Minority Report Score Discussion

[Nick Parker 3,017]

(NOTE: The randomizer originally selected Empire of the Sun, but I thought it would be a poor maneuver considering Josh's recent poll.)

In interviews, Steven Spielberg always said that he felt 2002's Minority Report (an adaptation of the eponymous short story by Philip K. Dick) was a suspenseful film noir that happened to be set fifty years in the future. John Williams evidently felt this too, as he eschewed the more bombastic style of writing that he is often associated with and delivered a score that Bernard Herrmann might have appreciated: rather than long, hummable melodies and lush orchestrations, he opted for short motivic cells and "gritty minimalism" that have always been the trademark of the late Herrmann. In contrast to this, however, was the sentimental theme that John Williams wrote for John Anderton's presumably dead son Sean, oftentimes being the sole respite from the quasi-mechanical and foreboding landscape that John Williams had painted.

The result is a score "that will start in your spine and eventually find its way to your heart", to quote Steven Spielberg. Though not an Oscar-winner, this score could be considered an important one in John Willliams' oeuvre, as it, along with A.I. Artificial Intelligence , seemed to mark a shift in John Williams' writing (which has been met with derision more than once by longtime fans). Please feel free to discuss.

[Charlie Brigden 5]

I sadly haven't heard this outside of the film, and I really can't remember it from then. I should try and find it cheap somewhere.

[Nick Parker 3,017]

Though some would disagree with me, I would recommend it. It took a few listens, but now this score has me grinning "ear to ear" through a lot of it, such as the wonderfully irritating motif for the Spyders.

[indy4 152]

It's a great score, although it did take me a little while to appreciate it. "Sean's Theme" and "Anderton's Great Escape" are probably the most "standard" Williams cues in the score, and they're both good (the latter starts to go downhill in the second half, but it's still an enjoyable cue throughout for me). But I think the highlights are hearing JW turn Herrmannesque in cues such as "Spyders." The vocals are nice and fitting. "Everybody Runs!" is a nice restrained action cue, slowly building up. But I think my favorite cue is "A New Beginning," which starts are stressful and hopeless, but then blossoms into something quite beautiful and peaceful.

I definitely recommend this score to those that don't have it, although there is more "dead music" than many of JW's other work.

[Taikomochi 783]

What is dead music?

[Richard Penna 2,084]

I don't find this score interesting at all outside a few highlight tracks.

It's not my type of ambient music, simply put.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

The spyder music is pure John Williams.

[paleo 29]

I don't find this score interesting at all outside a few highlight tracks.

It's not my type of ambient music, simply put.

I pretty much agree, and the highlights are few. It's not really a bad score, but more in the 3 star range for me (to respond to some recent posts dealing with score rating)

[Richard Penna 2,084]

Yeah I'd agree. It works great in what I've seen of the film, but outside, it doesn't work for me.

[indy4 152]

What is dead music?

Music that isn't very interesting and doesn't really do much. Like "The Greenhouse Effect."

[Richard Penna 2,084]

I concur.

[Nick Parker 3,017]

Yeah, I had a feeling it would get these kinds of responses....

[indy4 152]

Read my first post, Nick. I think it's a great score, just with a few dull places.

[Diego 21]

It's all right, better than your average blockbuster score, as expected you can hear a bit of AOTC in it, just as you can listen a bit of ROTS in War of the Worlds. I really like The Spyders.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

That reminds me -- has anybody ever set out to do a chrono edit of this score? The result would improve dramatically upon the unbalanced original album.

[Corellian2019 319]

Yes, someone has.

[Datameister 1,394]

I haven't heard it outside the film either, sadly. My impression while watching the film a while back was that it was indeed a pretty AOTC-esque score. It wasn't bad by any means, but it didn't have the kind of grip on me that some scores do. To be able to provide any truly meaningful input, I'd really have to take a listen to the score on its own eventually.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,476]

It's underrated. I can usually fall back on this one.

[Incanus 5,519]

I find Minority Report to be a very interesting score and love this kind of dark hued music. As said above the movie is a film noir story set 50 years into the future but the music has the aesthetics of a Herrmannesque noir score. It does not have that slithering saxophone or lonely trumpet themes for lonely gumshoes but a black and white sensibility which projects as much the psychology as it does the action. The music is dark and detached except for Sean's theme which is by Williams' own admission a deviation from the noir aesthetics by giving us a small fragment of warmth in an otherwise cold and gritty score.

Thematically this score builds on small motives and orchestral effects representing in many cases the mystery or psychological aspects of the scenes. Most prominent one is the Pre-Crime motif which is a cyclical, repeating theme for the Pre-crime police. It can be played ad infinitum creating a sense of pursuit almost of an obsessive pursuit going on forever if need be. Williams varies its speed to accommodate the different action scenes and its pace. It could also be said to represent Anderton's journey, his escape from his former colleagues.

Anne Lively, the dead mother of Agatha receives her own anguished vocal motif performed by Deborah Dietrich which adds a sense of foreboding mystery to this woman who appears in Agatha's visions again and again. Another example of collaboration between the director and composer as Spielberg first suggested the possible idea of female voice representing the character to Williams. It is what most people would call Middle Eastern wailing but I attach more the idea of anguish and pain to this music. The last horrible plea for help beyond the grave as it were.

And then there is Sean's theme, which also appears in various guises throughout the soundtrack. Williams usually presents this theme for what is mostly the memory of Anderton's lost son with a wash of shimmering tones from synth vocals, harp and strings. But once in a while he injects the melody with more warmth with oboe and piano, the most familial of JWs palette of instruments. There always seems to be a lingering darkness attached to it in all its guises as the moments of reminiscence or nostalgia are usually followed by action or foreboring turn of events. In Leo Crow... Confrontation Sean's theme appearing almost like a ghost as Anderton sees the bed with photos strewn all over and his son's image among them it is chilling, presaging his rage only moments later as he finally realizes that his son is truly dead.

A less prominent motif is the rising/falling string motif (which Williams varies throughout the score by inverting it or turning it upside down) for the mystery surrounding the Pre-Crime and Minority Report which receives several iterations starting from the Greenhouse Effect going to Leo Crow (where the mystery begins to unravel), brief appearance in Sean by Agatha and finally growing to operatic proportions in the Psychic Truth and Finale. Also one of the most enfuriating sequences from a listening point of view is the Finale where the whirling strings grow and grow intensity and build up to a dead stop, which the film requires, but musically deprives us a feeling of proper resolution you would expect. Well that's film music for you.

Another idea Williams uses is the skittering, slashing and clashing strings accompanied by harsh brass tones to represent rage, loss of control and pure and simple murder. An old trick but works wonders in the film and on the album. Visions of Anne Lively, Leo Crow... The Confrontation, "Can You See?"(where it is more a part of the shock effect) all have this common element.

And there are the set pieces. Spyders with their own theme with muted horns, marimbas, violas creating an unsettling, uncomfortable creeping feeling. Everybody Runs! with some hints of Sean's theme in the mix uses the marimbas, strings and brass to represent speed and danger with almost a huge mute on the whole orchestra. Maximum effect with less volume. Anderton's Great Escape is really a typical modern JW action piece with a rhythmic basic motives driving the whole piece which follows the action on screen in almost Indiana Jones style from start to finish. I love some sections of it (the gravity suspending piano at 1;56 especially) and some do feel a bit prototypical for Williams. Eye-Dentiscan is a piece of black humour I found very funny in the film and it works as a quirky interlude to all the action and darkness surrounding it on the album. And then there is the A New Beginning, taking cue from Sean's theme but transforming into something hopeful and beautiful representing as much the freedom for the 3 Precognitives as Anderton's new beginning.

[Nick Parker 3,017]

A less prominent motif is the rising/falling string motif (which Williams varies throughout the score by inverting it or turning it upside down) for the mystery surrounding the Pre-Crime and Minority Report which receives several iterations starting from the Greenhouse Effect going to Leo Crow (where the mystery begins to unravel), brief appearance in Sean by Agatha and finally growing to operatic proportions in the Psychic Truth and Finale.

That is actually my favorite motif of the score, especially its statement in "Psychic Truth and Finale". By the way, I just love the on-screen moments it accompanies... Burgess watches the murder he committed from a window, only to turn away after presumably not being able to take any more of it. As he does, he notices a hooded man walking into the nearby kitchen, who he immediately recognizes as John Anderton...then, the camera closes up to Burgess' face, and I just love that palpable feeling of hatred that projects from him, with his "steely" glare and flaring nostrils. A small but classic Spielberg moment, I think.

[indy4 152]

I like that motif, although it reminds me of Kamino.

[Incanus 5,519]

I like that motif, although it reminds me of Kamino.

Not very unexpected though. You try writing 4 similarly themed scores (different styles but mystery and suspence is a key element in all of them) in a year and see if you don't end up using similar musical devices in them.

[indy4 152]

Oh yeah, I wasn't really blaming Williams, but rather pointing out a similarity. And it certainly works for both films. As do the bongos.

[Datameister 1,394]

Ah, yes, I remember the Kamino music in this score. That bothered me quite a bit, if I recall. It's one thing to do two scores in one year with moderate stylistic similarities...but it's another thing entirely to border on Horneristic self-plagiarism like that.

[Incanus 5,519]

Ah, yes, I remember the Kamino music in this score. That bothered me quite a bit, if I recall. It's one thing to do two scores in one year with moderate stylistic similarities...but it's another thing entirely to border on Horneristic self-plagiarism like that.

Yes I still wake up at night screaming because of the similarities in those 2 scores. The horror, the horror.

For me the single detractor on the album is the Dr. Eddie and Miss Van Eych which contains the first half of that scene that is pure dark ambience. Otherwise I find the album very entertaining.

[Josh500 1,602]

I have a quick question re "Everybody Runs"!

What instruments are playing at the beginning? I would think violas coupled with marimbas and, softly, synthethizers in the background... but I am not sure. Can anyone tell?

[lostinspace 6]

I hear violas, marimba, synth marimba, bass clarinet, bassoons cellos and basses. There is also another synth in the background. This type of muffled, sound is heard also in the Munich soundtrack where there is a lot of reverb added to the mix which makes the sound blurry.

I've often wondered why Williams adds synthesizer tracks overdubbing the actual acoustic instruments. Either its his decision or it is added/suggested by the orchestrator for achieving a particular type of sound. Whichever, it gives the mixer the option to add an extra dimension to the line.

[Josh500 1,602]

I hear violas, marimba, synth marimba, bass clarinet, bassoons cellos and basses. There is also another synth in the background.

Ahh thanks. But I don't hear any bassoons here... and what are synth marimbas? Yes, that's a synth in the background, coupled with strings.

I've often wondered why Williams adds synthesizer tracks overdubbing the actual acoustic instruments. Either its his decision or it is added/suggested by the orchestrator for achieving a particular type of sound. Whichever, it gives the mixer the option to add an extra dimension to the line.

Obviously, because the orchestra can't quite produce the sound JW wanted to achieve. I think it's a way to give the piece a somewhat "otherworldly" (or plain unnerving, unsettling, or disquieting) touch.

[BurgaFlippinMan 7]

i really like the first half, but cant remember anything from te second half. In fact, i've almost never made it thru the entire album in one sitting.

[Nick Parker 3,017]

i really like the first half, but cant remember anything from the second half. In fact, i've never made it thru the entire album in one sitting.

Hey, this sentence describes how I feel about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone....

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,476]

Some cues remind me of Superman. Parts of "Anderton's Great Escape" sound like the boat scene and I can hear the Otis lair music, I think when Anderton chases his eyeballs under the temple.

In "Leo Crow... The Confrontation", the part where Anderton says he's going to kill Crow sounds like the tusken camp scene in AOTC when Anakin kills the sandpeople.

[Josh500 1,602]

Some cues remind me of Superman. Parts of "Anderton's Great Escape" sound like the boat scene and I can hear the Otis lair music, I think when Anderton chases his eyeballs under the temple.

In "Leo Crow... The Confrontation", the part where Anderton says he's going to kill Crow sounds like the tusken camp scene in AOTC when Anakin kills the sandpeople.

And you sound like someone who listens to music just to compare instead of enjoying it!

[Jeshopk 8]

Name that tune in 3 notes!

[Henry B 49]

I've often wondered why Williams adds synthesizer tracks overdubbing the actual acoustic instruments. Either its his decision or it is added/suggested by the orchestrator for achieving a particular type of sound. Whichever, it gives the mixer the option to add an extra dimension to the line.

Obviously, because the orchestra can't quite produce the sound JW wanted to achieve. I think it's a way to give the piece a somewhat "otherworldly" (or plain unnerving, unsettling, or disquieting) touch.

That's not the case with such scores as Jurassic Park and The Phantom Menace. I don't know many specifics, but Williams seems to use synths more than most people know, and not for strictly "alien" effects. For example, the woodwinds are "rounded out" by synths in TPM.

[Josh500 1,602]

I've often wondered why Williams adds synthesizer tracks overdubbing the actual acoustic instruments. Either its his decision or it is added/suggested by the orchestrator for achieving a particular type of sound. Whichever, it gives the mixer the option to add an extra dimension to the line.

Obviously, because the orchestra can't quite produce the sound JW wanted to achieve. I think it's a way to give the piece a somewhat "otherworldly" (or plain unnerving, unsettling, or disquieting) touch.

That's not the case with such scores as Jurassic Park and The Phantom Menace. I don't know many specifics, but Williams seems to use synths more than most people know, and not for strictly "alien" effects. For example, the woodwinds are "rounded out" by synths in TPM.

He's still using the synth to produce these subtle effects that an orchestra alone might not be able to achieve (as effectively).

[Greg1138 2]

That reminds me -- has anybody ever set out to do a chrono edit of this score? The result would improve dramatically upon the unbalanced original album.

Yes, someone has.

It was great fun to edit, and some of the source music was interesting to track down!! The correct version of Moon River was a nightmare to find, but thanks to Miguel's good ears he was able to cobble one together from other versions.

Though I enjoy the original CD (which is probably JW's most underrated score of the past 10 years, with the possible exception of Munich), my edit makes for a much better listening experience, though I did take a couple of liberties and if I did it again I would alter one or two bits very slightly.

But the package as it stands is just great, and takes pride of place in my collection - in no small part due to Miguel's absolutely stunning artwork.

Greg

[Corellian2019 319]

It was great fun to edit, and some of the source music was interesting to track down!! The correct version of Moon River was a nightmare to find, but thanks to Miguel's good ears he was able to cobble one together from other versions.

Though I enjoy the original CD (which is probably JW's most underrated score of the past 10 years, with the possible exception of Munich), my edit makes for a much better listening experience, though I did take a couple of liberties and if I did it again I would alter one or two bits very slightly.

But the package as it stands is just great, and takes pride of place in my collection - in no small part due to Miguel's absolutely stunning artwork.

Greg

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree.

[Genius_Gone_Insane 5]

.... 2002's Minority Report ...seemed to mark a shift in John Williams' writing (which has been met with derision more than once by longtime fans).

I recently purchased the soundtrack to 7 Years in Tibet, which was written way before MR yet sounds like it could have been written recently. I think this so-called "shift in John Williams' writing" occurred prior to 2002, if at all. I am not sold.

[Nick Parker 3,017]

I was unaware that I was trying to sell you anything...

Anyways, I was referring to the fact that John Williams' writing seems to have leaned more to minimalism in recent years, his action music in particular. Seven Years in Tibet was written only five years before Minority Report, so I would not be surprised if some hints of what-is-to-come are evident (for instance, to me it seems obvious that "Peter's Rescue" was written from the same part of the brain that wrote "Spyders", in some moments). However, it was not until 2002 (I am not sure if John Williams wrote Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones before or after Minority Report), where John Williams seemed to go through a "blatant" shift. Even Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone barely sounds like them, and that was written in 2001.

Of course, I can only speak in retrospect as I was not following John Williams at the time. People who have been actively following him since at least the mid-1990's would be able to corroborate or contradict my opinions with a more solid conviction, I would imagine.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,476]

The shift happened in the late 1980's as far as I'm concerned. Not that it's bad, we've gotten many remarkable scores since then.

[Josh500 1,602]

The shift happened in the late 1980's as far as I'm concerned. Not that it's bad, we've gotten many remarkable scores since then.

As far as I am concerned, there was no shift. And no so-called "turning point," either.

His music just evolved gradually, that's all!

[Jeshopk 8]

What is dead music?

Music that isn't very interesting and doesn't really do much. Like "The Greenhouse Effect."

Oh how jaded you've become since you arrived

Well, this score is like Close Encounters in that you love it or you don't feel it. If this music isn't top notch suspense scoring, I don't know what is. Plus, it has those beautiful melodies. The score has enough variety for a music glutton.

[indy4 152]

I love about half of it, like some more, and dislike a couple cues.

[Nick Parker 3,017]

It was great fun to edit, and some of the source music was interesting to track down!! The correct version of Moon River was a nightmare to find, but thanks to Miguel's good ears he was able to cobble one together from other versions.

Though I enjoy the original CD (which is probably JW's most underrated score of the past 10 years, with the possible exception of Munich), my edit makes for a much better listening experience, though I did take a couple of liberties and if I did it again I would alter one or two bits very slightly.

But the package as it stands is just great, and takes pride of place in my collection - in no small part due to Miguel's absolutely stunning artwork.

Greg

If you do not mind asking Greg, how much is on your version that is not on the original album?

[Greg1138 2]

There is no "extra" music on there - it is purely a chronoligical edit of the original album, but with all appropriate source cues and other orchestral music too....

[Nick Parker 3,017]

Ah, like Franz Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony"?

[Greg1138 2]

Yes, along with some Tchaikovsky, Billie Holiday and Henry Mancini

For the Tchaikovsky amd the Schubert we used the exact versions heard in the film, and for the others we got as close as we could....

[Jay 27,216]

(I am not sure if John Williams wrote Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones before or after Minority Report)

He wrote the scores in the same order that they were released..... AOTC, MR, HPATCOS, CMIYC

[Luke Skywalker 1,286]

I don't know many specifics, but Williams seems to use synths more than most people know, and not for strictly "alien" effects. For example, the woodwinds are "rounded out" by synths in TPM.

Which brings the important question:

If Williams uses so much synth... Then How much Zimmer uses??

[fommes 126]

(BUMP)

A quick question: Does anybody have the Kunzel album "Epics" or the compilation "Ultimate Movie Music"? There's track called "Sean's Theme" on it that apparently runs over three minutes, and I was wondering what else it contains, besides the "Sean's Theme" music of the Williams album.