Mitth'raw'nuorodo

Dunkirk
Interstellar
Titanic
 
 

From The Last Jedi

From The Hobbit: Battle of the Five ArmiesThe Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I usually favour either long, energetic moving shots or heavily atmospheric wide shots with tiny people lost in a huge environment.
 

Bonus:
 

 

 

 

 

I think less and less movie composers are able, firstly, to compose a score alone, and secondly, to conduct an orchestra (well, when there is an orchestra).

I'm down with calling it Williams' magnum opus, in the sense that its his most rich body of work. But I hesitate to call it a single piece in multiple parts.
 
Wagner finished the pieces apart but worked on all of them concurrently. If memory serves me well, he wrote them from Götterdämmerung and back. Hell, he only got the idea to write Das Rheingold after he had an outline of the other three and realized he needed a prelude of sorts. As a result, his work is much more unified than Williams, unfortunately.
 
If you look at Williams scores in the order of the narrative (i.e. starting with The Phantom Menace and going forward, and lets even insert "Adventures of Han" before "A New Hope", for that matter) and try to make sense of the thematic progression, there are a few too many continuity "ticks" to overlook. Some of those are due to large time gaps between trilogies, some due to Williams (and Lucas) making it up as they go along, and some "just 'cause".
 
For instance, he embeds the Imperial March into Anakin's theme only for the former to be all but abandoned at the end of the first score, he continues to the develop the march but then discontinues its use for the entirety of the "fourth" score and "replaces" it with a shorter motif, itself never to appear again. He writes a theme for the Droids - the only characters appearing across all nine films - and only really uses it in the fifth entry. He writes specific themes for climactic duels and for funeral scenes in the first three scores which make no appearance for similar scenes in the later scores; several themes undergo a major change in association, as well: the Rebel Fanfare turns into a Millennium Falcon theme, The Force theme turns "into" Ben's theme and back, he writes a suite (Adventures of Han) for one of the most prevalent characters in the series for it to not appear in any of the actual scores.
 
He also changes the sound itself: the "first" three scores are more percussion and choir heavy, use more rhythmic material and shorter motives, they're orchestrated differently;  the "next" three scores function more like musicals, with long-lined themes, and even compositions for standalone setpieces (such as the Asteroid Field) merit this song-like melodic structure, before Williams returns to a sound more like the "first" three pieces, only more dialed back for some reason. There's a notable change of orchestra and recording studio along the way, he changes the choral ensemble multiple times, the overall size of the ensemble varies greatly between entries, the deployment of synth and special instruments is not consistent across all eight scores, the mix is different, etc..
 
There's also the issue, inherent to the nature of the sequel trilogy's conception, in which Williams' work reaches its climax (in Return of the Jedi), only to begin anew for The Force Awakens going forward. Watch Williams' "Star Wars: A Musical Journey" and try to figure out how the sequel trilogy will fit in there. Hint: it can't.

Cargo Shuttle SW-0608 is quite good, yes. It may be my favorite non-thematic portion of the score, probably better than some of the themes honestly. 

I quite like the timpani solo-ish thing at the end of The Adventures Of Han. It gives it a heaviness and buoyancy at the same time, and makes it seem more frantic and fun!

Hell yeah. The way the music whirls into that initial statement, somehow pulling back while still maintaining that dazzling momentum, is badassery of the highest caliber, with a great statement of Poe's Theme to top it off at the end.

Main Title and Escape from TLJ OST is a fantastic action cue. It's one of those rare situations of JW action music where I far prefer the OST version to the film version. In the film the music and editing is very disjointed and without flow, whereas the OST track just gives us the best bits with nice sharp transitions and impactful edits. 

Okay, here we go. I want to do one for each Star Wars movie since I've listened to them so many times.
 
Ep. IV: I love the first minute and a half of "Wookiee Prisoner/Detention Block Ambush." The echoey sound of the pizzicato strings and that timpani solo is not really a type of underscore you hear again in any Star Wars movie. Or maybe I'm just experiencing Stockholm Syndrome from hearing it so many times in Jedi Outcast.
 
Ep. V: The first twenty seconds of "The Training Of A Jedi Knight/The Magic Tree." Those magical pizz strings with the bells playing sounds so mystical and exciting and beautiful at the same time. And then that mischievous version of Yoda's theme on top is great.
 
Ep. VI: The Alliance Assembly theme. It only appears during "Alliance Assembly," but it's such a rich and noble and serious theme. I wish it had appeared more.
 
Ep. I: In "Fighting The Destroyer Droids" (Ultimate Edition), I love the snare solos starting at 1:13 and then the martial motif at 1:28. It feels like a destroyer's theme, but it never shows up again, so I guess we'll never know.
 
Ep. II: Really the entirety of "Zam the Assassin and the Chase Through Coruscant"  because we'd never heard SW music like that before and didn't really again until Solo: A Star Wars Story. But more specifically I love the famous electric guitar solo and the percussion solos. The first percussion solo is 2:18 through 2:32, the first electric guitar bit is 3:18 through 3:26, the second percussion solo is 4:21 through 4:55, and both the percussion and guitar get a solo moment together at 5:10 through 5:26 (mostly percussion, but the guitar makes a very distinguishable appearance).
 
Ep. III: The swirling operatic strings at the beginning of "Grievous Speaks To Lord Sidious" and leading into that martial brassy theme and eventually choir. The best part goes from 0:00 to 0:52. So stirring!
 
Ep. VII: This one's harder because when he isn't presenting a main theme, it's mostly underscore without a lot of melody or personality (you can see my opinion of the TFA score peeking through here, doubtless). I love all the brass fanfares in "I Can Fly Anything," like at 0:23. And the trumpet screams at 0:48. And the off-beat trumpet stabs around 1:06. But there's no long segment that's not a theme that really speaks to me.
 
Ep. VIII: I have three for this since it has a lot more personality and fun little one-off moments. My favorite has to be the end of "Main Title and Escape." That whole tragic passage from 6:13 to 6:44 often makes me tear up. The brass writing there is so powerful! My second favorite moment is, of course, the opening of "The Fathiers." It's so bubbly and energetic and is totally original, not based on any previous themes! The first ten seconds are the best part other than the glowing brass rendition of Rose's theme. And my third favorite is from the FYC in "The Master Codebreaker." John Williams goes full old-school scoring when we see the codebreaker, with those sweeping strings playing something that sounds right out of the 40s. Specifically 0:49 through 0:59. So lavish!
 
Anyway, that was a lot, and maybe I'll do another about non-SW scores, but SW is, after all, my first love, so I really wanted to do a moment from each Williams score.
 
My favorite non-SW JW moment is when the Arab swordsman shows up in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The bombastic brass playing a Middle-Eastern-sounding theme and then those brass swoops up are great! 2:22 through 2:28 of "The Basket Game," specifically.

Giacchino is an exceptional composer. Thus far he's provided music for a few video games and the ALIAS t.v. show.
As for why you should care about him, you don't have to. You're just missing out on some really great music. Don't think just because he's scored video games that he's got no compositional chops. The stuff I've heard for Medal of Honour and Secret Weapons Over Normandy easily bests most mainstream film scores I've heard from 2004. In fact, Giacchino demonstrates a propensity for great melodic writing, and deft orchestrational skills. I'm quite certain he'll be the next big thing to hit Hollywood and it will be well deserved.
Of Beltrami, Ottman, Tyler, Shearmur, and the current crop of youngish composers, Giacchino tops my list for most skilled and talented composer. Just wait for Pixar's THE INCREDIBLES. That'll prove it!

This very talented composer passed away at the age of 79 this week
 
Here is a link to a obit by Randall D. Larson
 
http://buysoundtrax.com/Patrick_Williams_obit.html

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Composed by John Powell
With a theme composed and conducted by John Williams
 
Track for Track Thoughts
 
The Adventures of Han (John Williams)
This concert piece composed by the franchise's main man of music, John Williams, is a fine, addition to his many memorable Star Wars works. This piece gets going right from the start, with a brass-lead movement into the Hero Theme- Part A of the piece. The melody flourishes here and throughout the Powell score. A seamless transition leads into the Searching Theme- the Part B- whose melody has a sense of adventure and confidence, but still an appropriate sense of longing. Searching carries on into some hurried strings reminiscent of The Battle of Crait. The brass rendition allows the piece to reprise the Hero Theme. The remainder of the work continues with the Searching and Hero themes weaving in and around. And just as one thinks it's over, we get some epic percussion and bouncing brass to close. The whole idea of this piece really captures the feel of vintage Williams, soaring it up many all-time lists in my book.
 
Meet Han
A dark and low theme opens up, but soon rises into a glorious and perhaps my favourite use of the Searching Theme. Backed by Powell's distinct percussion, this is a notable thriving moment for the theme as a whole. A quite lovely Searching keyboard acts as a descent, closing the cue.
 
Corellia Chase
An action packed composition wastes no time in building energy: a very quick and powerful theme statement appears early. The variations continue, bringing the Williams' themes to life. Things become quite packed and chaotic, but not out of hand. Some moments echo the likes of Powell's How to Train Your Dragon and Paul Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice. A barrage of percussion springs forth, and a final few uses of the Searching Theme cap this fine action piece.
 
Spaceport
The Searching Theme is prevalent here, as Han may finally have a chance to escape Corellia. There's a lot of hope in the notes, but also something looming (separation from Qi'ra). The necessary moments are tense, leading to a wonderful and moving introduction of the Love Theme, laced with Searching, as Han and Qi'ra are separated.
 
Flying With Chewie
Yet another action piece, but one that introduces both the Gang Theme and Chewie's Theme, which are utilized splendidly all throughout. The Gang Theme has an "on a mission" type feel to it, the percussion and "down to business" brass causing that sense. The two Han themes are used to slowly ease down the piece, allowing Chewie's them to enter. The ending variation is an extremely inspiring and uplifting moment of the score, and highlights this track.
 
Train Heist
The first portion of this track is mainly the Love Theme, used in all its gentle splendor but not yet at its fullest, especially since Han and Qi'ra are not together at this point. Some of the woodwind touches  that back the theme really bring out its best. A profound solemn brass statement allows for a change of pace, as strings and percussion join in, speeding up as things are about to get real. And oh do they ever! My favourite use of the Gang Theme hits it out of the park as the heist commences. Plenty of action soon follows into a thumping Imperial Theme from the original Star Wars. As a heroic Han makes a move, so to does his corresponding theme. This is probably one of my favourite tracks on the album, simply because its all there.
 
Marauders Arrive
This track features a very daring and different use of choir to introduce the Enfys Nest theme. To the untrained ear it may seem odd and out of place, but I am very glad I have found it to be epic and effective. Most of this piece can be described with those words too. It can be loud and robust at times, but some Hero and Gang theme statements make this work quite varied. Everything has that same "mission" feel to it, one that Powell is great at creating in this score. The moments that accompany-ahem-certain deaths are quite well done, and add to the wide flavour of this composition.
 
Chicken In The Pot
The sore thumb of the score. I feel Powell passed up an opportunity to  create a truly memorable jazzy cantina song. And while he didn't do that, he ended up putting it on the OST anyways. I don't hate it, its just odd. Additionally, the second voice was much deeper in the movie, so if you liked it that way you might get a film version on the FYC!
 
Is This Seat Taken?
A very jumpy and catchy track, with hints of Thomas Newman's Finding Dory and Powell's work on Ice Age. A growing favourite of mine.
 
L3 & Millenium Falcon
A bit of a mysterious opening leads into the lumbering L3 Theme in all its personality. Some pure and organic excitement is portrayed and the most wonderfully imaginable introduction of the Falcon highlights the piece. A gentle Gang Theme ends the "good times", and the Enfys Nest theme interrupts to powerfully close.
 
Lando's Closet
The gentlest and most beautiful of Love Theme's is put on full display. An opening that bears the feeling of Justin Hurwitz's La La Land , the strings gliding melodiously, creating a beautiful serenade of sorts. The peak of the Love Theme may just be the best part of the score, although it is a close competition. Powell takes his abilities to the next level with this one.
 
Mine Mission
L3's Theme does sound like the March of the Resistance, yes, but it has so much personality and flexibility that makes it different (besides, L3's character is based on resistance, soooooo....). The bridges between the theme's variation's bear the feeling of the Romantic Era, with touches that called to mind Mozart, Grieg, Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky (Powell's doing a lot of things right to be sounding like those guys). The versatility of L3's Theme is the main idea of this piece, and as her arc develops so to does the melody.
 
Break Out
More L3 Theme, more development. Throughout the score it has a low and odd introduction, increased vigour, a march style, desperation, sadness, and later on subtlety. Chewie's and Han's themes are used in fair display, especially when one thinks about hearing Chewie's theme as he rips off a guy's arms. The Gang Theme is still in a "mission" style, which I love. There are some wonderful short Williams-esque fanfare, followed by the musical presence of the Falcon. The ending moments have the feel of Born on the Fourth of July and Narnia, which is crazy to think that Powell can create music that reminds me of so many great works and composers. His future is bright!
 
The Good Guy
The Love Theme is fragile here, as is the relationship of Han and Qi'ra. Some rings of the Hero and Searching themes ring out, before Enfys Nest rings out in all it's power, choir and drums, to close.
 
Reminiscence Therapy
The Death Star motif and call backs to Hyperspace from SW '77 tell you right from the start that the title of the track is perfect. The Hero Theme and Rebel Fanfare are repeated many times, and two excellent quotes from the OT- Here They Come like you never knew you always wanted to hear and the Asteroid Field in all its nostalgic glory. The light L3 moment that closes is pure thematic brilliance, closing the arc of that memorable droids story. Five star track.
 
Into the Maw
A crazy action piece filled to the brim. Almost all the themes are used quickly, but it isn't a particularly stunning composition. It's a chaotic scene, so I suppose the music being wild is appropriate. 
 
Savareen Stand-Off
Enfys Nest is back, and the triumphant opening is quite different, but still good. Searching strings are present, but this track doesn't have too much to offer.
 
Good Thing You Were Listening
Uncertainty opens the track. Some Searching strings spill into that stirring Love Theme style from Spaceport- a wonderful reprise.
 
Testing Allegiance
Quick and tense. A decent track to accompany the crazy twist at the end of the film, and the fight sequence that ensues. 
 
Dice and Roll
...and End Credits. No, but I guess that's okay. The same lightheartedness of Is This Seat Taken? and then the victorious Falcon as it blasts into hyperspace. Very surreal and an excellent way to end off the album.

Agreed 100%. Goodwin and his crew are extremely good at what they do, but holy smokes do they play the cutest-sounding crap. I tend to like more cojones when I listen to a big band.

The Post (by Steven Spielberg)
 
What a great advertisement for wigs and beautiful pairs of glasses!

Solo is my favorite Star Wars score, and I doubt Powell could top it with any of his other scores, so . . . no, Chicken Run isn't his best.

Oh! Also the Alliance Assembly theme from Return of the Jedi. It's so noble and majestic that hearing some development of the theme and a full-fledged arrangement would be marvelous.

This term is kinda applicable for some portions if TFA.

I'd date you if you came dressed as Margo Channing!
Anyway, the best Star Wars score is...Solo. 
And I guess second place can go to Attack of the Clones, since it has the Natalie Portman love theme.

Solo is my favorite Star Wars score, and I doubt Powell could top it with any of his other scores, so . . . no, Chicken Run isn't his best.

Battle of Hoth is definitely up there! I would also include all his fugues (like the Shark Cage) and the entire Naboo battle in TPM.

I'm a die-hard Williams fan, but my favorite Star Wars score is probably Solo! It has this boundless energy, wit, romanticism, and pizzazz that no other score I've listened to has matched. I could just listen to it over and over, especially Mine Mission, Break Out, Reminiscence Therapy, and Into The Maw. It's an instantly iconic score with plenty of new themes, but also great references to old themes where necessary. And some of the references are just so clever! Like the actiony reference to the opening fanfare in Break Out or the awestruck SW theme during L3 and Millennium Falcon.
 
All in all, I love the score to Solo. 

Could you please revise this poll to make it more palatable? You could ask these questions:
 
Rate Solo:
 
Rate Rogue One:
 
Which score do you like better on film?
 
Which score do you like better on album?
 
Which film do you like better?
 
 
Potential titles:
 
Rate Solo and Rogue One!
 
Which Star Wars spinoff do you like more?
 
Top 5 tracks from Solo and Rogue One
 
 
With all of this, it's imperative you remember that you don't really care about these questions at all, or at the very least curious in the most superficial of ways. This format allows posters to give declarative answers that feed into an incredibly boring topic, becoming a wall memorial of opinion monologues and soliloquies, stimulating almost no conversation whatsoever, certainly none that are interesting.
 
If you could make these changes to your poll format, I and many others would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

"Life in the Bubble" from 2014 is an excellent album.  They're a little too slick and "Hollywood" for my usual taste in big band music but the talent is undeniable.  Some really neat arrangements.