The Last Jedi THE LAST JEDI - Score as heard in the movie thread - SPOILERS ALLOWED

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Which is why it's awesome! Star Wars isn't about restraint!

[BloodBoal 7,541]

But I wanted an unobstrusive score... 

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Then go watch The Force Awakens.

[FC4L 87]

12 hours ago, Bespin said:

I hated the movie, like I wrote in the other thread.

 

The music was also a big disapointment for me.

 

The use of the Emperor Theme? The use of the Here They Come theme?

 

What???

 

John Williams has become senile or what?

 

 

I even didn't stay in the theater to hear the End Credits music.

 

Sucks you went and saw a different movie than I did.

 

The ENTIRE chase through the salt mine to "Here They Come" had me grinning ear to ear. AMAZING and fit PERFECTLY.

 

So much hate coming from those who wanted BIG answers to their own made-up questions is hilarious. The film was damn good and threw every expectation you had for it out the window. That is why you hated it and no amount of whining about it will convince you that your own failings are what skewed you experience watching this film.

 

Rey's parents are exactly who she tells EVERYONE they are in The Force Awakens - NO ONE. It's right there 2 years ago.

 

Luke ignored Yoda and Obi-Wan and still acts like he always had. He failed Ben so he ran away. If you don't like his reasons for doing so then blame J.J. for creating the scenario to begin with.

 

Sometimes the best laid plans fail, you know, like Han trying to hide out on *Gasp* Bespin. Finn and Rose' plan came pretty darn close to success. 

 

Phasma - if dead- goes out like a warrior unlike that punk bitch Boba Fett.

 

Amazing movie. Going again tomorrow and likely will see it more in theater than I did The Force Awakens. 

8 hours ago, JohnSolo said:

 

Luke's death was poignant, even beautiful. By far the best scene in the film. A perfectly fitting and poetic end to his character's arc; always the young boy, gazing at the sunset.

 

I nearly fell out of my (crappy new D-Box seat, designed in Quebec) seat when that happened. It was as bad as losing my dog. Just ouch. Beautiful, yes, but heartbreaking as well. But wow, what a way to go fooling everyone and giving Kylo a taste of what he'll never become.

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I think it's safe to say Phasma's dead, short of re-appearing in IX covered in burn scars.

 

I suppose it could be the running gag of the trilogy, considering she should've been dead after the trash compactor on Starkiller Base, but reappeared in TLJ.

[BloodBoal 7,541]

Maybe they'll make a spin-off movie about her where we see her die a thousand deaths. Would be fun.

[Holko 10,396]

What if they are just clones of her called Phaasma and Phaaasma?

[FC4L 87]

That's what my buddy said - she's dead. I'm not so certain. Darth Maul not only fell down a reactor shaft he was also cut in half. He wasn't dead though.

 

I was actually waiting for Snoke's torso to float up in the medium/wide shot of Hux. It looked like he was using some mechanical type legs when he got up and walked around. But no, he stayed down. Missing both arms to which was rather effective. Great death to a character who was powerful but not as smart as he thought he was. Rey even calls him out the same way Luke did.

 

Those calling this film just a re-hash of Empire sure forget how much happens in Return of the Jedi. And that the Star Wars Universe is cyclical. 

[BloodBoal 7,541]

1 minute ago, Holko said:

What if they are just clones of her called Phaasma and Phaaasma?

 

Wow. Or maybe they were twins? Phasma and Phasmo? Brilliant!

 

And in episode IX, they'll reveal they were actually triplets! Phasmi, Phasma and Phasmo.

[DominicCobb 195]

8 hours ago, artguy360 said:

Can we all agree that the Force Theme and Rebel Fanfare are both over-used at this point? 

 

With the Rebel Fanfare, I figure he's making up for all the lost time on the prequels (where it only makes one appearance, if I'm not mistaken). As for the Force theme, yeah. Though I feel like it wasn't used as much in TFA as people are thinking.

 

Also, after seeing the film again, probably just wishful thinking, but I thought I heard a different main title recording.

[leeallen01 2,179]

Not sure if I've mentioned this before but I'm hearing Qui-Gon and Padme's funeral in the first 20 seconds of this piece in the mournful low brass.

 

 

 

First 8 seconds of this. 

 

 

[Chen G. 4,712]

I don't think its an outright quote, its just the signs of Johnson's temp-track. There's also some Battle of the Heroes in this, some Anakin's Betrayal, etc..

 

Just try to sing the sanskrit lyrics along - if you can't, its not quite the same melody.

[p0llux 432]

The force theme was used about 8 times +/- 1. I think there were 2 times where it was used and it had nothing to do with the force.

[Chen G. 4,712]

One of the things that Williams does with his album arrangement is to avoid too much repitition of themes that might occur in the unabridged composition, so the album isn't much of an indication here: The Force theme permeates the film to no end.

 

I'm less bothered by it being used for something other than The Force. I don't recall it happening too often, and Williams has been known to do that: see the toppeling of the walker in Empire Strikes Back, and a whole lot of statements in Attack of the Clones. That's just the way Williams uses themes.

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It feels like the Force theme has just become his default sad/melancholic/ruminative theme.

 

Just wish he'd use the second phrase of the theme more regularly, not just the first phrase over and over again.

[Chen G. 4,712]

35 minutes ago, crumbs said:

It feels like the Force theme has just become his default sad/melancholic/ruminative theme.

 

Unfortunately, that's very true. The Force theme's role in all of these episodes has been something that sets Williams' creation apart even from the much more leitmotivically intricate works of Wagner and Shore, in that this one theme not only acts as a throughline of the entire work but also, in doing so, recurs for a much larger number of times than any leitmotives in the latter two catalogues: I think untill this latest score, it was just under 100 appearances.

 

But now, I can't help but feel that this has become a weakness and that, in insisting on that theme, it has lost some of its identity and a lot of its effect.  

 

[BloodBoal 7,541]

[Chen G. 4,712]

I think its absolutely the director's wishes which are the problem, here.

 

Again, its also evident with Johnson temp-track love, etc...

[armorb 9]

The only problem with the score in the film are WAAAAYYYY too many quotes of the Force Theme. Though, perhaps it only got cloying because of such a loud and clear mix.

 

 

[Taikomochi 1,257]

I actually didn’t mind the force theme while watching the film because I think it’s largely appropriate when used, even for the instances where it sorta doesn’t apply like Finn’s speech at the beginning of The Battle of Crait. On album, it gets a little tiresome, but, nonetheless I love the variations in “The Last Jedi” and “Peace and Purpose,” the latter being one of the most moving renditions Williams has yet written.

[Remco 688]

In defense of the "Battle of the Heroes" cameo: That moment shares as much intervallic DNA with Rose's theme as it does with BotH. Which makes sense given

Spoiler

her sister dies at that moment.

 

 

Also, to say that moments sounding too close to the temp-track detract from the score's quality, is a complete non-argument IMO. This was already part of SW music in 1977.

[saulocf 87]

Does anyone else think that Williams lost the opportunity to compose a theme for the Kylo/Rey dynamic? I think it was the heart of the movie and should have its own theme, and play in full force when they are fighting together. Also, would have been awesome to hear the “Wills” theme from Giacchino’s Rogue one when the Jedi books are shown, but I know that it is asking to much

[BloodBoal 7,541]

[Joni Wiljami 1,212]

-missed opportunity

-this theme doesn't belong to SW

 

stop that shit already

[BloodBoal 7,541]

[Chen G. 4,712]

 

1 hour ago, Remco said:

Also, to say that moments sounding too close to the temp-track detract from the score's quality, is a complete non-argument IMO. This was already part of SW music in 1977.

 

Yes, but since this film his little to do with Revenge of the Sith, the connection that this semblance creates is very puzzling.

[Balahkay 629]

I hear a lot of POA in the score as well.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,445]

It has that rather dark TLW/POA action writing.

[Remco 688]

53 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

 

Yes, but since this film his little to do with Revenge of the Sith, the connection that this semblance creates is very puzzling.

 

More than 'Star Wars' has to do with Le Sacre Du Printemps or King's Row, I would say. Anyway, I thought the tone of the music fits the movie well.

[Chen G. 4,712]

Two wrongs don't make a right. 

 

You might as well have pointed to Sith's own very obvious temp-track.

[Remco 688]

So what you mean is that you disagree with the choice of having this dramatic, RotS-like tone at moments?

 

[Henry B 51]

Loved the film and the soundtrack, but I agree wholeheartedly that the Force theme is a dead horse. I was highly annoyed to hear the music for the last ten seconds of the film - that's three films in a row that have ended with nearly identical variations on the Force theme (though I do enjoy TFA's expansion of this musical moment). And with so much to work with - the "Jedi Steps" theme, Luke's new theme, Luke's old theme, etc. - there's no excuse for such an overreliance on the Force theme.

 

I'll throw another opinion out: There's too much music. Kylo Ren's scene in the elevator didn't need to be scored with that brassy blowout (adapted straight from the TFA end credits). Sometimes silence is the best music. I loved the moments in TFA where Williams' score was dialed out, like Rey's introduction and Hux's speech. Not because the music was bad, but because it would have gotten in the way.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,445]

The Force Theme is the main theme of this 9 movie saga, its the spine.

[Remco 688]

I agree it's a little too much in this score though. At the very least, he could have put it in a different key than usual before the end credits!

[Holko 10,396]

1 minute ago, Stefancos said:

The Force Theme is the main theme of this 9 movie saga, its the spine.

 

It's the chorus/refrain to the great, rhyming poetry of it all!

[Balahkay 629]

Has anyone taken a count of how many times the Force theme appears in every film?  We may be surprised.

[Chen G. 4,712]

There's a thread around here about that very subject. It was something around 90 times overall, before this film hit.

[crocodile 8,606]

2 minutes ago, someonefun124 said:

Has anyone taken a count of how many times the Force theme appears in every film?  We may be surprised.

Well, it is the most frequently used theme in ROTS and it is the second most used theme in AOTC. I'm not sure about TFA.

 

Karol

[Jay 39,754]

25 minutes ago, someonefun124 said:

Has anyone taken a count of how many times the Force theme appears in every film?  We may be surprised.

 

Check this out:

 

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/20264-score-theme-the-force-theme/

[acicero 8]

6 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

 

His, or the directors'?

 

I like to think that, given the choice, Williams wouldn't use it as much as he did, and that a lot of those statements were the directors' requests: "Maybe we could put the Force theme here? And here, too, possibly? And why not here? When was the last Force theme statement, again? 10 minutes ago? Maybe we should put another one here, just to make sure the audience doesn't forget the melody..."

I definitely see this being the case. The collaboration JW had with Lucas is sorely missing in these 2 new films. 

[DolceMecha 18]

1 hour ago, Henry Buck said:

I was highly annoyed to hear the music for the last ten seconds of the film - that's three films in a row that have ended with nearly identical variations on the Force theme (though I do enjoy TFA's expansion of this musical moment).

 

100% agreed! It was such a disappointing way to round off the film. Felt almost parodic by that point, the number of times the Force theme had been wheeled out. A stirring, optimistic rendering of something like the Resistance march would have been a much more satisfying way to close the story.

[artguy360 1,908]

I think the use of binary sunset as the ending music is totally a director driven decision. Prior to TFA, binary sunset was only used once to end a Star Wars film, ROTS in an obvious "it rhymes" Lucas parallel. That was also s director driven decision. No other music made sense there.

 

But in the case of TFA and TLJ other music could have made plenty of sense and JW has always written original music leading into the end credits, excepting ROTS. I think Johnson temped with it and asked for it.

[DolceMecha 18]

That certainly seems most likely. Still, it's frustrating to consider that we haven't had a Star Wars film finish with anything other than the Force theme since 2002. Even Rogue One did it!

[KK 3,308]

2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

The Force Theme is the main theme of this 9 movie saga, its the spine.

 

Well it seems Williams clearly has very little to say with at this point. At least TFA had some nice variations on that material.

[bespinGPT 8,852]

I read on FB someone who said that the Star Wars Main Theme of TLJ is the exact same recording than the one recorded for TFA, is it true?

[Holko 10,396]

Yeah, after a day's discussion, we know the TLJ OST Main Titles are 100% the same recording as the TFA OST version, but we're not sure yet if it's the recording used in the movie.

[crocodile 8,606]

Yeah but the strange part is that they recorded one for this film.

 

Karol

[BloodBoal 7,541]

Yes. It has been discussed many times in all the various threads. It's true. All of it.

[bespinGPT 8,852]

So this version of the Theme on the CD is directed by Gustavo Dudamel.

 

Finally, the final credits of TLJ score is : Co-Conducted by John Williams, William Ross and Gustavo Dudamel.

[DominicCobb 195]

26 minutes ago, artguy360 said:

I think the use of binary sunset as the ending music is totally a director driven decision. Prior to TFA, binary sunset was only used once to end a Star Wars film, ROTS in an obvious "it rhymes" Lucas parallel. That was also s director driven decision. No other music made sense there.

 

But in the case of TFA and TLJ other music could have made plenty of sense and JW has always written original music leading into the end credits, excepting ROTS. I think Johnson temped with it and asked for it.

 

TLJ's ending is a parallel to the binary sunset scene, too. TFA doesn't have the parallel, but it's also hard to think of a more fitting theme to end that film on (what with the dramatic reintroduction of Luke).

 

I agree the repetition is frustrating, but it's easy to see why. I wish JW had played it a little differently this time, though.