Hollywood music composer Hans Zimmer was born
as Hans Florian Zimmer on 12 September 1957 in Germany’s Frankfurt city. He
created his mark in music at a young age. In his early twenties he was a part
of the rock band group called “The Buggles”. His composition for the song
“Video killed the Radio Star” aired on MTV (August 1, 1981) became a massive
hit worldwide. His composition for "The Age of Plastic," was also a massive
hit.
Initially he raised, learnt & worked in
London. As his music became popular worldwide, he got an offer to compose music
for a Hollywood movie ‘Rain Man’. Rain Man (1988) was a big hit movie & was
winner of Academy Award for best motion Picture, it even won a Golden Globe
Award for best picture. Mr. Zimmer had got Academy Award nomination for
composing the original score but unfortunately he didn’t win. He even composed
music for the movie Driving Miss Daisy (1989). The next year ‘Driving Miss
Daisy’ won Academy Award for best motion Picture, it even won a Golden Globe
Award for best motion Picture. Thus Mr. Zimmer became popular in Hollywood as 2
consecutive movies in which he composed music got Academy Awards & Golden
Globe Awards. His popularity made him get big assignments from big Hollywood
productions & thus he had to shift his base to United States of America
from London.
In the 1990s Mr. Zimmer scored outstanding
music in movies like Days of Thunder (1990), Thelma & Louise (1991), Backdraft
(1991), The power of one (1992), True Romance (1993), Beyond Rangoon (1995), Crimson
Tide (1995), Nine Months (1995), The Whole Wide World (1996), The Peacemaker
(1997), As Good As It Gets (1997), Sense of Snow (1997), The Thin Red Line
(1998), The Prince of Egypt (1998), etc.
2000 was a great year for Mr. Zimmer. His music
“Now we are free” for the movie Gladiator became popular worldwide. “Now we are
free” sung by Liza Gerrard was so profound, in my personal opinion it drove even
those people who aren’t found of watching intense action movies to their nearby
theatres. Another release in year 2000 was Mission Impossible 2. The movie’s
music was done by various artists including Limp Bizkit, Klaus Badelt, etc. The
Injection track of Mission Impossible 2 that Mr. Zimmer created featured Lisa
Gerrard’s voice, I found it extremely remarkable. The musical tone after Ethan
Hunt masks Hugh Stamp’s face & Sean Ambrose fires bullets on Hugh Stamp
without knowing that Hugh Stamp’s face is masked by Ethan Hunt’s face is
extremely remarkable. As Limp Bizkit’s band was extremely popular in the 2000s,
initially I felt that Limp Bizkit’s music will overshadow Mr. Zimmer’s music
but I felt that Mr. Zimmer’s music has no match & nothing can be compared
to his creation.
2001 was again an excellent year for Mr. Zimmer
as his work for movies like Hannibal, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down got highly
appreciated.
One of a great hit song of Bryan Adams &
also a big hit of year 2002 “Here I am” was also composed by Mr. Zimmer.
He even scored impressive music in movies like
The Ring (2002), Tears of the Sun (2003), The Last Samurai (2003), Sherlock
Holmes (2009). His music for “Pirates of the Caribbean” is highly remarkable.
Music plays an integral part in animated
movies. His work for the movie The Lion King (1994) made him win an Academy
Award for Best Original Score, a Golden Globe, an American Music Award, a Tony,
& 2 Grammy Awards. Even his score for other animated movies like Shark Tale
(2004), Madagascar (2005), Kung Fu Panda (2008) & Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
were remarkable.
Mr. Zimmer’s work with Mr. Nolan director of
Batman trilogy, Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight
Rises (2012) was commendable. The best I liked was the sound of anarchy which
he created for The Dark Knight (2008). The sound of anarchy was for the Joker
which he created by mixing 2 notes is a mood intensifier. It’s simple yet so
gripping. It gives feeling of anarchy & tension. It makes feel that
something serious is going to happen & increases curiosity. I don’t have
words to praise the background score that he gave when Batman is active on
screen.
Mr. Zimmer’s work for the movie Inception
(2010) is also highly commendable. Inception wasn’t an easy movie to understand
& had its music not been to that mark it wouldn’t have been such a massive
blockbuster. Its music made me understand the emotions its characters were
going through. The best background I felt was when Cobb is in Ariadne’s dream
& Cobb guides Ariadne how to build it. After building some glass walls
Ariadne breaks it & Cobb thinks about his wife Mal. The background score
when he thinks about his wife Mal is superb. I even liked the background music
when Robert Fischer enters a room to talk to his father (Maurice Fischer) who’s
lying on his bed. Maurice Fischer is seen uttering disappointed. Robert Fischer
felt that his father was disappointed as he wasn’t able to be like his father
however Maurice Fischer says “I was disappointed as you tried to be like me.”
& then Mr. Zimmer’s masterful background sound begins. The sound’s
amplification took me to another level when I heard it. Even in the end of the
movie the background music when Cobb is inspected by airport security guards is
fantastic.
He even had composed music for Academy Award
for Best Picture movie & Golden Globe Award for the Best Motion Picture, 12
Years a Slave (2013).
He has even created music for some video games
like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 & Crysis 2.
In a documentary shown on DW TV Channel about
Mr. Zimmer, I got to know that Mr. Zimmer was born in a wealthy family. His
father was an engineer & mother was a musician. He even said “My father
died when I was just a child, & I escaped somehow into the music and music
has been my best friend."
Mr. Zimmer has got prestigious Lifetime
Achievement Award in Film Composition from the National Board of Review. He has
also received ASCAP's Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was also
named in the list of Top 100 Living Geniuses, published by The Telegraph. He
happens to be amongst a few people in the world to have won an Oscar Award, 3
Grammy Awards, 2 Golden Globe Awards & a Tony Award.
Mr. Nolan’s upcoming movie Interstellar also
has Mr. Zimmer’s music, I’m sure his music will garner a lot of positive
discussions.
References: -
1. IMDb. Hans Zimmer Biography. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001877/bio
(accessed September 12, 2014).
2. Top 100 living geniuses. October 28, 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1567544/Top-100-living-geniuses.html
(accessed September 12, 2014).
3. Zimmer, H. (2011, December 26).
Documentaries and Reports. DW.
4. Image source for Hans Zimmer is https://plus.google.com/+HansZimmer
(accessed 12 September 2014).
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