Quintus

Chuck Norris can watch a dvd without the dvd.

Wow! That was pretty spectacular. It made me feel proud to be American.... oh shucks, I'm British. Had to remind myself there.

Well, recording then! You know what I meant.

I have the Yo Yo Ma version of The Ecstasy Of Gold actually. PM me if you would like to hear his interesting take on the piece. Also, has anyone heard Morricone's Chi Mai? Its a most relaxing piece of music. *TGE - Who thinks that Morricone writes beautiful and soothing thematic strings better than anyone in the business.*

The Goldsmith arrangement as heard in Poltergeist is the best version I've heard, as a Brit.

Not sure about the lady, but she did a great job under Morricone's direction. Yes that was Ennio Morricone himself conducting Listen to it again, it will take a grip of you and never let go

OMG CHECK THIS OUT, ITS AMAZING http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ3u3fTG70Q I'm so pleased with myself for just finding this You Tube has a trunk full of Morricone stuff on there!

Yes the music caught my ear too, the orchestrations are very magical and playful. Having said that, sometimes I think the scoring tends to get a little ott for the most part, seemingly trying its hardest to be noticed just as much as the dinos. But as music in itself, its very nice.

Agreed. I would also add Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life to the list. As far as I'm concerned it's one of the best fusions of modern and classical action scoring in recent memory. Prepare the bomb shelter for bombing.

Yes, I'd agree with that, tho the films he scores are not really about that, if we are pointing out movies.

OMFG, what a picture you have on your Myspace profile The Vanity Fair one - its stunning! Please tell me you have it as a Jpeg?!!! I'd give anything for that photograph on my desktop! Oh and I'd love to have the Morricone piece you mentioned, send it to me PLEASE!

Indeed it is. See: The heavenly female vocals of Once Upon A Time In The West for futher proof.

His "secret" latest project is the re-scoring of a much loved trilogy DVD re-release: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GTLR2...3244851?ie=UTF8 You wish!

Hmm, totally disagree there, I find his music extremely provocative. The Man With The Harmonica is a case in point and just one example of his ability to paint a suggestive and subtle picture of a moment he has scored.

Never really hear much mention of this great composer on this board and thats a shame, because Morricone is a true, if alternative legend amongst film score composers. He is of course partly responsible for the Spaghetti Western branch of cinema and one might even argue he helped to put Clint Eastwood on the movie map - The Man With No Name just wouldn't be the icon he is today without the sparse but great orchestrations of Morricone. The score to The Good The Bad And The Ugly is for me Ennio's crowning achievement (listen to the sublime mono tones of The Ecstasy Of Gold for proof), but I know that the composer himself is responsible for more than a prolific 500 scores in his long career, a good few devoted to that of Hollywood. I'm not comparing him to Williams in the slightest when I make this post, I'm just stating that Morricone deserves a place in movie composer fandom in his own right, especially when we think of the true film scoring greats like Williams and Goldsmith. On a closing note, check out this post made by a blinkered, if seemingly educated Morricone fan (Williams hater) on the Imdb: I only quoted that guy so as to spark some interest, as it no doubt will! Oh and because I believe Ennio Morricone deserves some appreciation around these parts The man is a legend.

I can see where you are coming from, especially here: Its a smashing piece of scoring and definately one of his best, but if I really thought about it I'd probably find something superior. The Bycle Chase from ET springs to mind and ESB's (again) Asteroid Field, film version.

I think this score is excellent, always have since I saw the film back in the late '80s. I made a thread a while back in which I suggested its possibly the greatest militaristic score ever written. Not many people could offer a superior alternative The standout track for me would be Battle Plans. Its a superbly long and brooding piece which perfectly helps to set up the climatic battle between Arnie and the Predator. And I personally disagree with a comment above which stated that its a difficult stand alone listen throughout - on the contrary, I love this score on my headphones from start to finish. Just like any great score and film, if you know the scenes in your head from memory, the full score is a pleasure to listen to.

Snakes On A Plane is easily the best aeroplane movie this year coz the internet hype says so. Thats enough for me.

I never stated a theory, I stated an opinion. A theorey requires some scietific basius of verifiable fact The fact is that I enjoy SOTE more then I enjoy about 80 % of the music from the prequel scores. There is nothing nonsensical about that, and there is nothing you can disprove. Okay fair enough, I'll avoid pedantic remarks in return. I'm glad you love the music to SOTE. Even though I utterly disagree with you, I hope you continue to enjoy it, I'm sure you will.

Whoa, whoa, drop the Thought Police act already. It's just a discussion of music - which, by the way, you haven't heard. The SotE game only uses about three of the tracks, and they're not the best ones. I'm not going to entertain this argument further than my previous comments. And thank you for presuming as much as you so clearly do - How you know that one did not INDEED purchase the soundtrack to the game? What with me being a huge Star Wars fan (at the time) and Williams fan. Of course I never wanted to hear it :roll: It is unwise to believe you're a special one of a kind.

Only a 'seasoned' JWFan forum member could get away with making an accusation like this. A newcomer like me (thats not to say that I'd ever make such a ludicrous announcement)would be shot down in flames if I dared to make such a statement. I played SOTE - its was pretty shit as a game though the score was commendable enough, but this thread and its theory is a nonsense. Pure and simple.

Trust me, I prey for Williams, Goldmith and even Shore every year, but it never happens. But to be fair, its a celebration of great classical music, not great film music. And they do indeed play some great classics. Remember - its a celebration of classical music, but for the mass market/audience. That means that at some point they play the famous classics, as performed by the RPO, BCO and the LSO, with the London Voices. All in all, its a great thing, as long as you don't expect to hear Goldsmiths Star Trek: First Contact Main Theme.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/ For those who don't know what the Proms is, its an annual classical music festival hosted by the BBC and London's Royal Albert Hall. Its also an excuse for Brits to indulge in a good'ol spot of proud flag waving - the Last Night Of The Proms being the climatic and truly British ritual, with Land Of Hope And Glory being the highlight, everyone in the house sings along to it with the orchestra. You would have to be a Brit like me to truly understand its proud importance The BBC televise it live and this year (just like every other) there is a whole host of great classical music on the menu. Check it out if you get the chance. In fact its on tv right now, as will it be for a good few weeks.

The gentle strings of the Raiders love theme are worth a mention tho. Especially when it lifts a key. TGE - who has always thought that love themes have always been a Williams weakness. The concept is usually bang on the money, but the execution can sound too overblown. Its rare to hear a Williams love them that doesn't at some point have a clash of percussion or a climatic burst of brass. Don't get me wrong, his love themes are stunning, I love them as cues in their own right, but they usually sound very old Hollywood to my ear. I much prefer a love theme written by John Barry, or dare I say: James Horner

Off the top of my head I'd say Barry's Kidnapping from Close Encounters. And maybe the Jaws theme statement as heard when "Charlie" swims for it. Though I'm not sure if any of them scared me as much as Goldsmith's Poltergeist. The long brooding build up before the clown attacks. Not in the least expecting it, I literally jumped out of my bed with fright. Never a good idea to listen to that score on headphones in bed at the dead of night