The Last Jedi THE LAST JEDI - Complete Isolated Score stream available via Movies Anywhere and 2020 Blu Ray edition

[Manakin Skywalker 4,889]

1 hour ago, JTWfan77 said:

Would the SD version also have the special features? I've never purchased a movie on iTunes before, I'm more of a physical media guy when it comes to movies. I would rather buy the cheaper version as I only want it for the iso score, if I want to watch the movie itself I'll get the BD. In any case, my PC has Vista on so iTunes will not allow me to purchase the HD version.

Nope. You need the HD version to access the extras. You don't need to purchase it on iTunes btw... if you purchase it on VUDU, Google Play, or any site linked to MA, and you also have your iTunes account linked to MA, it will automatically be added to your iTunes library for free along with the extras.

[King Mark 3,624]

2 hours ago, JTWfan77 said:

 

I guess we'll have to wait and see. The film is releasing on iTunes in my territory on 9 April.

 

Would the SD version also have the special features? I've never purchased a movie on iTunes before, I'm more of a physical media guy when it comes to movies. I would rather buy the cheaper version as I only want it for the iso score, if I want to watch the movie itself I'll get the BD. In any case, my PC has Vista on so iTunes will not allow me to purchase the HD version.

 the SD version has very bad sound quality

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

There is greatest music ever available somewhere, I do not understand any of this shit. Fuck, why is this so difficult???

[rolltide1017 43]

On 3/23/2018 at 7:42 PM, Taikomochi said:

If I knew that the iTunes version actually sounded better than the rips we have and that there isn't any kind of DRM to prevent me from just ripping the audio straight to audacity, which is the only way I know how to rip audio, personally, I'd buy it right now and get to work.  A hard choice, since I also want to get the blu-ray but don't want to sink $20 on something that might be better.

 

Just wait for the BD since there is a code to unlock the digital version included.  Only a few more days to wait.

 

12 hours ago, Nick1066 said:

 

I'm not convinced about these numbers.

 

This is a developer tool at the system level that reports the video/audio bit rates and resolutions, plus some other stuff.  It's not lying because then it would be of no use to developers.

 

iTunes score-only version with playback HUD turned on:

 

 

This is what my Denon AVR is reporting:

 

[King Mark 3,624]

The damn movie seems to play differently for everyone depending on the exact combination of devices you have

 

So what may be below the Movie Anywhere version for Manakin Skywalker might be different for you

 

I know it was complicated to get my PS4 to output 5.1 Dolby surround sound to my reciever, and what you get depends on how good you are fiddling in settings menus (sometimes hidden). I had to look in internet geek forums to figure it out because the "default" sound was PCM 2.0

[1977 1,743]

12 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

Nope. You need the HD version to access the extras. You don't need to purchase it on iTunes btw... if you purchase it on VUDU, Google Play, or any site linked to MA, and you also have your iTunes account linked to MA, it will automatically be added to your iTunes library for free along with the extras.

 

MA = no workey workey. Hence the iTunes question.

 

Google Play Movies, though available in my territory, does not have bonus features.

 

Help me iTunes, you're my only hope.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

10 hours ago, rolltide1017 said:

 

Just wait for the BD since there is a code to unlock the digital version included.  Only a few more days to wait.

 

 

This is a developer tool at the system level that reports the video/audio bit rates and resolutions, plus some other stuff.  It's not lying because then it would be of no use to developers.

 

iTunes score-only version with playback HUD turned on:

 

 

This is what my Denon AVR is reporting:

 

 

Was setting is your Denon on? It looks like it can't decode the iTunes AAC track if it's playing it as default PCM.  And do you have it on a setting that simulates surround, or pass through?

[rolltide1017 43]

8 hours ago, Nick1066 said:

 

Was setting is your Denon on? It looks like it can't decode the iTunes AAC track if it's playing it as default PCM.  And do you have it on a setting that simulates surround, or pass through?

 

I think you are reading my images wrong.  I never apply DSP and only use simulated surround on stereo signals, when I use the Dolby Surround setting (Dolby's replacement for Dolby Pro Logic).  Even if I were to use DSP, my image is telling you the input signal, not what is being output to my speakers.  The AVR is receiving 5.1 Multi Ch PCM from the Apple TV.  Plus, the first image tells you the audio codec of the stream (second line) which isn't AAC, it's AC-3, which is Dolby Digital.

 

Here is how the Apple TV 4th generation and newer output audio.  It's a little different than most devices.

 

First, the ATV supports up to AC-3 (Dolby Digital 5.1) and E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound) but, it does not bitstream that to your AVR.  Apple thinks it's system sounds and Siri are so important to you that the Apple TV decodes all audio before it sends it to your device, regardless of the audio setting you choose.

 

Here are the audio settings you can choose on the ATV and how they affect the audio output.

Best Quality Available = ATV decodes audio, adds system sounds and outputs as Multi Ch PCM. (This is what I choose on my ATV.)
Dolby Digital 5.1 = ATV decodes audio, adds system sounds, re-encodes audio and outputs as Dolby Digital 5.1 (even if the original audio was 7.1). 
Stereo = ATV decodes audio, adds system sounds and outputs as stereo.

 

Here is what Apple's audio support page says about the Best Quality Available:

 

Quote

Over HDMI, the Best Quality Available setting outputs Dolby Digital 7.1 or 5.1 as uncompressed LPCM. Some receivers might not show Dolby Digital as the current format, even though there's no loss in audio quality.

 

For ATV 4the gen and newer users, the iTunes Movies version gives you the best quality of the score you can hear from that device (so far).

 

Look, I get it, I don't post here much (although I do lurk a lot) and no one has any reason to trust what I say.  Home theater equipment, configuration and setup has been a hobby of mine for 20+ years.  I may not know much about music composition and theory but, I know my way around a home theater.

[Nick1Ø66 4,687]

35 minutes ago, rolltide1017 said:

Look, I get it, I don't post here much (although I do lurk a lot) and no one has any reason to trust what I say.  Home theater equipment, configuration and setup has been a hobby of mine for 20+ years.  I may not know much about music composition and theory but, I know my way around a home theater.

1

 

Thanks for the explanation! 

 

And mate, no one is saying they don't trust what you say (at least I'm not).  Just wasn't aware of how the ATV handled the multi-channel signal...now I am.  My home theater is a Nvidia Shield running Plex (I'm more or less and Apple user, but ATV isn't really great for streaming a local library, which is primarily how I watch movies).

[Panama Jack 9]

Has anyone done a higher quality rip from the iTunes version yet? Not asking for a link (here at least)  

[Manakin Skywalker 4,889]

2 hours ago, Panama Jack said:

Has anyone done a higher quality rip from the iTunes version yet? Not asking for a link (here at least)  

Read the thread. The iTunes version is inferior to the Movies Anywhere version.

[DigitalfreakNYC 59]

On 3/21/2018 at 9:59 PM, artguy360 said:

Having listened to the whole score a few times now, I really appreciate and enjoy the workout and new variations TFA themes get. In particular there is some nice statements of Kylo Ren's theme with the Snoke guttural chorus behind it during the Snoke Revisited stuff. Then there are a number of fantastic renditions of Rey's Theme during Lesson One, Rey's Journey, and the omitted Lesson Three to name a few. Of course, March of the Resistance has a number of interesting new renditions with some nice jaunty interpretations. 

 

But overall the score still doesn't top TFA, with the lack of top-tier new musical material being the main issue. It's especially disappointing that there is no standout action cue in the entire score (the Falthiers is fun but not much more). TFA produced I Can Fly Anything, Follow Me and The Falcon, and Scherzo for X-Wings. 

 

There's no action cues because there's no action in the movie. That's yet another piece of evidence...

[Pieter Boelen 740]

27 minutes ago, DigitalfreakNYC said:

There's no action cues because there's no action in the movie. That's yet another piece of evidence...

Did we watch the same film?

Opening scene, Fathiers, Battle of Crait all don't count?

[Chen G. 3,940]

Let’s say there’s no action in the second act.

 

You have the opening “James Bond” action sequence, the Paetorian and Phasma battles in the false third act, and the Battle of Crait in the actual third act.

 

I wouldn’t dignify the fathier sequence with the term “action scene.” 

[Pieter Boelen 740]

31 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

Let’s say there’s no action in the second act.

 

You have the opening “James Bond” action sequence, the Paetorian and Phasma battles in the false third act, and the Battle of Crait in the actual third act.

 

I wouldn’t dignify the fathier sequence with the term “action scene.” 

What is/isn't an action scene?

And what is/isn't a third act?

If there is a fake third act with an action scene, wouldn't that qualify as an action scene technically still in the second act?

[Chen G. 3,940]

37 minutes ago, Pieter_Boelen said:

And what is/isn't a third act?

 

The third act begins at the point in which: a) the main character (or cast) is at his or her lowest point and b) the character makes an active decision that will see him or her through to the end of the film, which is where it ends.

 

Films are occasionally constructed to have a false third act: Prisoner of Azkaban has one, before the introduction of time travel; Toy Story 3 has one, in the form of the confrontation with the villain; Casino Royale kinda has one, too; The Desolation of Smaug has one, with the Dwarves failed attempt to kill the dragon.

 

Technically, the false third act is part of the second act, yes. If you go by the five-act structure, which subdivides the second act into three separate segments (instead of two halves, as customary in the three-act paradigm), I suppose the false third act would line-up with the last third of the second act.

 

The Last Jedi ostensibly has a false third act which wraps up the stories of Rey, Finn and Rose, and Poe, leaving the actual third act to wrap up Luke’s story, him being the actual main character of the film: films that have a false third act often have a false protagonist (here its Rey), as well.

 

False third acts are tricky to pull off well, though. As is often the case with the midpoint twist, it’s easy to make the false third act so spectacular or suspenseful that it either can’t be topped by the actual third act, or that the audience is already checked-out before the third act, regardless, and it just feels tacked on.

 

Had enough to learn about screenwriting?

[DigitalfreakNYC 59]

1 hour ago, Pieter_Boelen said:

Did we watch the same film?

Opening scene, Fathiers, Battle of Crait all don't count?

 

There was a battle on Crait? I completely missed that. 

 

It was a Star Wars movie with no battles. There were inklings of them. But nothing major. 

[John 2,032]

The entire main storyline of the film (First Order pursuing the remnants of the Resistance) was essentially one long extended battle. Then you have the opening scene, the siege on Crait...

[Chen G. 3,940]

Yeah, but the pursuit wasn’t an action scene in the most defined way. It’s the connective tissue between the opening action setpiece and the “false” third act.

 

But yeah, the film had action sequences all right, they just weren’t effectively threaded throughout the entire runtime.

[Chewy 2,372]

This debate is weird.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

54 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

Had enough to learn about screenwriting?

I'm always interested to learn new things.

 

17 minutes ago, Chewy said:

This debate is weird.

That's the most sensible post I've seen here in a while!

And that includes my own.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

2 hours ago, Pieter_Boelen said:

Did we watch the same film?

Opening scene, Fathiers, Battle of Crait all don't count?

The Falthiers in particular is a wonderful throwback to the melody driven action cues of the 80's and 90's ala Last Crusade and Temple of Doom.

[crumbs 14,287]

I reckon a lot of the action music of TLJ is a throwback to his writing style of the 80s, far removed from the type of action writing he was employing for AOTC all the way through to Tintin.

 

What really impresses me is how refined the score is. A lot of his modern action writing has, for me anyway, felt a bit haphazard and jarring, with very little flow. This is true of TFA as well, notably Ways of the Force. It's hard to believe he wrote TLJ only a year later because it sounds completely different.

 

Battle of Crait has to be one of his best realised action cues since the prequels, quite comfortably too.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

Ways of the Force is great!  I vastly prefer it to The Battle of Crate which often feels like a disconnected sequence of leitmotif statements.

[Balahkay 627]

I don't think the two can be compared.  One is a ground battle and the other is a lightsaber fight.  Both are excellent regardless.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

I've got to admit, Ways of the Force never really clicked with me either.

Still a good track though, but I think Battle of Crait is more my cup of tea.

[Holko 9,491]

Same here.

[DominicCobb 194]

Whether or not it's a false third act, it's still just the back half of the second act.

[DigitalfreakNYC 59]

1 hour ago, someonefun124 said:

I don't think the two can be compared.  One is a ground battle and the other is a lightsaber fight.  Both are excellent regardless.

 

Doesn't a battle have to consist of a mutual fight? And doesn't a lightsaber fight have to include actual sabers touching? Or is that just a silly notion that I've built up in my head from every other Star Wars movie ever? 

 

Rhetorically speaking...

[Balahkay 627]

I was speaking of the music in the respective scenes, not the scenes themselves.  I suppose both are battles of sorts but still not comparable in terms of music.  One is large armies and the other a scuffle between two people.  Battle of Hoth and Battle of Crait are more comparable.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

8 hours ago, Chewy said:

This debate is weird.

 

It's not a debate.  It's a bunch of people being confused by a guy being 100% wrong about something.

5 hours ago, DigitalfreakNYC said:

 

Or is that just a silly notion that I've built up in my head from every other Star Wars movie ever? 

 

 

One senses there may be a great many of those.

[artguy360 1,842]

The music for the track titled The Supremacy is what I would call JW scoring dramatic action where the emphasis is more on the drama and consequence of the action taking place vs kinetic music to accompany the music itself ie Follow Me and The Falcon. And while I like the music that scores The Supremacy scene, it's not conventional SW action music and doesn't have a memorable motif or unifying musical structure. It's more a series of thematic quotes strung together by dramatic writing. It's densely scored but not kickass, memorable SW action music.

[Chewy 2,372]

I love The Supremacy, so much energy in this track! Reminds me a bit of Kylo Ren Arrives At The Battle.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

The statement of Holdo's theme at the end of this track reminds me a ton of late 90's Goldsmith action scores.  

[King Mark 3,624]

that's a great moment, but it definately sounds  like Williams at the top of his game in the 80's

[crumbs 14,287]

There's also heaps of 90's sounding underscore, with even more in the complete score that sounds straight out of his 80s writing. There's that fun little moment on woodwinds straight out of TPM in "Need A Lift?", then heaps of brassy fanfares straight out of ROTJ.

 

A far cry from the fairly "streamlined" underscore of TFA. TLJ maintains my attention throughout.

[King Mark 3,624]

yeah I lose my interest in the underscore of TFA

 

That's why  I never cared that much if we got more unreleased music than the FYC. We got all the missing highlights on there  and apart from the Falcon crash  I don't recall anything interesting

[aviazn 273]

I was never a big fan of Ways of the Force either, but after TLJ, I appreciate it more and I'm even madder at JJ Abrams for tracking out the big Force statement when Luke's lightsaber flies to Rey instead of Kylo. The symmetry when that exact statement gets reprised in A New Alliance when Kylo sends the same saber flying to Rey (via Snoke's torso) is awesome—like when Clash of Lightsabers shows up in ROTS.

[KittBash 282]

Apologies if this has been mentioned but I can confirm the digital iTunes redemption with the Blu-Rays (not on disc) has the score only version with it in Canada at least. 

[Jay 37,249]

in Canada do you still have to link it through Movies Anywhere?

[KittBash 282]

No we don’t, it’s actually an option right in the movie menu in iTunes.

 

we can’t sign up for movies anywhere up here if we wanted to. At least not without some IP address trickery and an American credit card. 

[Jay 37,249]

Aha, neat!

[DominicCobb 194]

16 hours ago, King Mark said:

yeah I lose my interest in the underscore of TFA

 

That's why  I never cared that much if we got more unreleased music than the FYC. We got all the missing highlights on there  and apart from the Falcon crash  I don't recall anything interesting

 

An isolated score for TFA wouldn't have been nearly as good a get as with TLJ (where there's first of all a lot more music, and the editing is minimal/invisible to non-existent, unlike TFA), but it'd be amazing to get all the full unreleased cues and alternates that didn't make it into the film.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,889]

For anyone interested, the main menu for the Blu-Ray disc uses "Finn's Attempted Sacrifice" with a clean opening.

[crumbs 14,287]

4 hours ago, DominicCobb said:

 

An isolated score for TFA wouldn't have been nearly as good a get as with TLJ (where there's first of all a lot more music, and the editing is minimal/invisible to non-existent, unlike TFA), but it'd be amazing to get all the full unreleased cues and alternates that didn't make it into the film.

 

Exactly, the real goldmine with TFA is all the alternates, unused cues and early versions that were later revised, rather than unreleased music from the film itself. There's really not much else in the film that we don't have already (between the OST, Lego game and FYC).

 

Would be nice to have Ice Landing though but the rest of the underscore is fairly dull IMO.

[1977 1,743]

7 hours ago, Brian99_1 said:

Apologies if this has been mentioned but I can confirm the digital iTunes redemption with the Blu-Rays (not on disc) has the score only version with it in Canada at least. 

 

Whooo hooooo! Thanks for that. Now to see if anyone outside North America gets it too. I'm guessing those that purchase the iTunes version directly will have it too?

[DominicCobb 194]

4 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

Exactly, the real goldmine with TFA is all the alternates, unused cues and early versions that were later revised, rather than unreleased music from the film itself. There's really not much else in the film that we don't have already (between the OST, Lego game and FYC).

 

Would be nice to have Ice Landing though but the rest of the underscore is fairly dull IMO.

 

The landing is great, by my number one missing is when they go through the plan and then get ready to attack (though this was mostly for the March of the Resistance variations within, and TLJ has definitely scratched that itch). Otherwise I guess the mind battle scene has some good thematic underscore, can't think of anything else interesting that's missing though.

[Tallguy 3,359]

11 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

For anyone interested, the main menu for the Blu-Ray disc uses "Finn's Attempted Sacrifice" with a clean opening.

 

I suppose I should actually put the disc in the player...

 

(Digital copies are pretty terrific.)

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

TLJ has better unreleased underscore but in terms of meat and potatoes, TFA has it beat by a WIDE margin.  If TFA is a big juicy steak with great potatoes and mediocre green beans, then TLJ is great green beans with a tiny flavorless steak and no potatoes.

[Smeltington 1,436]

Then what's Rogue One?