10 Awesome Musical Scores That Deserved Better Movies

Actually a far better movie than it is often given credit for, this abortive opening episode to a never-continued attempt to make Philip Pullman's anti-Narnia epic His Dark Materials into the next Lord Of The Rings is nevertheless ultimately a failure, at least commercially.

Still, in Alexandre Desplat, The Golden Compass uncovered a fantasy composer with a genuine sense of magic and wonder in his work.

The Frenchman had then just begun to establish himself by composing the scores for classy period dramas like Girl With A Pearl Earring and The Painted Veil. The Golden Compass was where he really stretched himself, though. A kind of classical romanticism remains from those earlier works, but it is now paired with idiosyncratic and ethereal sounds, and otherworldly harmonies.

Desplat would hit major financial success scoring the final Harry Potter films and Oscar glory with The Shape Of Water, but this otherwise flop film remains some of his most magical music.

Pullman's series is being rebooted with an ambitious BBC miniseries set to air later this year. The BBC producers would do well to look to Desplat for musical inspiration, even if they take nothing else from this earlier attempt.