The Official "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" Appreciation Thread

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Gather round everyone, while we discuss our multi-faceted love for John's greatest score.

I'm listening to my own edit of the Stored Memories/Blue Fairy sequence, and I think it might work even better as a piece of standalone music than film score. Conjures up more than enough imagery and emotion totally on its own. But in the context of the film, I love the moment when the eerie choral writing suddenly gets slightly warmer, as though to confirm that the supermechas are friendly, benign, but still incredibly strange. I'd post a video with a timestamp, but that cue is not available on Youtube. It's the alternate (even though it's not an alternate) Stored Memories, for those who have it, about four minutes in exactly.

P.S. Keep this in GD!

[Faleel 5,340]

Never heard it.

[Jonesy 55]

Never heard it.

You must fix that right now. It's a wonderful score

[A24 4,326]

Some good tracks on this album (it starts off really strong) but some tracks are too techno and too mushy. Hate the Celine Dion atmosphere it sometimes evokes.

[Henry B 50]

My favorite Williams score. It's a glimpse into eternity, as stupid as that might sound.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Not stupid. Accurate!

Some good tracks on this album (it starts off really strong) but some tracks are too techno and too mushy. Hate the Celine Dion atmosphere it sometimes evokes.

Huh?! Which ones?

Never heard it.

Don't bother. It's crap.

[A24 4,326]

Huh?! Which ones?

If you don't know what I'm talking about, it means you are very okay with that atmosphere and you have at least one CD of Celine Dion in your collection.

Alex - profiler

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

P.S. Keep this in GD!

This is a John Williams score

Therefore it does not belong in GD! You are going against the wishes of our Beloved Moderating Team!

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Huh?! Which ones?

If you don't know what I'm talking about, it means you are very okay with that atmosphere and you have at least one CD of Celine Dion in your collection.

Alex - profiler

The only corner of my music collection I allow her to inhabit is the one she was escorted into by James Horner.

I'd love to see Sharky, Ludwig, and tedfud in here. This is a score I can analyze all day and all night.

[Romão 2,274]

The Search for the Blue Fairy, Stored Memories and the Mecca World are among my all time favorite pieces of music. And that melancholic Piano theme, which is totally absent from the OST (which I'm not sure what it represents) is JW's greatest unreleased theme

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

The Search for the Blue Fairy, Stored Memories and the Mecca World are among my all time favorite pieces of music. And that melancholic Piano theme, which is totally absent from the OST (which I'm not sure what it represents) is JW's greatest unreleased theme

I've always given that one the title of "A Child Lost" in my head, since it is applied to Monica, her husband, and Professor Hobby when dealing with lost children.

[filmmusic 1,823]

And that melancholic Piano theme, which is totally absent from the OST (which I'm not sure what it represents) is JW's greatest unreleased theme

Yearning for a Lost Child/Memory of a Child theme

http://www.jwfan.com/?p=3196

[nightscape94 965]

Hardly his best, but I would say certainly one of his best in this 3rd act of his career. Score suffers from a lack of cohesiveness because of the stucture of the movie, but taken on a track by track analysis, a great musical work with some great themes.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

In its original album presentation, it lacks cohesiveness. But in complete, chronological form, I find it works perfectly.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Count me out. The film is SS's worst, the score gathers dust.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Bye!

[Incanus 5,713]

Well you know how I feel about the score but let me reiterate: One of his best.

It is nice to see Joey coming out to play, even if it is to spew indifference and scorn on music.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

What's your favorite cue, Inky?

[Incanus 5,713]

Will You Die?/Perfume (Pouring Perfume)

Search for the Blue Fairy

Mecha World

David and the Supermecha (The Specialist Visits)

Reunion

Stored Memories and Monica's Theme

Where Dreams Are Born

Replicas

I'll stop now so I don't end up naming all of them.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

The whole sequence from To Manhattan - Where Dreams Are Born (End Credits) is my highlight reel. It's got it all!

[Incanus 5,713]

Fully agreed!

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

I really like how John uses electronics in this one. The nearly-inaudible start of The Arrival Of David is wonderful. Reminds a bit of the synth work from Silvestri's The Abyss.

[Incanus 5,713]

Yes his work is a bit more prominent than in most of his work but it complements the story very well, enhancing the organic/mechanic dichotomy of the main character for example.

[filmmusic 1,823]

The Stored Memories theme (with the choir) is sublime!

As is the Blue Fairy theme (in the search for Blue Fairy).

Those are my 2 favourite cues..

The film is also great and touching, although I'm not a big fan of its second part with the Jude Law character.

Have to buy this in Blu!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It is nice to see Joey coming out to play, even if it is to spew indifference and scorn on music.

I kinda agree with him. I don't think i've played this CD since....I dunno. The Weebo days.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Yes, the choral writing in the first two minutes of the "city under ice" sequence was the moment that made this score something extraordinarily special to me. There's a lot of talk about John's themes feeling "inevitable", and the usual examples pointed to are Indy, SW, Superman... I think those two minutes are the best example. It's music that sounds like it has always existed.

[Uni 306]

This score has certainly grown on me over the years . . . though it hasn't quite connected with me internally on the "masterpiece" level. (I don't preclude the possibility of that ever happening, of course. Some scores "awaken" to us, even after listening to them for years with no such effect.)

There's no denying that it's one of his most evocative works. It plays as much on a transcendent level as it does a conscious one; maybe that's what makes it harder for some folks to engage with. It's got a greater range than might be immediately obvious, too, going from emotionally strained and desperate ("Abandoned in the Woods"), to whimsical ("Hide and Seek"—a piece I've always considered the "For Gillian" of this score), to action-oriented ("The Moon Rising"), to deeply haunting ("Replicas"), to ethereally inspiring ("Search for the Blue Fairy" and "The Reunion"). I think its effectiveness, particularly in the latter passages, was best summed up just now:

It's music that sounds like it has always existed.

That's about it. For a lot of people, it might sound like eclectic mush—especially those who're hooked on Williams' knack for catchy themes and motifs—but it has a certain rightness to it that can't be denied. It's not just because it's soft and gentle, either. The same approach in Always didn't work nearly as well. Maybe because it's so patiently developed here (an aspect helped along by Spielberg's sometimes pedantic pace in the film itself), or maybe because it's attempting to appeal to something on a deeper emotional level than much of Williams' music does. I don't know. I can't say that it doesn't work for me, or for the movie; maybe it just hasn't worked all the way in yet. Maybe another viewing of the movie will help, since I've only seen it the one time. . . .

I will say that "For Always" is one of my all-time favorite songs written for a movie. Its passion is sublime, and the performance is amazing.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Oh, very nicely said!

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Well you know how I feel about the score but let me reiterate: One of his best.

It is nice to see Joey coming out to play, even if it is to spew indifference and scorn on music.

I gave it all the due it deserves. It's middle of the road John Williams and bottom of the barrel Spielberg.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Why are you here? This is an appreciation thread.

[Corellian2019 384]

I have too many favorite cues to pick from this score, but one that I immediately listened to after reading this thread was 'Remembering David Hobbie'; that harp and electronic sound at 1:27 accompanying Gigolo Joe and David walking in the forest is so catchy, yet it feels like affectionate melancholy (or is it melancholic affection?). I feel like this score is full of moments like that, probably why I adore it so much

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Joey can go fuck off.

This is Spielberg's masterpiece and arguably Williams's most moving score. Post-modern in a similar sense to Don Davis's MATRIX, but with a broader stylistic and emotional pallet. It forms a great double bill with the darker MINORITY REPORT - especially the later's material for Sean.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Hey, Always is a great score.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

It's very underrated. Always loved the ambient stuff for Hap.

[Red 75]

The whole sequence from To Manhattan - Where Dreams Are Born (End Credits) is my highlight reel. It's got it all!

Indeed it is. Both the score and movie have a very clear three act structure to them and as far as the score goes the third movement is not only the best of this score but certainly one of the best finales Williams has ever done. Whenever I revisit the score its always those last handful of cues. If I had to pick a favorite it would probably be "David and the Supermecha". Just incandescently gorgeous.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

The whole sequence from To Manhattan - Where Dreams Are Born (End Credits) is my highlight reel. It's got it all!

Indeed it is. Both the score and movie have a very clear three act structure to them and as far as the score goes the third movement is not only the best of this score but certainly one of the best finales Williams has ever done. Whenever I revisit the score its always those last handful of cues. If I had to pick a favorite it would probably be "David and the Supermecha". Just incandescently gorgeous.

All the little gestures in that cue are just perfect. Particularly love the incandescent (good word for this score), glassy synth when The Specialist enters the room.

[KK 3,307]

I know this score features some of JW's best stuff, but I haven't listened to it in a long time, and not nearly as much as I should have. It's been years since I last played the CD, and I'm not even sure why.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

Get your hands on the complete, chronological score if you can. The original album really does not do it justice.

[KK 3,307]

That may be what turned me "off" to it I guess. I think the OST gives the impression of a more fragmented score when it comes to its many ideas.

[Dixon Hill 4,233]

You may receive a gift tomorrow.

[KK 3,307]

Ooooh! Will JW be at my front door in the morning?

[Incanus 5,713]

The score can be divided into three acts (just like the film) and the album doesn't really do justice to the musical arc at all, being more of a highlight reel of the score and again with some strange Williams-styled musical editing choices.

[Uni 306]

Hey, Always is a great score.

It's very underrated. Always loved the ambient stuff for Hap.

It's too ambient, like aural air most of the time. Granted, it didn't have much cinematic substance to attach itself to, so maybe the better stuff just floated away or something.

That said, I do love the theme, especially performed as a concert version. Grand, inspiring, and as near to perfection as anything Williams ever did.

Get your hands on the complete, chronological score if you can. The original album really does not do it justice.

True, this. The scourge of OST anemia continues to blight scores that could be treated so much better.

[Jay 37,308]

Many believe that out of all Williams' OSTs from his whole career, that the AI OST is the one that is the worst representation of its full score

[Kühni 485]

.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Many believe that out of all Williams' OSTs from his whole career, that the AI OST is the one that is the worst representation of its full score

I think chronological order for this score works best. Cybertronics is actually a pretty effective opener as opposed to The Mecha World, which is Williams blowing his load right at the start of the album. Replicas is some pretty dark and eerie shit, then it's followed by Hide and Seek and the song? It's a strange listening experience. The expanded score in chronological order with some of the boring stuff removed is the only way to fly. The album is just typical modern Williams. Shit everywhere, excised greatness, repeated material, a pop song dumped amid orchestral music.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Why are you here? This is an appreciation thread.

Because it's an open forum and AI is a film that must be balanced with sensible talk from all the nonsense on here but mainly to respond to Incanus.

Joey can go fuck off.

This is Spielberg's masterpiece LIE and arguably Williams's most moving score IDIOTIC Post-modern in a similar sense to Don Davis's MATRIX, but with a broader stylistic and emotional pallet. It forms a great double bill with the darker MINORITY REPORT - especially the later's material for Sean.

Wow that was uncalled for. Feel free to expound.

Don't forget the terrible performance by O'conner!

[crocodile 7,988]

I'm still fooling myself that one of LLL's next month releases might be this one.

Karol

[Brónach 1,301]

I can only say that I love this score.

The album doesn't work for me. It only works if I take the tracks as separate pieces.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The Shawn Murphying of this score is awful.

Have we ever figured out what the cue Mecha, Orga, Man or Woman is?