WampaRat

Yes. The colloquial modern day/riffy dialogue is starting to grate. I don’t mind humor. The original Willow had tons of it. But I do mind “filler humor”. Did anyone who watched episode 3 think the fight at the end was too visually dark? Is this the same guy who lensed “Solo”? My wife was the first to call it out. We could barely see what was happening. As for the music, I’m really eager to give it a fair shake on album. I’m hearing a lot that I like. And some that I’ll leave off my playlist. Wonder if we’ll get a proper “danger motif” in the coming episode? (It may have already popped up in the prologue to the first episode. I can’t recall.)

I listened to Skyfall quite a bit when it first came out. I couldn’t believe Thomas Newman had been given a chance to write a Bond score! It’s not as muscular or brassy as Arnold’s. But I find there’s a lot to like. I got a good 60ish min playlist that includes a few tracks from Spectre that I enjoyed. I was much more disappointed in that score. Pretty copy/paste it seemed. Outside of the lovely themes for the love scenes and some of the transitional/establishing shot stuff, wasn’t much that grabbed me. But I think it was partly due to the studio wanting another Skyfall.

2:38 to 2:50 in “Boarding the Stealth”. A small but effectively badass moment in TND. I love how the lower strings attack the famous guitar riff. Arnold does this quite a bit throughout the score. Instead of a cool confidant rendition, things are tense and dire. Love it. Also “Helicopter Ride” (now “Vietnam” on the LLL release) has been a standout highlight for me ever since I saw the film as a youngster. It’s got those cool Arnold strings he uses in Bjorks’ “Play Dead” song.

This gem will finally be available again digitally on Friday:

Sweet. Thanks! Here they be:

No worries! I’m sure you explained it clearly. It was late when I finally was able to rip the CDs and skimmed the booklet. Then I did my listening at work the next day (didn’t have the booklet with me to refer to). Didn’t remember the specifics at the time. How do you do that hyperlink text thing that takes you to a specific post on another thread? (I shared my thoughts on page 3 of the LLL TND thread. They’re about 3/4 of the way down lol)

For me, after the bombast of the two opening tracks, it’s a nice little tonal break to have the more quiet opening of the alternate that later explodes with the brass. Just my preference. Both are amazing though. I’m starting to like it a tad more than The World Is Not Enough by Garbage. I liked that one a lot!

Finished my first full listen (and currently in the beginning of my second). I’ll need to revisit it more to have some comments of substance. Perhaps watch the film again as well. Just a few things that jumped out at me this time: Introduction and Retribution: The increasing rhythmic scrapping that starts about 2:25 as the violence amps up. Really sets me on edge. I can see how it would pair perfectly with the captives finding the barrel of cane knives during their attempted escape. Hope we can get some “score restore” videos for these! The Meeting of the Minds(Memories of Home) theme is so beautiful. I love it in all its iterations. So glad this release lets this theme shine more. Which brings me to the heart rending Prisoner’s Song. Jay you mentioned one of the best moments of this score is a “non-thematic” one. Was this the one you refer too? It’s brief. But it cuts me to the core. I don’t know what it is about it. There’s something in it that makes me feel like it’s an evolution of the Meeting of the Minds/Memories of home theme (Anyone want to try and transcribe the two?) Where “Meetings” evokes their old homeland, “Prisoner’s Song” seems to elude to their new home and the African culture that will develop in North America. Religious Spirituals having evolved from traditional songs of their homeland. Wish it became a reoccurring theme. Damn is it moving. Comparing the two versions of Tales of Horror, it’s interesting to see the two approaches. The film version seems to score the first half of the cue with a more paranoid vibe. It helps you feel Cinque’s perspective a bit more as he sits uncomfortably on the stand. Then it explodes into the “Dry Your Tears” theme backed by the choir as he summons the courage to speak. The alternate is flipped in it’s choral usage. The first half has the momentous choral building of Cinque’s theme. Heavy with sorrow. But then a more subdued version of the “Dry Your Tears” theme plays sans-choir as Cinque stands and declares “Give Us Free!” Id be very curious to see a score restore with this version. The brutal Spanish Guitar strums that clash with the African instruments about 3:08 into The Crossing is just a master stroke of genius! That’s all I got so far. I’m sure more will pop out as I revisit it again. Now. Back to Tomorrow Never Dies! 😃

Just finished my first complete listen to this new set. I’d only ever listened to the Chapter III release and while I feel that edition is still a great summation of the score, this release knocks it out of the park. What a tremendous love letter to the Bond scores of the past mixed with the expectations of 90s blockbuster scoring. Arnold really attacked this as if he’d never score another Bond film again. The Monty Norman theme is flashed all over the place yet never becomes tiresome due to Arnold’s skillful adaptations and iterations. I mentioned earlier my preference for including the alternate version of “Surrender” instead of the Sheryl Crowe song. Still the best way to go in my opinion. Sometimes I find beefy action scores like this can outstay their welcome after 70mins. But this one knows just when to lay into the bombast and when to pull it back and have a breather. (The Okinawa/Halo cue is the perfect connecting tissue between “Backseat Driver” and “Underwater Discovery”. A tonal jump I always found jarring on the Chapter 3 release) There’s always something interesting occurring with the orchestration that keeps you hooked. Percussion, gorgeous woodwind solos. Even the 20 minute action packed climax beginning with “Boarding The Stealth” all the way to “All in a Days Work” is sprinkled with appropriate moments of rest before it boils over into another whirlwind of Bond Bravado. Toss out those old boots and iso score rips. Nobody does it better than Lala Land (Now onto Amistad. Talk about a tonal shift 😁)

My copy of TND arrived today. I swapped the Sheryl Crowe song for the Alternate version of “Surrender” to play after “White Knight” and “Backseat Pilot” and its *chefs kiss*. Such a great way to announce Arnold’s main theme in full after being teased with it in “white knight”. You’re really able to identify all its iterations throughout the rest of the score’s narrative. And then close the main program with the film version of “Surrender”. Nice big ole’ reprisal that sends the whole adventure off with a bang!

Made it home safe after a perilous snowy drive home. Now to dig in!

Yeah. I’m probably responsible for about 1/4 of the views that trailer has gotten. I might be a tad excited. The mock-ups people have done with actual Williams score really help. I agree. Mac as an old war buddy who betrays Indy is a cool idea. Shame it was so undercooked. It felt like they had just watched the Mummy ‘99 and decided to rip off the “Beni” character.

Learned something new today haha.

I’d say Pocahontas is probably a more consistent listening experience. The finale in that one still gives me chills. But the sheer power of Hunchback tips the scales for me. I cannot wait for the inevitable half-baked live action remake just so we can get Menken taking another crack at that score.

I remember my History teacher Mom being very excited for Amistad. Whatever the latest “historical Spielberg” picture was we would catch together. I was only 9 when it came out so needless to say she didn’t take me to this one when it opened 😆 Tomorrow Never dies was the first Bond movie I ever saw in theaters. And it’s still my favorite to this day of the Brosnan era (Sorry GoldenEye!) Half of that is nostalgic and the other half is due to its killer score.

My copy of Amistad and TND is on track to be delivered tomorrow. Gosh. I’m not sure which one I want to jump into first. An emotional historic drama scored by Maestro Williams? Or the best (arguably) balls-to-the-wall modern Bond score? It will certainly depend on my mood at the end of the day.

Well technically it’s Geoff Zanelli piece My five year old son is OBSESSED with trains. This arrangement is his favorite piece of music to run around the house and “chug” to.

Don’t know if this one counts. But I’ve always loved how this cue explodes out of nowhere to kick off the finale. Terrific mid-era Elfman. In watching the final helicopter battle of M:I Fallout, I imagine this plays instead of the bwaams of Balfe’s score.

Oh yeah. They have to crack ribs for it to be effective. But I’m sure there’s some visual trick they could use to make it look a bit more realistic. They could always go the “full prosthetic chest” route ala Iron Man. I’m sure that would be cost effective 😉

It’s true. With all the special and practical effects at their disposal, I have yet to see a convincing CPR scene in a Hollywood movie. (They often devolve into just slapping or beating the crap out of an unconscious person for dramatic effect🙄)

Killer! Thanks so much

“Ping and Bwamm.com” Dang. That’s good stuff! Made me laugh. Made me cry. And yes, the bloated Zimmerized “Schindler’s List” theme is hilarious.

We finished this season last night. It was a lot better than I had anticipated. Definitely the best thing Burton has done in a while. Enjoyed Elfman’s theme. No other cues really stood out though. Anyone have a 30-40 minute playlist with the highlights?

Dammit. Can’t believe I fell for that