen, since everybody today is like "how to soke the audience in" by making more realistic environment -> a la Sicario.


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## dannymc (Mar 31, 2016)

yeah i really got the sense from watching Hans that what he was really thinking is "if another Director asks me to do an ostinato/spic/epic percussion score again, i"ll lose the will to live". i think we might hear a lot more exposed intimate sound from him going forward like for example the score for interstellar. you really feel he enjoyed that project immensely and wants to explore that path & creative direction further. only time will tell. 

Danny


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## Zhao Shen (Mar 31, 2016)

Hans is fantastic, and I really got the vibe that he was getting tired of making the same old stuff. I think he's at his best when he's free to experiment and try new things - he's an innovator, and he is so versatile... Look his works - Lion King, Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, Chappie... Even though I'm not a fan of some of those scores, so much of it is so different and that's awesome.


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## Chris D (Apr 1, 2016)

dannymc said:


> yeah i really got the sense from watching Hans that what he was really thinking is "if another Director asks me to do an ostinato/spic/epic percussion score again, i"ll lose the will to live". i think we might hear a lot more exposed intimate sound from him going forward like for example the score for interstellar. you really feel he enjoyed that project immensely and wants to explore that path & creative direction further. only time will tell.
> 
> Danny


+1 Interstellar really caught my ears, it's up there with The Green mile. Beautiful scores.


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## ghostnote (Apr 1, 2016)

I think the times of those 90s Anthems is long over. They worked back then, but filmmusic has changed pretty much since then. Go watch/listen to Armageddon, you'll get the idea.

I really hope Hans picks up where he left off after The Last Samurai. I always loved his melodic stuff like The Lion King or the Prince of Egypt, while his Superhero stuff seemed to be more rythmical oriented. I was a bit dissapointed hearing no melodic lines in The Dark Knight like at the end of Batman Begins.


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## chrysshawk (Apr 1, 2016)

Kudos to Hans.

In fact, it would be if the whole superhero business retired for a decade or so....


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## jononotbono (Apr 1, 2016)

No way man. People should be encouraged to make whatever films they want to make. Everybody has the choice to watch them or not watch them. It's quite easy to do either...


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## AlexanderSchiborr (Apr 1, 2016)

A bit of topic maybe: The whole superhero movie genre has become for me a parody of its own and so is the music. I love superhero movies but have hard times getting anything out of it because Hollywood just can´t tell any good stories anymore (which is sad and pisses me also of). The acting has gone so extremely bad that it hurts ecspecially when you are used to good acting like me who watches a lot of movies from the 40s and 50s. But well..if you don´t like it, don´t watch it. So I don´t. There was a general discussion on vic if filmsoundtracks need to stand on its own without picture. I still think a good soundtrack should (in ideal) be able to stand on its own. I was suprised a bit about his soundtrack for interstellar because I liked it and I think you can have a liking for it without seeing the picture and..I barely liked "any of his works from the past 15 years"..but well..I think this business is like a drug ecspecially when you are successful and he is definitely very much when it comes to commercial success. Retiring from what brought him fame? ..let´s see.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Apr 1, 2016)

I too am retiring from superhero films.

(...as I wrote on Facebook.)


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## Jediwario1 (Apr 1, 2016)

Michael Chrostek said:


> I really hope Hans picks up where he left off after The Last Samurai. I always loved his melodic stuff like The Lion King or the Prince of Egypt, while his Superhero stuff seemed to be more rythmical oriented. I was a bit dissapointed hearing no melodic lines in The Dark Knight like at the end of Batman Begins.



Same thoughts as me, those soundtracks are some of my favorites. Hans is really good at reinventing himself and after all the sequels he's been doing recently he just wants to do something new and fresh which is what we all want too. Whatever he does next is sure to blow us all away.


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## emid (Apr 2, 2016)

Hans is all about emotions. Even if he retires from superhero movies he is not going to stop composing emotional music for the movies like interstellar and such. I think he's going to set another trend now.


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## dannymc (Apr 2, 2016)

> Retiring from what brought him fame? ..let´s see.



i actually dont agree with this. yes the Batman/Chris Nolan sound has brought his success to new mainstream levels in the past 10 years but i think his fame and talent had been well and truly established before then. for me the break through score was Gladiator. even today that score is still like a symphony to me. and you can hear in scores such as the rock and crimson tide that that particular voice of zimmer was forming eventually reaching its peak with Gladiator. i think another score of his which sadly seems to get missed maybe due to the nature of the film is black hawk down, another highly evocative and emotional score no ostinato/spic cues evident here. it was more the success of the batman movie franchise that those late to Zimmer start to associate with him exclusively and then of course the knock on effect of this is that every trailer house in hollywood just wanted this formula signature sound because it would sell but i would still rate his other scores mentioned above anything in the batman movies and interstellar then took the creativity to a new brilliant level. 

Danny


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## tokatila (Apr 2, 2016)

Michael Chrostek said:


> I think the times of those 90s Anthems is long over. They worked back then, but filmmusic has changed pretty much since then. Go watch/listen to Armageddon, you'll get the idea.



Still awesome! I don't get what you mean. 



> I really hope Hans picks up where he left off after The Last Samurai. I always loved his melodic stuff like The Lion King or the Prince of Egypt, while his Superhero stuff seemed to be more rythmical oriented. I was a bit dissapointed hearing no melodic lines in The Dark Knight like at the end of Batman Begins.



Kung Fu Panda 3 has some great melodies, it seems that the best soundtracks are nowadays in animations.


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## whinecellar (Apr 2, 2016)

chrysshawk said:


> Kudos to Hans.
> 
> In fact, it would be (good?) if the whole superhero business retired for a decade or so....



Ha... couldn't agree more. I can't imagine the pressure to constantly try and create something fresh for a genre that continues to repeat itself ad nauseam. Almost as important, it is likely responsible for the overuse of the word "epic" - which should also be retired for at least a decade 

Kudos indeed to Hans though. Just gave a listen to Gladiator last night - still utterly sublime!


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## chrysshawk (Apr 2, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> No way man. People should be encouraged to make whatever films they want to make. Everybody has the choice to watch them or not watch them. It's quite easy to do either...


This is "no way" contrary to me thinking it would be nice though. I also think it would be nice if all movies are great and creative, but that doesn't mean I expect it.


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## pkm (Apr 2, 2016)

Getting out of the superhero biz is going to be Hans' best career move since getting into the superhero biz. It's time.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Apr 2, 2016)

The end of the dominance of the super hero flick, even if not for tomorrow yet, may turn out to be a good thing for us, film composers. Mega budgets suck the air dry for many movies that are not being made as a consequence.


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## doctornine (Apr 2, 2016)

A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bike.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Apr 2, 2016)

But a man needs a maid.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Apr 2, 2016)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> The end of the dominance of the super hero flick, even if not for tomorrow yet, may turn out to be a good thing for us, film composers. Mega budgets suck the air dry for many movies that are not being made as a consequence.



The problem is that they need to sell them in China, and they can't afford to market them from scratch. So they make Son of Superman-Batman Sex Tapes, followed by the Grandson...

I too would sure like to see more smaller-budget films made - if for no other reason than that there would be more good ones. It wouldn't bother me if there was a 5-year ban on CGI either.


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## jononotbono (Apr 2, 2016)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> But a man needs a maid.



Certainly an Alfred.


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## jononotbono (Apr 2, 2016)

(Not the one out of Batman and Robin - just to clarify. I'll sleep better tonight now that's out on the table).


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## newtonbach (Apr 2, 2016)

I guess this means more work for Brian Tyler , seriously though I can respect his decision because at some point when you realize you are not exploring new territory as an artist, it becomes a job.


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## Pysmythe (Apr 2, 2016)

Michael Chrostek said:


> I think the times of those 90s Anthems is long over. They worked back then, but filmmusic has changed pretty much since then. Go watch/listen to Armageddon, you'll get the idea.
> 
> I really hope Hans picks up where he left off after The Last Samurai. I always loved his melodic stuff like The Lion King or the Prince of Egypt, while his Superhero stuff seemed to be more rythmical oriented. I was a bit dissapointed hearing no melodic lines in The Dark Knight like at the end of Batman Begins.


I wouldn't mind hearing something a little more lighthearted, too, if the opportunity came up, like the score from As Good as It Gets. I never hear people talk about that one much, but the clarinet in that film is just perfect.


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## mwarsell (Apr 3, 2016)

I'd like to see Hz revisit something like the Thin Red Line.


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## germancomponist (Apr 3, 2016)

I think it is very cool that Hans did not write a comment here in this thread.


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## autopilot (Apr 3, 2016)

Well I for one hope we finally get the Buggles reunion concert tour we deserve.


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## kunst91 (Apr 3, 2016)

mwarsell said:


> I'd like to see Hz revisit something like the Thin Red Line.



Why I'm looking forward to Dunkirk


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## jonathanwright (Apr 4, 2016)

The first score of Hans' I remember was 'Bird on a Wire', looking back I'm not sure if the film itself was any good, but that theme always sticks in my head.

It has that melodic style that pops up in scores like 'The Rock' (in a more bombastic way, of course).


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## SterlingArcher (Apr 5, 2016)

autopilot said:


> Well I for one hope we finally get the Buggles reunion concert tour we deserve.



Would like to see that. Always liked 'Video Killed The Radio Star' and I will admit I got a bit of double take when I first saw and recognized a rather pale gentleman tapping away on the keyboard. He's grown up a bit since then.


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## autopilot (Apr 5, 2016)

SterlingArcher said:


> Would like to see that. Always liked 'Video Killed The Radio Star' and I will admit I got a bit of double take when I first saw and recognized a rather pale gentleman tapping away on the keyboard. He's grown up a bit since then.




Video Killed is genuinely my favourite pop song of all time - and just one of those little signs you'll have a great day when you hear it on the radio.


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## dannymc (Apr 11, 2016)

i think this interview also puts into context where Hans is now. if you don't watch the whole thing (which i highly recommend) just watch the last 10mins to hear what Horner's (RIP) feelings on the whole super hero thing were.


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## higgs (Apr 18, 2016)

I heard a few blips that he's using a good deal of his free time afforded him as he retires from super hero films for a pretty big undertaking with the Spitfire gents. It is expected to take a few years in development: HZ Bagpipe Swarm. Prolly just a rumor though, unfortunately.


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