batmanand

(Cowering in fear at numerous attacks on his genre-categorisation) How are we defining a disaster movie? Cos in the end, that is why we are disagreeing. My definition: 3 elements: 1. A human tragedy story to an inhuman event 2. A large proportion of the film is people arguing about how to stop the inevitable (eg Towering Inferno: arguing about the fire, whose fault it is, how to stop it; Jaws: arguing about the shark, whether to close the beaches, how to kill the shark etc) 3. Often the point of the film is partly to show off cool special effects, partly to kill famous/pretty/favourite characters and partly as a vehicle to show the character's strengths and weaknesses [ie the film is not particularly abour th fire, or the ship sinking or the shark but about the character's reactiosn to it. Contrast this with, say, a Bond film, where the film is ALL ABOUT the baddie's evil scheme and Bond saving the world] So by my definition Jaws is a disaster film, so is Towering Inferno etc. Sorry if you disagree but just because Jaws is a much superior version does not mean it is not a disater film at heart.

I beg to differ. Jaws is the archetypal disaster movie.

Where in the UK is everyone else? Cos me being in London and everyone else being in the Outer Hebrides is no help...

Sorry, better than Jaws? I fear not. The theme is quite cool. Shame that recording in 1974 was not what it is now. Some nice touches, overall an excellent score "pre-renaissance". 8/10

The main theme is not a dino theme: it is a reflective theme. It represents wonder, beauty, human ingenuity and above all awe. It is to represent the human achevement at having created dinosaurs, and the human reaction to them (awe). It is a brilliant theme precisely because it represents what the film represents (ie not "dinosaurs! wow!", but "humans creating dinosaurs! wow!"). The island theme is also not a dino theme: it is an adventure theme. It represents the other reaction to the dinosaurs: pure excitement. And boy, does it work well. I defy anyone to watch the film and not be swept away when the theme plays in the helicopter. It is just spectacular. It is also very effective at conveying the sense that the film is like an old fashioned adventure film, but with cutting-edge technology. It brings out the best in both the old and new senses. The dino music is much of the "other" stuff, particularly the brachiosaurus (sp?) music, the raptor motif and the amazing music for many of the action sequences.

Jeez... the Star Wars promo machine is immense!

Newman's music often annoys me, sometimes makes me smile and occasionally excites me. It really depends what mood I am in. I voted for the Nemo cue, only because I just listened to the two and I appreciated it more this time. Come back tomorrow, and I mgiht go for the Snicket one.

Obviosuly, the CD first. Could I really stare at it for a week or so, unlistened, waiting for the film to come out? No. And anyway, I wanna hear JW's most important score perhaps EVER! - batmanand, who wouldn't watch any film before listeneing to its JW soundtrack

Sorry but coming from a non-musician, I ould not hear any similarity at all between the two midi clips. Can someone tell me how they are supposedly related?

Goldfinger, The Man with the Golden Gun, Goldeneye and The World is not Enough are IMO the most entertaining Bond films.

Buckbeak's Flight is so good because it is makes you soar inside when you listen to it. The drums at the beginning, leading the way for those upward strings set the mood. The horns - JW's favourites - introudce us to a piece that hits all the right buttons. The woodwind work, the crash of the cymbals for the huge statement of the brass-and-strings JW trademark part of the cue; the whole end section. They all work so well in creating an atmosphere. In terms of structure, it is one of the best JW cues since (IMO - strucurally this is) DotF.

Ilya's theme is good, and perhaps excellent in the film. Leia's theme is transcendent, rising above mere "film". It will one day be on the classical concert hall circuit. It is a class above anything Goldsmith ever wrote (sorry Jerry fans).

Goldeneye definitely. Pirates of the Carribean definitely. American beauty. Apart from the first and last tracks, the CD is unlistenable, and it just doesnt work IMO in the film. Most films by John Carpenter (he should just give up the whole scoring game). The Rock. The music just gets in the way.

You are falling into the old "Oscars which year?" trap. The Oscars work as follows: The Oscars run from Jan 1 - Dec 31 of a year. Any film released during that period is eligible for the Oscars. The ceremony is held in February of the NEXT year - hence all the films featured at the OScars ceremony Feb 2005 were from Jan-Dec 2004. The Terminal was eligible for the same year as POA - last year, with the ceremony last month. It did not get nominated cos the Academy decided not to nominate it.

POA. The Terminal is undoubtedly an excellent - 4 star - score; and it works fantastically in the film. Viktor's theme is wonderfully apposite, the Love theme is melancholy (as is the love in the film), and the CD is one of the best representations of the music in the film of any JW film for a long time. But POA is something special. To compose 4 themes - Buckbeak's, Double Trouble, Window to the Past and the Patronus theme - that are all memorable, beautifully crafted and above all fantastic MUSIC puts it above The Terminal to start with. Add to that the totally idiosyncracy of all the cues - the Waltz, the Knight Bus, the Apparitions music, the new Quiddich match, the snowball fight, the Finale to name just a few - makes it the best album experience (although The Terminal and AOTC probably had better selections from the film, POA's album is just breathtakingly brilliant) since AI (one of my all time favourite JW scores and albums), at least. Add to that an Oscar nomination, and perhaps unfair loss, and POA is just better.

JW and Spielberg is undoubtedly the greatest composer/director collaboration. Indeed, i would go so far as to say it is one of the greatest of all cinematic relationships.

I can see your point, and I think that one of the hallmarks of the SW series over, say, Star Trek is the fact that all the special effects have been at the cutting edge for when the film was made. However, the whole film cannot be one long battle, and if the rumours are to be believed then the first 10 or 15 mins are a big battle, and obviously the last 20 minutes will undoubtedly be pretty action-laden. Besides, none of us have seen the film, so to some extenet all speculation is idle.

The criticism about the Clone Wars being left out - for future franchising - could equally apply to many other conflicts in the SW Universe, e.g. the Rebel attacks on the Empire post-SW, pre-ESB; the getting of the codes in ROTJ; Boba Fett's career etc

1. The trailer tells us - on one level - nothing. It is meant to be promoting the film; hence of course it has lots of "kiss ass" moments in. Furthermore, it is promoting the film to the general public, who I am pretty sure do not care that the trailer had "The Dark Side Beckons" in instead of the marginally more apposite "The Lightsaber" or whatever. The trailer was full of bombast, well-known characters and excitement-building sequences. We definitely cannot tell the quality of the film from the trailer. 2. However, there were some positives from the trailer. The wookies, to me, looked excellent, and Yoda looked the most realistic ever (including ESB and ROTJ). The Emperor is clearly going to be the excellent baddie he was in ROTJ, and "that" climactic duel is shaping up to be one of the best in the series. Furthermore, who can argue with a space battle of the visual quality portrayed in the trailer. Overall, it is enough for me to keep my hopes up that this will be the film Lucas tried, and somewhat failed, to make after ESB. 3. A quick question: what was that watery bubble thing some of the Jedi were sitting and watching?

The best musical bits from each film: I: Anakin is Free - that incredible playing of the Force theme. That is the bit in the score that truly says "Williams is back, and is still the best", whilst at the same time sending shivers down your spine. II: Either the end of the film, with the Imperial March and Across the Stars; or that incredible transition fanfare for Kamino III: Who knows! Lament sounds like it will be a treat though... IV: Binary Sunset. Has to be. V: Oh so many! Numerous fantastic statements of the Imperial March (e.g. when Vader enters the Hoth base; when he commands the Starfleet to search the galaxy; when he appears on Cloud City; when he is about to torture Solo; when he is trying to call for Luke telepathically etc.); the AMAZING statement of the Love theme when Solo is being lowered into the carbon freeze; the Asteroid Field; the music when the Millenium Falcoln is being followed by the Star Destroyer and Solo does his "stick to back of bridge" trick; the Hyperspace rythmn. BUT, if I had to pick just one, I would pick the statements of the Force and Yoda's themes when Luke and Vader are dulling and Luke jumps out of the carbon freeze pit 9techincally not in the film, but it should have been....) VI: The Dark Side Beckons. No contest.

It's OK. It is bold, got most of the main characters in it. Yoda looks lame. No droids. Do not see what the fuss is about Vader - he was big in ESB poster and he is big in this one; and ESB and ROTS are arguably Vader's most important films. Not the best poster by a long way, but not THAT bad.

I can see 2005 being JW's last big year. After that, I can see one or two films a year for four or five years, then retirement and (let's face it) eventual passing away.

I know you said none of this "legal nonsense", but I still back Norman. Barry went to court TWICE, and lost both times. In each trial, the exact history of the theme, and the musical details of who composed what, were gone over in excruciating detail. Barry lost. Norman composed it. However, obviously, Barry's arrangements are far superior.

Except that, on two occasions, courts have ruled that Monty Norman - NOT Barry - composed, and has full rights to, the James Bond Theme (although Barry, obviously, popularised it).

Whatever almost kiss (although I wouln't put it past Lucas...)