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SCORE: The Dark Knight Rises (Hans Zimmer)


KK

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This review is LONG overdue, but I haven't had time to write any reviews this past month. This is the first of many in my attempt to catch up.

As for the review, I'd say I was being generous.

http://musicmusekk.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/the-dark-knight-rises-hans-zimmer/

Enjoy!

- KK

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A very good and thoughtful review of the merits and lack thereof of this score and I can't but agree with you. Personally I think the loud sound mix of the movie and especially the score hurt the film tremendously as I was almost about to leave the theater because the sheer noise was becoming unbearable. The incessant pounding of this score numbed me in the theater so that I felt like had been bludgeoned with a blunt instrument for a better part of the running time of the film. I really can't say what people see or rather hear in this mundane noise Zimmer produced for the film series as for me it lacks most of the qualities of good film music as sheer audacious simplistic novelty of droning 1- or 2-note motifs really isn't all that revolutionary.

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DUUUUUUNNNNNN DUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!!

That's Batman theme! YEAH!

The only sign of any "development" of this theme was in "Despair" where the first Dun was a helluva lot longer and the second Dun was a helluva lot louder.

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

DUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!!

I like it more on album than I like it in the film. Which is becoming quite common with Zimmer.

Karol

Probably because these days, instead of scoring a film the old fashioned way (sitting down, individually addressing each scene), he makes scoring a job of cutting, pasting and editing (most of these duties pertaining to his ghostwriters) material from past films or original suites he creates. This is especially the case with sequel scores like POTC 4 and TDKR. And by doing that, he completely fails to address the specific details and synch points of the film, thus glossing over the scenes with wallpaper music that might or might not work (most often the latter is the case). In my opinion, it's an awful approach to scoring a film.

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DUUUUUUNNNNNN DUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!!

That's Batman theme! YEAH!

The only sign of any "development" of this theme was in "Despair" where the first Dun was a helluva lot longer and the second Dun was a helluva lot louder.

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

DUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!!

Now, THAT is what I call musical brilliance!

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DUUUUUUNNNNNN DUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!!

That's Batman theme! YEAH!

The only sign of any "development" of this theme was in "Despair" where the first Dun was a helluva lot longer and the second Dun was a helluva lot louder.

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

DUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN!!

Now, THAT is what I call musical brilliance!

I say we need Doug Adams to write another book! ;) I wonder how long it would be....

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A very good and thoughtful review of the merits and lack thereof of this score and I can't but agree with you. Personally I think the loud sound mix of the movie and especially the score hurt the film tremendously as I was almost about to leave the theater because the sheer noise was becoming unbearable. The incessant pounding of this score numbed me in the theater so that I felt like had been bludgeoned with a blunt instrument for a better part of the running time of the film. I really can't say what people see or rather hear in this mundane noise Zimmer produced for the film series as for me it lacks most of the qualities of good film music as sheer audacious simplistic novelty of droning 1- or 2-note motifs really isn't all that revolutionary.

I've encountered two people at work who think TDK and TDKR are the pinnacle of good film music. :banghead: While there are times I enjoy more wallpaperery music (usually at work, where anything more interesting is distracting), it's almost never Zimmer.

And I remember Sherlock Holmes 2 being far too loud. It's like the filmmaker is shouting through the screen "hey look, we got Zimmer and it's really loud - aren't we cool! :D".

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I like it more on album than I like it in the film. Which is becoming quite common with Zimmer.

Karol

Probably because these days, instead of scoring a film the old fashioned way (sitting down, individually addressing each scene), he makes scoring a job of cutting, pasting and editing (most of these duties pertaining to his ghostwriters) material from past films or original suites he creates. This is especially the case with sequel scores like POTC 4 and TDKR. And by doing that, he completely fails to address the specific details and synch points of the film, thus glossing over the scenes with wallpaper music that might or might not work (most often the latter is the case). In my opinion, it's an awful approach to scoring a film.

There was one additional composer on this score - Lorne Balfe. Zimmer already gives credit where credit is due, no need for his detractors to spread it out even more.

While Zimmer tends to compose away from picture, his music is anything but plastered randomly as a lot of you make it seem. If you want your old time mickey-mousing, then stop listening to Zimmer. Plain and simple. And how many times to do I have to say it? Zimmer isn't responsible for the damn sound mix in the film. Something Incanus can never seem to learn.

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I understood Lorne Balfe had a significant role in the score, but credit has been given to five other composers besides Balfe for additional music and arrangements.

And no one ever asked for mickey mousing Koray. When I was addressing the issue of synch points, I was talking about the fact that exact passages were literally copied and pasted from past films with almost little to no variation (just listen to "Rise"). And these passages sometimes have a complete disregard for whats going on screen. The emotional scenes are glossed over with the same mundane pounding action and makes little sense in coordination with what's on screen.

For instance, in a scene where Bruce attempts to escape, the orchestral frenzy associated with the anarchy scenes of the film keeps playing on with almost no regard to Bruce's scene and as he failed, the track's speed and pitch is digitally decreased.

And there were several scenes in the film where the boy soprano solo from Barbastella (from Batman Begins) is very crudely forced and edited into the picture.

Again, mickey mousing was never the issue and I don't think anyone wanted that. But at least address the changing tones or emotions on screen instead of plastering wallpaper music. Heck, thats a composer's job! Is it too much to ask that you address the change of scenery instead of letting the action cue from the last cut to continue playing into the current one?

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While Zimmer tends to compose away from picture, his music is anything but plastered randomly as a lot of you make it seem. If you want your old time mickey-mousing, then stop listening to Zimmer. Plain and simple. And how many times to do I have to say it? Zimmer isn't responsible for the damn sound mix in the film. Something Incanus can never seem to learn.

Koray I am aware that Zimmer is not responsible for the sound mix, but quite frankly his score would not be an admirable scoring job at any volume level and the mix of the film makes the film makers seem like amateurs instead of professionals when "more is better" philosophy takes over. The Dark Knight Rises was a poorly mixed affair in the sound department. And on the defense of Zimmer's scoring methods, I do not know them in detail nor do I know how much of this score is spotted but the general picture I got from the film made me wonder if it was spotted at all. And of course only old fashioned films obviously have sync points and Zimmer is so cutting edge he doesn't have to worry about such bored old stuff like synchronizing his music to the film he is scoring. That would be just silly wouldn't it, Koray?
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Balfe was the only name I saw under Additional Composer in the credits, but that whole ploy never changes. Whether there's credit or not, people hate Zimmer for working with other people. Makes no sense to me, and I've been trying to clarify it for years, so at this point I just don't care.

I didn't experience any of these copy-and-paste issues that you're talking about, but like I mentioned in the film's thread, the score wasn't in the forefront of the film for me. I found Zimmer gave it a more primal drive from underneath rather than the uneasy soundscape he provided for the Joker and the rest of The Dark Knight. Some themes made reappearances, as well as they should have, but as far as action music running into other scenes... I didn't hear any of that. It also sounds like something I would have noticed, perhaps on my second viewing.

While Zimmer tends to compose away from picture, his music is anything but plastered randomly as a lot of you make it seem. If you want your old time mickey-mousing, then stop listening to Zimmer. Plain and simple. And how many times to do I have to say it? Zimmer isn't responsible for the damn sound mix in the film. Something Incanus can never seem to learn.

Koray I am aware that Zimmer is not responsible for the sound mix, but quite frankly his score would not be an admirable scoring job at any volume level and the mix of the film makes the film makers seem like amateurs instead of professionals when "more is better" philosophy takes over. The Dark Knight Rises was a poorly mixed affair in the sound department. And when you defend Zimmer's scoring methods, I do not know them in detail nor do I know how much of this score is spotted but the general picture you get from the film makes you wonder was it spotted at all. And of course only old fashioned films obviously have sync points and Zimmer is so cutting edge he doesn't have to worry about such bored old stuff like synchronizing his music to the film he is scoring. That would be just silly wouldn't it, Koray?

And that's fine, a perfectly valid opinion. It just seems like whenever I read someone dishing out on the sound mix of the Batman films or Inception, it's in conjunction with Zimmer's scoring abilities, when the two are completely irrelevant to each other in my eyes.

As for synching to picture, I didn't mean to insinuate only old films have those, because Zimmer does it all the time. So when someone says they want their music to match their film more closely, to me it can't get closer other than mickey mousing.

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Balfe was the only name I saw under Additional Composer in the credits, but that whole ploy never changes. Whether there's credit or not, people hate Zimmer for working with other people. Makes no sense to me, and I've been trying to clarify it for years, so at this point I just don't care.

I don't think anyone here was making a big issue of that this time.

I didn't experience any of these copy-and-paste issues that you're talking about, but like I mentioned in the film's thread, the score wasn't in the forefront of the film for me. I found Zimmer gave it a more primal drive from underneath rather than the uneasy soundscape he provided for the Joker and the rest of The Dark Knight. Some themes made reappearances, as well as they should have, but as far as action music running into other scenes... I didn't hear any of that. It also sounds like something I would have noticed, perhaps on my second viewing.

I don't really have the time to give you time stamps right now, but just listen to "Rise" and you'll hear its an amalgamation of "A Dark Knight", "Barbastella" and "Corynorhinus".

As for synching to picture, I didn't mean to insinuate only old films have those, because Zimmer does it all the time. So when someone says they want their music to match their film more closely, to me it can't get closer other than mickey mousing.

Zimmer used to be able to synch his music to film just fine, but its been different with his post-Inception work. Zimmer's scores usually don't bother me like that and maybe you missed it, but it was rather distracting with TDKR. Like Incanus said, it makes you wonder if there was a spotting session at all. To be frank, his score sounds like a below-average temp track job. Despite all the new material (Bane's Theme, Catwoman's Theme, etc.), it doesn't sound like someone sat down and wrote a score specifically for this film. It sounds like someone copied and pasted material from past films or the suites he created with small tweaks or time adjustments.

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I really enjoy this score, and I don't even like the movie. This is true loneliness.

I think "Imagine the Fire" is actually a pretty damn good action track. Just a shame it wasn't used in the film except for 30 seconds or so.

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