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What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (older scores)


Ollie

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What it needs to do right, it does well. However, there is around 1/3 of material that doesn't need to be there.

I think most of the lengthy first act is totally worthwhile. The island action stuff does go on longer than strictly necessary, but the 1933 original had the same issue - and it's still good fun.

The extended version doesn't ruin anything, as far as I recall, but it's also in no way necessary.

Before TLOTR, PJ made a few horror movies, though I don't know if any are stinkers on par with 1941. I don't hear anyone chastise The Frighteners as being heinous. The Lovely Bones was pretty dumb, but it came after King Kong so it doesn't apply.

Horror comedies, more like. PJ once said that he could never make a straightforward horror film, and some of ROTK's worst moments prove him right - not to mention the Hobbit films.

He did show proper restrained for the brilliant Heavenly Creatures, but I suppose that came with the subject matter (and it had plenty of fantasy segments to let him play around).

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Over the weekend I listened:

Raiders of the Lost Ark by John Williams

Star Wars Episode VI Return of the Jedi by John Williams

Catch Me If You Can by John Williams

Jaws (Anniversary Edition) by John Williams

Star Trek TMP by Jerry Goldsmith

Star Trek First Contact by Jerry Goldsmith

Night Crossing by Jerry Goldsmith

Total Recall by Jerry Goldsmith

City Hall by Jerry Goldsmith

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Having listened to all of the Trek scores in quick succession, I've had a mini-epiphany about Giacchino's music. I thought his scores fit in just fine with the legacy he stepped into, probably better than they should actually, considering that the films don't necessarily do the same. There are moments of real inventiveness, real Trek atmosphere, and even Wallin isn't all that bad. I think JC is the only score he *really* kind of screwed with.

Sure, his music sometimes lacks a sense of inevitability, seeming very obviously "constructed," and his themes can be a bit unvaried or insubstantial, but if he were writing in the late 80s or 90s, and not constantly being compared to his immediate predecessors, I suspect most of the naysayers would be open fans.

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In addition to Holkenborg (Junkie XL), Steve Mazzaro and Andrew Kawczynski were additional writers as well.

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The cue 'Corky's Retreat' from MAGIC by The Goldschmied - in anticipation of LLL's release (i never went beyond the SPFM tribute suite), love the harmonic unstableness of this cue and remember being disappointed in the square scene it accompanies; it robs the music of its impact. Though this is a common problem with this film composer.

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What it needs to do right, it does well. However, there is around 1/3 of material that doesn't need to be there.

Karol

This. Cut the Jamie Bell/Evan Parke 'character building' bullshit, the pit scene, half of Adrien Brody's scenes, and you'd have a better-paced film.

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Secret Weapons Over Normandy by Michael Giachhino

While MOH series takes away all the attention, this score is superior in pretty much every way. It has better themes, writing, recording... you name it. One of his finest works. Pity it's so overlooked.

Karol

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Secret Weapons Over Normandy by Michael Giachhino

While MOH series takes away all the attention, this score is superior in pretty much every way. It has better themes, writing, recording... you name it. One of his finest works. Pity it's so overlooked.

Karol

SWON has superb action music, no doubt about that but the first MOH is more accessible and as a result more memorable.

MOH: Frontline is his most rounded score that has everything I need in a soundtrack album. It's one of my desert island CDs.

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SPEED 2: CRUISE CONTROL - MANCINA

Thank god for this release. I don't understand that the way the music is mixed in the movie it isn't nearly as fun and consistently excellent as on this album by Lalaland.

The film may be seen as godawful but I still enjoy it, and for my ultimate Mancina action fix, this absolutely blows all his other scores out of the water (pun intended). Except for maybe Twister.

It's the rhythm you see, I like rhythm, and lots of it.

What a trio of effing magnificence these cues: 10. Escape, 11. The Harbor, 12. Final Chase :rock:

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Yea! Mancina's best score, and some of the best action music of the 90s. Escape is epic badassness!

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It's weird, but when I heard this on a bootleg not long after watching the movie I couldn't help but thinking it was incredibly cheesy, and I didn't like the main theme.

Surely that boot had some questionable mixing and editing (can't really remember, I heard it only once). Thanks to the LLL I had a complete change of opinion about this score.

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The boot has a few cues not on the LLL release, and the movie contains some more that still haven't been released, but the LLL set is overall a nice presentation of the score. Though not very varied, cause it basically includes all of the action music and is missing some suspense and connecting stuff

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The overture / end credits is the only thing on ST VI that does anything for me, the rest leaves me stone cold.

I have the overture on one of the Space & Beyond compilations (brilliantly performed even), so I never got any of the releases.

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Wolf Totem - James Horner

Echoes of his ASM theme, ethnic wailing, pleasant tonal meanderings... typical Horner. Not really something that demands revisiting.

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Wolf Totem is nice, but nothing ground breaking

Chris Tilton - SimCity

John Williams - War Horse

Still lovely, each of them

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The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn by John Williams: While this seems to be to many a huge disappointment of a score I still love this music as much I did when it first came out. There is playfulness and joyfulness in the themes and orchestrations and while the BIG central theme is more of a fanfaric motif Johnny makes up for it with various different leitmotific ideas for nearly every character (Tintin himself receives 3!!!). It is of course in part like Indy scores a stylistic pastiche of several genres but never feels disconnected and the music skips and jumps with joyous aplomp from one cue to the next. Undoubtedly you can hear Williams's past forays into the genre in the sound and feel of the music but for me it is so infectuous cocktail I certainly can let that slide.

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Jerry Goldsmith - Alien (Intrada)

A five star masterpiece.

Not entirely accessible but no less a masterpiece.

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I get why it can be described as a bit inaccessible... but personally from me, I loved it the instant I got the Intrada set (I had previously never heard it before, apart from the scattered tracks that had appeared on compilations [plus of course within the film]). Yea it uses wacky instruments, but it's got a great narrative throughline and a nifty main theme. And the Intrada set SOUNDS great.

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Well Jerry defined "alien" with his music pretty well I should say. :)

The narrative the composer meant for the music is brilliant. First the deceptive wonder and awe of space which draws you in and then slowly descends into fear and horror and then again returns to the wonder of stars in the end titles.

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Getting this Intrada set made me appreciate Horner's Aliens score even more, since I think while there is no direct musical connection - no repeated themes or melodies or anything - Horner seemed to make some subtle references or homages to the Alien score, especially in the opening and ending cues (not so much in the action material).

Two five star scores, what a great way to start a franchise. Too bad I don't really care about any other entries in the saga....

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Horner's work is much more Gayenne Suite "inspired" in the opening and closing and I think he actually references some of Jerry's music subliminally although I can't remember the exact piece off the top of my head right now. Horner's music feels to me like it lines up well Goldsmith's but naturally takes into account the new story and more militaristic straightforwardly action oriented mood.

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He does that thing in the woodwind section that's very similar to Goldsmith. It's subtle but nice thing. John Frizzell did that, too.

Karol

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Goldenthal's is awesome, but probably way more "inaccessible" than Goldsmith's.

Rather than Jerry doing something different from his usual work, Elliot used his own unique voice to write his breakthrough score.

I love Alien 3 about as much as Alien, but Aliens is the one I return to the most for the simple reason of how it affected me all those years ago (the film being my all-time favourite).

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Hey, you're entitled to your opinion but it's just wrong mate, IMHO. :P

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The Core - Chris Young

Damn fine album. It's length doesn't bother me at all, in fact I increasingly get more enjoyment out of it with each listen.

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Hey, you're entitled to your opinion but it's just wrong mate, IMHO. :P

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The Core - Chris Young

Damn fine album. It's length doesn't bother me at all, in fact I increasingly get more enjoyment out of it with each listen.

I wouldn't mind having the sessions for this but this is actually one release that is fine as is.

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It does open up when you revisit it. At first, I thought it was too dense and impenetrable. But it starts to make sense after some time spent with it.

Karol

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