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This is easily one of my favorite pieces of music ever written. It's one of those that instills wonderful feelings in you, right from the first note. It's powerful yet humbling, noble yet gentle, and just so expertly crafted. Not only are the two main themes fantastic, the arrangement that weaves through them is perfect without a wasted note. The piece accomplishes everything it needs to in more in just over 4 minutes. There's no doubt it will be used for the Olympics for the rest of mankind's time on earth. The Bugler's Dream opening version is terrible! A bad idea badly executed. It's a shame it got included on the Summon The Heroes album so will live on forever. I actually first discovered the piece via Erich Kunzel's recording, which is a true A+ performance and recording: This and the Summon The Heroes versions were all I had for a long while; I never heard Williams' original 1984 recording until years later via the internet The first time I heard it performed live in concert with a real goosebumps, arm-hair-raised moment. Transcendent.

I mean. Like Aspect Ratios...it depends on the movie and the reason for doing it. Some things simply don't call for bright oversaturated colors, I certainly don't want everything to look like that. If it did, we'd all hate it. So yeah, sometimes "desaturated" colors are great. Sue me. Do I think it's done too much? Sure. Doesn't mean I hate the concept and sometimes it's done wonderfully. Ugh. You're one of those people are you? Lol. Just get a TV for every aspect ratio and you're good to go.

Hero is a good movie with a great score. Tan Dun does better work in Hero than he did for Crouching Tiger. Memoirs is a bad movie with a great score. I think it is another example of JW being inspired by something other than the film itself, leading to an amazing score. In this case, I imagine it was his love of the book that inspired his score.

I own Memoirs. It is an excellent dust collector. My post is more effective if you read my post in Commander Data's voice.

Character posters:

I agree! I like Bugler’s Dream just fine in it’s own right, but I’ve never liked the sudden shift from that to the Olympic Fanfare. Very sudden and awkward to my ears. Between the sudden key change and the difference in style, it really doesn’t work very well. Give me the original version any day! The problem with this recording is it uses an abridged version of the opening, which I feel robs it of some of its power.

Things we know well, but explained beautifully.

You don't need more than 1500 copies?

Almost time for another Olympics to start -- and NBC is still using JW's cues in abundance. Not just re-arrangements -- literally the original recordings conducted by JW. It's glorious. One of many examples is this video, which uses two of the cues JW crafted based on his 1996 "Summon the Heroes" piece:

One of Williams's many gifts is to take a style of music and distill it to its pure essence in a way most (maybe all) composers cannot do--like a perfect essay with no filler, unnecessary words, or bs-ing. Moreover, I think this piece is the perfect instance of this gift. Just think how many fanfares had been written, over centuries, prior to this. Yet, Williams makes it not only fresh, but complete, like this is just what a fanfare is. That he combines it perfectly with the lyrical theme is just crazy good. As you can probably tell, I think highly of this piece. That being said, the Bugler's Dream version--why, oh why?

Olympic Fanfare and Theme (1984) One the most enduring and recognizable of all of Williams's music for film or concert, The Olympic Fanfare and Theme is a extremely rousing concert overture written to open the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games. Williams sought to capture the human striving inherent in the Olympic spirit, and the powerful moment when the fanfare theme and the lyrical theme come together especially accomplishes this magnificently. The piece was premiered in concert with the Boston Pops in June, before it was performed at the event for which it was commissioned in July. As well, Michael Tilson Thomas conducted it around this time in a concert that was recorded for radio broadcast. Williams made an official recording of the piece in Los Angeles, which this video purport to have. Here is the piece being performed at the opening ceremonies. Here is a Boston Pops recording, I believe from the 1987 By Request album. In 1996, Williams recorded a new version of the work that was commissioned by NBC to feature Leo Arnaud's Bugler's Dream, which Williams included at the start of the piece, replacing the opening herald fanfare. Finally, here is a recent live recording of the piece (slightly modified in orchestration I think) with Dudamel leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with the original opening restored.

Inspired by a recent post by @GerateWohl.

Yeah, you're right. The only one that springs to mind is AVATAR... and that blows everything else out of the water that year.

There is little room in Skarsgard's heart for anyone but Skarsgard.

I'm not an expert on this Asian martial arts score, but I do think both Hero (2002) and House of the Flying Daggers are better scores than Crouching Tiger.

I have both.

A lot of the effects aren't even CGI. Nolan doesn't like to overuse it. Anyway, the SFX of BB are good enough for me. When I think of the best Nolan Batman, I don't even think of SFX.

Shot digitally at 4.5K RAW (which would translate to circa 3.5K in colour, yada yada...)

In The Sixth Sense, we know Bruce Willis is dead.... Er, never mind.

Truly glorious. Also, looking forward to catching the Olympics, and not just to hear more of the Maestro’s music.

What, you think I'm chicken?!

Same here. I really liked Prisoners (except for the ending), but have not been impressed with Arrival or his Blade Runner sequel. Of course, I will definitely watch it (at home) but I expect a 'not bad but not good either' movie. I really hope I'm wrong.

What he said. Followed by Atonement.

HP 1 CD 1 in preparation for vaccine number 2. I. HATE. NEEDLES.

It's tracked in from "Remembering Petticoat Lane" and it's like that in the actual film too, that isn't something they invented for the live to projection show EDIT: Ninja'd Spielberg was busy shooting Schindler's List, all the music tinkering in the theatrical cut was from when George Lucas was overseeing post-production in his absence

Yeah, it's tracked from Remembering Petticoat Lane. I assume they spotted that scene with no music then Spielberg changed his mind after the sessions were finished. Or they decided in advance to track the music there (weird it wasn't re-recorded though!)

If the "wanna breed" guy isn't in it, no sale. They'll obviously have to recast this crucial role.

Yeah but the point is not whether other filmmakers would have come up with this scene on their own. If Jackson never saw Bakshi's film, maybe you could make that argument. But he did, and by his own admission copied other parts of it. What you want us to believe is Jackson saw Bakshi's film, including the scene not in the book, a scene that Bakshi, not Tolkien, created, then came up with the same scene all on his own. That just stretches credibility, and I don't even think you believe that. I mean, if Jackson hadn't admitted to copying the Proudfeet! shot, would you be here arguing that he didn't? Because if anything the Bree bit is even more obviously stolen. Well this is undoubtedly true. But the fact that Bakshi plays the similarities up doesn't mean they're not there. And frankly, his saying Jackson stole Lothlorien is as much as a stretch as you saying Jackson didn't steal the Bree bed scene. In any event, I'm not basing my argument on anything Bakshi said. I immediately spotted the 'homages' the first time I saw Fellowship. But you'll be pleased to know that my other reaction seeing FOTR the first time is how well I think Jackson nailed the images that I had in my mind when I first read the book (which was before I saw either adaptation). I remember being struck by that, and thinking Jackson actually took very little from Bakshi's film...which is why the bits he did lift stick out so much. So I very much believe Jackson's films are a book adaptation and not any kind of remake of Bakshi's film. But let's not deny the obvious similarities. It's OK that Jackson stole some of those bits, the best filmmaker's do. And obviously Braveheart's influence on Jackson's films is readily apparent, particularly in the battle scenes. I don't even think Jackson's films exist without Braveheart frankly. But enough of Bakshi & Braveheart, this isn't the thread or that. Back to Arrakis, where you can argue that Villenueve stole the sandworms from Battle of the Five Armies.

I'll have it this afternoon. It's out for fir delivery. Karol

So apparently Kurosowa's masterpiece Ran is getting the 4K treatment. Let's hope this leads to the Japanese master's other classics getting the same. Let's also hope Kurosowa didn't use black bars when filming this.

OK, I'll do it over lunch today.

The NBC/Williams relationship seems eternal. In addition to still using his Olympic themes, aren't they also still using his news themes (at the very least they still used "The Mission" when I was in the US last, in 2014)?

Every Star Trek score by Goldsmith or Horner deserves to be in print or available forever.

I actually do. And if there ever is such a presentation and I go to buy it I'm sure I'll get that question from my wife. (I suppose I could answer "Because Superman is winning!")

Oh man none of my favorite scores from 2006 are on your poll at all Casino Royale by David Arnold! Mission Impossible III by Michael Giacchino! X-Men: The Last Stand by John Powell! Inside Man by Terence Blanchard! The Pick of Destiny by Andrew Gross! And a lot of people here like Dead Man's Chest by Hans Zimmer Superman Returns by John Ottman Nanny McPhee by Patrick Doyle V for Vendetta by Dario Marianelli Ice Age 2 by John Powell United 93 by John Powell Night at the Museum by Alan Silvestri

Another clip on youtube with more Indiana Jones-esque scoring:

Not to cross the streams, but when someone asks me why I would possibly want to buy Star Wars AGAIN I reply "Because I want a Star Wars presentation that is as good as Star Trek: The Motion Picture".

Sorry, sorry... this should right the wrong. © 2021 Manakin Skywalker Incorporated, LLC.

Why do they have to be rectangular anyway?

Personally I like 1920:1

This week Lucasfilm announced there will be a special episode of the Disney Gallery docuseries on the Luke cameo due next month. Hopefully we'll get some insight into the technique and their intentions with it. This goes without saying but I do hope they use a more mature and proven technique on this film.

You can you can tell they’re not in character because they’re smiling.

Saving Primate Ryan

Top Nun

Attn: @Jay@Falstaft@crumbs Did a bit of digging and found a few of the original cue titles in the GEMA Repertoire. Unfortunately, this is another score that replaces the original cue title if it’s used in an album track (plus “Part 1”, “Part 2”, etc. if it’s composed of more than one cue). 941838 Prologue 941846 My Story - Part 2 941847 Lord, Why Do You Want The Wee Children? - Part 2 941848 My Mother Begging - Part 1 941851 The River Shannon 941852 Lord, Why Do You Want The Wee Children? - Part 3 941855 Watching the Eclipse - Part 3 941856 My Mother Begging - Part 3 941857 Job Hunting - Version 1 941858 Plenty of Fish and Chips In Heaven - Part 1 941861 Looking for Work - Part 1 941862 Plenty Of Fish And Chips In Heaven - Part 3 941864 Angels Never Cough - Part 3 941865 Angels Never Cough - Part 2 941869 Grandma's Funeral - Version 2 941873 Watching the Eclipse - Part 1 941874 I Think Of Theresa - Part 1 941875 Thank You, St. Francis - Alt 941876 Looking for Work - Part 2 941877 Watching the Eclipse - Part 2 941880 Back To America - Part 1 The SABAM repertoire also has some timings: Angela's Ashes 3:25 [what would this be?] Angela's Ashes 6:41 [End Credits?] Angela's Ashes 15:09 [cues not on the album?] Angels Never Cough 1:50 Back To America 1:26 Lord, Why Do You Want The Wee Children? 3:20 My Mother Begging 1:56 My Story 2:46 Plenty of Fish and Chips In Heaven 0:51 Watching the Eclipse 2:54 So, if I understand this correctly, there’s a total of 40:18 of JW score in the film, of which 15:09 is unreleased. This one continues to grow on me, and with at least 15 minutes unreleased and no re-use fees to contend with, hopefully we’ll get an expansion before too long.

I was surprised to discover how much longer the OST version of 'We Go Together' from TROS is, even accounting for how the two parts (2M6 The Medal and 2M7 Ship Trip) were separated in the film, though it seems pretty clear the original intention was for them to overlap as they do on the OST. I'm fairly certain that unused march section was meant to accompany a brief deleted scene of Maz and Leia watching the Falcon depart: this exact dialogue is found in both the novelization from Rae Carson and junior novelization from Michael Kogge, and—in my opinion—seems to fit this bit of music perfectly. I'm less certain about the longer first section: there's a brief exchange between Rey and Rose here in Rey Carson's novelization, yet it's still longer than seems to fit. I've cut quite a bit of it out. The title of 2M6 The Medal is also a mystery, because there is notably no shot of Han's medal anywhere in this scene in the finished film. My speculation is that perhaps that opening flourish accompanied a shot of it. Notably, a similar flourish accompanies the appearance of Leia's saber much later in the film (in 7M10 Leia's Sabre, the last part of 'Destiny of a Jedi'). Or maybe the medal was glimpsed later when Rey and Leia say their goodbyes.

Williams re-arranged the Arnaud fanfare to sound more glittery for the Athens game but a recording never surfaced and I've only ever heard it in the Athens promo commercial

This score belongs to my all time favourite Williams scores and recently I have been listening to it a lot along with some other smaller scale/intimate Williams scores. Angela's Ashes combines all that is so graceful and beautiful in Williams' music into a one delicate and intimate score. It has the lyricism, the effortless sense of heartfelt melody and skillfull and thoughtfull use of solo instruments. And most of all it has the sense that it was a labour of love for the composer. Every note seems to resonate it. The music is also interesting in the way Williams chose to score the film. Instead of using traditional Irish elements or the period he chose to score the emotional content and the story in a more universal way and I think it was the right choice. This score is varied although it revolves around the melancholy central theme usually perfomed by piano and strings but just as powerful is the secondary theme that represents Angela, Frank's mother which has a beautiful spiritual or even religious quality. This secondary theme seems to be performed on oboe quite frequently which seems to be Williams instrument of choice to represent both family and the character of Mother (A.I., JFK, Minority Report, Episode I etc.). The music is scored mainly for string orchestra and shows Williams' great skill at string writing. The two themes are vowen into the fabric of the score accompanied by solo instrument performances from oboe, cello, harp and piano all played soulfully by Williams frequent collaborators. The solo parts show Williams' familiarity with the players and their individual voices and strengths. John Ellis' oboe lines are touching and heartfelt and you can hear the air between the notes of Steven Erdody's cello solos and the emotional resonance of that single instrument. Williams even wrote a piece for solo harp for JoAnn Turovsky (The Lanes of Limerick) that unfortunately went unused in the film since it is one of Williams' best solo harp passages since E.T. but gladly it is on the album. And of course Randy Kerber's piano solos crown the whole thing in flowing and delicate style. The score also offers a great variety besides the themes. There are two delightful swift pieces performed with pizzicato strings in Delivering Telegrams and My Dad's Stories, the aforementioned harp solo in the Lanes of Limerick, mysterious twilight music in Watching the Eclipse and independent melodic moments like Angels Never Cough and the gloriously optimistic finale Back to America which soars with hope and joy. The finale is also the single piece in the score that has significant presence of the brass section which makes it all the more impactful. The soundtrack album makes a wonderful listening experience on its own (I am refering to the one that contains no dialogue). The themes never over stay their welcome since Williams constantly uses different orchestrations and themes are performed in interesting variations. The album is book ended in classic Williams style with the concert performance of the main theme which in this case is a good thing as it encapsulates the album as a sort of a symphonic suite. The two period songs are a minor distraction that can be easily skipped or programmed out. In my opinion it is one of the best arranged Williams albums. 1999 was one of those amazing years for Williams since he produced two exceptional scores:Episode I and Angela's Ashes. This score should receive at least as much recognition as the first Prequel score since it is one of Maestro's most heartfelt compositions and shows his mature style so beautifully.