Catch Me If You Can vs. The Terminal

[Josh500 1,615]

Also tell us why! 

 

 

[Bespin 8,480]

At this moment, it's Catch me if you can both.

 

Ask me the same question next year and you'll probably get another answer. 

[Seth 67]

Do I have to pick? Because truthfully, aside from a couple of standout cues in each score, neither interests me much. I think "The Tale of Viktor Navorski" is a truly delightful concert arrangement, and "Jazz Autographs" is one of the most beautiful melodies he has written in this century, just a stunning tune that is emotionally direct without being saccharine or manipulative. I might even call it inspired. The score as a whole is not one I feel compelled to revisit, and I think it's been about 4 years since I listened to it. However, my issues with the score do not extend to the sound quality of the album. I think it's a wonderfully engineered recording.

 

I don't even know when I listened to Catch Me If You Can last, aside from the Escapades concert adaptation. I love the main title--it's clever, memorable, and perfectly orchestrated. I also have a very high opinion of "Recollections." It's such a lonely melody that is just right for encapsulating that particular relationship. I also admire the structure of the arrangement, with that languid middle section featuring the saxophone along with the bass. Gorgeous harmonies too. I much prefer this score in the context of Escapades, which I like for its handling of the saxophone with the orchestra, even though I think there are too many passages where the saxophone doubles the orchestra in ways that I think are superfluous. In my memory it's not an especially good recording. I don't know what was wrong with Shawn Murphy working for Williams that year, when Signs sounds so good.

[filmmusic 1,826]

On the whole, neither score satisfies my completely.

I love the Catch me if you can theme, it sounded very original at that time it was composed.

And from The terminal I love the love theme, again in the jazz idiom.

 

As for films, Catch me if you can by far.

[MrScratch 294]

Catch Me If You Can for both, easily.  

 

The Terminal is my least favorite JW score since John Goldfarb.

 

Catch Me If You Can is a decent movie, I have no interest whatsoever in ever seeing The Terminal.

[Will 2,215]

The Terminal for both, although it's close. 

[Brundlefly 2,385]

The Terminal is a very enjoyable movie, Catch Me If You Can, however, is one of Spielberg's best and stylistically most adult movies.

For score I voted The Terminal. Both are very light-hearted listens, but Catch Me If You Can is less eclectic.

[Arpy 4,145]

A difficult choice, I recently watched The Terminal and found it more enjoyable and entertaining a film than Catch Me If You Can, but I love CMIYC's score more. I still think CMIYC is a good film though.

[Josh500 1,615]

The Terminal the movie is one of my least favourite Spielberg movies, so maybe that fact colours my opinion of the score, but apart from the delightfully bucolic and bumbling main theme (this could have been from a 60's Italian or Russian comedy), I don't much care for the score. 

 

Catch Me If You Can, however, is one of my favourite Spielberg movies, and also one of my favourite JW scores. Full of brilliant and memorable moments both in the score, and film. I love the main title, "The Float," and also--especially!!!--"Learning the Ropes." This latter is an unrecognised masterpiece. So wonderfully light-hearted, fun, and somehow cunning. 

[Arpy 4,145]

Learning the Ropes is one of my most played cues, it's marvelous. It really serves to encapsulate the themes from the entire score in one long track that is easily digestible and a nice listen I've found for non-film score fans because of its quite light and airy jazz mannerisms. A Broken Home also has a lovely ending...

[Bilbo 3,709]

Catch Me if You Can for both. I really enjoy the score and the film but the Terminal is unwatchable dreck and I remember nothing of the score and I’ve heard some of it live so there’s no contest really. 

[crumbs 14,306]

The score for The Terminal would be a revelation in complete form, rather than the saccharine, schmaltzy OST representation of the score. CMIYC feels repetitive and a bit too fluffy for my liking, but the score's representation on album is even worse than The Terminal.

 

But CMIYC is clearly the better film though, by no small margin.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

1 hour ago, crumbs said:

The score for The Terminal would be a revelation in complete form, rather than the saccharine, schmaltzy OST representation of the score. CMIYC feels repetitive and a bit too fluffy for my liking, but the score's representation on album is even worse than The Terminal.

 

But CMIYC is clearly the better film though, by no small margin.

So true!

[Richard Penna 3,684]

I saw CMIYC many years ago, but I remember enjoying it more (and making a lot more sense) than The Terminal which feels rushed, especially the ending, where I feel you can tell that they had to change it at the last possible minute,.

 

Score-wise, The Terminal wins easily. The two primary themes are some of the most memorable JW came up with in that period and most of the underscore is pretty fun. It's only ruined by a repetitive, illogical album presentation.

 

I don't like jazz for the most part, so CMIYC just doesn't interest me at all.

[Arpy 4,145]

I find all of Williams' scores in complete form are revelatory. Strands of themes are uncovered, new motifs etc. I think there's an argument to be made in favour of both OST and C&C in the case of CMIYC because the material is quite thin in the film. Filmtracks' review quite aptly acknowledged that CMIYC is dreary and depressing, it has a few moments of breeziness and joy but I don't care, I'd take more dreariness and depressing music any day! Bring on the C&C LLL!

[Thor 7,493]

Easy choice. CMIYC is in a whole other league, both movie and score.

 

But I really like THE TERMINAL too. Underrated movie (Spielberg has rarely been more Howard Hawks), and a sweet, elegant score.

[leeallen01 2,136]

I adore his Terminal score. One of, if not my favourite Williams score. It feels so personal to him, especially because of the Jazz storyline and how he incorporated Jazz into the overall score. The piece 'Jazz Autographs,' feels like something a young Johnny Williams would have written back in his youth. 

 

I love his Catch Me If You Can Score, but Terminal for me is more special. The films I think are equally great.

[Josh500 1,615]

4 hours ago, Arpy said:

 Bring on the C&C LLL!

 

This would be a dream come true, yes!

[Jay 37,346]

I like both scores a lot, but would probably pick The Terminal as my favorite between the two; I've certainly listened to it more times than CMIYC, anyway.  Both are superb when you're in the right mood

 

For films, CMIYC is better.  CMIYC has a better and more interesting cast, and a more interesting story

[Score 770]

CMIYC for both. 

 

Although I am a bit uncertain, score-wise. They are both rather small works and in both cases the most interesting material can be found in a selection of few pieces, which is a rare occurrence in Williams' catalogue. Basically, CMIYC can be reduced to the Escapades suite, which I like very much (especially the Main Title stuff). From the score of The Terminal, I simply cannot stand "Viktor's Tale", which happens to be the main theme. On the other hand, "Jazz Autographs" is a masterpiece, and I prefer it to everything from CMIYC. I would have loved to see a larger concert suite from the Terminal, say three movements including "Viktor's Tale" (unavoidable), "Jazz Autographs" and something from the material written for Amelia's Dinner, maybe all arranged to have a prominent solo clarinet. It would have been a nice counterpart to the saxophone suite from CMIYC.

[Josh500 1,615]

On 14/11/2017 at 8:50 PM, Score said:

I would have loved to see a larger concert suite from the Terminal, say three movements including "Viktor's Tale" (unavoidable), "Jazz Autographs" and something from the material written for Amelia's Dinner, maybe all arranged to have a prominent solo clarinet. It would have been a nice counterpart to the saxophone suite from CMIYC.

 

You can just listen to the tracks 1, 14, and 7 consecutively, and basically that's what you have.

 

I'm not too wild about the concert arrangements made after the release of the OS albums. They seem like an afterthought, too removed from the movie themselves. I like the concert versions of the pieces as presented on the OST albums.

 

 

On 13/11/2017 at 5:09 AM, Arpy said:

A difficult choice, I recently watched The Terminal and found it more enjoyable and entertaining a film than Catch Me If You Can, 

 

I don't know. Both films are apparently based on or are at least inspired by true events, but The Terminal seems just a bit too wild, too fantastic and outlandish to take very seriously. 

 

It's a light-hearted comedy, sure, but the whole concept seems somewhat unbelievable, literally. 

[Incanus 5,714]

Catch Me If You Can for both questions. While Viktor's theme from Terminal and the love theme are terrific I prefer the Mancini-esque breezy jazzy feel of CMIYC not to forget Recollections which is the highlight of the score for me.