Chris ChrusherComix

I'm worried about my book. Though taking great care of it, it seems to be a bit loose. Where does one go to get replacement ones? (Now: Shhhhhhhh, nobody tell Vosk that I insulted him here because he blocked me after he viciously attacked me in a PM, and completely unwarranted, I might add. Haha, revenge. . . . . . NOW!) No... everything on the FSM set is in better quality since they remastered everything from the original tapes. That's the stupidest thing I've ever read on this board. Did you read the question? Also, did you read what you typed? Did it ever make sense before you typed it? To answer BurgaFlippinMan correctly: The 1st track on Rhino's second disc is March of the Villains, and it is in the same place on the 2nd disc of the boxed set. It says that it was from the original album masters (a different source than the rest of the material from the new master tapes they found), as was the album version of The Main Theme, which was an album-made edit of several different cues (a very interesting read on how they made it too). What was the source on the Rhino set? Was it the same? I thought i read it was also corrected in some way but I had the flu when I read it and maybe mixed that part up. Anybody remember.

I dunno, looks like the 80 minute version I made from the OST CD and the "best of" my DVD extracts. The one I did was pretty clean, and it was a "I wish they release an expanded 80 minute album something like this." But if people are saying that it has all sfx edited out (including music) and loops and all that, then it isn't mine. Mine was pretty much straight up, with as much sfx out and high quality that I could keep. Regardless, considering how some people on this board will post endlessly about off-topic (not pertaining to John Williams, his films, and his music, IMO) stuff, it sure is weird when something ON-topic gets blasted. It seems odd to me. My opinion: FSM having clean segments of unreleased music does not mean that they do or do not have knowledge to a future expanded release with 100% probability. But it does mean they had at least a little snippit here and there, and MAYBE they were giving a wink and a nod to the possibility that Concord's releases may be expanded. Then again, maybe they just had the snippit from Lucasfilm or something, have no knowledge of Concord's intentions, and played it for the heck of it. Either way, if they don't like fan-made boots (made by fans to privately enjoy in their own homes until real releases are produced), then it seems against their ethics to use them in their podcasts. And, Trent, dude... that PM you sent me... was that a joke or do you really believe the stuff you wrote? Serious question. it's either a pretty funny joke or you need some serious help.

That's the biggest crap I've read on here in a long time. A company can release a CD for however long they choose. Hey Trent, it's nice to see that you acknowledge my existence instead of ignoring every email and message board post I've made towards you in the past 2-3 years asking about a CD or two that you owed me. Too bad it has to be insulting. Well, thanks anyway. Anyways, back to the point: Show me where any CD released in the last couple of years has been 40 minutes? Even if they go and release a rock or pop album, it'll be remastered and bonus tracks like unreleased songs and such. Most CDs are 68-79 minutes. I haven't seen a 40 minute CD released since the 1990s. Nowadays 40 minute CDs are like $5-9 discount bin fodder. They know everybody file shares online and the only way a CD can sell is if it has something to offer the public. Who said FSM has rights to the scores and plan to release them? FSM has industry insiders that probably have more things than the general public, and rightly so, as it is their job to review and publicize them. My idea is that maybe they have Concord's expanded CD promo and are giving us a little wink to let us know that it's on the way. Maybe not, but hey, it would be unkind to play anything else. My guess has been, since learning of Concord's plans, is that a lesser-known company like Concord is a better sign than a huge company. Maybe we'd get the expanded 1995 Raiders CD (that was around 74-75 minutes?), maybe the 1989 Indy album (what was that, like 68 minutes?), and an expanded TOD album. Because, again, I don't see a 40 minute CD unless they were planning on making it $12 or something. Also, the clip I heard sounded pretty good. The brass sounded better than both of my DVD homemade jobs if I remember. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I'm tending to believe an expanded CD or two or three may be on the way from Concord. BTW, What parts of Dex Diner did they play? There is a small snippet of it in the DVD menus that is kind of clean if I remember. Then the DVD rips have some dishes clanking and people talking. I never heard that one so someone would have to describe it to me.

I agree. The main title is a good track, but to me, the rest of the score - especially every dino-chase scene, is truly what makes the score so great. Also, The Lost World, overall, is one of my favorite scores of all time. It is a powerful, aggressive, high-energy score. Along with Jaws 2, The Fury and Hook, I probably would never of cared for the movies other than the fact that the scores pulled me in to liking them. I consider them music videos. One problem, however, that The Lost World's best moments are butchered in the film. Possibly the greatest hatchet job to one of Williams scores.

With all books I read, I make a practice of opening them just barely enough to read them, and no more. My book is still near mint, and I've read most - if not all of it - by now, some parts more than once. Also, to the one who wants to scan them: Scanning a book like that will definitely make it fall to pieces. I do not recommend such a thing. Well, maybe for the guy whose book already fell apart. Nothing to lose, then. And KM... how could you forget Lacy? She was one of the most memorable parts of that movie. Those legs were very impressionable on me when I was 13 or whatever I was when that movie came out. BTW, I never sell my old sets. I've been known to go back and get original versions of scores when I already havd the expanded/remastered versions. This just adds to my Superman collection: The 2-LP set, the WB CD USA version, the WB CD Japanese version, the Varese re-recording, the Rhino set, and now this. Man, that's a lot of Superman scores. Anybody getting rid of their Japanese Superman II/III CD cheap? I only had a CDR of that one.

Sheesh... Superman IV is 100 x's better than I had originally imagined. The original Williams themes really come through. I always loved Nuclear Man's theme when I first saw the movie back in '87 or so, and now we finally have it on CD. As much as I liked II and III, IV really feels like a long-lost Williams score. Awesome. Man, that movie was hacked into oblivion judging by the liners. Wow. Almost makes me wish they'd restore the original like they tried to do with Donner's II. II and III are even better than I remember. I was so eager to get 2, 3, and 4 that I didn't listen to the original yet. Next I plan to do that. The brass is that much better, eh, KM? Time to play it. Also, I have to add because I just read it: Great interview, Neil! Sheesh, between the liners and the interview, it's amazing how much we know about the Superman scores now.

This is a truly magnificent boxed set. I am exceedingly pleased. Mike Matissimo, Lukas Kendall, and FSM truly have to be thanked for this set. I can't believe how many I read were not getting this. Although I could hardly afford it (I kind of split it with my Superman-fan brother), it cannot be missed.

One of my all-time favorite scores. Yes, there is only a few unreleased minutes.

Sorry, I was relating Bay's film to the Ten Commandments, not the old TV show (G1?), which I've never seen. After Transformers, I felt like the meaning of life had just been revealed to me by divine forces. Except instead of the meaning of life, it was a terrible script, Jon Voight and maddeningly long, boring action sequences. Er, I don't know why you'd relate Transformers to The Ten Commandments. They have nothing similar other than they are movies. One's a Biblical Epic and one's a sci-fi/action movie. Apples and oranges.

Did anybody answer the original question? Is this worth getting? I already have the OST LP, two different copies of the OST CD, the crappy expanded bootleg, and the expanded CD. Is the sound quality that much better?

I'll tell what I was not expecting; I was not expecting to find out that the Great Depression was caused by President Hoover spending billions on a secret alien robot research facility! I thought that was rather clever, myself. In the pilot mini-series of the old G1 cartoon, the Decepticons just demolished Hoover Dam for energy! It's not all that different to other sci-fi movies taking real-life things and making up stories around them. Wasn't there a similar thing in MIB about the World Fair or something? Yeah. I've been showing the whole series to my wife and she loves them. She enjoys seeing something from my chidhood. I don't think that Michael Bay took it as seriously as old G1 fans would have liked because of all the humor and needlessly not hiring some of the old show's voices and instead hiring people that kind of sounded like the old voices, but weren't them. But it works on its own, IMO. It isn't great, but the CG are dazzling. A little quick for the size ratio that the TFs are supposed to be, but still fun to watch.

at you always misspelling his name. That's Goie, our ever-hatin' JWFan troll! BTW, Vosk, how did you go from hating the guys guts and emailing me about it every single day to loving the guy's suspect humor, blocking me on your IM, never sending CDRs that you owed me, and never answering my emails?

That reminded me of something. Did you see this? Quite funny. (I don't know if this MB allows YouTube embeds? If it did, I would. I tried it and it didn't work, so just follow the link.) Were you expecting a 4-star drama or romantic comedy or something? It is what it is - an action/adventure/sci-fi movie. In that regard, it works. And again... I expected it to suck and I went away liking it for the most part.

OK, this is a pretty significant insult in my book. The moderator doesn't agree? Joey, my wife is Thai. How could that make me a racist? I idolize several black athletes. I love ethnicities and cultures from all over the globe. They're all God's people to me. Racism is an abomination to humanity. And yet you make that accusation towards me. And, of course, when one makes that accusation, I look like the bad guy no matter what simply because I had to defend myself against it. You must be more hateful of a person than I ever believed before to make a statement so inflammatory and absolutely baseless. I won't even bother into calling you what I think you are. At least not on a public message board with rules and decency standards. Wonderful for you to show everybody that you don't respect the board the same way. Or me. I could care less about B/O. Who cares? And I never predicted it would be a smash or a failure either, so what's the point? My point was that, as someone who grew up on the original series and line of action figures, I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would. In fact, if one digs into the archives, I think I stated my disbelief that this movie would be any good when it was first announced. But it surprised me in being better than my expectations. It's far from a masterpiece, but it is good fun. Period. If you want to demean the millions of Transformers fans and collectors over the last 23 years out there, be my guest. You're good at that, and I know of none who like you for that. My name is Chris. As seen in my spelling everywhere on this board and my websites. You used to type it accurately before, so I don't think that is a typo, but rather an intentional thing. Either that or you have the laziest mind conceivable for someone who frequents, reads, and posts on message boards so much, Goie. I taught myself how to draw from that "badly animated" cartoon, Goie. There were around 98 or so episodes and yes there were some poor ones, but several had outstanding animation that changed my life after seeing it. I'm an artist who gives a lot of credit to that original show. It was well done all-around with stories, characterization, voice acting, and music. You have no real authoritative say in the issue unless you actually watched the whole series. And I somehow doubt you did. Just a hunch. And if you did, at your age and no kids to watch it with, that would be really weird. Actually, I never said that, did I? Though the story did have an arc (much more established in the first and third seasons), it wasn't needed to see the whole story. I could name a batch of essential episodes that shows the entire story arc from the pilot, the movie, and the final batch of episodes, but you'd never watch them and you don't really care, you're just attacking me personally. What I said is that the movie on its own isn't as good unless you know the basic overall story, origins, and what happens after. One could say that about any episodic story told over years... but maybe your attention span can't follow such a thing. I don't know. Most were. I never said that they weren't. But also, I won't lie, there were many episodes that I didn't like because they were formulaic, poorly animated, and too much like a toy commercial. But for the most part, the series was wonderful and a pop-culture phenomenon rarely seen before or since. The toys are ingenious and many very good writers and artists have had their names attached to Transformers in either working on it or enjoying it. But, again, never mind facts... just bash it, Goei. That's funny. You are right about one thing though... you're completely wrong. And often. In the most annoying way; that you spout opinions as though they were facts and piss on the opinions of others. I've also seen you change your mind and piss all over everybody on both sides of an issue. Why? Can't you simply state an opinion and lay off the insults? Defend your own opinion, and try not to attack someone else? Are you even remotely capable of such a thing? Or do you just like to troll? Joe, I'd like for you to point out where I ever questioned Star Trek's pop culture status? I like parts of Star Trek. I enjoyed parts of the Classic series, TNG, and a few of the movies were enjoyable. Then, some I find too boring or silly to care. That's just me. I also think that those hardcore Trekkies are a little weird and very nerdy, but I also know that that's a faction of Star Wars, Transformers, LOTR or anything else that could fall into that category. But regardless, I never said that Star Trek wasn't a phenomenon nor overall a great artistic achievement. It was both. I just said that it kind of bores me personally. Not my thing. The difference between you and me is that you piss on anything that you don't like over and over and over again, and I don't. Again, your argument is weak and self-deluded. Please try harder to make a point worth my time. Goei, did I ever make the prediction that it would be a B/O smash or the inclination that I cared? If you asked me before I saw any results, I believed that too many people would probably think it was a kids movie and wouldn't go. That's what a friend of mine thought when I asked him to go see it. He said he'd bring his son, and his son may be too young for it yet. I just said how I thought the movie was surprisingly enjoyable, and I expected it to suck as soon as the name Bay was attached. It would up far better than I thought, and my wife agreed. Again, this is just another case of you just throwing insults because you are a troll. Hmm... Goie the resident troll of JWFan. Hmm... I rather like that! I'd say so too, Vosk. BTW, why don't you ever email me anymore? Now, in closing, I'll stand by what I originally said all along with additions. It wasn't a perfect movie (I too thought the humor and the human characters got a bit too much screen time and the Transformers themselves - especially the Decepticons - didn't get developed enough). Other than that, it was still an action movie worth seeing. And now I give way for more insults and incorrect statements by our cantankerous JWFan troll, Goei!

That's the option I'd vote for, though I enjoy scores from all of his eras. But he seemed as if he couldn't miss even a single cue in that period. But I'll vote for the late 70s because technically he was doing ESB in 1979, so that's the tie-breaker with both Jaws, Star Wars, The Fury, Superman, and the other very-good-to-great in between. To refine it more, I'd vote 1977-1983; the OCT Star Wars scores and all of the scores between them.

I agree with that. It's the only Michael Bay movie I've ever seen that I liked. And I liked it a lot, which surprised me because I thought it was going to suck. Now I feel bad for laughing at his treatment in Team America: World Police.

Nah. This isn't a personal attack. Not at all. Why don't you grow up, you crankity old slob. What the hell is your problem with me anyway? Every time I post here you attack me no matter what I post. I have work and hobbies to occupy most of my time, but rest assured, when I do find time to read and post here, nothing ever changes with you and you never do anything different. Don't you do anything else? FYI, You missed the phenomenon of Transformers because you're ancient, so you don't get it. You didn't grow up on the toys or the cartoons or anything. Instead, you love Towering Inferno. I'll admit, I don't get that because it was before my time and it just seemed boring to me (other than a couple of good cues on the score), but kudos to you for loving that dull piece of work. By you missing a pop culture phenomenon because you're too old when it came out doesn't make it "a piece of shit cartoon", as it was and is so much more. Have some class for once in your life and stop spending every single one of your waking moments bashing people with different opinions than yourself. I'd say more but I don't want to lower to your "shit" throwing standards. Get a life and STFU.

Actually, I don't think it plays on nostalgia at all. Hasbro recycles the main story of the Transformers every 3, 5 or 10 years for a new batch of kids with new toys, cartoons, and comic books (none of which I have liked other than Generation 1: AKA 1984-87). It's always been aimed at kids and young teens. The movie aims, for the very first time, as fun action movie for every age group while telling everybody the basic story. It gives a few nods and winks at G1 that only G1 fans will even notice, but other than that, it is a live-action revision for everybody. I didn't expect it to be that good, but it surprised me (again, other than the loud and unmemorable score). Also, Decepticon is the name of the brand of evil Transformers. The good ones are Autobots. Too bad Vince didn't get a crack at it, the poor guy. I'm probably one of his biggest fans and he just never gets anything new to show his stuff. Again, he and Frank Welker's rejections were probably the film's two biggest weaknesses.

My 2 cents: All 6 Star Wars scores are my favorite. I consider them all installments on the same body of work and I love every one. I'd dare say that Williams himself thinks of them that way as well. Otherwise he probably would have stopped doing them after a while, like he's done for every other movie franchise he's worked on. All 6 Star Wars scores are loved and cherished by me, so I can't really say one is better than the other anymore. It basically changes on my mood.

Haha. I think everybody knows that Transformers will always get my interest. Well, at least the G1 Transformers. Not much of a fan of the rest. Summer 1987, I saw this film when I was on vacation in San Francisco for 2 months. I felt sad, angry and betrayed when they killed of Optimus Prime. The only time I felt as bad was some 15 years later when my cat died. Yeah, it was pretty rough, wasn't it? I wasn't just sad about Prime, I was also bummed because they killed around 80-90% of the characters from the first two seasons! Including my all-time favorite Starscream! I was traumatized. Thankfully, the re-wrote Optimus and Starscream into 3rd season to sallvage my childhood sanity. Shhh... about who all died and all though. I'm showing my wife the whole original series and she's only in the early 2nd season so far. She loved the new movie though. I have to close this page before she reads it. -Chris, Who collected every Transformer from 1984-1987 and still has them.... Funny, that's how I feel about Star Trek.

I fourth that and second the Vince DiCola comment!

The original cartoon that ran from 1984-1986 ran around 98 episodes or so. The 1986 movie was a climatic middle chapter in that storyline, and it was a crucial chapter in that long storyline arch. To say the 1986 movie had no plot is like watching say, that last half hour or 20 minutes of a Star Wars or Harry potter or LOTR movie and saying it had no plot. It was kind of like a payoff for the setup of the first 50 or 60 episodes. You'd have to watch the whole series. This was the weakness of that film however, as it failed in the theaters but has gained tremendous cult classic popularity among Transformers fans, anime/Japanese animation fans, and '80 stuff in general. For example, I showed King Mark the 1986 movie only after showing him the original 3-part mini-series. The original 3-part pilot was the essence of the whole series, not the 1986 movie. However, this new movie stands on its own and it actually surprised me. It is the first Michael Bay movie I've ever found enjoyable. Spielberg said that Bay was born to do a Transformers movie, and I guess he was right. His style worked for it. In fact, there was only 2 things that I hated: That Frank Welker was rejected as the voice of Megatron and that the score was loud and extremely unmemorable. I didn't notice any thematic development, just beats and repeated notes. Everything else about this movie I loved. And hearing Peter Cullen doing Optimus Prime for the first time since 1987 was truly a great moment for me - worth the price of admission alone. The tremendous special effects and Megan Fox were just the cherry on top for me.

What were the most valuable ones going for? I saw SpaceCamp, A.I. 2-CD, Superman II/III, and Yes Giorgio all go for a few hundred each on ebay. What else have you all seen?

Ditto.

Granted, every Star Wars soundtrack release has its flaws; varying degrees of completeness and/or sound quality, yeah, one can nitpick. But try living between 1983-1993 where all we had were the LPs? Sure, the sound was better on them (provided your LPs weren't scratched - and when I was a kid, I scratched mine to hell - had to re-buy M/NM versions all over again as an adult), but RotJ was always woefully short, and I didn't even get mine until 1992. Then, in 1993, the incomplete Anthology set was heaven. Then, in 1997, the SE sets were heaven and then some. I'd take flawed expanded/complete releases over none at all. Also, nitpicking ESB seems odd because Jedi is the most disrespected of the OT scores because of the incompleteness of the OST album and the terrible (muted, muffled-highs?! Why?!) sound quality on the SE. So, for me, if we got SE versions of the prequel scores and the Indy scores, 99.999% complete other than some sound quality issues... I'd take them in a heartbeat. Give credit where it is due... I'm thankful for any expanded release! The SEs are a godsend.