Naïve Old Fart

Does anyone think that the reason that RTD is bringing back so many characters, is so that Tennant can have a regeneration scene not unlike Peter ("feels different, this time") Davison's (with Tegan, Nyssa, Adbloodyric, Chameleon, and even The master doing his "Die, Doctor, die!" routine?). I take people's point about thsese three being fillers. Apart from the "Death knocking four times" stuff, there does not seem to be much linking these with what is yet to come. The new clip of WOM looks good, but so did the trailer fof Episode I... The romours regarding The 11 Doctors seem to have dried up for now, unless anyone else knows better?

Let There Be Light, Waking Up, Turning Back The World, Look Down, Lord, and Everybody Runs, are all on my current playlist.

More groupthink, huh? I hate that as well. These are sad comments, but even if DH gets a "collective 'meh' " from fans, it won't stop them from buying the c.d. of it at 9 o'clock on the day of its release! Even if it is not as "good" (whatever that means) as his earlier stuff, J.W. is still composing quality music, and fans of film music deserve to hear it. On a personal note, I think that, along with Minority Report, POA represents some of JW's best work EVER, and, at the very least, is his best score since J.F.K. If there is a problem, it is that he has got himself into a bit of a rut. This is not his fault. As the process of making films has changed, along with audiences' expectations of what makes a good film-not to mention things like demographics, focus groups, test screenings, etc.-the "art" of film making becomes diluted, and emasculated to the point where any "movie" that doesn't conform to the Michael Bay School Of Film Making (complete with music by Steve Zimmer) is branded a failure. This has been reflected in four of the films scored by JW recently, namely Eps. I-III, and KOTCS. Times change, and, film making changes, and, like it of not, JW is obliged to compose what the director wants for his/her film. It's either that, or get someone else. If DH is a "meh", it will not be the fault of JW. Although I did not like the idea of him not scoring Superman II, I admire him for being honest enough to say that he could not work with its (replacement) director. This decision was, I'm sure, a sad one for JW, and deprived The World of a potentially brilliant piece of work, which could have surpassed its predecessor, as EMP did SW. If anyone wants a ready answer to the question: "will DH be meh?" they have to look to themselves and begin to question the way that they gladly gobble up some of the detritus that is served up to them week after week. Only then will the precess of making films change, and only then will the audience go from being a second-class one, to a first-class one, and get the films, and the film music that it deserves.

Or Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother! Or Jerry Goldsmith's Planet Of The Apes! Or Vangelis' Beaubourg! Alex I see where you are coming from, Alex. To me, Beaubourg is noise, Atom Heart Mother has some nice stuff on it, Seamus, and Pillow Of Winds, for example...or is that Meddle? Whoops! Mind you, Mind Your Throats, Please takes some getting used to! Now it just so happens that POTA is one of my all-time favourite Goldsmith scores, With The Hunt, The Search (or, if you prefer, The Search Continues), and No Escape, being some of the very best music he has ever composed. I guess we should be grateful for Images not being the Calling All Stations, or Tormato or The Final Cut of J.W., eh?

I can't see David Yates willingly giving up Nick Hooper, someonne he has worked for for over 15 years, for someone else, even if it is J.W. After all, Mike Newell didn't do it for GOF. O.k., the film suffered as a result, but Newell stuck to his guns. Lets remember that J.W. has not even scored all of Spielberg's films, and he is probably his oldest colleague, if not friend, in the movie business. Not even J.W can score everything we want him to, even if it is Harry Potter. What could be a viable option would be for JW to compose new themes and for Hooper to weave them into the fabric of the movie(s) as well as original themes a la COS. That would certainly satisfy me. IMO, if JW had to choose between Tintin and DH, I would definitely want him to go with the latter! The series is crying out for a rousing, exhilarating, moving, touching, emotional and just plain BIG finish, and it goes without saying that JW is the man to give it that. I hope that he gets his chance to do so.

Two films that do not get mentioned much are "The Abyss", and "Dune". The extended cut of "The Abyss" turns it into an almost completely different film. The extended cut of "Dune" is a complete mess. I much prefer the theatrical cut of "Dune", as it, paradoxically, make more sense WITHOUT the extra stuff! Go figure.

I first bought this back in 1979, on vinyl, with a black and white cover. Prometheous has done a brilliant job of translating it to the digital format, noise reduction being one of the c.d.'s many strenghts. As I've said, I love this score, for anyone who has not heard it, please approach this score with caution. Star Wars, it is not! To put it into context, it is the "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", or even the "Tales From Topographic Oceans" of John Williams. It is not for the casual fan, nor the faint-hearted! It is very, very good music, however, and well worth having. The c.d. notes of Heidi speak of it as being "the jewel in Williams' crown", and they really are not wrong. So, keep an open mind and listen to...no...experience a J.W. score like no other.

I'm with you, Trent. With the possible exception of "Titanic", I.M.O., Horner's last truely great score was "The Name Of The Rose", in 1986. P.s., I've just recieved the Intrada "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Apart from being a beautiful score to a beautiful film, the sound quailty is exceptional, and blows my bootleg out of the water. Well worth it.

PLEASE take my word for it: it is !!!

Are we counting J.W.'s work with The Boston Pops, guys? remember, "Pops In Space" is the ONLY place to find the original S.E. extension for C.E.3.K. Also, "By Request" contains a lot of original material, as does "America: The Dream Goes On", "Call Of The Champions", etc. Does anyone have the Pops c.d. with the Jane Eyre suite, or is it on the botleg (in which case, I have it)?

...of course, there's always "Candide", and "West Side Story". Thanks for correcting me on the spelling of Chichester, marian, I KNEW I'd got that wrong!

Quite, but you never can tell...

Any suggestions? I need some more Bernstein. Chitester Psalms should do it! The Cowboys would be my recommendation, but aren't the Star Wars films westerns in outer space?

Has anyone else heard about/read the preposterous roumors about Martha marrying Mickey, and Rose marrying The Doctor 2 in the Christmas/New Year specials?! Honestly, it's turning into a soap opera. All together now: #Doctors. Everybody needs good doctors# .

Get it! WHAT???!!! There is no score for this film. Were you talking about the d.v.d?

The honest answer to this question is; half-and-half. The end credits quotes The L.S.O. as having played the score, but several cues are different on the L.P., most notably "Main Title and Storm Sequence". "The Love Scene" seems to be what J.W. would call a "concert arrangement" of the love theme, and the cue "Dracula's Death" is longer in the film. Other cues have been snipped, sliced, and mucked around with so much, that if I try to list them all, my brain would start to bleed! Thanks for the anecdote about this. I, myself saw a television performance of Filmharmonic '76 (or maybe it was '77), where J.W. conducted a "disaster" medly of "Poseidon... "...Inferno", "Earthquake", and "Jaws". When I saw J.W. at The Barbican in June 1982, in the interval, me and my friends got talking to, as one of my mates said, "some trumpet player", who turned out to be Maurice Murphy! I asked him what J.W. was doing, and he said that they were recording "Monsignor". I then asked him what he thought was his favourite J.W. score (the man was a big J.W. fan) and, without hesitation, he replied "Dracula". How about that, eh?

He certainly makes great music, but I think that I would rather remain ignorant of his achievements outside the realm of his work (and let's remember that what we slaver over, and debate until we are green in the face is, to J.W., literally a day at the office). I prefer to leave that to people who have a far more intimate knowlwdge of J.W. I've got no idea if he is agreat man, or not, but as one J.Christ, esq. once said: "Why do you call me good? Only God is good". If only God is good, how can any man be great? An interesting illustration of this whole thread could be the final scene of "Saving Private Ryan", where he asks his wife: "Am I a good man?", to which she replies: "Yes". Of course, she is bound to say that, but she has had no notion of what Ryan did before he met her, or what he did in W.W.II. Whether someone is good, great, bad, or indifferent, is a matter of personal opinion, and one that I chose not to apply to J.W. the man, only to his output. Of course, it could be argued that one's life is reflected in one's work, which would probably colour the issue somewhat, and, even then, how would someone who hates J.W.'s music evaluate him? No greatness for that non-fan! Yeah, he makes fantastic music, but that is one part of who J.W. is. I chose not to investigate the othe parts.

I'm glad to read that so many people like "Dracula", As for vinyl vs. c.d., as I have said on another "Dracula" thread, the c.d. probably sounds worse than the vinyl, because it brings out all the bad things about the recording, while the L.P. is compressed, allowing the music to sound "brighter". A complete re-release is LONG overdue, as the released version has left off a lot of simply wonredful music (such as when Dracula arrives at Donald Pleasance's home by riderless carriage).

The Police: Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland. Rush (we're not worthy, we're not worthy!): Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart. I could also name you every member of both Yes and Genesis, if asked. Like it or not, Michael Jackson was a towering figure in the world of entertainment, and his death to this generation is akin to the deaths of either Elvis Presley, or John Lennon. Hopefully ("Somewhere In The Dark" aside) his music will be remembered and the public will forget how (supposedly) wierd his life was. As he once asked; "Have You Seen My Childhood"..?

It's not as bad as Plan 9, but it's pretty darn bad. It does have it positive points, though, and the score is probably the biggest of them. I have mixed feelings about this film. Firstly, is a film that, despite its ambitions, was not very well reailsed. It does, however, have 4 things going for it: 1/ the sound design is really refreshing and dynamic. Watch this film on a full 5.1 system if you can (at this time, I do not own a Blu-Ray 7.1 system, but I will...), 2/ it has some of the best photography of the entire series, 3/ it has David Warner in it, so it can't be totally... 4/ ALL fans of good film music should be grateful to Mr. Shatner, for bringing Jerry Goldsmith back to the "Star Trek" universe. His score is, undoubtably, the best thing about the film. The real reason that I like this film so much, is altogether more personal. In the Summer of 1989, I had just got married, and was living in America-and not liking it. I missed England, and all that was there. Somehow, "Star Trek V" offered a focus for my frutration, and, I took comfort in its themes (friendship, loyalty, regret at making mistakes, and, most importantly, sticking together, no matter what). How I resolved my situation is a tale for another time, but "Star Trek V" spoke to me, in a way that few films had before (C.E.3.K. comes to mind). Yeah, "Star Trek V" is hardly the acme of modern cinema, nor is it the nadir, but it is a film that I take pleasure in watching, especially from 20 year's distance, as I look back at how far I've come, in such a short space of time. This is why, for me "Star Trek V" has QAPL'A!

Did anyone else hear R.T.D.'s comments last night on Radio 4 ("Front Row") about the upgomming series being "darker", and how he looked at a new script when he was not supposed to? Tasty morsels, indeed, but then, R.T.D. is a born showman...

I have this Japanese single, complete with picture inner sleve, plastic outer sleve, and an infomation sheet, printed in Japanese. I bought it from (the now defunct) 58 Dean Street Records, London, about 15 years ago, for the princely sum of £7:50. I guess that must be about $12. The only other place where you will find these two tracks is on a Japanese import of "Filmworks" c.d. Happy hunting.

ELEVEN Doctors?! As Sulu says: "My.......God!"

Movie: 5, score: 3. Sorry, but the score to "Jaws 2" is a much better piece of work. INCOMING!!!!!!!

I was having a conversation with a friend about which Beatles albums which he should buy. Without thinking, I said: "all of them; The Beatles really are THAT important!" My point is this; if you really want to get to know a body of work (regardless of who it belongs to) it is advisable to (in this case) listen to as much of their output as possible. There will always be people (some of whom log on to this website) who, for whatever reason (money, apathy) are only interested in the "Greatest Hits" package, and don't wish to check out the back catalogue. I have nothing against that-at least SOME of the music is being heard, but you may be depriving yourself of some wonderful music that you would not ordinarily have heard (Neimoidian's comment about "Neptune's Bar, and "New Shooter" is a case in point; I have owned this score, in one format or another, for 35 years, and I would not wish to get rid of it, even if I went off it). The scores listed in this thread may not be "classic" Williams, but they do contain good music, which, I think, deserves as wide an audience as possible. Give these scores a chance; you might like them.