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"Minority Report" OST


Perdogg

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I find this soundtrack to be really interesting. The strange thing about it is that "Sean's Theme" and "A New Beginning [Minority Report]" seem to be really misplaced in the soundtrack, although they are probably the two best tracks - Precrime to the Rescue" is good too . Do not get me wrong, I like the soundtrack, but 80%of the soundtrack sounds a lot like "Attack of the Clones".

I really like "A New Beginning [Minority Report]", it sounds vaguely familiar. Is it based on some previous work?

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I think it's incredibly entertaining. Some of JW's best atmospheric music. It's always interesting to me. There's a lot of sadness, zaniness and plain creepiness. I find it frequently exciting. It DOES sound similar to the other 2002 scores at points, but I've got nothing against that.

Some of my favorite music was butchered on the album in Pre-Crime to the Rescue. The opening scene with the development of that three-note motif is brilliant.

I think the reason A New Beginning and Sean's Theme seem misplaced to you is because overall it's a cold and moodier type of score. Those two themes are the heart and soul of the thing, reserved for either the ending or more tender melancholic moments relating to the family.

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The similarity to Attack of the Clones is unsurprising - Williams started work on it immediately thereafter.

The score is very episodic - outside of the pre-crime and Sean thematic material there is little in the way of recurring thematic material.

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The similarity to Attack of the Clones is unsurprising - Williams started work on it immediately thereafter.

The score is very episodic - outside of the pre-crime and Sean thematic material there is little in the way of recurring thematic material.

You are forgetting the Anne Lively Theme but otherwise what you are saying is true. Sean's theme is the main theme of the score really that ties it all together. Some recurring motivic ideas flit in and out but those are more allusions to Herrmannesque suspence techniques. As with War of the Worlds rhythmic propulsion is often paramount in this score.

Similarities between Minority Report and Episode II are very unsurprising as is the resemblance with other Williams output that year. All 4 films had common elements and Williams still managed to convey them each time a bit differently.

That said I like this score very much. It kind of bridges the development from A.I. to later Williams scores in its minimalistic progressions and shows his concession to the modern film scoring in the aforementioned rhythmic emphasis in action writing.

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I really liked Minority Report. I loved the Pre-Crime material. Yet at times, the score misses on potential. Had Williams made more use of the ethnic vocals for Anne Lively's Theme (I'm not sure if thats the right theme I'm pointing out), the score would have been a lot more interesting. Regardless, I certainly found this score to be very interesting.

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I agree with most of the comments. It's one of those scores that is unmistakably John Williams, but at the same time it feels very unique.

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I remember back in 2003, I saw the movie for the first time on DVD.

And I was SO impressed with only one cue--"Everybody Runs!"--that I felt I had to get the OS soundtrack (back then I wasn't such a big fan, I guess, or I had temporarily lost interest in JW, so I still didn't have it). So I got the album, and gradually I got to know all the other tracks. Standouts are "Minority Report" (the first track), "Sean's Theme," "Anderton's Great Escape," and "A New Beginning." I think this is a fantastic effort, slightly Herrmann-esque and mysterious, although quite soft and tender or loud and bombastic when the occasion demands it.

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The score is very episodic - outside of the pre-crime and Sean thematic material there is little in the way of recurring thematic material.

I've always seen (and heard :)) this score as an example of Williams building the composition on the principles of pulse/rhythm and texture instead of thematic development. In this sense he seems to follow a more contemporary film scoring aesthetic, but if you look close enough you can see he's really applying Bernard Herrmann's school of thought. This score seems to me Williams' own North by Northwest. The film is bleak and tense, so it probably wouldn't have made much sense to have a grand adventure theme à la Indiana Jones. The action material is pretty much all rhythm-based, with short motivic cells, rapid woodwind figures and percussive tones, while most of the underscore is built on suspended chords and interesting textural writing (the use of the vocal wailing is particulary well-handled). The only instances where he brings out a sense of melody and more classical thematic writing are for the scenes related to Anderton's lost son, which is quite fitting imho as it's the film's emotional core.

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Although there's some Herrmann-eque touches here and there, and really don't get the comparisons. It's far more atonal, cold and avant-garde than the vast majority of Herrmann's work (minus SINFONIETTA FOR STRINGS and PSYCHO). It's got more in common with the most daring of 60s and 70s scores (Goldsmith, Takemetisu, Corigliano, Fielding, Rosenman, Schifrin and Williams's own) and even touches of more contemporary stuff like Don Davis and Tan Dun.

Listen to "Previsions." Is that like any Benny Herrmann piece you've heard?

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Well, I think the comparison was made by Spielberg and maybe Williams, but truthfully, it doesn't scream Herrmann to me. Maybe he did draw some inspiration, but it feels like its own thing.

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I like the thematic material, but as soon as Williams tries doing anything involving ambience, or darker scenes, it loses my interest.

Not a fan of Williams's atonal writing in STAR WARS, ET, CE3K,JP, TLW, or the INDY flicks either?

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Well, I think the comparison was made by Spielberg and maybe Williams, but truthfully, it doesn't scream Herrmann to me. Maybe he did draw some inspiration, but it feels like its own thing.

There are some clear Herrman stylistic references in the score. Some of the noir-ish feel kind of reminds one of Herrman. And Spiders is definitely a very Herrman-esque cue. But other than that, the score is pretty much modern Williams.

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The most Hermmannesque piece that Williams ever wrote was for Attack of the Clones. In "Bounty Hunter Pursuit," between the bombastic opening and the big variation of the Trade Federation theme.

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Although there's some Herrmann-eque touches here and there, and really don't get the comparisons. It's far more atonal, cold and avant-garde than the vast majority of Herrmann's work (minus SINFONIETTA FOR STRINGS and PSYCHO). It's got more in common with the most daring of 60s and 70s scores (Goldsmith, Takemetisu, Corigliano, Fielding, Rosenman, Schifrin and Williams's own) and even touches of more contemporary stuff like Don Davis and Tan Dun.

Listen to "Previsions." Is that like any Benny Herrmann piece you've heard?

I stand by my words. I think it feels Herrmannesque in terms of approach at scoring, even though it doesn't specifically quote or, worse, ape Herrmann's stylings.

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Well, I think the comparison was made by Spielberg and maybe Williams, but truthfully, it doesn't scream Herrmann to me. Maybe he did draw some inspiration, but it feels like its own thing.

There are some clear Herrman stylistic references in the score. Some of the noir-ish feel kind of reminds one of Herrman. And Spiders is definitely a very Herrman-esque cue.

Still sounds more like Goldsmith in Bartók-mode to me (isn't there a cue called "Spiders" in OUTLAND?).

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Listened to this last night. I don't like this score.

Karol

You sound like a little boy saying you don't like broccoli! :P

Take your time, listen to it again and again... and then decide!

I stand by my words. I think it feels Herrmannesque in terms of approach at scoring, even though it doesn't specifically quote or, worse, ape Herrmann's stylings.

Yes. But only a few cues in my opinon (notably Spyders and Eye-Dentiscan), but not the entire score.

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Listened to this last night. I don't like this score.

Karol

You sound like a little boy saying you don't like broccoli! :P

Take your time, listen to it again and again... and then decide!

I had ten years for that already. Doesn't impress, sorry.

Karol - who likes broccoli :)

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Man it has been 10 years from when the Minority Report came out. How the time flies. And I still think the score is excellent. It really enhances the film, the use of music in general, not just JWs score.

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Listened to this last night. I don't like this score.

Karol

You sound like a little boy saying you don't like broccoli! :P

Take your time, listen to it again and again... and then decide!

I had ten years for that already. Doesn't impress, sorry.

Karol - who likes broccoli :)

It's a difficult score to get into-- it took a while for me, as well-- but now I love this score! Some of the tracks are my all-time favorites. Sean's Theme, Everybody Runs, Great Escape, etc.... Wow. :)

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