The Dark Knight 2-CD Special Edition official thread (what a mouthful)

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I'm with Red on this. It does get old after about the first 5 minutes.

Okay, so it's a bad suite I'm not talking about the music specifically though. You can't really complain about a suite being too long, it's supposed to be.

[CJWilkie 0]

Chrono list(Don't be surprised if it's wrong)

01 - Bank Robbery (Prologue)

02 - Buyer Beware

03 - Halfway To Hong Kong

04 - Why So Serious?

05 - I'm Not A Hero

06 - Harvey Two-Face

07 - Aggressive Expansion

08 - Decent Men In An Indecent Time

09 - Always A Catch

10 - Blood On My Hands

11 - You're Gonna Love Me

12 - A Little Push

13 - Like A Dog Chasing Cars

14 - Chance

15 - I Am The Batman

16 - You Complete Me

17 - And I Thought My Jokes Were Bad

18 - Agent Of Chaos

19 - The Ferries

20 - Introduce A Little Anarchy

21 - Watch The World Burn

22 - We Are Tonight's Entertainment

23 - A Watchful Guardian

24 - A Dark Knight

Psst, I figured out the correct order for the first track: combine 1:55-end of "Decent Men" and all of "Bank Robbery".

Pretty good list, overall, though. Now all we need is CJWilkie to go NUTS on his chronological list.

Yeah, I'm working on it. That list is quite wrong I'm afraid

My Batman Begins score sounds a lot better in chronological order.

For starters, the first 1:40ish of I'm Not a Hero goes between Bank Robbery and Buyer Beware.

[bondo 33]

Yeah, I'm working on it. That list is quite wrong I'm afraid

My Batman Begins score sounds a lot better in chronological order.

For starters, the first 1:40ish of I'm Not a Hero goes between Bank Robbery and Buyer Beware.

Let us know when you finish, I'm eager to put it in chronological order as well!

[Taikomochi 1,136]

Yeah, I'm working on it. That list is quite wrong I'm afraid

My Batman Begins score sounds a lot better in chronological order.

For starters, the first 1:40ish of I'm Not a Hero goes between Bank Robbery and Buyer Beware.

I didn't write it. I copied and pated because I knew if I made my own list it would be far worse. :cool:

[Trent B 337]

In other news The Digital Bits reported that The Dark Knight in one day has sold 600,000 Blu-Ray copies...that's a lot.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

No sh*t

Imagine that number combined with DVD sales. Over 1 million easily. What I like about this, is that for a lot of people, The Dark Knight is the reason to go Blu. I went to Best Buy on Tuesday, and saw a couple people with Blu-ray players and a copy of TDK on top.

[Red 75]

What I like about this, is that for a lot of people, The Dark Knight is the reason to go Blu.

How does that benefit you personally?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

What I like about this, is that for a lot of people, The Dark Knight is the reason to go Blu.

How does that benefit you personally?

Makes me happy.

[Red 75]

You Sony fanboy.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Well considering Blu-ray is the only high def format, what else is there to praise? I want more people to switch to HD.

[Corellian2019 386]

HD isn't always good, you know.

[Josh500 1,615]

I had a dream last night:

James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer giving the Oscar acceptance speech while JW looks on, clapping half-heartedly.

[Ollie 1,059]

HD isn't always good, you know.

No, HD isn't kind to some people, especially quite a few female sports reporters.

[FattyMcButterpants 1]

To those who actually have this thing: this set contains the original OST, and the second disc is what exactly? The score as heard in the film? Any unused bits?

[Taikomochi 1,136]

I had a dream last night:

James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer giving the Oscar acceptance speech while JW looks on, clapping half-heartedly.

I had a dream of a world without John Williams. Hans Zimmer constantly won Osarcs and Steve Jablonsky kicked out a little profit. And it was so.... boring.

@FMBP - I don't think any is unused, but there's a lot of good unreleased stuff. Even the parts that were on the OST and were repeated sound mixed a lot better.

[Wycket 36]

To those who actually have this thing: this set contains the original OST, and the second disc is what exactly? The score as heard in the film? Any unused bits?

Most of it are pieces from the film that weren't on the original release. There are also four remixes on the disc, which are hit or miss depending on personal tastes.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

So for everyone here, that would be a miss.

[Wycket 36]

So for everyone here, that would be a miss.

Everyone on this board? Yes of course. I listened to one of them on Youtube that I really liked, and another that was absolutely dreadful.

[MissPadmé 17]

I really hope that TDK wins the Oscar for best score, only to see you "orchestral-fanfare-woodwindrun-boom tzz-guys" bitching arround and crying out loud!!!

yeah!

[FattyMcButterpants 1]

[Henry B 50]

I really hope that TDK wins the Oscar for best score, only to see you "orchestral-fanfare-woodwindrun-boom tzz-guys" bitching arround and crying out loud!!!

yeah!

Heh...

[Desplat13 1]

Have a heart, MissPadmé.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Maybe they'll win for The Dark Knight 3.

[John Crichton 4]

After two years of Santonalala I think I can take almost anything.

I think.

[Corellian2019 386]

After two years of Santonalala I think I can take almost anything.

I think.

I assume you mean Gustavo Santaolalla. Whilst his work (not Sakamoto's) for Babel didn't seem Oscar-worthy to me, I never got around to hearing his score for Brokeback Mountain. How was it?

[Delorean90 42]

I really hope that TDK wins the Oscar for best score, only to see you "orchestral-fanfare-woodwindrun-boom tzz-guys" bitching arround and crying out loud!!!

yeah!

Heh... :cool:

Please. Yes, there are certain narrow individuals on this forum...like those who think that Williams is the only (or one of the few) good composer. But I don't dislike TDK because it isn't pure orchestra, I dislike it because it's just not that good. Thankfully, it does make some improvements (the start of "Like a Dog Chasing Cars," actual harmonic variation for the two-note motif, "Watch the World Burn"), but overall it's kind of boring. There have been better scores written this year, and so TDK shouldn't win.

And even though some may get kinda myopic about orchestra-only, it's not held dear without reason; the emotional range, the expressiveness, and the palette of sonic color available to the skilled user of an orchestra is outstanding, and shouldn't be brushed off as traditionalist blah. The bottom line is good music, and in the case of film scores, good music that fits and enhances a film. If you're going to use traditional elements, use them well, if you're going to use non-traditional, you definitely ought to use them well.

No need to get petty about it.

[Henry B 50]

I agree completely. Any kind of music works when done well and The Dark Knight is nothing special. But I think MissPadme was just noting that there is a major school of thought among soundtrack fans that orchestral bombast is the only way to go. To some, there is nothing worth exploring beyond the traditional adventure/fantasy score. And that, I think, is a sadly limited view.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I do not think that anybody here holds that myopic viewpoint.

[Delorean90 42]

Just spend a little more time here, you'll see it.

I agree completely. Any kind of music works when done well and The Dark Knight is nothing special. But I think MissPadme was just noting that there is a major school of thought among soundtrack fans that orchestral bombast is the only way to go. To some, there is nothing worth exploring beyond the traditional adventure/fantasy score. And that, I think, is a sadly limited view.

Yeah, I hear that. I guess I just get a little peeved with all the "I wish [insert ridiculous, obnoxious occurrance] would happen just so such-and-such would be mad!" kinda jokes.

[Richard Penna 3,684]

I agree completely. Any kind of music works when done well and The Dark Knight is nothing special. But I think MissPadme was just noting that there is a major school of thought among soundtrack fans that orchestral bombast is the only way to go. To some, there is nothing worth exploring beyond the traditional adventure/fantasy score. And that, I think, is a sadly limited view.

Oh I agree with that definitely - minimalism and atmospheric approaches are just as worthy as orchestral bombast - depends which style fits the film. Isham's Crash for example is 100% synth (I think even that soloist is as no one's credited in the booklet), and it works perfectly in what I've seen of the film. Orchestral bombast would've been completely wrong for it, and it was just as inventive as Star Wars.

My problem with Dark Knight is not the minimalism. It's the fact that so much of the score is just endless looped Zimmer percussion with very little variation - I don't consider it very original, and I can't see all the excessive effort that went into this score. Even JNH's parts are fairly unremarkable to me. They're decent pieces music, but never rise above that level of competency for me.

So I'm not bashing the style of the score. It worked in the film (sort of... ) but it's not one where I feel the composers should be rewarded for their work. Other composers have made more innovative and affecting achievements this year. Talking of Like a Dog Chasing Cars, I do actually like this track because of the rather positive theme that's trying desperately to develop itself into something interesting. It's a guilty pleasure, but oscar worthy? Hell no.

I would say I hope JNH wins for Defiance, but that would be hypocritical of what I just said for DK. I think it's a truly superb score, fitting of what little I know about the film, but it doesn't really make any attempt to be truly innovative and really show what it's possible to do to a cinemagoer with music, which I think is most relevant to the oscars. It just does its job, and does it well.

Brings me round again to my big, big problem with the oscars. You just cannot decide, in a field as diverse as this, that something is 'the best' without heavy politics or very biased criteria. It's just not possible.

[Neimoidian 14]

My problem with Dark Knight is not the minimalism. It's the fact that so much of the score is just endless looped Zimmer percussion with very little variation - I don't consider it very original, and I can't see all the excessive effort that went into this score. Even JNH's parts are fairly unremarkable to me. They're decent pieces music, but never rise above that level of competency for me.

Exactly. Moreover, there is a lot of music in that score that goes below the usual level of competency of these two composers which I think quite highly of..., yes, even Zimmer.

[MissPadmé 17]

In the Article about TDK in a german Filmmusic magazinme it says. that the main score was written on ONE weekend. because due to some copyright issues nolan wasn't able to show them the film earlier.

So it was shown on a friday and rec started the next m,onday. while Newton Howard was very nervous, Zimmer was calm as always

well the themes were developed in advance though.

[Richard Penna 3,684]

Hehehehehehe.

Please confirm that was a joke... the Internet is so deceiving

[Neimoidian 14]

well the themes were developed in advance though.

I hear no development whatsoever.

[MissPadmé 17]

Hehehehehehe.

Please confirm that was a joke... the Internet is so deceiving

I could post a scan pof that article but it would be in german.

Well this is a very good magazine, so it is trust worthy.

The joker motive was developed, composeed, created before together with Nolan. and the actual score was written in 3 days, thats what it says

[Richard Penna 3,684]

The whole score... 3 days?

Sorry, but even with my dislike of the score, it's not 3 days bad - I don't believe that, someone's pulling a leg here. I can't believe either that copyright issues would prevent Nolan showing his composers a movie until that late. That's just lunacy.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

The whole score... 3 days?

Sorry, but even with my dislike of the score, it's not 3 days bad - I don't believe that, someone's pulling a leg here. I can't believe either that copyright issues would prevent Nolan showing his composers a movie until that late. That's just lunacy.

Eh, I've heard good scores written in one day, or at least less than 3. I can't recall any, though... I think Alien 3 was written really quickly, and most people here consider that an excellent score.

[Trent B 337]

Don't forget, Jerry Goldsmith and Joel McNeely had less than two weeks to re-write the entire score for Air Force One and look how awesome that came out. Then again Air Force One's score is light years better than The Dark Knight.

[Richard Penna 3,684]

If this is true, I wonder if Zimmer & JNH knew how little time they would have.

It's also a scary event for film music in general,. Producers are now going to think any composer worth their salt can be given the movie 5 days before release and churn out a good score.

[indy4 155]

Nolan didn't even want a new score originally, right? He just wanted to track music from BB.

[Richard Penna 3,684]

This thread is getting stupid.

Or, Nolan's the most idiotic director, music-wise, I've ever seen.

[indy4 155]

Read TDK liner notes.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

It sounds more likely that people are throwing up the kind of ridiculous conjecture that's usually reserved for Lucas.

Read TDK liner notes.

Got a scan?

[Richard Penna 3,684]

You think I have the liner notes?

Hah. I bought the four tracks I liked online.

So what do they say in essence?

[Taikomochi 1,136]

If this is true, I wonder if Zimmer & JNH knew how little time they would have.

It's also a scary event for film music in general,. Producers are now going to think any composer worth their salt can be given the movie 5 days before release and churn out a good score.

How long does it usually take Williams? Longer, I imagine.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Read TDK liner notes.

You mean Nolan's note? He never says that TDK was supposed to be just tracked music from BB. What are you talking about? They used music from BB to temp track the film, but they went in an entirely different direction. And yes, Zimmer composed music before the film finished, he always does. He created thousands of possible themes for the Joker and had Nolan listen to them on his flight to Hong Kong. Also, Joker's theme is not synth, which I actually didn't know. It's just Martin Tillman playing a prolonged note on his cello.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

I agree completely. Any kind of music works when done well and The Dark Knight is nothing special. But I think MissPadme was just noting that there is a major school of thought among soundtrack fans that orchestral bombast is the only way to go. To some, there is nothing worth exploring beyond the traditional adventure/fantasy score. And that, I think, is a sadly limited view.

I like all Williams works and only 25-30% of them are orchestral bombast.

Zimmer and co. write bombast too. Synth version though, and so, yes I prefer the orchestral version.

If this is true, I wonder if Zimmer & JNH knew how little time they would have.

It's also a scary event for film music in general,. Producers are now going to think any composer worth their salt can be given the movie 5 days before release and churn out a good score.

How long does it usually take Williams? Longer, I imagine.

He records the score in about a week, but works in scores from 3 months to 2 weeks, but i have that just on my mind i dont have proof.

I know that he is composing a score he does arround two minutes a day.

He created thousands of possible themes for the Joker

He did that much work to, in the end, chose a sustained note?

I find that unlikely.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

Also, Joker's theme is not synth, which I actually didn't know. It's just Martin Tillman playing a prolonged note on his cello.

That's interesting.

He did that much work to, in the end, chose a sustained note?

I find that unlikely.

Just because it's simple doesn't make it thoughtless. I'm sure the two-note Jaws motif took Williams a little bit of time.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's a 3 note motif, actually.

And it is actually far more then that, the 3 notes are the foundation, but there a lot build around it.

[John Takis 206]

I actually ordered this today ... had a coupon that brought it down to around $35 from Barnes & Noble (with membership).

Damn it! Any hint as to where one can get coupons like those, excluding membership?

Afraid not. The list price of this set was $57.99. Regular B&N price: $46.39 (20% off). B&N Membership price: $41.75. B&N regularly e-mails coupons to their members that are good BEYOND the Membership price, so I took an additional 15% off for a total of $35.48 -- with free shipping (you will pay a few bucks tax). That's *almost* 40%, which beats the pants off of Amazon.com's comparatively measly 22% discount. I've found B&N memberships are worth having in the long run, given how much I spend there.

Now ... once in a while, B&N DOES offer a coupon to general customers ... it's just usually not that large. They have a 10% off coupon advertised on the front page right now, for example. That would essentially get you the membership price of $41.75. After tax, however, you'd only be saving a few bucks off the Amazon price.