Max Steiner single-handedly saved the 1944 World War II David O. Selznick American wartime home front epic "Since You Went Away". It would have been dead on arrival but Steiner picked up on the central problem of the film's fierce idealized universe and turned that into a virtue with his lilting and effective series of character driven themes and one of his most glorious waltzes and a stirring Main Theme that announced that this was "Gone With the Wind" 1944...and it worked and deserved the Oscar for Best Original Score.
Wow this makes we want to hear the piece really badly.
"The Swarm". Incredible music for an incredibly bad film. Though t's not unwatchable. STTMP is one of my favorite movies. I just dig the vibe of that film and the score is one of the greatest achievements in film music. Some of the worst films with great scores came from the 50's and 60's. Especially big budget stinkers like Sodom and Gomorrah, The Bible, Casino Royale (67) and so many others.
RD
Dang. I thought I was first with SWARM but you nailed it.
Clearly Exorcist II; The audience was even chasing the filmmakers down the street as an angry mob according to Friedkin and writer Blatty I believe claimed the audience was laughing throughout it
Two James Newton Howard scored projects instantly come to my mind: Water Horse: Legend of the Deep and The Last Airbender. Especially Water Horse. I don't know what inspired James Newton Howard to write such a beautiful score for this film.