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Sir Hilary Bray

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Posts posted by Sir Hilary Bray

  1. Stu Phillips, original Galactica -Saga of a Star World, Living Legend/War of the Gods and Buck Rogers (Movie/Pilot)

     

    and being that time of year, Miracle on 34th Street -Bruce Broughton

     

    as is the case when I've not listened to it in a while, a shiver and stir during "Case Dismissed", from about 1.07 -it's the build up closer to it, the swirl upwards 1.17 to 1.23. Also quite keen on "Dorey's Plea" and "Bellevue Carol". Does the job required and is entirely charming in its way. 

  2. Became a fan of Clive James when I was younger. Watched his talk show with my dad ("And now, Margarita Pracatan!"), remember his programme in Hong Kong in '97 and loved the man's wit. When I was at uni I saw him sat on the steps of a church near BBC Broadcasting House alone and was thinking of going to him to say how much I admired him and get an autograph. Felt it best to leave him alone and then read in a book years later how he didn't mind people stopping him as such...still regret not going up to him. He'll be missed this side of the UK. 

  3. 2 minutes ago, Jay said:

    Jerry Goldsmith - Air Force One (Varese Deluxe Edition)

     

    Now THAT'S an action score.  Holy hell!

     

    The Hijacking is one of my favourite Goldsmith tracks, the way it builds and builds and that moment when Air Force One is veering across the airfield. 

     

    --

     

    I dug out my Superman discs (Rhino) and realise it's one I do so every few months and I point it out because I see now that it makes it sound as new. Some soundtracks I can do this with and it doesn't seem to affect things but this does and how. Planet Krypton just sounds fantastically epic but rising to the top in my book is The Flying Sequence. I don't know why but it ticks all the boxes. It even on this occasion move me a great deal. 

     

    Certain moments, small musical moments, rattle around in my head. The Trip to Earth makes me think of Yoda's Theme somehow, similarly during The Destruction of Krypton a few seconds sound (to my tonedeaf ears) from the end titles for Jaws but in Chasing Rockets 1.20 to about 1.24, that particular sound seems fantastic. Coming as it does before the theme. 

     

    Otherwise I'm revisiting my Battlestar Galactica stuff a lot this past couple of weeks. Saga of a Star World mostly. 

     

     

  4. Star Trek IV The Voyage Home- Leonard Rosenman

    Star Trek VI -The Undiscovered Country, Cliff Eidelman

     

    the former is so indelibly linked to the film that it's hard to imagine the film without it. The main theme has a sense of urgency early on, matched perhaps by The Whaler ("Full powered descent Mr Sulu") and the start of "Crash/Whale Fugue". The expanded score makes it more complete of course. The inclusion of the alternate Whaler (i.e the recap montage they had prior to the credits) is a good one and even the alternate main title (intriguing to hear the TOS theme done 'big' for a film). Then there's of course what I think of the quirky tracks -Market Street and Ballad of the Whale. I don't quite see the need for the two minutes or so at the start of Market Street before it's the moment where Kirk and co walk into the street. 

    It's not a bad score and neither is VI. I raise eyebrows at Horner's response of his career outgrowing Trek, as much as a IV Horner score intrigues, one done nine years after his first Trek is as much intriguing. Re-uses of Kirk and Spock's theme perhaps intermingled with some updating of his Klingon theme. 

    Eidelman did a good job and the highlight remains Battle for Peace. Again, the expanded score makes it much more better. 

  5.  

    On 9/6/2019 at 7:44 PM, Gruesome Son of a Bitch said:

    I saw Return of the Jedi first. I also saw the second Ewok movie before all the other movies. I just assumed the Ewoks were in all of them.

     

    Same in the sense I saw Jedi first. Gladly erased the ewoks from memory by the time of the others. 

  6. Having watched Star Trek's II and III lately (plus IV), I primarily revisited my Horner scores. They've held a fix on me since I was little when I was plumped in front of the TV watching anything whilst mum did housework (this believe, III is my most watched Trek movie to this day). But outside of hearing Dad play John Barry of a night, Horner (next to Barry Gray in Thunderbirds et al) was mine somehow. So often have I watched II and III that listening to certain tracks I can picture the scenes to a T.

     

    Anyway, I put together for my phone a playlist for the train (the crème if not THE crème de la crème of his ST works)

     

    Prologue and Main Title (III)

    Enterprise Clears Moorings, Surprise Attack, Kirk's Explosive Reply, Battle of the Mutara Nebula, Enterprise Attacks Reliant, Genesis Countdown (II)

    Stealing the Enterprise, Spock Endures Pon Farr, Bird of Prey Decloaks, A Fighting Chance to Live (I once edited it on my laptop as Sixty Seconds to Live, weirdly), Genesis Destroyed and End Titles (III)

     

    It's taken until now to fully appreciate the separate themes. I read in the liner notes how there's Kirk's theme, Spock's and the Enterprise's. Now Spock's I know well enough but Kirk's always seemed interchangeable with Enterprise. I always claim to be tone deaf and on my time here, I'm none the wiser about specific terms. Anyway, this week I got a handle for Kirk's theme. 

     

    I'd ramble on further about each track but needless to say, I always enjoy the sweeping of the theme (and how III's is just enough different to II, great shame Horner somehow couldn't do IV- I know there's reasons why but it round out the 'trilogy' perfectly), the near nautical sound of Enterprise Clears Moorings (how great music is that a scene taken from The Motion Picture seems vastly different with a different composer. Both great of course), how even to this day after several viewings/listens, both Surprise Attack and Stealing the Enterprise still ratchets up the tension. With the former you can picture the two ships closing in and that last dialogue: "Lock phasers on target"/"They're locking phasers" and with the latter, the closer Enterprise gets to the doors and the music going full tilt. The emotive nature of Fighting Chance to Live ("Zero...zero...zero, de-struct zero"). 

    Anyway. 

     

    The greatest gift of late was getting the expanded for II and III. Worth every penny. 

  7. Solid breakdown of the score which arguably, by a mile, is the best thing about the film. One bit I always liked is how you hear the 'end titles' from the first film in the background of this ones -almost faint in some respects. And the main theme always sound, to my mind, quite savage which almost ratchets up tension as well as the original theme in the first film. 

  8. John Barry- Beyondness of Things, Eternal Echoes, Raise The Titanic

     

    Jerry Goldsmith- Players (love this score more than perhaps I should), Masada and QB VIII (via the 40 Years of Jerry Goldsmith collection)

     

    Lalo Schifrin- Bullitt

     

    Bullitt was my first Schifrin score both listened to and brought. Great sound to it (i.e Just Coffee, The Architect's Building, Shifting Gears etc)

  9. I listed to a rash of scores for the first time: Saturn 3, Elmer Bernstein 

     

    Psycho (the Joel McNeely recording)

     

    Cinderella Liberty and The Reivers, Williams

     

    and then The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. For good measure I added to the playlist on my phone, the song (Dream Away Child, Sinatra) and it all tied together nicely. Love the sound of Cat Dancing throughout. Something about Williams pre-Jaws/Star Wars.

  10. 2 hours ago, Richard said:

    I've heard that, as well. I've also met Daniels. He was quite nice, as I remember.

     

    Same. At uni when I went to get my Revenge of the Sith DVD. In the old HMV on New Oxford Street. I joined the queue right at the end -they drew the rope behind me and someone said, "Mr Daniels has agreed to stay to sign everyone's DVD". When I got up there, we shook hands, he asked what I did -said I was a History student, he said I was the second that day, he personalised the DVD, posed for a photo (we both took our specs off for it and he joked about it) and off I went. Nice chap in my  book. 

  11. John Barry's Across the Sea of Time

     

    (I went through a Goldsmith mood for Jan-March and now it's JB), this might not be an OST as such but it's wonderful. Flight Over New Year packs a wallop, it's moving, it's stirring and personally, if I ever get to New York, this would be playing in my mind hopefully. Across the Sea of Time (the track) is as good, Coney Island and The Wonder of America.

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