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John Carter (Of Mars) directed by Andrew Stanton, music by Michael Giacchino


Jay

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When Giacchino says the music hasn't been mastered, what exactly does that entail?

For video editing, I do things like amplifying quieter parts and maybe adding some reverb if the recording is a bit dry - what else do they have to do for the film? It sounded pretty typical Giacchino to me on the radio.

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Saw a trailer for this. Looks like they took the arena scene from AotC.

Looks like AotC took the arena scene from John Carter.

Looks like Chaac took the arena scene quote from indy4

Looks like indy4 took the Chaac from Bloodboal.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

What? The River Iss? The River in the trailers is the Iss? That early in the series? That's new!

So it is!

http://a.dolimg.com/franchise/johncarter/media/loop.mp3

http://a.dolimg.com/franchise/johncarter/media/loop.mp3

That's most likely the music for the Therns.

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I actually think that moment of similarity between "Pursuit of Dejah" and "Pursuit of the Falcon" shows exactly why Giacchino is our last, best hope. Tintin's release is recent enough, and the passage fleeting enough, that it's plainly not plagiarism, and anyone who plays by the Maestro's rules as dutifully as Giacchino does is bound to hit upon a few sequences of notes that JW has used at some point in the last 45 years. Plus, there are just certain musical intervals and tricks that match certain emotions (e.g. all those major-sixth love themes from JW's golden age). The "up high, down low, up slightly higher" pattern that overlaps in the two cues has been wowing 'em since Star Wars and probably well before. What's remarkable in comparing the two is the vast difference even an inversion of two notes and a slight change in timing can produce. Tintin's heroic theme sounds heroic but also quirky, offbeat, and even a little childish, while the Giacchino riff sounds noble and militaristic—each suited (presumably) to its context.

But my point is that we can't bemoan contemporary film music's general lack of intelligence, thematic complexity, and orchestral prominence out of one side of our mouths and then tar anyone who attempts it as a JW-cloning hack. (I exaggerate the charge, obviously, and I don't know anyone's tastes well enough to say who's accusing whom of what. I just want to point out that anyone who can be accused of sounding like John Williams has already earned my rapt attention, if not my outright devotion.)

And Blumenkohl's dead-on about "Dejah's Theme." I'm not thrilled by the melody, but the construction and the orchestration are classic.

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Why does everyone make it seem like Giacchino is the "last man" left to keep up the film music world? He's a great composer, but people have got to stop making his placement so dramatic. There are still many talented film composers out there who sustain quality and intelligence in film music. And Giacchino is not the "next John Williams", its ridiculous to think anyone is going to be the next JW.

As great a composer as he is, people have got to stop making him seem like our future saviour of the upcoming "apocalypse" or something...

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Why does everyone make it seem like Giacchino is the "last man" left to keep up the film music world? He's a great composer, but people have got to stop making his placement so dramatic. There are still many talented film composers out there who sustain quality and intelligence in film music. And Giacchino is not the "next John Williams", its ridiculous to think anyone is going to be the next JW.

As great a composer as he is, people have got to stop making him seem like our future saviour of the upcoming "apocalypse" or something...

I think Giacchino is the next Horner. He's not even close to Williams but someone you always look forward to new scores

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Giacchino is not the next anything. He's the first Michael Giacchino.

He has his own musical voice, as Lost illustrates.

He also happens to be somehwat old fashoined in his musical sensibilities.

I don't see the point of defining him in the mould of another.

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I would say Horner is greater on those terms. Giacchino is a great composer, but sometimes I get the sense that he may be blown up too much with titles such as "the next Williams". I admire Giacchino's work (despite some the repeating mannerisms) and always look forward to his work (although I feel he's had a weak year, with the exception of Super 8). I still feel Horner is a better composer.

But as OneBuckFilms said, Giacchino has his own individual voice that shouldn't be compared to Williams or Horner. But I don't think he's et achieved their status.

- KK

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Well, yes. The interesting thing is seeing someone who actually cares about this, has this old fashioned tastes and is willing to learn. That's why everyone keeps expecting anything new that Giacchino might do.

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@K.K.

Giachino is a good one. One of the good ones, working at this moment, in the field, who's younger than 45.

There are other talented guys also, namely Brian Tyler, Andrew Lockington, Beltrami and many more. But they NEVER got a real hit. Crowd pleaser. Hit tv show.

They are working guys, who mostly score one flop after the other, or forgettable dramas, or middling horror thrillers and superhero films that never reach a larger audience. They are still young and write fantastic music, but as long as they can't be associated with a hit product by the mass audience, they stay invisible.

Giacchino was involved with a string of hit material (Lost, Star trek, Up), he's working with a hit studio (Pixar), for a hit producer (Abrams). Hit+Soundtrack=Oscar. Because of that connection, he just got overhyped, and seems to be one of the few young composers who have come to save film music (which is not his fault).

His best stuff is still the Pixar stuff. He handles cartoon music very, very well. Even some of his "Lost" music is very ironic.

But I doubt he will be the next John Williams, who's a virtuoso by definition. The definition of a virtuoso is somebody who can play EVERYTHING. Williams can do everything.

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Why does everyone make it seem like Giacchino is the "last man" left to keep up the film music world? He's a great composer, but people have got to stop making his placement so dramatic. There are still many talented film composers out there who sustain quality and intelligence in film music. And Giacchino is not the "next John Williams", its ridiculous to think anyone is going to be the next JW.

As great a composer as he is, people have got to stop making him seem like our future saviour of the upcoming "apocalypse" or something...

I don't even think he's all that great. I like his music, in the same way I like how an afternoon snack fills a hole.

I'm not comparing him directly. I'm saying his talent is about Horner level

Lol, no. If that were true the world of symphonic film music would be ten times more exciting than it currently is.

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FYI, I rate him as one of my favorite composers working today. For me personally, I find him up with Horner and Elfman in many ways.

He's actually very versatile, with projects as disparate as Monte Carlo and The Family Stone to Lost.

He has had a fair number of projects, but it simply requires time and projects for him to establish himself in the ranks of Elfman and Horner.

But the musical voice is firmly established. One can listen to his music, and often pinpoint it as coming from him.

A lot of his music sounds like Lost, and that simply comes from his time working on that series, and the fact that his "Lost" style is the style he developed.

Just the same as many early 80s Horner scores sound like Star Trek II.

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Why does everyone make it seem like Giacchino is the "last man" left to keep up the film music world? He's a great composer, but people have got to stop making his placement so dramatic. There are still many talented film composers out there who sustain quality and intelligence in film music. And Giacchino is not the "next John Williams", its ridiculous to think anyone is going to be the next JW.

As great a composer as he is, people have got to stop making him seem like our future saviour of the upcoming "apocalypse" or something...

I don't even think he's all that great. I like his music, in the same way I like how an afternoon snack fills a hole.

I'd agree to a certain extent. I think he's quite talented, but I don't think he's composed anything AMAZING with one exception. I believe that his Medal of Honor score is bloody brilliant! I believe that the first 3 scores for the franchise really brought out his five star material. Other than that, he hasn't really composed anything ground-breaking for film. He composes good music that produce great 4 star scores at best, but I'm seriously starting to think he's becoming overrated recently.

But without a doubt, his Medal of Honor scores are absolutely brilliant (well at least his first 3). I look forward to his new scores, but I just don't think he's going to be the best composer of the younger generation.

I'm not comparing him directly. I'm saying his talent is about Horner level

Lol, no. If that were true the world of symphonic film music would be ten times more exciting than it currently is.

Agreed, as long as its not post-early 2000s Horner.

@K.K.

Giachino is a good one. One of the good ones, working at this moment, in the field, who's younger than 45.

There are other talented guys also, namely Brian Tyler, Andrew Lockington, Beltrami and many more. But they NEVER got a real hit. Crowd pleaser. Hit tv show.

They are working guys, who mostly score one flop after the other, or forgettable dramas, or middling horror thrillers and superhero films that never reach a larger audience. They are still young and write fantastic music, but as long as they can't be associated with a hit product by the mass audience, they stay invisible.

Giacchino was involved with a string of hit material (Lost, Star trek, Up), he's working with a hit studio (Pixar), for a hit producer (Abrams). Hit+Soundtrack=Oscar. Because of that connection, he just got overhyped, and seems to be one of the few young composers who have come to save film music (which is not his fault).

His best stuff is still the Pixar stuff. He handles cartoon music very, very well. Even some of his "Lost" music is very ironic.

But I doubt he will be the next John Williams, who's a virtuoso by definition. The definition of a virtuoso is somebody who can play EVERYTHING. Williams can do everything.

You bring up a good point, but I think there are still composers in the younger generation (I assume this means people who have only had their breaks into the film music world in the post-2000s) who are more talented than Giacchino. There are also several young foreign composers who are filled with great talent like Oscar Araujo, Arnau Bataller, Abel Korzeniowski, Pinar Toprak, etc. True, none of them have had Giacchino's success, but they started more recently than Giacchino. Also don't forget, we still have a giant load of amazing composers to wear off before we have to worry about the younger generation. Danny Elfman, Christopher Young, John Debney, Patrick Doyle, Dario Marianelli (a composer whose quite new and this man is just brilliant), Craig Armostrong, Alan Silvestri, etc.

So I really think hailing Giacchino as "our last hope" is really too much. There is a load of people who are arguably more talented than Giacchino in the younger generation.

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I like him a lot. I think his animated scores are the best so far, and RATATOUILLE is one of the best scores of the millennium. I think he needs more consistency in his live action work. Is he Horner level? It depends. Early 80s KHAN era? No. Contemporary Horner? Sure. But it's Johnny and Danny he needs to look up to I think. Whether he gets to that stage is up to him. I'm happy he's not just doing Abrams movies though.

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So I really think hailing Giacchino as "our last hope" is really too much. There is a load of people who are arguably more talented than Giacchino in the younger generation.

Other than Desplat, no...there really aren't.

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Giacchino is the best composer working today.

That is definitely something I disagree with...

So I really think hailing Giacchino as "our last hope" is really too much. There is a load of people who are arguably more talented than Giacchino in the younger generation.

Other than Desplat, no...there really aren't.

I beg to differ...

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Giacchino is the best composer working today.

That is definitely something I disagree with...

So I really think hailing Giacchino as "our last hope" is really too much. There is a load of people who are arguably more talented than Giacchino in the younger generation.

Other than Desplat, no...there really aren't.

I beg to differ...

If you set your bar low enough, sure!

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Desplatzzzzzz... zzz...

Really? I think you Desplat detractors haven't listened to a lot of his output. I can see where you guys are coming from... but I'd rather see Desplat snatch up big assignments and let Giacchino work at his own pace.

I don't think there's nothing inherently wrong with Giacchino's writing. It's just... most of his movie output is underwhelming. Same with John Carter... "Pursuit of Dejah" is the only noteworthy cue I've heard so far. It could change.

Giacchino hit a definite peak with his video game scores, especially "Medal of Honor" and "Secret Weapons Over Normandy." When he lets his hair down and goes full throttle without having to worry about syncing music to imagery, that's when he's at his best.

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I am very much looking forward to the film after reading the book and realizing the film's nothing like it. The curiosity is killing me. Thankfully I've only been spoiled the first half an hour or so. Great improvement, and sounds totally like an Andrew Stanton film. And Stanton has me at the cinema for his films pretty much forever.

Recently I saw parts of Finding Nemo again. Instant nostalgia attack.

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Really? I think you Desplat detractors haven't listened to a lot of his output. I can see where you guys are coming from... but I'd rather see Desplat snatch up big assignments and let Giacchino work at his own pace.

i listen to most of his output and he's dissapointing me more and more. All his scores are starting to sound the same. None are as good overall as Benjamen Button that made me kind of a fan

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I think Giacchino is the next Horner. He's not even close to Williams but someone you always look forward to new scores

That's what I think.

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Really? I think you Desplat detractors haven't listened to a lot of his output. I can see where you guys are coming from... but I'd rather see Desplat snatch up big assignments and let Giacchino work at his own pace.

i listen to most of his output and he's dissapointing me more and more. All his scores are starting to sound the same. None are as good overall as Benjamen Button that made me kind of a fan

He's the modern day Morricone. You have to really keep up with all his work to find the gems among the average ones. Did you listen to The Tree Of Life or The Ides Of March?

I'm told Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close is one of his best. Haven't listened to it yet.

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Track times:

1. A Thern For The Worse (7:39)

2. Get Carter (4:25)

3. Gravity Of The Situation (1:20)

4. Thark Side Of Barsoom (2:56)

5. Sab Than Pursues The Princess (5:34)

6. The Temple Of Issus (3:25)

7. Zodanga Happened (4:02)

8. The Blue Light Special (4:13)

9. Carter They Come, Carter They Fall (3:55)

10. A Change Of Heart (3:06)

11. A Thern Warning (4:04)

12. The Second Biggest Apes I've Seen This Month (2:36)

13. The Right Of Challenge (2:23)

14. The Prize Is Barsoom (4:29)

15. The Fight For Helium (4:34)

16. Not Quite Finished (2:07)

17. Thernabout (1:19)

18. Ten Bitter Years (3:13)

19. John Carter Of Mars (8:53)

TOTAL TIME: 74:13

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