Are There Any Scores That You Hate?

[cordax 29]

Are there any film scores/ pieces that you simply hate? Maybe a score you despise so much it that makes you want to punch a wall?

I guess I'll start.

 

I hate Rogue One - Michael Giacchino. Prepare for a rant.

 

It seems whoever did the orchestration for TFA invented this lazy "Star Wars" imitation music, which has plagued every Star Wars/ SW Story score following its release(With an exception to Solo: A Star Wars Story theme). I guess these newer scores fall into the category of more modern "Epic Cinematic" music. My problem with Rogue One is the obvious leeching off a lot of older John Williams scores(obviously Star Wars ost). For instance, the track titled "Rogue One" sounds very similar to Jaw's Shark Cage Fugue with Star Wars sounding orchestration. I love most of Giacchino's work but this one seems like a huge failure on Disney's part, regarding the whole reshoot disaster. I know a Star Wars score is supposed to sound "Star Wars", but there's a fine line between heroic 70s John Williams music and score that sounds like a homemade Star Wars fan film off youtube.

[bollemanneke 1153]

Man of Steel.

[Stefancos 9646]

Just now, bollemanneke said:

Man of Steef.

 

Good score.

[Thor 2499]

Sure. I share your feelings for ROGUE ONE, cordax (Giacchino almost destroyed a pretty good film all on his own), and -- in fact -- 99% of all the composer's work.

 

But not sure how fruitful such a thread is in the end, as someone will inevitably -- and inevitably soon -- mention a score they hate that someone else loves. And then it's on!

[John 2016]

I wouldn’t say I hate it, but I’m really not a fan of Giacchino’s Doctor Strange. It’s often overly bombastic and takes you out of the movie, and its main theme is very weak. 

[Þekþiþm 5438]

Independence Day: Resurgence.

[publicist 3105]

I love that score!

[Thor 2499]

It's on!

[Stefancos 9646]

1 minute ago, publicist said:

I love that score!

 

Its better than everything!

[cordax 29]

11 minutes ago, Thor said:

(Giacchino almost destroyed a pretty good film all on his own)

If someone wrote a better score for rogue one it still would have been a bad film

Now it's on!

[Þekþiþm 5438]

7 minutes ago, publicist said:

I love that score!

 

It's worse than tinnitus!

[The Illustrious Jerry 2492]

32 minutes ago, John said:

I wouldn’t say I hate it, but I’m really not a fan of Giacchino’s Doctor Strange. It’s often overly bombastic and takes you out of the movie, and its main theme is very weak. 

Yeah, I was expecting more from that Giacchino-Marvel collab after hearing Spider-man Homecoming.

54 minutes ago, cordax said:

I hate Rogue One - Michael Giacchino. Prepare for a rant.

Hate is a strong word.

 

I love Rogue One but it's nowhere near Williams. 

[Þekþiþm 5438]

1 minute ago, Jerry said:

Hate is a strong word.

 

One of my best friends is a novelist who wrote a book called Hate Is Such a Strong Word.

[The Illustrious Jerry 2492]

56 minutes ago, cordax said:

hate

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.

 

35 minutes ago, cordax said:

If someone wrote a better score for rogue one it still would have been a bad film

Now it's on!

Wait--what?

1 hour ago, cordax said:

For instance, the track titled "Rogue One" sounds very similar to Jaw's Shark Cage Fugue with Star Wars sounding orchestration. 

Guardians of the Whills is Across the Stars. The Imperial Suite is a mockery of the March. Jyn's Theme is to weak to support the score. I admit all those.

 

It's still fun to listen too!

[cordax 29]

I hate I hate I HATE Rogue One!

[The Illustrious Jerry 2492]

 

40 minutes ago, cordax said:

If someone wrote a better score for rogue one it still would have been a bad film

1 hour ago, cordax said:

I hate Rogue One - Michael Giacchino.

1 minute ago, cordax said:

I hate I hate I HATE Rogue One!

Oh you do, do you?

[Kasey Kockroach 1961]

 

[Skelly 158]

1 hour ago, cordax said:

It seems whoever did the orchestration for TFA invented this lazy "Star Wars" imitation music...

 

You're thinking of John Williams.

 

Quote

John William writes very detailed handwritten sketches. On the prequels, these sketches went to orchestrators. The orchestrators would write pencil scores and we would copy parts into Finale.

But for the past six or seven years, John has just sent the sketches directly to us. We put them straight into Finale. I’ve kind of edited them, checked them out myself, and then we’ve used them at the stage for recording.

https://www.finalemusic.com/blog/may-the-fourth-spotlight-on-joann-kane-music/

 

Maybe there's some small adjustment here and there by the time his sketches are sent to the scoring stage, but I bet you that no one wants to be the guy who bungles up a John Williams cue, or surprises him when he gets up to the conductor's stand. Williams knows exactly what he wants in terms of sound and orchestration and no one is going to stand in his way. That "imitation sound" could be him trying to replicate a style from many years ago that he's sort of gotten past in his everyday writing.

[Dixon Hill 4149]

Wow I always thought Williams wrote basic piano sketches which were passed off to orchestrators to be fleshed out.

[SteveMc 1790]

Score I hate?  Well, I don't really hate.  

The LadyHawke score, that one I can't stand, but not for what it is, more what it should have been.  It's somewhat entertaining.

[Kasey Kockroach 1961]

Hatred takes too much energy, but Kong: Skull Island is the most disappointed I've ever been with a score.

[Thor 2499]

9 minutes ago, Steve McQueen said:

Score I hate?  Well, I don't really hate.  

The LadyHawke score, that one I can't stand, but not for what it is, more what it should have been.  It's somewhat entertaining.

 

One of my favourite scores of all time! 

[SteveMc 1790]

3 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

One of my favourite scores of all time! 

Glad you think so!

[Jurassic Shark 3802]

I really dislike the Dr. Zhivago theme, and because of that I never listen to the score.

[Not Mr. Big 2431]

Rogue One had some decent moments and some of the worst scoring in any recent film (the main title in particular)

[cordax 29]

17 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said:

Rogue One had some decent moments and some of the worst scoring in any recent film (the main title in particular)

Right after Rogue One he scores a masterpiece of a score for the last ape movie. I'm kind of glad he put all his effort into that great film instead of the fan service crammed rogue one.

[Nick Parker 2341]

1 hour ago, TGP said:

Wow I always thought Williams wrote basic piano sketches which were passed off to orchestrators to be fleshed out.

 

Nope. He writes very detailed sketches that is essentially a condensed orchestral score. When time allows, he actually does the orchestrations himself in full score. Really, the orchestrators are more like glorified copyists, extracting the sketches into full score.

[Not Mr. Big 2431]

Last of the Mohicans

[Kasey Kockroach 1961]

6 hours ago, TGP said:

Wow I always thought Williams wrote basic piano sketches which were passed off to orchestrators to be fleshed out.

He basically sleeps with Daisy Ridley while William Ross does all the work.

[Brundlefly 1371]

The Mummy 3 - Randy Edelman is a terrible composer.

Ender's Game - works against the movie and destroys it.

[Naïve Old Fart 3492]

9 hours ago, Thor said:

 

One of my favourite scores of all time! 

Is that because of the APP connection?

[Incanus 5037]

I don't waste time on hating scores or music in general. If something doesn't strike my fancy, I just don't listen to it.

[Holko 3479]

I don't really have whole scores I hate. Some have cues or sections I hate, some are just deeply disappointing on the whole.

[Thor 2499]

1 hour ago, Richard said:

Is that because of the APP connection?

 

Part of it, yes. But also the beautiful, orchestral writing and the medieval stuff. The lush love theme is one of the best love themes of all time, IMO. Here's my 'defense' thread over on FSM: http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=34448&forumID=1&archive=1

[mrbellamy 3670]

1 hour ago, Incanus said:

I don't waste time on hating scores or music in general. If something doesn't strike my fancy, I just don't listen to it.

 

It's pretty rare that I come across stuff that I feel more than just passingly negative about. Every now and then I'll see a movie or read a book that leaves me appalled enough to actually spend time sorting out why I dislike it so much. Songs can do that too but instrumental/orchestral music...harder for that to be much less to me than a subpar or irritating aesthetic experience. I can't really muster up the conviction to really hate something just because it sounds bad. "Ew" generally suffices.

 

9 hours ago, Nick Parker said:

11 hours ago, TGP said:

Wow I always thought Williams wrote basic piano sketches which were passed off to orchestrators to be fleshed out.

 

Nope. He writes very detailed sketches that is essentially a condensed orchestral score. When time allows, he actually does the orchestrations himself in full score. Really, the orchestrators are more like glorified copyists, extracting the sketches into full score.

1

 

[Kasey Kockroach 1961]

He only orchestrates when Daisy Ridley's watching. He likes to try and impress her.

[Þekþiþm 5438]

She was nice to watch in Murder on the Oriental Express.

[Nick1066 1755]

I don’t “hate” any score. There are loads of bad scores like there are loads of bad movies. And as @Incanus said, if a score is bad I try not to listen to it.

 

So to me, the worst scores are those that detract in some way from a film I like...i.e...I like watching the film so I have no choice but to listen. Ladyhawke comes to mind.

 

Then there’s the disco/electronic parts of The Spy Who Loved Me (though other parts of that score are quite good). Bond ‘77 would sound like a stroke of genius if it were in a Tarantino film today. And I have some fondness for it because I love the film so much. But mostly it and the other disco parts of the score are awful and horribly dated. For Your Eyes Only is similarly impaired. And the less said about Goldeneye and of course License to Kill, the better.

 

Mostly these are “what might have been” failures. TSWLM is my favourite Bond film, and Barry’s one of my favourites, so I’d have loved for him to have scored that one.

[Þekþiþm 5438]

Most film scores are terrible. I mean where in the real world is there an orchestra playing aside from concert halls? And how come the orchestra is always invisible in these movies? I mean... where the hell is it? Film scores suck.

[Incanus 5037]

1 minute ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

Most film scores are terrible. I mean where in the real world is there an orchestra playing aside from concert halls? And how come the orchestra is always invisible in these movies? I mean... where the hell is it? Film scores suck.

The orchestral music comes from the same place where that film camera does.

[Þekþiþm 5438]

How is it the characters aren't aware of the music? Why can't they hear it?!

[Holko 3479]

 

[Incanus 5037]

6 minutes ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

How is it the characters aren't aware of the music? Why can't they hear it?!

It is just as they can't see the camera. It is the magic of movies!

 

 

[Quintus 4260]

I regularly think the Game of Thrones music is shit, but is that the same as pure unadulterated hatred? I'm not sure.

[Stefancos 9646]

There's lots of film music im not interested in, i dont hate much of it.

[First TROS March Accolyte 1161]

Bored disdain towards the "99,9%"? Yes. Hatred? Hmm, that would require me to be closed in a cage or a theater after I have already paid to see the movie and so cut off my "x" button escape, for a prolonged ultimate edition frustration experience.

Rogue One's comes close to that. Two weeks or not, why play themes, if you then butcher their resolutions? This is literally more work than just playing the damn themes. It is as if after a certain activity, instead of a climax, one would receive this:

[Alexcremers 1804]

 

I only hated the diva power ballads during the end credits of many movies a few decades ago. They made the world seem bland and ordinary.

[Þekþiþm 5438]

11 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

I only hated the diva power ballads during the end credits of many movies a few decades ago. They made the world seem bland and ordinary.

 

Examples?

[Alexcremers 1804]

11 minutes ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

 

Examples?

 

 Please don't make me remember them!

[Richard Penna 947]

Interesting that I can name tons of movies that I hate, but not scores. Maybe because it's easier to just turn a score off after a few tracks if it's not doing it. A film requires more investment, hence more hatred if it's rubbish.

 

I think hatred would need to come from a score that impacts negatively on the film, or is actually unpleasant to listen to. Very different to a score that's just uninspiring.