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I like Mike's interpretation: http://www.jwfan.com/?p=929

1. Blade Runner 2. Koyaanisqatsi 3. Wrath of Khan 4. The Wall 5. Conan the Barbarian

I watch the Team Negative 1 (“Silver Screen”) edition of Star Wars, and Harmy’s (“Despecialized”) edition of Empire and Jedi. But either way, yeah, there are some really excellent, incredibly meticulous fan restorations of the original films, with high definition, 5.1 surround sound, and lacking the reddish hue and other problems (not to mention deliberate changes) of the official releases. I used to be fine with the 2006 “theatrical” DVDs, but being able to see much more detail is a delight. Beautiful films. And I noticed on Harmy’s Empire (maybe on the others) you can select to watch with just the isolated score.

Williams never conducted in continental Europe, just in the UK. I do seem to recall a personal letter he sent someone, where he mentioned he was enjoying some vacation in Europe, and maybe he made some reference to Vienna... not sure anymore. I should have a picture of that letter somewhere on my archives and will try to find it.

But who and why...harder to answer. Meditate on this I will.

The Color Purple is top 5 Spielberg and Quincy's score doesn't get enough love.

The Matrix, Sixth Sense, The Red Violin, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The legend of 1900, the End of the Affair... I would have many to choose from

Okay, so I'll rephrase: I hate that everyone pretends to be Hans Zimmer.

That's funny, because everyone I know, including those who like the prequels, acknowledge the fact that the trilogy (for the most part) has very shoddy and heavily-dated CGI.

Don't blame Zimmer for also rans copying his inverted Alberti bass patterns.

Bothers me more and more as I get older, the people who treat film music (or any other artform) like sports teams. To be rooted for and pitted against and trash talked. Stop doing that!

The problem is he's dead, and we're stuck with people like Nolan.

Too much truth for ya?

Slightly? This guy from FSM is qualified to work on Disney quality control department.

Are you implying that Thor deliberately crashed his HD to destroy any masters of music that was not part of the album edits? No, I was just abusing him as an example of how easily digital data can be lost. Although a big, world wide company should of course have a decent, decentralised backup system. Emphasis on "should".

Thanos is the best thing about the film.

Super villains, different rules:

A Jaws remake would be great! You could have Zac Efron as Brody, The Rock as Quint, and Hooper would need to be a woman, maybe Alexandra Daddario. Make it a real modern R-rated stoner comedy.

@Will, I don't think he ever has conducted the Vienna Philharmonic. The Vienna Phil doesn't play his music very often, but when they do it is quite a treat. I do hope they broadcast the concert on PBS.

Wow...he is really keen on travelling now. Can't wait for his inevitable concert aboard the International Space Station!

This is incredible news, not just for the prestige of the VPO, but for the notion that Maestro Williams is evidently still willing and able to tour globally. I'll keep dreaming of an Australian tour in the meantime.

I'm not afraid of you and your aggressive tone, Bellsy. Bring it!

Which movie do you wish JW had written the score for the most? The Color Purple. It's the best overall film of the bunch and would have provided the best dramatic potential for Williams. That being said, I love Quincy Jones' score. Bridge of Spies would have made for a decent (if short) Americana/thriller score but not too different from anything we would have had before (in fact, I'd say last year's The Post pretty much fills all the check-marks BoS would have). Ready Player One would have been cool but I'm not at all dissatisfied with Silvestri's work. Which movie do you like best? The Color Purple Which score do you like best? 1. Ready Player One 2. Bridge of Spies 3. The Color Purple They're all great though

In no particular order: Chicken Run Gladiator The Patriot Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Cast Away

Now that's reasonable. I'm sure we all hate when any composer tries to be some other composer. That's not how you get good music.

Copyright protection probably won't be a problem then! You could still try Handbrake, it's completely free. Is there any chance you could upload a picture or two of the cover art and the little info box on the back? And if you can watch the movies fine, it's very simple to tell which version of the movies they are.

The issue with the CGI in the prequels is the real life actors fail to convince that they're really interacting with what's portrayed as "there", but we know it isn't. More recent films seem to have overcome this bug and now it's far more seamless, and therefore, convincing. I really believe Peter Quill is interacting with a CGI tree and raccoon, or Gamora is having a tender moment with Thanos.

Here's what I dislike about a lot of reviews for superhero and action movies. People complain all the time about how there's "too much CGI." If the CGI is great, what does it matter? Why can't it be a classic if the villain is computer-generated instead of a burly guy in a big rubber suit? What's so objectionable about the simple use of CGI. I especially hear this about the SW prequels. "There's too much CGI," "They didn't use any actual sets," the list goes on. But even the haters agree that the prequel CGI is amazing and doesn't look that weird at all. So what's the problem with CGI? Also, Spiderman was great.

I'm always happy!

Rubbish!

Agreed. Willow is aces.

Of awesome! love Willow!

Guys, I'm not gonna lie. It has been SO much fun working on Willow. Putting finishing touches on things today. Tons of microedits and looping and stuff, but it's such a WONDERFUL score to listen to against picture. I've always loved the OST, but I feel like this has really unlocked the score for me in a new way. Even if there's not much community response, it's been a blast working on this and totally worth it. Can't wait to start posting them

Quite a name for one of the most esteemed orchestras in the world.

Tomek, not Komet. Considering how long they took to announce the guest of honour this year, it seems obvious that they were trying to get Williams. My guess is he got offers from both Hollywood in Vienna and the Philharmoniker, and either the Philharmoniker had the better offer, or it was just his personal preferences to choose them. I'm certainly happy that he did - not only because it's the Philharmoniker (honestly, a properly rehearsed RSO is first rate, too), but because it's going to be a proper concert, with complete original compositions and without amplification. For both Vienna dates, actually. Hey, I was there, too - did we know this before? In fact, Williams has never conducted any kind of concert in Austria. I don't recall if there's any indication that Williams has ever even been here, but I'm sure @Miguel Andrade and @Thor have records on this.

Don't you EVER say his name!!!!!!!

Chris Nolan is incapable of doing anything wrong. That's his curse. That's why some people hate him so much. His ascension is indeed The Second Coming. Karol

Anyone going to send back their Empire? Apparently some people have no issue with it, see this exchange between myself and DMD over at FSM (emphasis my own): DMD, have you listened to The Asteroid Field and Battle in the Snow? The Astroid Field the old version seems more dryer than the new one, slightly more reverb on the new one. Both are interesting as they are slightly different, depends on listening taste as to which one people will enjoy better. I'm happy and glad I have these new ones and glad they tweaked some stuff. Source: http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?forumID=1&pageID=11&threadID=126331&archive=0 How could I have gotten this so wrong? Another poster at FSM linked to this, some interesting discussion there: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/star-wars-soundtracks-its-finally-happen-but-right-this-time.742251/ That's interesting. When listening to ESB I could have sworn Battle in the Snow sounded sped up on the 2018. I suppose digital could be sped up (I mean, in Audacity it's a few clicks and it's done) but as to why they would do that, who knows? Sheer incompetence, perhaps? Mike Matessino needs to please chime in and at least let us know if the ESB masters are intact or degraded beyond repair (if he knows at all).

The Gungan parade sounds really tinny and weird. AOTC comes alive more than on the OST and has nice dynamic range. Like the Rocketeer, I like it. Around five minutes into Return to Tatooine, you can hear these chimes or something that weren't audible on the original album.

In my opinion a expanded/complete edit definitely helps the score for AOTC. I learned to appreciate it a lot more with the new material from the games and what not.

I think the one on the left is a guy...

That isn't Lando's theme. Its the one for Cloud City. It doesn't follow Lando into Return of the Jedi, for example.

It would have been cool to have Williams conduct and record Beethoven's 7th. I think he could really bring out some new nuances.

Nope. Marvel Studios is not a signatory to the AFM, they'd rather record in London and not worry about back payments. Even though this film was shot primarily in Atlanta.

I hope they have a better backup system than Thor.

I don't think that's why Gandalf isn't given a theme. Shore scored the films with cultures and races in mind, only a few people are treated their own theme. The Hobbits are often lumped together represented by The Shire, broken down into various motifs around the locale. Gandalf and the Istari don't belong to any of the cultures represented in Middle-Earth. The Hobbit gives Gandalf a little theme which finds a way to announce his arrival at various moments during the story, which would seem to fit in with what Doug Adams has said before that LotR themes were driven by cultures, races and locations, and TH themes are driven by the characters.

There is clearly more compression between 1993 and 2018. I generally prefer less compression in orchestral music of this style. Compression during the mix/mastering stage means the floor of the volume will be raised so sometimes that can introduce hiss and ambient noises that were previously unnoticed. Generally speaking, a skilled mixer will use a multi-band compressor so it doesn't just raise all frequencies the same way because that isn't how instruments get loud. Some frequencies you might not want to raise as much as other frequencies. I haven't yet listened to any of these yet because Spotify compresses (now talking about the audio fidelity, not the mastering compression) the audio so I don't consider that an audiophile experience and haven't decided if I'm going to get this since I've purchased these damn soundtracks for the umpteenth time every time they come out with a new and improved version only to find out it solves some problems and introduces some new ones. I am still on the fence about these.

They are on the previous page, but I'll make it easier for you. Now do you see how you twist things, how you try to diminish what people say?

The SEs were my introduction to each score - to my then-13-year-old ears, they all sounded fine. Today, I can hear the difference if I listen to two tracks against each other from different releases, but my preferred album is still the SE. It doesn't mean they're great, but I'd argue against "unlistenable."