Your Top 5 movies you wish JW had scored!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,512]

"Blue Velvet". The combination of "Images"-esque Williams, and out-of-his-head, dark-side-on-full-throttle Lynch would make for a very compelling score.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

Some of my choices:

- Treasure Planet

- LOTR

- POTC

- The rest of the HP films

- Captain America

- Cowboys and Aliens

- A Pixar film

[Quintus 5,399]

The Net

Have you seen that recently? I haven't watched it since the 90s. I can imagine it has aged quite rapidly.

I've never seen it :cool:

[Matt C 452]

I have discovered that I may be the only one on this board who actually likes the score to Inception. I wouldn't buy the whole album to listen to (I do have Dream within a Dream and Time, the latter being one of my favorite Zimmer cues), but in the context of the movie it's quite effective. It drives the action when appropriate and pauses to reflect on the poignant moments.

I'm honestly mixed on Inception's score. At times, Zimmer's music fits some scenes like a glove (such as the climatic "kick" sequence and when Cobb and Ariadne explore Mal's dreamverse) but the rest of the time I yearned for something better. John Powell would've been able to compose a better score for Nolan's sensibilities but keep things interesting music-wise. Such a wasted opportunity for Nolan, since he likes relying on musical texture rather than something to truly elevate his films.

Fernando Velazquez or Elliot Goldenthal would've done Inception justice music-wise. Needless to say, John Williams would've done a bang-up job too.

[Josh500 1,615]

I really do wonder what a Disney-ish animated movie John Williams score would be like. I just can't...quite...imagine it.

Not Disney, but Tintin is probably the closest he'll ever come to an animated movie!

[Matt C 452]

1. Inception (hell, any other composer aside from Zimmer for this one)

2. The Dark Knight

3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

5. Watchmen

[Jay 37,337]

In no particular order

1. The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy (all 3 movies came out in years JW didn't compose any scores at all! A full-on swashbuckling pirate adventure score by JW would be very exciting to hear, I think!)

2. Spider-man 1 & 2 (impossible, as he had to do Attack of the Clones and Minority Report that summer, but it would be great to get a big superhero score from JW)

3. X-Men 1 & 2 (an even better palate for an awesome JW score, I think)

4. Toy Story trilogy (would love to see JW score animation, and nothing in those scores ever grabbed me)

5. Jurassic Park 3 (the variations on his action themes he would have come up with would be more interesting than Davis' work, I think)

[Jeff 10]

4. Toy Story trilogy (would love to see JW score animation, and nothing in those scores ever grabbed me)

Are you talking score or songs here? The first film had some memorable songs - Randy Newman was the perfect choice. I enjoyed the scoring as well. The song about Jessie in the second film was pretty good, too.

[Jay 37,337]

Oh the songs are extremely memorable, and I wouldn't have wanted the films to exist without them. But the underscore is nothing special (IMHO), and JW probably would have created something great.

OK, then leaving Toy Story alone, I would have liked to have seen JW score A Bug's Life, Monster's Inc, or The Incredibles

[Charlie Brigden 7]

DuckTales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

Although only if he used the theme tune.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I think JW ghost composed the theme to Return to Oz.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

1. The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy (all 3 movies came out in years JW didn't compose any scores at all! A full-on swashbuckling pirate adventure score by JW would be very exciting to hear, I think!)

Bruckheimer would have rejected his music. He specifically told Badelt that he didn't want pirate music.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

Bruckheimer would have rejected his music. He specifically told Badelt that he didn't want pirate music.

Because he's an incompetent idiot :cool:

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

That's what I said. :cool:

[Tom 4,651]

In no particular order:

Star Trek IV

Strange Brew (why not?)

WarGames

The Passion of the Christ--forgo the ethnic sound and give us straining strings punctated by lyrical passages, with a muted uplifting conclusion

Apollo 13

[Koray Savas 2,251]

1. The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy (all 3 movies came out in years JW didn't compose any scores at all! A full-on swashbuckling pirate adventure score by JW would be very exciting to hear, I think!)

Bruckheimer would have rejected his music. He specifically told Badelt that he didn't want pirate music.

You mean Zimmer?

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

No, Badelt.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Well Zimmer composed it.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

I don't know the inner workings of MV, and I generally don't care about the POTC suite. But Badelt always gets credited for the suites (and he neither selects the bits that go in it nor does he do the orchestral arrangements, so it must be a credit for the original music), and he also took credit for the score when he talked about it in Vienna last week. The claim above (Bruckheimer specifically wanting non-pirate music) was his, according to Badelt, that's what Bruckheimer told him when Badelt got hired and told them he is not capable of writing Korngold-style pirate music.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

I wish they would have tricked Bruckheimer and written Korngold pirate-styled music in a RC way...

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I don't know the inner workings of MV, and I generally don't care about the POTC suite. But Badelt always gets credited for the suites (and he neither selects the bits that go in it nor does he do the orchestral arrangements, so it must be a credit for the original music), and he also took credit for the score when he talked about it in Vienna last week. The claim above (Bruckheimer specifically wanting non-pirate music) was his, according to Badelt, that's what Bruckheimer told him when Badelt got hired and told them he is not capable of writing Korngold-style pirate music.

See this is why I feel there is some distance between Hans and Klaus now. While Badelt has come into his own and composes some great music, he's pretty much completely void from Hollywood. I think they "broke up" after Hans came out and said he actually composed The Curse Of The Black Pearl. And I thought you knew, but it's well known that Zimmer didn't get composing credit for Pirates because he had a commitment to The Last Samurai that dictated that he could not work on any other projects. Well, that's at least what he says.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

Interesting. All I can add is that Badelt is clearly tired of having POTC dragged out constantly and would much prefer more focus on his other works. "I've actually written good music" (or something to that effect) is what he said.

By the way, while I absolutely couldn't stand the POTC score, I have to say that a well-arranged, fully acoustic suite (like the one created by Gottfried Rabl for last week's concert, is actually a lot of fun.

I wish they would have tricked Bruckheimer and written Korngold pirate-styled music in a RC way...

Perhaps that's what Silvestri attempted.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

Perhaps that's what Silvestri attempted.

Hmmmm. Maybe. I bet that if it wasn't for Bruckheimer, Silvestri wouldn't have been fired. I remember reading reports that Verbinksi was perfectly happy with Alan's demos. I wish that they made him talk more about the music rather than the firing situation, and why not ask him to play the theme on piano? After all, there's nothing illegal with that.

Just imagine... It could have been the score that could have turned around Silvestri's career, but no... Now he's stuck with bad remakes of old TV shows. Such a shame.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Eh, he's still got Zemeckis, but we all know he ain't what he used to be. Silvestri probably would have stayed had Bruckheimer not been producer. Either way though, Verbinski had already used Zimmer for The Ring the year before, so the switch over was already beginning.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Eh, he's still got Zemeckis,

That isn't helping.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

Bruickheimer is a knob.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,512]

In no particular order:

Star Trek IV

Strange Brew (why not?)

WarGames

The Passion of the Christ--forgo the ethnic sound and give us straining strings punctated by lyrical passages, with a muted uplifting conclusion

Apollo 13

What's "muted" about the resurection?

[Matt C 452]

I want to expand my irritation with the 'Inception' score. It represents the worse and laziest writing of Zimmer's career, but it also has some of the most interesting and gorgeous ambient cues in Zimmer's oeuvre. That's even more frustrating than a score that's outright bad or good. I posted a rant about Zimmer's score on Maintitles.net (and how Chris Nolan should pick a better composer), and lo and behold -- this message showed up in my inbox a few hours later:

Do you really want to meet with him and tell him how bad his sense of music is? Make a couple of suggestions, maybe? I'll set it up - give me a date, end of august, as long as I can film the exchange - I'm just looking forward to one of the most film educated, precise, hardworking and original thinkers

having a chat with you about aesthetics, melody, modern scoring techniques, how to be original and serve story, character and ambience as a composer or director in a modern framework.

Tata,

Hans

I figure it's somebody posing as Hans (since there's a lot of defensive fans out there). If it was Hans, I'm highly flattered that he'd actually take the time to insult me via PM.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Hans signs his PMs as "-H"

[Matt C 452]

Ah, so it was a poser. Good to know.

[tharpdevenport 4]

He was actually asked to score "World Trade Center", but turned it down.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

He was actually asked to score "World Trade Center", but turned it down.

Very interesting! Any more movies he was offered but rejected?

[Eric_JWFAN 11]

Off the top of my head, the one film I wish JW had scored:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

This is one of the top three movies I've seen the last ten years. Really, It's that good.

Unfortunately... the soundtrack sucks.

I realize there's an artsy or "indie" feel to this film, and maybe the director wanted that feel in the soundtrack, but wow with a Williams score this would probably be my favorite movie of all-time.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,512]

He was actually asked to score "World Trade Center", but turned it down.

Very interesting! Any more movies he was offered but rejected?

"Superman II".

[Josh500 1,615]

He was actually asked to score "World Trade Center", but turned it down.

Very interesting! Any more movies he was offered but rejected?

"Superman II".

Ahhh, Goblet of Fire?

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

Off the top of my head, the one film I wish JW had scored:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

This is one of the top three movies I've seen the last ten years. Really, It's that good.

It is. It's possibly my favourite movie.

Unfortunately... the soundtrack sucks.

I don't recall it, and I never felt the need to have it on CD, but I remember always liking how the movie works, including the music. I can't imagine it with a Williams score.

[Eric_JWFAN 11]

Off the top of my head, the one film I wish JW had scored:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

This is one of the top three movies I've seen the last ten years. Really, It's that good.

It is. It's possibly my favourite movie.

Unfortunately... the soundtrack sucks.

I don't recall it, and I never felt the need to have it on CD, but I remember always liking how the movie works, including the music. I can't imagine it with a Williams score.

Some of the songs are good, but the score is just bad. It's like a really bad Elfman imitation. And the mix is weak, no depth to it. It's just completely flat. It sounds like they forgot to add reverb or something.

The score obviously didn't ruin the movie for me, because like I said it is easily one of the top 3 films I've seen in recent memory. But I believe a Williams score could have made this thing a true masterpiece.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,512]

He was actually asked to score "World Trade Center", but turned it down.

Very interesting! Any more movies he was offered but rejected?

"Superman II".

Ahhh, Goblet of Fire?

GOF? Think not. Having worked with Patrick Doyle before, Mike Newell was adamant that he score GOF. He was probably even more adamant that he did NOT want John Williams.

[Josh500 1,615]

He was actually asked to score "World Trade Center", but turned it down.

Very interesting! Any more movies he was offered but rejected?

"Superman II".

Ahhh, Goblet of Fire?

GOF? Think not. Having worked with Patrick Doyle before, Mike Newell was adamant that he score GOF. He was probably even more adamant that he did NOT want John Williams.

Yes, but Mike Newell was only given free rein to hire Doyle, because the producers already offered it to JW (of course!) and he declined. The producers have the final say when it comes to HP.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,512]

He was actually asked to score "World Trade Center", but turned it down.

Very interesting! Any more movies he was offered but rejected?

"Superman II".

Ahhh, Goblet of Fire?

GOF? Think not. Having worked with Patrick Doyle before, Mike Newell was adamant that he score GOF. He was probably even more adamant that he did NOT want John Williams.

Yes, but Mike Newell was only given free rein to hire Doyle, because the producers already offered it to JW (of course!) and he declined. The producers have the final say when it comes to HP.

Did they offer it to Williams? I have heard no evidence to support this. Can anyone put me right? Why would he say "no" to GOF? I, for one do not believe the "lack of time" ("Memoirs..."/"Munich") theory. Was he offered OOP/HBP?

[publicist 4,643]

Did they offer it to Williams? I have heard no evidence to support this. Can anyone put me right? Why would he say "no" to GOF? I, for one do not believe the "lack of time" ("Memoirs..."/"Munich") theory. Was he offered OOP/HBP?

By this time, they certainly figured that the films did quite well without having a million $ fee on the composer account. I guess Hoopers salary must have been 1/16 of Williams'.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Wasn't there an article awhile back, an interview with Mike Newell, where he completely trashed John Williams? It stirred things up a bit here.

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

Wasn't there an article awhile back, an interview with Mike Newell, where he completely trashed John Williams? It stirred things up a bit here.

Yeah, I think I remember that. I think he said something like Williams music was "too childish" or something like that...

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

Which, regardless of whether it's true or not, and regardless of Newell's own talents as a composer, is far from "completely trashing".

[tharpdevenport 4]

He was actually asked to score "World Trade Center", but turned it down.

Very interesting! Any more movies he was offered but rejected?

For all Williams titles that I know of currently (of course I will be missing some), check out:

http://www.rejectedfilmscores.150m.com/supposedlyrejected.html

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Which, regardless of whether it's true or not, and regardless of Newell's own talents as a composer, is far from "completely trashing".

I don't remember if he said he was too childish, but I recall something along the lines of the producers wanting to use him again and Newell absolutely refusing.

[BTR1701 59]

I've always wanted to see what Williams would have done with a Star Trek film. It occurred to me that the latest Star Trek reboot would have been the perfect opportunity, but of course Lindelof and Abrams went with Giacchino, who seems to have become to them what Williams is to Spielberg and Lucas.

Having said that, I've always thought Goldsmith's "The Enterprise" from ST:TMP is one of the most perfect film cues ever and is definitely my favorite non-Williams cue of all time.

[Datameister 2,041]

I really would have loved to hear a Williams Star Trek score, too. It's probably good that the two franchises didn't share such a major element, but still...a new Star Trek main theme by Williams? A Williams Klingon theme? Jazzy Williams interpretations of the original Courage theme? Oh goodness, it would have been amazing. Especially if he'd done it in the 70s or 80s.

[TownerFan 4,983]

I wish good ol' Clint Eastwood would quit to write little three-note ditties for his own great movies of the last years and let a true composer like John Williams to write compelling dramatic scores. Films like Mystic River, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters to Iwo Jima and Invictus would have made great subjects for memorable Williams scores.

I like the idea of these two very old (but still young at heart) men collaborating together

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I agree about the last three, but Mystic River has a pretty great theme.