Lorne Balfe is Probably the Man Behind Your Favorite Movie

When it comes to movies, especially great movies, the credit often goes to the actors, directors, and screenwriters. That said, there are a legion of those who are invaluable to the movies you love. One of those is the composer. Don't believe me? Imagine a movie with no music. Imagine a grand, sweeping epic or blockbuster without a score to complement the images.

Composer Lorne Balfe knows a thing or two not only about curating mood through music, but trying to make some of the biggest movies in recent years that much more special. At only 48-years-old, Balfe, who was born in Scotland, has worked on some of the biggest movies of the last 10 years. His credits include:

• 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
• Mission Impossible – Fallout
• Bad Boys for Life
• Top Gun: Maverick
• Gran Turismo
• Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
• Bad Boys: Ride or Die

And those are just among his biggest works.

Most recently, Lorne Balfe composed the music for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, the long-awaited fourth installment of the Eddie Murphy-led comedy series. The film is set to be released on Netflix on July 3rd, and prior to its release, I got to chat with Balfe about what goes into being a cinematic composer:

It's many hats. I think sometimes you're acting as a music producer, you're kind of trying to think what is the style of this movie, what is the inspiration that we can be trying to tell here? You're trying to help the dialog, you're trying to help the actors sometimes because the acting might be problematic and they might not be doing what the director wants [....] but the main thing is being part of this team, being part of a group of filmmakers, which is very different than if you're just a songwriter and an artist [....] - Lorne Balfe on being a film composer

Balfe has worked alongside some of the biggest American filmmakers of the last couple decades, including Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Bay, and "Adil & Bilal," the duo behind the two most recent Bad Boys movies.

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In addition to Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Balfe spoke about his work on Top Gun: Maverick and his favorite scores he did for movies you probably didn't see too.

Take a listen to my interview with Lorne Balfe below, and check out Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F on Netflix on Wednesday, July 3rd!