RamboFBII

I just recently discovered this from the 40th Anniversary release from LLL and I can't stop listening to it. I've done a little research about it here and it looks like it was for a different cut of the Fortress of Solitude sequence. That's a relief because I haven't been able to make it work in my head. What's absolutely wild about the cue is that it's SO DIFFERENT from the final product. Totally different feel. I keep wondering what was behind that shift. Was that JW following his own instinct? Did Dick Donner or someone else give JW some new direction? Was a new temp track dropped in? As others have said, this alternate definitely wants to quote The Force Theme. After a few more listens, it sounded even more familiar than that...it's that clarinet motif from the alternate "The Planet Krypton", which I'm guessing was meant to be for Jor-El. Which would make sense, since Supes meets Jor-El in the Fortress. And also The Force Theme was also Ben's Theme. So in JW's head, Ben=Jor-El. I also hear a lot of Alex North/SPARTACUS/North's 2001 in there too. It sounded very Roman/gladiatorial. Then again, so did a lot of the music for Krypton. I just found it interesting how JW pretty much abandoned that for the final version of FOS and left the Roman stuff on Krypton. Instead, it seemed that he played up the mystery and the heart more. And how! The twelve-year flight through space is so brilliant and spot-on perfect. This is a perfect example of how JW has always read the room and known what to do. As for the alternate FOS, I don't think it ultimately belonged in the movie it was written for, but it was such good writing. Plus, it sounded YEARS ahead of what JW would write for quite a while. Parts of it instantly reminded me of the end of TFA when Starkiller Base explodes. A whole score based around this tossed track would've probably been too much for humanity to handle. We weren't ready for it yet. lol But I'd argue that maybe we got that score via EMPIRE or E.T.?

Regardless, that "little latin beat" was enough for Disney et al. to feel like they needed to cover their asses and credit Ary Barroso. Whether you agree it's "Brazil" or not is irrelevant. "The Long Goodbye" isn't credited on the album, so I'm guessing it was in some unreleased Canto Bight music.

Did anyone catch the end of the end credits in the film? Two source tracks were credited. One was "Aquarela do Brasil". The other? "The Long Goodbye." You can definitely hear 'Brazil' in the Canto Bight track on the OST. I need to rewatch the film for TLG. Nearly pissed my pants when I saw that.

lol Don;t take it so hard. I read you post thinking maybe you got an advance copy of the c.d.. Personally I have no idea what to make of these samples Well, I think it sounds like the most interesting action score that JW's written in a while.

Wow...no wonder I don't post here much. I just sketched some thoughts I had based on the samples and already I've got people bashing me. Hell, I had my reservations about taking the time to make the post at all, but even though I listen to a lot less JW these days, I still listen to quite a bit and thought I'd still be able to relate to people here. But I guess it's not so much the ability to relate so much as it's just being one of the gang. No telling how many n00bs you "elitists" have run out of here over the years. Son of a bitch, you guys. Geez.

Well, if this is what we get after Johnny gets three years off, I'm saying he needs time off more often. After 2005, I think he needed it...the scores were sounding good, but not great and the movies he scored were pretty sub-par too (save for Munich--score and film were pretty good). Sounds like he's really recharged and ready to not only revisit his niche of film scoring, but also revisit an old friend. "Raiders March" sounds like the same arrangement from LC, but mixed better and using a larger orchestra (or not). "Adventures of Mutt" sounds sort of like "Aunt Margie's Waltz" and towards the end of the clip sounds like some definite mid-80s JW; can't place what it sounds like. "Irina's Theme" is definitely reminding me of Witches of Eastwick some. "Snake Pit" carries on the tradition of "Basket Chase" and "Fast Streets of Shanghai" with the fast tempo, pulsing strings and woodwinds. "Spell of the Skull" at first, I thought they'd thrown "Map Room" by accident, but then I heard it play out differently after the quote; nice touch. "Journey to Akator" has NAILED it. I've always loved that segue in the Raiders March between Marion's Theme/Willie's Theme/Scherzo back into the actual Indy theme--which is why I love the end of "Fast Streets of Shanghai"--you get that nice quote of the main Indy theme, but then it's followed up by the "segue theme" w/ the Short Round flavor. This cue just exploits that feeling I get from those two cues and really puts me in a kind of euphoria. I didn't know that could happen in less than 30 seconds. "A Whirl" channels something from another "Streets of Shanghai" cue--the one from Empire of the Sun. So yet another throwback to the 80s. Nice. "Jungle Chase" immediately brings to mind PoA, but I'm sure that could remind me of something else from the 80s...maybe Scherzo, vaguely? "Grave Robbers"..."Conveyor Belt" from AOTC first, then "Dennis Steals the Embryo", then it kinda does its own thing after that. "Secret Doors and Scorpions"...sounds like the film version of "Children in Chains". +1 for JW. "Ants!" actually does feel like, "Ah, Rats!" but mostly feels like WotW. "The Departure" I was expecting to hear the 4-note Raptor motif somewhere...then I hear the Indy theme and remember what I'm listening to. "The Finale" definitely takes me back to Raiders. Yeah, I love the new arrangement and it's quite a bit better than hearing "Princess Leia's Theme" again in RotS. On the whole, I think it's better than I expected from a first listen. It feels like these types of JW-scores have once again disappeared, much like the Golden Age sound did in the late-60s and early-70s. Even JW's scores have felt thematically/dynamically lacking. However, there's something that I'm hearing in this new Indy score that sounds very familiar. It's not just a bland action score with some Indy quotes thrown in...it's a return to form, I think. Not a full-blown one...this still isn't on par with Raiders or TOD, but I think it's a worthy competitor with LC thus far. Although, I think I'm hanging "Journey to Akator" up there with the best Indy cue ever written, in my book. I know it's ludicrous, but that little sample just did it for me. Now let's see if the movie's gonna feel the same way as the score.

I, for one, am just glad they made the damn thing. If I sent an email, it'd be one of gratitude. My box came today. This is the first time I've been to JWFan in a few months, so it was kinda ironic to read this thread and see all the talk about Alien since I ordered it along with the BB (also ordered Mancini's/Kamen's Lifeforce). For one thing, I'm glad I haven't been around here because I only found out about the Blue Box a little over a week ago, which was two days before my birthday. So that was a damn good surprise. Two, the sound kicks ass. The bass is a little heavier than I'm used to, but who cares? The main title really sounds like it's got some life to it. But I'm only up to "The Mugger" on Disc 1...haven't even touched anything else yet from the BB or Alien or Lifeforce. Such a great assload of music lined up!

I appreciate all the interior of the spacecraft scene and I can appreciate why it's also superfluous. I like it just because it's got some phenomenal music written for it and yeah, cool eye candy. But it's also best left up to the imagination, too, like Señor Spielbergo says.

Yeah, but don't you still have to watch all three versions separately or can you do the different scenes on/off thing?

So I guess this is the score that was being hyped so much the past month or so. Nice. I also lumped in Witches of Eastwick into my purchase too. It's been a while since I've bought a new Goldsmith and Williams CD at the same time.

Yeah, what the hell's that?

I like the music for the duel in the carbon freezing chamber left in TESB. I've tried syncing that up several times on my own. It works on so many levels.

The thing I hate about the DVD that's been out is that you gotta go to the other disc if you wanna watch the SE stuff. You can't just watch it in the normal flow of the movies. What I think they should do is just take the main parts of the movie and put an option in the menu where you can turn certain scenes/editions on or off. You can do that with the deleted scenes on Simpsons DVDs...why not do it with CE3K too?

Superman II on XM's Cinemagic (ch.27) Okay, I'm quite baffled now. I knew it was hard to come by on LP, but this sounds like no LP. It sounds crystal-clear. Maybe they got their hands on the masters or something that were used to re-master the DVDs? This is freaky. I used to think they only played the relatively easy-to-find stuff, but ever since I heard (what I assume to be) David Newman's promo for Galaxy Quest, I've been getting more and more impressed. Wow. I know it's Superman II, but I'm in shock, just because I didn't expect to be hearing an impossible-to-find score after Dark City.

Fascinating.