Taikomochi

Why do you think cultural impact matters when evaluating a film? Plenty of great films have none. How do you quantify cultural impact? Why do you think that you or the many other people I have seen parrot this critique are qualified as an arbiter of what is or isn’t culturally impactful? Have you been to China or India where the Avatar films are so popular? Do you believe studio execs or James Cameron are losing sleep over people not quoting these films that are designed to be singular theatrical experiences, rather than quotable movies, despite making oodles and oodles of cash? They have no cultural impact, and yet, here you are arguing about it in the internet. Lol

You are right about the solemn statement of the family theme on choir which would go right between “Kids in Trouble” and “Navi Attack”. One of my most desired unreleased moments. Not sure I hear the theme you are describing in Training Montage. They sound more like slightly similar but unrelated moments

The only thing less original than the plot to the original Avatar is this feckless meme of a criticism. It is an absolutely, 100% meaningless metric that there aren’t Avatar memes on Twitter or Reddit or wherever else you source your opinions from.

The spiciest part of that review is that he suggests it is better than the original. I can see the argument for it, though I’m not yet sure where I land

It’s also possible he had less leverage to do so before the film was a known success with regards to licensing fees and such. It does strike me as odd how much control he seemingly has over the music, but I guess we don’t really know.

I honestly can’t tell how sarcastic he is being in some of these replies. For now, I’m gonna assume such a thing is not happening, but, who knows, he seems to reply to a lot of these requests. Would be awesome if he did.

Indeed, this is an incredible score, perhaps my favorite of the decade so far. Beyond the score being a loving tribute to Horner, I’m just astounded at how well the themes are developed, all the smaller ideas like Payakan’s theme from its ethereal introduction to its badass rendition closing “A Farewell to Arm”, but especially the family theme. Just admire how Franglen gives it such a cathartic statement in the middle of “Bad Parents” before closing out the piece with a warped version of the same theme. And then just a short while later, he transforms it again in the transcendent “From Darkness to Light”. I’m having a difficult time remembering the last time I heard a new score that was this narratively satisfying. This is a major work of film music composition, pure and simple.

The average person does not give a shit about memes. For the love of God, let’s stop measuring movies’ success by their memes. “Sure it’s one of the highest grossing films of all time, but no memes? Failure!” I swear I have seen thousands of takes that TWOW would fail financially because the first film didn’t have memes. All memes measure is was the film successful with people specifically inside your online bubble. The average person is not terminally online like all of us.

I pointed that theme out a page or two ago. Though, I associated it with the kids. I think you are correct that it actually represents loss. Really beautiful theme.

Dune also came out in that September-October stretch when people were starting to actually return to the movies, when making $100 million was an impressive feat. In that context, it did very well. It was also released same day on HBO Max, which I’m sure dampened the numbers some.

We need to just keep asking him for any cues we can identify if that’s gonna be his response. Someone ask him for the submarine chase cue

Sure, some critics like it, but some critics I follow called it the worst film of the year. At best, it’s divisive. Apparently it needs to make $250 mil to break even. As is, it had the 6th worst opening weekend of all time for a wide release. It’s going to be considered a bomb because it is one, and I think that is something that blunts Oscar hype as well. I’d argue that’s what happened to West Side Story last year.

I think it hurts Babylon that the movie is apparently a piece of shit. That stuff tends to trickle down, though not always

It also sounds a ton like Quaritch Down from the first score, but I guess that was just cribbing Aliens anyways

On Twitter, Franglen specifically noted this moment was re-recorded, not tracked

Love the badass statement of the Tulkun theme for that moment, followed by the trumpet clusters. Difficult to believe Horner didn’t write it himself

Indeed, Franglen’s Twitter has a lot of interesting tidbits if you look at the replies he makes! He says he couldn’t put the Horner quotes on the album due to it being a reuse from the first film’s album. He also says the Hometree/Leaving Home track was written for the scene Sanctuary covers in an earlier edit of the film.

There is a theme that I think is for Quaritch that appears prominently in the second half of Eclipse, in Bad Parents, and in Knife Fight. I think there might be some subtle iterations in the earlier action tracks. There is a theme that (maybe?) represents the kids in the first half of Eclipse and on solo vocal in Family. I don’t think those are any of the themes mentioned above but could be wrong.

It’s difficult to say, though the one re-recording that made it into “World Upside Down” is quite awkward. That couldn’t just be the result of music editing.

I am honestly glad the Horner re-recordings are not heavily present on either album. They are very awkwardly inserted into the score and would greatly disrupt the flow of the album. That said, there is obviously more material than that which was left off the expanded album, which is unfortunate.

It could be an alt. That would make a lot of sense!

Sanctuary does feature the sweeping statement of the family theme that’s very similar to Hometree, which plays over them flying away from the forest. I am seeing the film again in a few days so can confirm then, but I am fairly confident Hometree is not in the film, hence its placement on the supposedly-chronological expanded album.

I think “Hometree” might be an album arrangement of the family theme. It’s not in the film that I recall. I thought it might be, but then realized what I was thinking of was the cue “Sanctuary” on the expanded release.

Yes, it’s sprinkled in some of the action cues. It’s not really in the forefront ever, however.

Yes, this score has climbed with successive listens to be my favorite of the year. This score is definitely a grower. Even the action music is starting to grow on me, especially the brutal “Bad Parents” that builds to that transcendent statement of the family theme (which I think is sadly cut from the film). I am actively looking forward to Franglen’s sequels