DarthDementous

Thought I would give the spotlight to some of the lesser known Star Wars composers
 
Enter Lennie Moore, who delivered this piece for the game Star Wars the Old Republic as the planet theme for Coruscant
 
Often when composers try to write in the Star Wars style it’s predominantly influenced by Prequel era music, but what I find so special about this track is how much it evokes the Original trilogy with its simultaneously soaring romantic quality as well as its uneasy dissonance. The main Coruscant theme is just majestic as well:
 

Some of Mark Griskey's action tracks for KOTOR 2 do the Star Wars sound so well that I'm almost tricked into thinking they were unused action cues for the Prequels. Clearly I'm not the only one that thinks this, because they ended up intermingling a few of them along with Williams music in the Revenge of the Sith PS2 game:
 

incidentally I just revisited the Sequel Trilogy soundtracks and wow these are all incredibly excellent scores with strong themes
 
I'm enjoying every single track so far, I've got them all in a playlist on shuffle
 
some particular highlights are the rendition of the Imperial March in the TROS end credits, and all the smaller motifs associated with Luke and his exile in TLJ that I had completely forgotten about that get really great development
 
I really wish that the ST scores were used more broadly in things like games and audiobooks, they deserve to have a life outside their derided movies like the PT scores were afforded

as well as basically every great piece of EU content except for the Thrawn Trilogy

it's the first organized effort against the Emperor (then the Chancellor) but it's not the Rebellion which is an extrajudicial organisation, they were discussing an alliance in the Senate which Mon realises throughout the course of Andor is no longer a viable place to try and fight the Empire from

even though it's deleted, that scene fits into the overall continuity

I'm getting that feeling, and you're right about Luthen expecting this was always the direction things were going to go in. I hadn't really realized until this arc but Luthen is fundamentally incompatible with what the Rebel Alliance has become and yet he's such an important proto-phase of it, but his use especially by 1BBY I think is going to come to an end

that is absurd to me. how have some people become this intolerant of something as normal as recasting, especially for someone who isn't even a major character? it does a great disservice to the great job Benjamin Bratt did in the series as well and frankly I don't really want that performance replaced with anything else because of how it hit all the right notes. recasting let's you actually have a full performance instead of some weirdly limited scenes where you're barely able to see the person which would be far more distracting and obvious, and it wouldn't have made sense or resonated as much for anyone other than Bail to be in this position

it's a shame that Jimmy Smits wasn't able to be in a show that would've let him shine as an actor, because lord knows the Prequels, Kenobi, and Rogue One did not give him that opportunity - but he is so minor in the grand scheme of Andor's production that it would've been unreasonable to halt everything and revolve purely around his availability

as for the whole 'how can you call Bail a senator' thing, and this is going to sound rich/odd coming from me, but who cares? this isn't talked about by the show and it has no bearing on it whatsoever. the important dramatic detail is that Bail is the one to directly aid in giving Mon Mothma the floor - that is it. if there's any future story that revolves around this detail in an important way then I'm sure they can come up with a reason that justifies it, that is how the expanded universe has rolled in the past and how it will continue to roll in the future. there is no point in being a slave to canon, especially obscure canon, if there's nothing to be gained from it other than connecting some dots on paper

you're making this about racism now? what is actually wrong with the discourse around this show -.-

that is absurd to me. how have some people become this intolerant of something as normal as recasting, especially for someone who isn't even a major character? it does a great disservice to the great job Benjamin Bratt did in the series as well and frankly I don't really want that performance replaced with anything else because of how it hit all the right notes. recasting let's you actually have a full performance instead of some weirdly limited scenes where you're barely able to see the person which would be far more distracting and obvious, and it wouldn't have made sense or resonated as much for anyone other than Bail to be in this position

it's a shame that Jimmy Smits wasn't able to be in a show that would've let him shine as an actor, because lord knows the Prequels, Kenobi, and Rogue One did not give him that opportunity - but he is so minor in the grand scheme of Andor's production that it would've been unreasonable to halt everything and revolve purely around his availability

as for the whole 'how can you call Bail a senator' thing, and this is going to sound rich/odd coming from me, but who cares? this isn't talked about by the show and it has no bearing on it whatsoever. the important dramatic detail is that Bail is the one to directly aid in giving Mon Mothma the floor - that is it. if there's any future story that revolves around this detail in an important way then I'm sure they can come up with a reason that justifies it, that is how the expanded universe has rolled in the past and how it will continue to roll in the future. there is no point in being a slave to canon, especially obscure canon, if there's nothing to be gained from it other than connecting some dots on paper

you're making this about racism now? what is actually wrong with the discourse around this show -.-

you're making this about racism now? what is actually wrong with the discourse around this show -.-

that is absurd to me. how have some people become this intolerant of something as normal as recasting, especially for someone who isn't even a major character? it does a great disservice to the great job Benjamin Bratt did in the series as well and frankly I don't really want that performance replaced with anything else because of how it hit all the right notes. recasting let's you actually have a full performance instead of some weirdly limited scenes where you're barely able to see the person which would be far more distracting and obvious, and it wouldn't have made sense or resonated as much for anyone other than Bail to be in this position

it's a shame that Jimmy Smits wasn't able to be in a show that would've let him shine as an actor, because lord knows the Prequels, Kenobi, and Rogue One did not give him that opportunity - but he is so minor in the grand scheme of Andor's production that it would've been unreasonable to halt everything and revolve purely around his availability

as for the whole 'how can you call Bail a senator' thing, and this is going to sound rich/odd coming from me, but who cares? this isn't talked about by the show and it has no bearing on it whatsoever. the important dramatic detail is that Bail is the one to directly aid in giving Mon Mothma the floor - that is it. if there's any future story that revolves around this detail in an important way then I'm sure they can come up with a reason that justifies it, that is how the expanded universe has rolled in the past and how it will continue to roll in the future. there is no point in being a slave to canon, especially obscure canon, if there's nothing to be gained from it other than connecting some dots on paper

that is absurd to me. how have some people become this intolerant of something as normal as recasting, especially for someone who isn't even a major character? it does a great disservice to the great job Benjamin Bratt did in the series as well and frankly I don't really want that performance replaced with anything else because of how it hit all the right notes. recasting let's you actually have a full performance instead of some weirdly limited scenes where you're barely able to see the person which would be far more distracting and obvious, and it wouldn't have made sense or resonated as much for anyone other than Bail to be in this position

it's a shame that Jimmy Smits wasn't able to be in a show that would've let him shine as an actor, because lord knows the Prequels, Kenobi, and Rogue One did not give him that opportunity - but he is so minor in the grand scheme of Andor's production that it would've been unreasonable to halt everything and revolve purely around his availability

as for the whole 'how can you call Bail a senator' thing, and this is going to sound rich/odd coming from me, but who cares? this isn't talked about by the show and it has no bearing on it whatsoever. the important dramatic detail is that Bail is the one to directly aid in giving Mon Mothma the floor - that is it. if there's any future story that revolves around this detail in an important way then I'm sure they can come up with a reason that justifies it, that is how the expanded universe has rolled in the past and how it will continue to roll in the future. there is no point in being a slave to canon, especially obscure canon, if there's nothing to be gained from it other than connecting some dots on paper

The dolls I didn't know I needed

Likely it is by Powell, as the transition is so smooth.
 
But it could be from other composer,
because if you watch the full show in the video below, you will hear the music plays different themes from different movies; ET, Harry Potter, Mario Bros., etc.
Watch the full HTTYD segment below:
 
^^
I love that when the HTTYD theme strated playing, audiences instantly recognized and cheered

wow yeah that gave me chills, very Williams-y. makes me want another Powell Star Wars score

wow yeah that gave me chills, very Williams-y. makes me want another Powell Star Wars score

Just discovered this gem that came out in 2008 and flew completely under my radar. Wataru Hokoyama's score for the video game, Afrika.

I could see Desplat writing something like these cues for the new JW film. Even sounds like a good mix of his adventure sound paired with Williams. Great fun, this!

Also, the main theme is a blast. Full of that carefree adventurous sound that drew a lot of us into our love with scores!
 

Oh it wasn't meant as a criticism, just an observation. I'm sure the intention was for Andor to open the Star Wars universe out in ways that weren't possible in the 1970s or 1980s. I guess I'm more surprised how that's also the case for the sequels which, effectively, had unlimited budget and scope, but come down to relatively small battles on planets. Even if the final space battle of Rise of Skywalker doesn't feel any more "epic" than the end of Jedi (it's just easier to shit a LOT of spaceships onto the screen now).
 
Very relieved... I mean that kinda sincerely too. I'm not sure I quite had a hot take but it certainly wasn't a view I can recall having seen. As I say, it wasn't meant as a slight on the original films (or any of the films, however good they are considered), but just that you're really seeing such a tiny slice of the Star Wars universe.
 
I haven't quite finished Andor, but the other impression you get is that the Empire is perhaps even more evil and heartless than you might have supposed from the movies. Alderaan being destroyed to me reflects the adage (coined by Stalin... I think?!) that one death is a tragedy, thousands (or millions or whatever) are a statistic. It's madness that Luke is allowed to be more sad about Ben than Leia is about her whole fucking planet, but we can relate to Luke's sadness more easily and Ben's death was probably quite shocking at the time. Alderaan blowing up is just a special effect to raise the stakes of the final battle. It never feels (to me at least, maybe I'm a monster?!) as horrific as it really ought to. The deaths of individual X-Wing pilots over the Death Star are probably more impactful.
 
I think the Prequels provided a good basis for the Senate but presented much more effectively due to better writing and higher stakes. In the Prequels, the Senate is basically the EU parliament with aliens, but in Andor, it feels like a real place and you also feel the risks of being a senator in the Empire very keenly.
 
I also remember why I didn't reply to this thread... it moves too quickly for my very sporadic posting rate! I need my threads to move at a glacial pace.
 
Currently listening to some William Walton... all I'm gonna say is that Battle in the Air would have been pretty effective over Yavin too.

Just have to say, not a general Star Wars fan, nor have I made it through most of the Disney+ shows, but hesus, is Andor great?
 
The acting, the intrigue, the world building, even the music is above and beyond the nonsense of that Jabba hunter (not the Mandalorian - Pascal is a beaut anf hopefully the next president) show thing that made me turn off from all this.
 
Kyle Gallner and Denise Gough are especially impressive. 
 
And it's fantastic that they did Ghorman just next door in shiny old London.

Did Powell actually write or adapt music for it specifically? Or did somebody else just take his existing work and rearrange it?
 
That new fanfare bit at the end of the video sounds like Williams! Christ! 😍

Mike Knobloch, music president of NBCUniversal just posted an Instagram story of John Powell attending the opening of the brand new Epic Universe theme park in Orlando. It’s cute seeing Powell kinda realizing his HTTYD music has become an ultra-iconic piece of work, now being played over fireworks show. I truly can’t imagine how he feels.
See the story below:
ScreenRecording_05-23-2025 00-00-16_1 2.mp4
 
Anyway, one interesting thing in the video above, if you hear until the end, there is a whole new extension to the Test Drive music, which I assume also composed by Powell, it sounds amazing!
 
And FYI, Powell also composed the music of Isle Of Berk in Epic Universe park

you couldn't pinpoint the theme that plays in the intro of every episode? really?

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