Hey all! Just curious to see what’s everyone’s inspirations.
For me, a score that made me realise the power that music has with picture was Cliff Martinez score with Drive. A couple other significant ones that I can think of would be Hans Zimmer score for the Dark Knight and Interstellar.
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Great question, but very hard to pick a specific score for me at least. 
I will pick a few that I love dearly:
- Howard Shore - LOTR
- John Williams - Star Wars, Jurassic Park
- Hans Zimmer - The Lion King, Pirates, Dark Knight
- Alan Silvestri - Back to the Future
- Patrick Doyle - Thor
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good question
in fact i go learning music when i have heard the toccata & fuga in D of JSB, then i have discovered the electronic music with jean michel jarre, kraftwerk and tangerine dream
Later i saw star wars and the great music of John william from this time i want to compose more and learn more, not to become John william or hans zimmer but just to compose a track that fit properly a picture, a scene , a short film
i am still studying composition and orchestration in a music conservatory for me everything start with classical music :
Toccata & fugue in D minor
the planet gustav holstz
the 25th and 40th symphonie of mozart
electronic music bring me a different approach with the beginning of MAO (atari st and pro24) and discover new styles, new composers, new sounds, new technologies
then all great composer for film
ennio moriconne, john william, jerry goldsmith, hans zimmer, alan silvestri
and now i try to do my best to compose track
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Oh I forgot Vangelis, master of cinematic electronica.
And I also love hybrid scores like Tron Legacy.
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Oh yes Tron what a masterpiece in its soundscape! Awesome scores!
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Love it! I discovered the Planets not long ago and it changed my perspective on orchestral music!
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Major influences and inspirations the first time around - which was in the 90’s - were probably No Limit (2 Unlimited), Trust Me (Pandora), and the Project-X/Amiga soundtrack.
As for orchestral film scores, I think the first ones that really got my attention was the original Star Wars trilogy, and I really love John William’s work in general. However, that was still long before it even occurred to me that composing for the orchestra would be a realistic possibility for anyone without the appropriate background and education.
I think the Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001) soundtrack by Bill Brown was what really got me thinking about writing music like that, but it still seemed out of reach, as it called for serious hardware and insanely expensive libraries.
Don’t remember exactly what triggered it, but early 2016, I got NI Komplete 10, and played around a bit with that. In November 2016, I got OT Metropolis Ark I - and that’s about where things went out of control…
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My biggest inspiration in music are:
John Williams - Star Wars, Hans Zimmer - The Rock, Pearl Harbor, Pirates of the Caribbean, Dark Knight, Gladiator, Nightwish (all albums with Tarja Turunen), Howard Shore - Lord of The Rings, Alan Silverstri- Back to The Future, Judge Dredd, Van Helsing, Christmas Carol, Robert Folk - Police Academy, all songs of Queen and Junkie Xl I guess - Mad Max: Fury Road.
These are the main influences and of course classical composers like Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart and etc. I’m also a metalhead but now it seems to me that I dont like “original” metal anymore, tired of it at all too repetitive and boring. So I’m all about mixing metal with cinematic music and I like only “old school” rock and metal stuff cuz year after year only “old school” bands like: Metallica, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Guns’n’Roses , Whitesnake, Yngwie Malmsteen, Europe are becoming better with all of their “old song” but modern metal music really suck to me maybe not all but most and cannot stand any extreme metal stuff anymore!
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Oh man, Police Academy…bad reviews on IMDB but so funny movies for a nerd like myself lol 
Since you mention Nightwish I would like to say I have also been very influenced by melodic metal bands like: Iron Maiden, Avantasia, Blind Guardian, Dream Evil, Kamelot etc. I wish my guitar skills were better, then I would totally add more guitars in my cinematic music.
Like the main riff if Pacific Rim composed by Ramin Djawadi. That score is powerful like metal!
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Old Kamelot with Roy Khan was super great a new one with don’t even know what is his name is too “gay” to me lol. And yes Old Avantasia rocks and Blind Guardian, also likes old Rahpsody with Fabio Lione… now too many “Rhapsodies” out there. 
Oh yeah how could I forget “Pacific Rim” still love this score, really brilliant Orchestral rock stuff! At least main theme is super great Orchestral rock track!
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My top picks:
Super Mario Galaxy 2 - End Credits
Super Mario Galaxy - Gusty Garden Galaxy
John Williams - Home Alone
Mike Patti - Hope Returns
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Same as a lot of other folks here, I grew up listening to John Williams - Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters, ET, Jaws. I loved how he developed themes and told stories with his music; he’s the first film composer I remember recognizing and thinking, I’d love to write music like that someday.
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Ooh, there are so many to chose from!
- Vangelis, “Chariots Of Fire”.
- Composer Klaus Badelt, producer, Hans Zimmer, "Pirates of the
Caribbean. - Glen Larsen, “Battlestar Galactica” 1978.
And so many more.
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hello
mozart symphony number 25
beethoveen fith symphony
paul ducas the sorcerer apprentice
john williams star wars, indiana jones, jaws
alan silvestri back to the future
jerry goldsmith mulan
camille saint saens the danse macabre
tchaikovski the nutscrackers
bach toccata and fugue in D minor
and there a lot other composer that bring me to music and composition
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Hmmm.
Beethoven’ 5th Piano Concerto and 5th Symphony.
Camille Saint-Saëns, 2nd Symphony
John Williams, Star Wars, Indiana Jones
Junichi Nakatsuru, SoulCalibur video game series
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For me it is more classical music which made me want to become a composer, with Chopin. But I also love film scores I really like John Williams with for example Schindler’s List and Star Wars soundtrack and Hans Zimmer with Inception or Dark Knight scores. I also love less grandiose music made for animated movies with composers such as Thomas Newman with the WALL-E or Finding Nemo soundtracks.
Here’s a playlist I created on Spotify with my favourite pieces by Chopin: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5mCCG3E7xng3FnTq1PlQM3?si=F4-AufJBQA2BIttlzSHf7Q
And here are my favourite film scores playlist I made:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5RQCuOJQhc59CsT3XALVFt?si=k2jAwfqeRkqvOyv-xWxh1Q
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For me it was when I saw that I could buy a whole symphony orchestra and have it in my computer. I think it might have been around 2007/2009. I don’t remember. I wanted to write classical music. I found video game music through my son. Assassin’s Creed and some other that inspired me and changed direction. Before that I wrote crappy singer/songwriter songs inspired by Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and pop and rock stuff. I like of course a lot of film scores that have inspired me and have listened a lot to it too. Howard Shore, Hans Zimmer to name a few. Maybe I write that symphony which made me buy my first orchestral library when I retire.
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I’d have to say a few of the old masters, starting with Beethoven Sym. #5 - not the first mvmt as much as the latter ones, particularly the 3rd and last: I still get chills thinking about it. Everything just fits together so well, and makes so much sense to me. I remember the time I first started REALLY listening and separating out the various melodies and countermelodies, and I was just awestruck how it all went together so perfectly.
I’d also have to include Dvorak Symp. #9 and Tchaikovsky Symph. #6
I think my love of these true classics has made it a bit harder for me to conform to more of a 21st century sound, but I tend to like hybrids or neo-classical I guess, and there is nothing wrong with that, huh?
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I totally agree Randy. I love #5 but it’s really movement IV that really brings it home. I can imagine Beethoven hopping and skipping down the streets of Vienna! I grew up on on the classics, so I find it hard to write with a more modern sound as that 19th century sounds always seems to creep into my compositions. I seem better at sounding like John Williams than Two Steps From Hell.
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I have a few, but one of them is the score for the movie, Halloween.