Pirates Of The Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It was, and the characters are not very engaging.

[Quintus 5,399]

And the cgi was rubbish!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yeah. I can't believe they got away with it. It look like someone had just stuck a dead squid on Bill Nighy's face!

[Sandor 797]

Dead Man's Chest is one of the most boring films I've ever exposed myself too. I just couldn't wait for it to end. So much dialogue, so much plot for a film that needs a simple, straightforward and engaging story in order to succeed.

[Quintus 5,399]

Yes.

[Jacob 0]

Zimmer confesses to "perverting" the traditional orchestra.

Short video interview: http://filmmusicreporter.com/2011/05/08/hans-zimmer-on-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides/

Also a full track sample.

[Datameister 2,042]

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I'm lovin' that full cue. Can't wait to hear more.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Dead Man's Chest was fine, Joe is the only one I ever see really attacking it as being a HUGE step down from the first.

At World's End was a bloated confusing mess

because it was. At Worlds End was much better than the bloated mess that was DMC. I chose not to purhase the two sequels. 3 at least had some emotional resonance.

I have no ideal what to expect from 4. I know I'll see it at matinee prices.

[Datameister 2,042]

AWE did have more emotional resonance than DMC, I suppose, but that was overshadowed by the fact that the plot grew even more bewildering than in DMC. That and the fact that they tried to make it...epic. That's one of the dangers with any franchise, and I guess it can work out okay if it's handled really well, but with AWE, it just felt like they were getting further and further from the spirit of the first film.

Another thing that really irritated me as a huge Disneyland fan, BTW, was how far they got from the original attraction. One of the things I loved about the first film was how it paid respect to the source material so brilliantly, yet not in a way that detracted from the new story they were trying to tell. Even though that film is far from a direct translation of the ride into a movie, there were plenty of those moments that showed bits of gags or gags from the ride, and it was handled so tastefully that I was grinning the whole way through. Not to mention the fact that the film is bookended with "Yo Ho"! The whole film felt rooted in the attraction in all the best ways.

But the sequels did away with that almost completely. DMC hints nicely at the bayou scene (even if they did move it from Louisiana to the Caribbean), and AWE has that absolutely delicious bit of distorted audio from the attraction when...I don't remember, when something weird happens. When they're At World's End, I guess. Anyway, beyond that, the sequels are all built around stuff that was introduced in the first film, with very few ties to the attraction, and so they fail on that level.

Naturally, people with no interest in or knowledge of the ride won't care, and that's fine. I even could have more or less accepted it if they'd otherwise captured the spirit of the first film. But to me, DMC and AWE felt like Pirates without any of the stuff I liked about it.

[Jacob 0]

Another full track sample, as well as stems to create your own remix:

http://www.indabamusic.com/opportunities/pirates-of-the-caribbean-remix-opportunity

[Jay 37,351]

[Koray Savas 2,251]

[publicist 4,643]

AWE did have more emotional resonance than DMC, I suppose, but that was overshadowed by the fact that the plot grew even more bewildering than in DMC. That and the fact that they tried to make it...epic. That's one of the dangers with any franchise, and I guess it can work out okay if it's handled really well, but with AWE, it just felt like they were getting further and further from the spirit of the first film.

I found the surreal elements in AWE (Sparrow and the crabs, the Up-is-down sequence) very entertaining and never felt the need for a tightly-knit plot.

The whole epic-thing was expected...there's just no way to end a three-film franchise in this genre without conjuring up at least some larger-than-life images. When all's said and done it would be fair to summarize the whole thing as not a great movie, but a very entertaining one with lots of genuinly astounding visual razzle-dazzle. This is a lot more than most blockbusters in recent years were able to offer.

[Quintus 5,399]

I swear to god that's one of the funniest things I've seen this year.

[Jay 37,351]

I just bought their new album last night. Heard the song on my way home and was thought to myself "I hope its on youtube so I can post it to the Pirates thread". Lo and behold there was a whole video to go with it! Must have been on SNL this past weekend

[Wojo 2,453]

Sans the few F bombs.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Michael Bolton should be strangled, since all his career his voice sounds like he already has been!

[Quintus 5,399]

I just think its great to see someone like him not having too big an ego to take the piss out of themselves. He gets kudos from me.

[tannhauser 101]

The full score is streaming now HERE

As a sort of Zimmer inbetweener, I like it but don't feel that Hans has out-done himself. He didn't seem to be overly inspired by this one, I thought the scores for 2 and especially 3 were brilliant. This one lacks the use of orchestra that made three excel, but that is a trend for Zimmer lately, in fact his last big orchestral score was probably At World's End. He seems to be focusing on electronics/soloists more now and that's the case here. The orchestral writing sounds mostly sampled to me.

However, I think Rodrigo y Gabriela are a great addition and give the score a unique flavour. There are three strong new themes, for Angelica (which isn't developed at all on the disc, hopefully will be more in the film) a really evil sounding chromatic motif for Blackbeard which I love, and a beautiful and mysterious theme for the Mermaids (which does get some nice development) There are lots of reprises of other themes from all three films but most are done in a fresh new way (not like Harry Gregson-Williams did in Prince Caspian which was basically cut and paste) Particularly appealing is the return of the theme for the undead pirates from the first film in a much more epic choral arrangement. I also like the fact that we get some new variations on the famous He's a Pirate theme which was completely underused in the last two scores.

I think the score overall is good and a good listening experience. It just doesn't stand out with excellent set pieces and themes like the previous two movies did. Looking forward to seeing the movie.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Er, no, "excel" is hardly the word for Pirates 4.

[Richard Penna 3,686]

First impressions: same old stuff. I don't remember anything truly offensive in Zimmer terms, it just doesn't seem to offer anything remotely new.

[tannhauser 101]

First impressions: same old stuff. I don't remember anything truly offensive in Zimmer terms, it just doesn't seem to offer anything remotely new.

I wouldn't say it doesn't offer anything new. There are after all three new major themes. It doesn't introduce as many new themes as the last 2 scores did but I'm guessing the story isn't as complicated this time around so that's acceptible. And yes there is lots of old material present but it's presented in a relatively fresh manner most of the time. Also the guitars and a very distinctive colour to the score compared to the previous films.

I'm starting to like it a lot, Blackbeard and Mermaids are great cues. And the end credits piece is the best version of He's a Pirate yet.

[gkgyver 1,645]

And the end credits piece is the best version of He's a Pirate yet.

But it's still "He's A Pirate".

[MattyO 62]

I agree, nothing spectacular here, but it is good old fashioned fun for Zimmer fans. Unlike the second and third scores, however, I'm not in any rush for more music - I think the score on the album equate to a manageable length. I am looking forward to seeing the film, as an unabashed fan of all three original films.

[gkgyver 1,645]

"Mermaids" is 99% DaVinci Code.

Oddly enough, "Guilty Of Being Innocent Of Being Jack Sparrow" I find quite entertaining. Apparently, the most obnoxious music of all films, the zombie underwater march, was chosen to play a role in Pirates 4. I find that thing unlistenable.

Alltogether, I find that Pirates 4 combines all the elements from 1-3 that I found the most irritating and boring.

[Laserschwert 475]

Somehow I like the "fake" soundtrack tracks by JD Russell almost better than the official ones...

[tannhauser 101]

"Mermaids" is 99% DaVinci Code.

Oddly enough, "Guilty Of Being Innocent Of Being Jack Sparrow" I find quite entertaining. Apparently, the most obnoxious music of all films, the zombie underwater march, was chosen to play a role in Pirates 4. I find that thing unlistenable.

Alltogether, I find that Pirates 4 combines all the elements from 1-3 that I found the most irritating and boring.

Mermaids does have the same soprano that featured in Da Vinci Code, but I don't recall the theme itself being used there. Could you point out which part of DVC it appears in?

Somehow I like the "fake" soundtrack tracks by JD Russell almost better than the official ones...

Russell's work is utterly brilliant, but it sounds like it belongs in At World's End. I'm glad the new score has a fresh approach.

[bondo 33]

The theme for Blackbeard is entertaining enough and "Mermaids" is eerily enchanting. I believe the OST suffers because of it's short score length. The new themes receive little or no thematic development on the released-album, and the score itself is almost unrelentingly fast-paced. To add to that, the tracks composed by Rodrigo y Gabriela do not seem well integrated into the rest of the score. However I wouldn't be quick to judge Zimmer's complete score based on the available material; there is likely a wealth of additional unreleased music that would correct many of these flaws.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

According to Variety, "Hans Zimmer's bombastic score is never inappropriate to the goings-on onscreen".

Source: http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117945199?refcatid=31

[Quintus 5,399]

As is usually the case with the sorts of movies he scores.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

If I have to think of an example in film with the most inappropriate music in a scene, it has to be Hans Zimmer's The Kraken or Hello Beastie from PotC 2.

I quite like many parts of the PotC scores, but those two tracks are waaay of the mark. The first is overly modern and puts me straight back into the theater.

And the second instantly puts me into a submarine instead.

[Chris.Tilton 0]

The theme for Blackbeard is entertaining enough and "Mermaids" is eerily enchanting. I believe the OST suffers because of it's short score length. The new themes receive little or no thematic development on the released-album, and the score itself is almost unrelentingly fast-paced. To add to that, the tracks composed by Rodrigo y Gabriela do not seem well integrated into the rest of the score.

Having seen the film, I'd say your assessment of the score is spot on.

[gkgyver 1,645]

According to Variety, "Hans Zimmer's bombastic score is never inappropriate to the goings-on onscreen".

If you can't say something positive, then at least don't say something negative.

[Kevin 22]

According to Variety, "Hans Zimmer's bombastic score is never inappropriate to the goings-on onscreen".

If you can't say something positive, then at least don't say something negative.

It's so-so.

[avalanche 0]

I really enjoyed the Rodrigo y Gabriela tracks on this score, so much so that I wish they were featured throughout all the cues.

[tannhauser 101]

rodrigo y gabriela are awol in the film. I only heard them twice, for about 10 seconds during "Palm Tree Escape" and the End Credits piece.

Having seen the film, I would say that the new bits of the score are very good, and the mermaids theme (which is really the main theme for the whole movie much like the love theme was in AWE) gets lots of statements and variants, as does Blackbeard's. But nearly every motif from the trilogy gets thrown in willy-nilly at some point which makes the score overall seem a bit incohesive. There's Cutler Beckett, Davy Jones, and Up is Down in there to name but a few. Even though the variations on these themes are well done, it seems like a bit of a cop-out and disregard of their leitmotivic integrity.

The film is great by the way.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

This is pretty much Rodrigo Y Gabriela's score. Some cues sounds like they're straight off of their previous albums.

[avalanche 0]

This is pretty much Rodrigo Y Gabriela's score. Some cues sounds like they're straight off of their previous albums.

Would you recommend any Rodrigo Y Gabriela albums to start with? I'd like to explore their work more.

[Smeagol 0]

11 people are credited with "additional music/arrangements." Eleven. Holy cow... how is that even possible??

[Koray Savas 2,251]

This is pretty much Rodrigo Y Gabriela's score. Some cues sounds like they're straight off of their previous albums.

Would you recommend any Rodrigo Y Gabriela albums to start with? I'd like to explore their work more.

Start with their self-titled debut. If you like that, pick up 11:11. They only have 2 albums so far.

[Jay 37,351]

They only have 2 albums so far.

Wikipedia disagrees with you

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_Y_Gabriela#Studio_albums

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Oh ho, never knew that! It appears their first album is not available here.

[tannhauser 101]

11 people are credited with "additional music/arrangements." Eleven. Holy cow... how is that even possible??

They all did one track each :-D

But in seriousness, this is a pathetic excuse for an album. The score in the movie is a lot better. Zimmer's releases have been getting worse and worse since Inception. Megamind, Rango, and now POTC have all had terrible albums and I've stopped buying them.

[Wojo 2,453]

Thanks to that French Disney site and DownloadHelper, buying this album is not required.

[Matt C 452]

Saw first 30 minutes of the film. What I've seen, Zimmer sadly phones it in here.

Temp-track syndrome strikes again.

[gkgyver 1,645]

11 people are credited with "additional music/arrangements." Eleven. Holy cow... how is that even possible??

They all did one track each :-D

But in seriousness, this is a pathetic excuse for an album. The score in the movie is a lot better. Zimmer's releases have been getting worse and worse since Inception. Megamind, Rango, and now POTC have all had terrible albums and I've stopped buying them.

Inception is not really comparable to POTC 4. Inception isn't exactly a film score, Zimmer wrote that not having seen the film. So, it's debatable whether applying standards of a film score release is actually appropriate.

Thanks to that French Disney site and DownloadHelper, buying this album is not required.

That shat product doesn't deserve a penny.

[tannhauser 101]

Inception is not really comparable to POTC 4. Inception isn't exactly a film score, Zimmer wrote that not having seen the film. So, it's debatable whether applying standards of a film score release is actually appropriate.

Point taken, Inception is more of an electronic tone poem

That makes Sherlock Holmes his last good film score release. Wow that's a long time ago.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

What's wrong with the release of Inception? Or Megamind for that matter?

Rango and On Stranger Tides are the only two I can think of that got bad releases, recently. It just seems heavier cause it was back-to-back. Kung Fu Panda 2 will remedy the situation.

[Demondm810 399]

I'm terribly excited for Kung Fu Panda 2's score.