Pieter Boelen 633 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Every few days I will post a thread on a random score from my collection that we can discuss and rate. I made a playlist on my computer with one track of each score I've got, so by using the random play option, I'll be able to post a truly random score each time. Hopefully this will allow us to discuss some scores that would otherwise never be discussed. Also we can record the rating so that we can create a full list of the ratings given to scores by JWFan.com.On my holiday I listened to a fair few scores that I never really listened to before, so just for fun I'll be posting those next.Today's score is Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow by Edward Shearmur. Are you familiar with it? What do you like about it? What don't you like about it? How do do you think it works in the film? What are your favourite tracks? Base your opinion on the complete score if you can. So far JWFan has rated:See Soundtrack Ratings by JWFan.com.This web page contains the ratings from all my previous polls as well as those of Blumenkohl's.Final ratings are converted to a 1-10 rating for both rating systems so that they can be compared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Woods 384 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Brilliant score. Second best of the decade!-Erik- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,284 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 The movie was very dull, i thought it was going to be better. The score had some cool moments, but in the end its just a Williams wannabe.3 stars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSM 85 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Edward Shearmur is a great talent, he has a very subtile feeling for movie scoring, and is a skilled composer as well. This one is a bit too obvious a score after Williams model (SW, Superman), but it is a good score. The Main Theme is a straight Superman March rip-off, but it's better than David Arnold's (very comparable) Main Theme from The Musketeer.I'd ranke Shearmur's Count of Monte Cristo higher than this one, but I'd give it a 4 stars (also because I haven't seen the movie so I don't know how it works in the movie, but I expect it to do well).Btw, Pieter, give us some more Williams scores! There are to few yet in the ranking to compare with other composers' scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Woods 384 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Edward Shearmur is a great talent, he has a very subtile feeling for movie scoring, and is a skilled composer as well. This one is a bit too obvious a score after Williams model (SW, Superman), but it is a good score.I don't see the problem with composer using the "Williams model." Its wonderful thematic, purely symphonic music. Isn't that what we like to hear since we are all John Williams fans here? I mean, it beats the pants off the Zimmer model and it's not a direct rip off score like... well... something like Lair, which is also just as enjoyable. -Erik- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,284 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I prefer Giacchino-Williams mode. He is the only one worthy for that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSM 85 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Edward Shearmur is a great talent, he has a very subtile feeling for movie scoring, and is a skilled composer as well. This one is a bit too obvious a score after Williams model (SW, Superman), but it is a good score.I don't see the problem with composer using the "Williams model." Its wonderful thematic, purely symphonic music. Isn't that what we like to hear since we are all John Williams fans here? I mean, it beats the pants off the Zimmer model and it's not a direct rip off score like... well... something like Lair, which is also just as enjoyable. -Erik-Yes you're are right...but in some way, composers trying to sound like Williams mostly do not succeed fully yet they force the listener to make constant comparisons. Very much like Don Davis' Jurassic Park 3, I think that will clarify what I mean. I think composers should compose in there own style; if it's not as good as Williams, so be it. Jerry Goldsmith is the best modern example of how great a composer can be without trying to be Williams. I like that much better.As I said, Count of Monte Cristo is Shearmur on his own, and at his best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Woods 384 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Edward Shearmur is a great talent, he has a very subtile feeling for movie scoring, and is a skilled composer as well. This one is a bit too obvious a score after Williams model (SW, Superman), but it is a good score.I don't see the problem with composer using the "Williams model." Its wonderful thematic, purely symphonic music. Isn't that what we like to hear since we are all John Williams fans here? I mean, it beats the pants off the Zimmer model and it's not a direct rip off score like... well... something like Lair, which is also just as enjoyable. -Erik-Yes you're are right...but in some way, composers trying to sound like Williams mostly do not succeed fully yet they force the listener to make constant comparisons. I think composers should compose in there own style; if it's not as good as Williams, so be it. Jerry Goldsmith is the best modern example of how great a composer can be without trying to be Williams. I like that much better.As I said, Count of Monte Cristo is Shearmur on his own, and at his best.Well, besides the way Shearmur developed his themes, which is very Williamsesque, I think his own style is all over Sky Captain... especially in the action music. Things developed in Reign of Fire to his Monte Cristo score can be heard in Sky Captain. And you have to admit that the Manta Squadron March is something else... a them that beats out all the other themes in the score. The only thing that bothered me was the over use of the love theme. It's a nice theme, definitely in the style of Williams, but unlike Williams secondary themes it just didn't mesh well in the action material or didn't go through enough variations. It seemed to be the same arrangement throughout.-Erik- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pieter Boelen 633 Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 I'll give this one a 5-star rating. Very good adventure score indeed. Good themes and good action music as well. Works well in the film and on it's own. I think the OST is a fairly good representation of the score. There's good stuff on the complete recording sessions, but no real must-have moments. The "Totenkopf's Ark" track works better as the OST edit than in it's complete form, because some of the fat has been trimmed from it.Btw, Pieter, give us some more Williams scores! There are to few yet in the ranking to compare with other composers' scores.Your wish is my command. The next one will be a Williams. I'm being somewhat reluctant in posting Williams scores, because... well... we know them already. But I promised to post some more well-known scores and many of the Williams ones of course make sure bets for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 859 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I gave it a 3.The film is awful. Basically a shorter version of AOTC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Woods 384 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 I gave it a 3.The film is awful. Basically a shorter version of AOTC.I love it! It's not the greatest movie ever made but it was a fun combination of Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Star Wars meets any World War II dog fighting movie. I had a blast watching it... I didn't expect the next Star Wars... but it gave me exactly what I wanted - a few hours of high action and adventure done in a way I have NEVER seen before along with a wonderful, old fashioned score by one of Hollywood's brightest talents of the new generation of film composers.-Erik- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 2,924 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Sky Captain is above a "Williams imitation" score . It's how the composer blends the harmonies in subtle moments to make the score special .Michael Giacchino ,Javier Navarrete (Pan's Labirinth) and Ed Shearmur can do it ,and composers like John Powell ,John Ottman and HGW CAN'T . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry B 49 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Btw, Pieter, give us some more Williams scores! There are to few yet in the ranking to compare with other composers' scores.Breaking the action/adventure genre barrier would also be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pieter Boelen 633 Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 Breaking the action/adventure genre barrier would also be nice.It's the genre I am most familiar with and have the most scores of. But how about Nixon this time? That one's being discussed right now anyway. BTW: Suggestions for non-action/adventure scores would be welcome, because I don't think I'm very good at coming up with those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooz0r 23 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Absolutely brilliant score for a poor poor movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,095 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Edward Shearmur has talent? I wouldn't have thought so. I had no idea this was a JW rip, I might check it out now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Woods 384 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Edward Shearmur has talent? I wouldn't have thought so.Why not?-Erik- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,095 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I have his scores to K-Pax and Johnny English, they aren't very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 2,924 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Comedy scores are never great ,especially those types of low budget comedies.Count of Monte Crisco has this amazing old fashioned love theme ,and Sky Captain is an all out bombastic Williams styled adventure score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Woods 384 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I have his scores to K-Pax and Johnny English, they aren't very good.Interesting. I think K-Pax is lovely. Excellent mian theme. A nice contemporary, atmospheric, thematic score. And Johnny English is a fun James Bond knock off score that is actually a lot more than just a complete knock off. The action music is very exciting.-Erik- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,759 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I think the movie score is decent, and I think the film is better than many here think. I like to think of the movie as an experiment. Its certainly beautiful to look at, but it has about the same substance as the 300 had, meaning not much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 859 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I think the concept of this film was a good idea but the execution is poor. Gweneth Paltrow is poor as a leading lady and I'm not really to sure about Jude Law as the lead. Jolie brings nothing to her role, it feel like she doing the Tomb Raider character again.The film feels like it needs to be about 20-30 minutes longer to explain some serious plot issues. The ending was rather weak as well.The score is ok but still has that been there done that sound to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSM 85 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Sky Captain is above a "Williams imitation" score . It's how the composer blends the harmonies in subtle moments to make the score special .Michael Giacchino ,Javier Navarrete (Pan's Labirinth) and Ed Shearmur can do it ,and composers like John Powell ,John Ottman and HGW CAN'T .To the composer's who can should be added Brian Tyler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 859 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 No Brian Tyler belongs to the group who thinks it's neat to get the whole orchestra to play all at once and as loud as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSM 85 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 No Brian Tyler belongs to the group who thinks it's neat to get the whole orchestra to play all at once and as loud as possible.Not always. Please watch Timeline (a nice movie also) and tell me what you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,759 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 No Brian Tyler belongs to the group who thinks it's neat to get the whole orchestra to play all at once and as loud as possible.John Williams would disagree with you Mark, he's apparently fond of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marian Schedenig 5,520 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Not familiar. After being utterly unimpressed by the much-praised Reign of Fire, I've rather lost interest in Shearmur. Though I do need his Count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 859 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 No Brian Tyler belongs to the group who thinks it's neat to get the whole orchestra to play all at once and as loud as possible.Not always. Please watch Timeline (a nice movie also) and tell me what you think.That score is bordering on a RC/Zimmer styled one, it's awful. Goldsmith's score is miles ahead of that one.No Brian Tyler belongs to the group who thinks it's neat to get the whole orchestra to play all at once and as loud as possible.John Williams would disagree with you Mark, he's apparently fond of him.Well apparently he's going senile now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,759 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 well you have a point, but I think his Timeline score is better than Jerry who had definately lost it at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,095 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Brian Tyler is a terrible composer. Just...terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,759 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 no, he's good, better than HZ was at this point in his career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
222max 1 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 A fine, fine score. The main theme is not so much a take-off on Williams as it is an inverted version of the Air Force theme (Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder). Perfect fit for the visual style and period settings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,095 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 no, he's good, better than HZ was at this point in his career.I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,759 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 really, Id never have guess you would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,095 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 What point in his career is Brian Tyler in anyway? He does not have a single good score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,284 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 no, he's good, better than HZ was at this point in his career.i still dont know if you speak about tyler with sarcasm or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Woods 384 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 What point in his career is Brian Tyler in anyway? He does not have a single good score.Couldn't disagree more. His early stuff definitely shows promise... stuff like Terror Tract, Frailty, The Hunted and Darkness Falls comes to mind as solid film scores. But I will say there has been a steady decline in quality since. He bows down to the temp track far too often. -Erik- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesyboy 3 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Wow...you guys are brutal! But I have to say I'm on board with Eric all the way. Sky Captain is an excellent symphonic score and the film was a good escape, very enjoyable.And Tyler is a good solid thematic composer...Partition anyone? Although his scores with part electronics are his downfall. Timeline, Alien vs Predator, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Children of Dune...all very noteworthy scores.Jamesyboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,095 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I got Children Of Dune just so I can hear the epic RCP theme that he used for it. You know, the one that can be heard in Rabin's Deep Blue Sea, Gregson-Williams' Shrek and Narnia, and Zimmer's The Contender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSM 85 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 No Brian Tyler belongs to the group who thinks it's neat to get the whole orchestra to play all at once and as loud as possible.Not always. Please watch Timeline (a nice movie also) and tell me what you think.That score is bordering on a RC/Zimmer styled one, it's awful. Goldsmith's score is miles ahead of that one.You haven't noticed how good it works in the movie? The scene where De Kere reveals his true intentions, anyone? That scene gives me chills and has convinced me of his huge talent. I agree with jamesyboy on the electronics. He should avoid the path David Arnold took. Unlikely he won't though since both composers are friends on facebook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie 859 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 The film didn't do anything to hold my attention at all so I quit watching it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSM 85 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 The film didn't do anything to hold my attention at all so I quit watching it.Pity, maybe give it another try, I think it;s worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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