Michael Giacchino's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) - 2022 Expanded Edition now available

[Jay 37,249]

What if Joe Kraemer scored the next Bond film?

[Quintus 5,399]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No more Americans please!  

[MedigoScan 324]

To me Godzilla proved that Desplat can score action just fine

 

Ah well

[KK 3,307]

Bullshit!

 

I've officially lost interest in this film. Haven't been this disappointed in a while.

[Quintus 5,399]

 

Am I in hell? Someone just shoot me and be done with it. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I didn't order a cappuccino with my SW.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

14 minutes ago, KK said:

Bullshit!

 

I've officially lost interest in this film. Haven't been this disappointed in a while.

 

Finally! An opinion i can get behind

[Wojo 2,453]

26 minutes ago, Quintus said:

 

Am I in hell? Someone just shoot me and be done with it. 

 

Can't. There are no guns in England. 

[Luke Skywalker 1,792]

Another reasonable choice would havee been William Ross.

 

But maybe he is busy working with williams on EPVIII

 

I also think Pope on his own could have nailed it.

[Jay 37,249]

The Disney Executives who are behind decisions like this know who Giacchino is.  They don't know who William Ross or Joel McNeely are

[Luke Skywalker 1,792]

William ross did the disneyworld music for star tours. And helped Williams on VII.

 

The would have heard of him... Yeah they want a big name,i suppose.

 

Cant complain seeing the outcome

[Quintus 5,399]

I don't really know what Jason's agenda is here saying this about Ross...

 

34 minutes ago, WojinPA said:

 

Can't. There are no guns in England. 

 

.22 air rifles aren't. One of those could take a person's eye out if you weren't careful. Or at least really sting on the arse. 

[Jay 37,249]

I mean exactly what Luke said, that the Disney execs want a big name for their December tenipole SW film.  William Ross never stood a chance.  Doesn't mean he doesn't deserve one.

 

It's another way of saying this swap was more of a political decision than an artistic one.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Star Wars deserves a big name anyway. Not competent but anonymous "behind the scenes" people like Pope or Ross.

[Marian Schedenig 8,153]

4 hours ago, publicist said:

Christopher Gordon (really the only one with an ability to conjure the depth of Williams' more academic approach while still being able to sound 'Hollywood' enough). Not gonna happen in 5 million years nor faraway galaxy, though.

 

Oh, good choice. Gordon would be one of my picks, though I didn't think of him when I tried to come up with living, active composers I'd favour.

 

JNH would be my top candidate, because he can still write great, "symphonic" music when he wants, and he's proven that he can do some of his best work on a very short schedule (see King Kong). Broughton could be good, too, if he's inspired by the material, but he doesn't seem to be getting any big projects anymore. Goldenthal sadly seems to be done with film (unless Taymor does the next Star Wars).

 

The Desplat/Giacchino switch is interesting. It doesn't really make me any more or less excited about the whole thing. Or perhaps it does. Let me explain.

 

I can't really, actually imagine a SW score by either composer at this point. I don't see them as a great fit when scoring SW in their own, unique style, which Goldenthal might be. But neither do I see them as a great fit for doing a convincing, inspired JW impression - though I give Giacchino better chances for that than Desplat. The question is if he'll be able to adapt a consistently "symphonic" sound and not just mix Williams quotes with his standard post-Lost style.

 

I used to be a big fan of Giacchino. His Medal of Honor scores were certainly special for the time they were written, although they're so much more Williams-styled than all his later stuff that I wonder if this was a deliberate choice or perhaps a stronger influence of his orchestrators on his earlier scores. I also still think he did great stuff on Alias, and Lost was a perfect fit for its series, and despite its raw and spartan sound it was chock full of leitmotifs for the show's numerous characters, keeping it interesting.

 

But then that Lost sound stuck, and his scores became often just more of the same - the same style, but less interesting because he didn't have years of character based themes to ground them. The much lauded John Carter is very bland for me for this very reason.

 

Recently though, Giacchino seems to have found new inspiration. Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol is perhaps the best score from the series and has some refreshingly prominent themes and some of his best action writing. Jupiter Ascending's The Titus Clipper, with its grounding ostinato forming a consistent base for the rest of the cue playing on top of that (in this case in the form of a surprisingly Barry-esque theme) was new ground for him. That stuff also features in Jurassic World and, with much more openly thematic "foreground music", in Tomorrowland.

 

All these scores run out of steam on their overlong CD releases, but they have worthwhile highlights. And, more importantly, they show what has been mentioned above: Giacchino is a film composer first, composer second. That's limiting on the one hand, but it also means that his scores usually support their films really well - and especially stuff like Tomorrowland, where Brad Bird allows the score to carry the film at times, has moments where the music really meshes perfectly with the visuals. As such, I think Giacchino *could* write a really good score for a SW film, provided that he's inspired enough and refrains from falling back to the "generic Giacchino sound".

 

Desplat on the other hand I'm still not very familiar with. I love The Grand Budapest Hotel. His recent The Secret Life of Pets is great fun, but I didn't end up playing it as often as I'd expected. But neither of these scores would be right for a SW film, regardless of whether you want to stick to the JW sound world or not. What I've heard of his big blockbuster scores was mostly rather unmemorable to me. Godzilla starts out great, but I zone out before the first track is over. I remember nothing from his second Potter score, and from the first very little aside from the brilliant fireplace escape cue and the Christmas choral pieces (which I believe was written by Pope). As such, better composer or not, it would have been interesting to hear what he'd do with SW, but I was never sure if I'd find much to enjoy about his score, even if everyone else gave it the hightest marks.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Neither are really good enough to score a Star Wars film, or atleast they aren't good enough for us to believe they can approach the level of musicianship we have associated with Star Wars for all these dacades.

 

The truth is both are probably more then competent enough to satisfy the requirents of any 2016 PG-13 blockbuster. 

[KK 3,307]

Desplat's level of craftsmanship and musicality is leagues ahead of Giacchino though. And at least we could have expected something unique to have been brought to the table, while still respectfully grounded in the traditional SW vocabulary we're accustomed to.

 

With Giacchino...yawn.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yep....

[Nemesis 244]

I can not say that I am disappointed. Though I was really disappointed by the Potter scores 7 & 8. What a missed opportunity!

I just hope that Giacchino doesn't writes a new Trek score for Star Wars. I like the Trek scores but it would be nice if he could give Star Wars another touch. And I don't think he should do a Williams cameo...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's 100% impossible that Gia won't reference Williams's Star Wars score just a little bit. Though I doubt he will do a pastiche score.

[Nemesis 244]

Yeah, that's probably right. I just think he shouldn't try to sound like Williams.

Man, I am REALLY looking forward to SW VIII!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes!

 

Just have to get through the next 14 months or so!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

1 hour ago, WojinPA said:

 

Can't. There are no guns in England. 

 

The fuck there aren't. What's your address, Lee?

 

 

 

I've read that, on D of the POTA, he references JG's POTA. Can anyone tell me where?

 

Personally, I want to hear the 4-note Death Star motif. I do not want to hear The ImperiaI March; that should be kept for JW's scores, only.

[Kühni 485]

.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

36 minutes ago, Richard said:

Personally, I want to hear the 4-note Death Star motif. I do not want to hear The ImperiaI March; that should be kept for JW's scores, only.

 

I think you're setting yourself up for disappointment there my friend.  I'd be happy to be proven wrong though!

[Muad'Dib 1,800]

There's no way the executives won't ask for the Imperial March.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

And Gia will be all to eager to please.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

I know, I know, I know. I'm on to a loser, but I can dream, damnit!

[leeallen01 2,133]

Apparently Desplat and Pope are protesting outside Disney headquarters now. 

[toothless 963]

Well, given that gia will try to emulate williams style and heavily re use his themes, be prepared for a load of comments such as:
- "Wow john williams really knocked it out of the park this time"
- "Well better than TFA"

Anyway, I was thrilled to hear desplat's take on star wars ; but I guess it could have been worse. In fact I'm much more worried about the reshoots themselves than by gia replacing desplat.

[Jay 37,249]

1 hour ago, Richard said:

I've read that, on D of the POTA, he references JG's POTA. Can anyone tell me where?

 

 

There isn't any.  What I mean is, he doesn't ever reference any of Goldsmith's melodies, or any particular passages.  However, he does sometimes, especially in the action music, do a kind of Goldsmith style a bit, and uses some of the same wacky percussion instruments.  But there is no direct homage.  Just listen to the OST on Spotify and see if you like it.

[ymenard 54]

Giacchino has created a lot of great militaristic cues for videos games during his early 2000 period.  If he can go back a little to this period it would be great.  While we do not know if Rogue One is that type of movie (sci-fi war movie), all point it to that.  So Snare-drums, big bombastic sound, attack cues with a big build-up using a strong leitmotif A mixed with a minor B one, desperation of war, etc... Giacchino has it covered all.

 

Exhibits :

 

 

 

 

 

 

[leeallen01 2,133]

Those pieces are great. Exactly what I'd like from Giacchino for Rogue One.

[Damien F 1,742]

 

[publicist 4,643]

3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

JNH would be my top candidate, because he can still write great, "symphonic" music when he wants, and he's proven that he can do some of his best work on a very short schedule (see King Kong). 

 

Obviously.

 

I don't mind Giacchino doing this (zero interest in the movie) but these shenanigans still are a most unwelcome studio powerplay that is wholly unnecessary. To sack Desplat before he even could really write his score is just so careless and crass after hiring him in the first place that i wish them all the misfortune this movie can possibly suffer.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Just now, dfenton85 said:

 

 

He he he...bastard!

 

He couldn't even be bothered to correctly spell his colleagues name...

[publicist 4,643]

Giacchino has exactly the same schedule Desplat would have had, no? Of course, french joie de vivre means he probably didn't check his schedule to make room for this incredibly huge blockbuster and had a frog and oyster dinner appointment back in Paris that he just couldn't miss.

[leeallen01 2,133]

9 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

 

He he he...bastard!

 

He couldn't even be bothered to correctly spell his colleagues name...

 

If this was a school playground, you be pulling on his hair and calling him a stupid-face.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No.

[Jay 37,249]

4 minutes ago, publicist said:

Giacchino has exactly the same schedule Desplat would have had, no? Of course, french joie de vivre means he probably didn't check his schedule to make room for this incredibly huge blockbuster and had a frog and oyster dinner appointment back in Paris that he just couldn't miss.

 

I think the point was that Desplat thought he'd be writing the score this summer and recording it in September, and he had some other obligation for Oct/Nov Dec.

Now with the reshoots, a cut wasn't ready to be spotted this summer and the score will probably be recorded in November or so.  That's the schedule problem.

 

Yes, of course any composer hired now would have the same schedule between now and the final recording session

[publicist 4,643]

Would he really use the wording 'Giacchino happened and we have to deal with that' or words to that effect if that would be the case? 

[leeallen01 2,133]

Maybe Desplat finally realised that whatever he does he will be wrong anyway, and thought "let someone else live with the 'not as good as Williams' crap."

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Even Jason doesn't think Gia is as good as Williams.

[Jay 37,249]

Even Giacchino doesn't think Giacchino is as good as Williams.

[Damien F 1,742]

Even Williams doesn't think Williams is as good as Williams

[leeallen01 2,133]

Of course Giacchino isn't as good as Williams. That's nothing to be ashamed of. If Williams is the best then, by logic, no one is as good as Williams.

[Jay 37,249]

Indeed

[Naïve Old Fart 9,488]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

 

 

There isn't any.  What I mean is, he doesn't ever reference any of Goldsmith's melodies, or any particular passages.  However, he does sometimes, especially in the action music, do a kind of Goldsmith style a bit, and uses some of the same wacky percussion instruments.  But there is no direct homage.  Just listen to the OST on Spotify and see if you like it.

 

Thanks. I will.

[Dixon Hill 4,232]

3 minutes ago, dfenton85 said:

Even Williams doesn't think Williams is as good as Williams

 

Sometimes, he's right.