Desplat13

I haven't listened strait through my edits, but I put Irina's theme and Crystal Skull, then the entire album chronologically, and then Mutt's theme finnishing off with Raiders March. It seemed odd to have Irina and Crystal Skull showing up after what happens in the story.

I never liked the Jurassic Park theme at faster tempo the way he always plays it now. That is so interesting, because the tempo isn't sped up at all in the new Indiana Jones soundtrack recording of the Raiders March. Maybe he is just trying to get through the concert faster.

I am not too familiar with any of the older scores, so I didn't vote. But I will say that I absolutely love the four or so tracks I have heard from The Black Swan. Some really great material there.

I must say, every time Irina's theme is used in an action cue, I just love it. Mutt's theme is fun, but a little goes a long way. But every single moment where Irina's theme is turned into a march sort of piece it works wonderfully.

My review of the score is up at http://www.soundtracksreviewed.blogspot.com/ , but I will paste it here for anyone who doesn't want to go there. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull John Williams Rating: 9.2 It's The Phantom Menace all over again. It's every film music fan's dream (or nightmare) come true. It's anything but under-anticipated. It is, in fact, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Hype seems like too tame a word for the recently released addition to the beloved Indiana Jones series. The themes which the general public can recognize and whistle 18 years after the fact (the most recent fact, that is) are few and far, far between. Of course, John Williams scores seem to be some of the only ones with that type of longevity (Jaws, E. T., Star Wars), and we have already seen old themes reprised in a new series, with great box office success, in the form of the prequel Star Wars movies. The similarities between The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Phantom Menace are obvious and comparisons have been going on for quite some time on the internet. For The Phantom Menace, Williams composed an amazingly epic, fun, adventurous, fascinating and meaningful score, which was subsequently ripped to shreds and pasted back in wherever Lucas felt it would be right. This is a very sore-spot for film music fans. The material quality vs. presentation quality difference has rarely been more pronounced, and Lucas' habit of jumping between battle scenes resulted in snippets of "Duel of the Fates" being stuck in with Gungan, semi-slapstick battle music. The result is a disaster that film music fans have worked extremely hard to unravel and turn into something similar to what Williams must have envisioned. It would have not been as bad had Lucas made all of the cuts before Williams composed the music. But, because of the order, the cuts mean very little musically. I think this might have been the downfall of Attack of the Clones as well. When Williams saw the type of musical artistic compromise that was Lucas' editing, he had a much harder time putting as much effort into the second installment. Of course, this is nothing but conjecture on my part, and I have yet to form a complete opinion on why, after this, Revenge of the Sith was such a complete musical triumph. But enough on Star Wars. Why is this relevant to an Indian Jones review? The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull had a very similar anticipation level going in. Expectations were at fever pitch, just like they were for The Phantom Menace, and Williams had the almost impossible task of living up to those expectations. But he put everything he had into it, and, as opposed to The Phantom Menace, it paid off. This time 'round Spielberg was in the director's chair, and, as a result, the film is beautifully shot, the dialogue is impressive, and the music, thankfully, seems to be relatively intact. So, then, what of the music? First of all, of course, we are treated to the first really good quality recording of the "Raiders March". After 18 years and endless overplaying it has lost none of its effect, and remains one of the best adventure themes ever. Part way through the track it segues into Marion's theme, which, I always thought, far outdid the character and was far more than she deserved. Beautiful and soaring, it, to, remains one of the most effective love themes. Nothing of great interest is done with these two themes presentation, but they serve to create a "Here we go again" sense of excitement. Williams composed three new major themes for this installment, and each one is impressive and deserves a close look. First of all, the Crystal Skull theme gets a complete concert arrangement on the track "Call of the Crystal". The theme really is an interesting combination of theme and motif. There is a three note motif that is used as the Crystal Skull motif throughout, and is very effective inverted as well, but there is also a more drawn out melody that is usually played on top of the motif. The result is that there really are two different musical representations of the Crystal Skull, and while they work wonderfully together, they can both function excellently on their own. Next in the line-up of new themes is Mutt's treatment. Mutt, as Williams put it, is more of a Robin Hood character. He is flamboyant, he swings on vines and he sword fights. What more could you ask for in musical material? Williams, of course, does not disappoint, and while this is perhaps the weakest in a very strong line-up of new themes, it is still a fun ride. The scherzo-type piece is both fast-paced and thematic, a combination that some consider to be sadly lacking in much of Williams new music. The music is used effectively throughout the soundtrack, and gets a very good concert treatment on the track "The Adventures of Mutt". Irina's theme is my personal favorite of the new themes. While the Crystal Skull theme fits its material perfectly and Mutt's theme is a blast to listen to, Irina's theme is an amazing combination of the two. Though the concert arrangement on the track "Irina's Theme" is short and a little disappointing for the obvious potential of the theme, it is used on many other tracks very effectively. Seductive and dangerous, Williams chromatic melody outlines a musical identity of a level of completeness rarely found in the modern film score scene. Though the most commonly used role for the theme is a seductive one, some of the greatest moments in the score are the march treatments. The versatility of the theme is a tribute to the genius of Williams. Following the first four tracks of concert arrangements, all the new themes begin to turn into something meaningful. Williams uses the Raiders March theme to great effect once again as part of action cues, such as the beginning of "The Journey to Akator". "A Whirl Through Academe" shows intelligent use of two theme-based actions music, with both the Raiders March and Mutt's theme laying the groundwork for a fast paced piece of music. "The Spell of the Skull" and "Return" are dark, brooding cues based on the Crystal Skull theme, and "Return" builds the theme through an orchestral crescendo impressively before suddenly returning to low, menacing music. Outside of the concert arrangement, "The Jungle Chase" is the first of the tracks to showcase Irina's theme. But that is not all this gem of a track contains. Williams further complicates things by turning this action cue into a three theme based piece of music, with Raider's March, Mutt's theme and Irina's theme all getting chances at center stage. The march renditions of Irina's theme are presented on this track are some of the best moments in the entire soundtrack. From this point on in the album presentation the music takes on a darker tone. The Crystal Skull theme begins to be the more dominant theme, and its brooding harmonies control a large portion of the remaining soundscape. "Orellana's Cradle" uses the Crystal Skull theme, and never builds to much of anything, wandering instead among the Skull's dark tones, before doing an interesting attempt at the the Raiders March, which drops down and fades away quickly. "Grave Robbers" is a percussion driven piece, which treads an interesting line between brooding and action. Ethnic drums and swirling string pizzicato combine to create very foreign textures. The Crystal Skull melodic theme is used in the tense "Hidden Treasure and the City of Gold". Building to a crescendo that ends in the middle of the track, the music then turns into an impressive display of continually tense action music. Instead of Williams normal fast paced and wild action music, he uses repeating string motifs to keep tension high, while signaling danger throughout the brass section. After wondering through more brooding music based on the Crystal Skull theme, we get to Williams musical representation of ants on the track "Ants!". Though perhaps not the most original of orchestrations, the swirling string section is effective to say the least, and, living in Florida, I can tell you just how well the music represents the creepy-crawlies. "Temple Ruins and the Secret Revealed" takes the tension up a notch, and holds it there for the duration of the track, before finally being released with the Raiders March theme in "The Departure", after which Williams builds to an appropriate finale, which ends on a curiously subsided note. "Finale" is 9:20 minutes of pure Indiana Jones musical enjoyment. Beginning with a rendition of Marion's theme, it quickly goes back to the Raiders March, in all of its full-blown glory. This track, being used as the music for the credits is really nothing but a tour-de-force of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull themes, and next in line is Irina, followed closely by Mutt's spunky musical identity. Marion's theme gets reprised once again, before we get one more full blown blast of the Raiders March, which turns into a fascinating show of Williams skill in counterpoint, before taking a surprising and fascinating build-up into the last orchestral hit. Not only is this the first Indiana Jones score in 18 years, it is the first Williams score in two years, the longest break between scores in Williams' film scoring history. But once again Williams shows he has not lost his touch, and, though it might take a little longer at his present age, his end-product is far above any competition in the modern film scoring scene. I would say what the Crystal Skull theme represents, and how it blows away all competition, but that would give away too much of the story. Once you know what Williams is representing with this theme, it is obvious that he can represent it far better than any one else today. Mutt's theme is fun, and a worthy addition to the impressive array of Indiana Jones themes. Irina's theme, as I have already said, is my favorite of the new themes, and is a perfect character representation. All in all, I don't think it is too early to start talking Academy Awards. Finally, we have another Williams score, and believe me, it has been worth the wait. -Colin Thomson Track Listing: Raiders March Call of the Crystal The Adventures of Mutt Irina's Theme The Snake Pit The Spell of the Skull The Journey to Akator A Whirl Through Academe "Return" The Jungle Chase Orellana's Cradle Grave Robbers Hidden Treasure and the City of Gold Secret Doors and Scorpions Oxley's Dilemma Ants! Temple Ruins and the Secret Revealed The Departure Finale

Maybe, just maybe, folks should approach these the way they approach the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones. There is no doubt in my mind that those films are incredibly cheap, and many parts are laugh-out-loud where it wasn't meant. But I love Star Wars, in a large part because of its cheapness. You can just tell that the whole production was not afraid of being very epic, exciting, adventurous, and all that jazz. Cheap. And wonderful. All the 'serious' movies today are so worried about being 'insightful' that they become tedious. I love a movie that is more concerned about what it is telling than what people will think of it. The movies, in a way, follow the books in story-telling style. Remeber, these are children's stories, and no, Harry Potter is not the standard. Oh, and by the way King Mark, I had semi-similar opinion of the score when I watched the movie in theaters, but having bought the soundtrack, it is quite a bit better than I thought. There is really some interesting development of themes. In fact, the "Wonder of Narnia" theme (or whatever you want to call it) gets a nice military treatment in the track "The Duel", I believe, that is very impressive. You might give it a second chance.

That is, um, interesting. I only have the first two CR's, and was planning on getting the third once I am rich enough to afford it. Hopefully it won't be too hard to find at that point (if that point ever arrives).

Absolutely. That was the only point where I felt the music was well done. I got the soundtrack today, and, unfortunately, while we have a track called "Raid on the Castle", it sounds to me like it begins after the sneaking, and most of the album presentation of this track is just the normal MV battle scene fare. Rally unfortunate, because that was the one place where it seemed to me that the music was pretty good.

Good question. Wouldn't that be nice? In the book the bears were a sort of comic relief, because they (I can't remember if there was mroe than one) were alwasy sucking their paws, and it was embarrassing for them. Then, at the Miraz/Peter fight, it was tradition for the bears to preside or something like that over these fights, and they had to have a talk with the bear about keeping his paws out of his mouth. Of course, it didn't work. Now this probably would have been to funny to fit the movie, but there were moments that I really laughed reading the book, like during some meetings they had in which the bear(s) took part.

There were giants fighting in the book Prince Caspian. It is kind of a shame that they didn't put them in. And some comedic momemts with some slow-in-the-brain bears. I kind of wish those had been put in as well, because I remember chuckling at them in the book. And no, I don't remember the giants or gorillas doing any fighting in the first movie.

I won't be able to make it. So very sad. Oh well...Sometime else, I guess.

Interesting. I always thought the battle in the first one was really lacking something. I liked the battle scenes in the second one quite a bit more. And I thought Harry Gregson-Williams got some nice sneaky music together for where they attack Miraz' castle. A little bit more interesting than he had done previously witht he series, though, of course, I have only heard it once. We'll see how it holds up under more listening. By the way, does anyone know if it is on the soundtrack?

All right everyone, you heard Bryant. Go see Prince Caspian.

I am desperately hoping all seven get made. I would love to see Magician's Nephew, and, of course, The Last Battle. That book packs such an emotional punch, but some of that would be lost were not all the others done before it. I think they really need to do all of them, and I really hope they don't decide to just do a few of the more widely loved ones. I was just recently wondering who should compose the music for The Last Battle. If things continue as they have begun, we will get two movies per director/composer. Michael Apted/David Arnold would get The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair, which would be perfect (if they do a good job), because these are semi-similar stories (at least in style of story-telling). The next director/composer would get The Horse and His Boy and The Magician's Nephew. I am not sure who I would like to do these films. I was thinking perhaps Brad Bird/Michael Giacchino. I am sure Giacchino would do a good job, as he seems to be able to adapt to any and all styles he needs to. I don't know if Bird could pull it off. He doesn't seem to have a whole lot of directing experience, but what he has done seems very good. I don't know. What do you think? That leaves The Last Battle. If they do one director/composer per two movies, that leaves some combination with only the last in the series. I think this is a good situation, because they would be going into it completely fresh, and, while building on what everyone else has made, they would hopefully be able to put everything they have unreservedly into the movie, which would be the only way to do it justice. It would have to be darker. I think they should make every installment up until this one PG, but then crank it up to PG13 for this, because the story really calls for it. It is just plain dark for quite a bit, and it is very sad. It needs someone who is not afraid of making a very sad movie. I loved the ending, and I really don't know who should direct/compose for it. I was thinking perhaps James Newton Howard might be the right composer. He seems to have such a repect for his subject matter, and I think he would treat it rightly. To tell you the truth, I don't think John Williams would be right, and I know Howard Shore and James Horner and Hans Zimmer would be wrong. Maybe John Debney. But I think James Newton Howard might be the best option. On the director, I have absolutely no idea. What do you think?

Nothing one way or the other. She really has a pretty small role in the movie.

I watched the film on Friday night/Saturday morning, and thought, despit most reviews that I have heard, that it was really not that bad. If you didn't like the first one, than there is absolutely no hope for you on this one. But, as a semi-fan of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (at least I enjoyed it a couple times), Prince Caspian worked fine as a sequel. Ben Barnes did a fine job as Prince Caspian, Peter Dinklage was quite good as Trumpkin, but Skander Keynes really stole the show as Edmund Pevensie. I really hope they give him a larger role in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (as is almost certain to be the case). As for the rest, they were fine, and there was really no bad acting to take away from the film. There is not as much character to this film, and sometimes it seems like all you have is one battle after another. But the CGI driven battles are much better than the first installment, and, if you don't mind the light eye-candy fantasy CGI style employed in the first one, you should have no problem with these effects. The problem is that the story-line is just plain duller. There is not as many twists, and it ends up seeming more like a war movie with two armies trying to defeat each other, and less personal side-stories than were in the first one. This movie is drastically changed from the book, as opposed to the first, which followed quite closely. The story in the book, however, does not lend itself easily to a movie adaptation, and I thought that it worked fine with the changes they made. The Christian allegories are still strong, which, of course, I love. While The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe pretty much spelled out the Gospel, this is more about how to live a life following Aslan (Jesus). I know many will role their eyes, but thus it ever was. Please don't be offended by the line I put in about that aspect of the movie in this review. I must say that I am very glad to hear that Andrew Adamson is leaving. Though he is done a good job so far, I felt like the directing was a little worn out, and that a third Adamson film would be far too much (and I feel the same way about Harry Gregson-Williams). Amazing Grace is the only Michael Apted film I have watched, so I have no idea how he will do, but hopefully the producers knew what they were doing when they chose him. A fine installment, but I have a feeling, that, if all seven books are made into films, this one will probably be viewed as the worst. It was always my second least favorite book (after The Horse and His Boy), and that, coupled with the somewhat tired Adamson directing, combine to make me think that we have much brighter things in the future of this series. Still, all in all, a fine adaptation, and an enjoyable movie experience.

Are you saying that the music is tracked from the first movie, or just very similar? Colin Thomson

The Prince Caspian soundtrack comes out today. Are you going to buy it? I was going to make a poll, but those seem to have fallen out of favor recently. While much of the first one lacked thematic, compositional or orchestrational interest, there certainly were good moments in it. I enjoyed "Evacuating London" (a little), "A Narnai Lullaby" (obvious, but effective), "The Stone Table" (nice percussion), and "The Battle" (very MV, but MV at its overblown, overhyped, obvious, rhythmically dependant, best). The rest of the score was mostly forgettable for me. Having listened to the Amazon samples, I think I will buy the soundtrack, maybe today if I get a chance. It sounds like, instead of only creating atmospheric ambience, there seem to be many themes coming back from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and I am interested to see if Harry Gregson-Williams will make something interesting out of them. How 'bout you? Colin Thomson

Are you trying to say that I don't?

Knowing you, Colin, you probably haven't even seen the movies. However, you bear a slight resemblance to David Tennant, so you're okay in my book. Just answering an indirect question indirectly. Colin Thomson

Neil Why, thank you! You really are too kind. I certainly don't deserve that sort of generosity. Colin Thomson, who has seen all of the Star Wars movies

Am I the only one here who compares the A New Hope (I call it that just for Joey and Mark and everyone else's sake) Tatooine fluff music with the Attack of the Clones love fluff music? Neither seem to move the the story forward musically (and I know I will get persecuted for saying that), and neither really offer too much fascinating compositional or orchestrational material. Neither do a great job of incorporating themes or developmental sections. I think they are about equal in terms of musical interest. All right, fire at will. Colin Thomson

Thanks for clarifying that. Colin Thomson

What can I say? It is extremely practical to call it A New Hope. It sounds kinda silly to say "I like Star Wars, but Star Wars is by far my favorite. Colin Thomson no its extremely practical and efficient to call it Star Wars, anyone with half a brain knows that only one of these 6 movies is just Star Wars. Oh, now I understand. Colin Thomson

What can I say? It is extremely practical to call it A New Hope. It sounds kinda silly to say "I like Star Wars, but Star Wars is by far my favorite. Colin Thomson