Jump to content

Hans Zimmer and Harold Faltermeyer‘s TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022)


John

Recommended Posts

Balfe's been hinting at this on his social media for a while. I think this is a job where Zimmer and Faltermeyer did the basics on an initial spur of nostalgic excitement back in 2019-2020, got bored, then handed to Balfe, so literally anything in the film is Balfe. Or more accurately Balfe's crew. Whatever. Not massively excited. It's interesting to see the hans-zimmer.com guy not be excited about this......dismissing it as only 30 mins of music on album but not discussing anything more, especially with HZ's penchance for releasing sketches.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I may not like Balfe's music, but in a way his career always intrigued me.

 

During the 2000s and the 2010s, he ghostwrote a lot of scores credited to Zimmer, including movies that his fans loved (like The Dark Knight trilogy), a whole bunch of animated stuff (Kung Fu Panda, Megamind, etc) and, of course, several movies for which Zimmer was Oscar nominated: Sherlock Holmes, Inception, Dunkirk...

 

Still, he always seemed very... comfortable in this role. He didn't mind writing music that garnered critical acclaim and awards nominations for his boss. Didn't he ever thought "Gee, I worked hard on Sherlock and Inception, why I was not nominated alongside Zimmer"?

 

Sure, eventually he left Zimmer's shadow and managed to score some blockbusters "alone" (plus his team). But he never seemed to be mad at HZ for getting acclaimed for movies he partially scored. 

 

Then again, Oscar nominations are a very complicated matter. Zimmer credited Badelt and Gerrard on Gladiator, but he was the only composer nominated for that movie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The more "ghostwriter" is thrown around for people that absolutely got royalties for their work from all the repotoire credits they have, the more I'm just convinced it's a term used purely out of spite than from any real attempt to actually understand the MV/RCP methodology.

 

I have to ask once more: what solo RCP composer managed to fully replicate Zimmer? And I don't mean the quick tricks and FX. Everything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In this context, "ghostwriter" makes no sense, a term usually applied to people who compose in the background, without proper credit. Co-composer would be more accurate as the main composers are all properly credited here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

97% RT score based on 90 reviews

 

image.png

 

81 on Metacritic (a far more useful site for gauging the sentiment of critics from "respectable" publications)

 

image.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, a few colleagues I've spoken to have also been very enthusiastic. Looking forward to seeing it on Wednesday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Gibster said:

 

Three additional composers on top of Zimmer, Faltermeyer and Balfe, meaning that at least 6 composers worked on it, plus arrangers. For a score, which if the album is anything to go by, is not very long. :mellow:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All the arrangers being the entirety of Balfe's regular crew, so I guess that rumor of him getting involved partway through isn't particularly far fetched now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saw the movie yesterday, in IMAX. It was okay, but not quite as visionary as I had hoped, given Kosinski's track record. Loved all the aerial sequences, of course. Best part of the score was the old Faltermeyer stuff; the rearrangement was nice. But also a lot of non-descript tropes. The romantic bits weren't particularly noteworthy either -- certainly nothing on "Take My Breath Away"'s level, which - granted - might have been a bit too on-the-nose to begin with. I would be curious to read a breakdown at some point, that lists who did what.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 19/05/2022 at 9:39 AM, Thor said:

I would be curious to read a breakdown at some point, that lists who did what.

 

Should be fairly easy to spot when you saw the film. Not because of any subtle analyzing of styles, but type of scene. Important scene (narratively speaking) or introduction of a new theme or style = Zimmer, wall-to-wall stuff that now and then bluntly inserts the Zimmer/Faltermeyer stuff = Balfe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/5/2022 at 9:10 PM, Edmilson said:

I may not like Balfe's music, but in a way his career always intrigued me.

 

During the 2000s and the 2010s, he ghostwrote a lot of scores credited to Zimmer, including movies that his fans loved (like The Dark Knight trilogy), a whole bunch of animated stuff (Kung Fu Panda, Megamind, etc) and, of course, several movies for which Zimmer was Oscar nominated: Sherlock Holmes, Inception, Dunkirk...

 

Still, he always seemed very... comfortable in this role. He didn't mind writing music that garnered critical acclaim and awards nominations for his boss. Didn't he ever thought "Gee, I worked hard on Sherlock and Inception, why I was not nominated alongside Zimmer"?

 

Sure, eventually he left Zimmer's shadow and managed to score some blockbusters "alone" (plus his team). But he never seemed to be mad at HZ for getting acclaimed for movies he partially scored. 

 

Then again, Oscar nominations are a very complicated matter. Zimmer credited Badelt and Gerrard on Gladiator, but he was the only composer nominated for that movie.

This is such an ignorant tone deaf post. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

This is such an ignorant tone deaf post. 

Really? Geez, that's disappoiting. I wrote it specifically thinking about you. When I posted it, it was with the only objective of pleasing you and others, not expressing my opinion. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Stu said:

I really like the idea of having an old fashioned 80s style OST.... as long as there's also a more normal score release alongside it....

I saw the movie, there ain't much score, this release  is probably all

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, Stu said:

I really like the idea of having an old fashioned 80s style OST.... as long as there's also a more normal score release alongside it....

 

For cases where the accompanying songs are important to the story, I agree - one can make a nice album from songs and the odd bit of score where it fits. Back to the Future is the textbook example.

 

But that's 100% conditional on the lion's share of the actual score (i.e., not 'interpretations' or re-recording) being available on a separate release. I can live with this one receiving zero marketing, or digital-only (pretty much a given now).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In all seriousness, how do 6 composers work on a score and come up with... that? It's just half an hour of string ostinatos.

 

I try to find the positives with Zimmer & co, but unless they basically recut the entire film with 5 minutes to go, it's hard to see where the work went.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 19/5/2022 at 3:39 AM, Thor said:

Saw the movie yesterday, in IMAX. It was okay, but not quite as visionary as I had hoped, given Kosinski's track record. Loved all the aerial sequences, of course. Best part of the score was the old Faltermeyer stuff; the rearrangement was nice. But also a lot of non-descript tropes. The romantic bits weren't particularly noteworthy either -- certainly nothing on "Take My Breath Away"'s level, which - granted - might have been a bit too on-the-nose to begin with. I would be curious to read a breakdown at some point, that lists who did what.

Kosinski might as well have gotten his go-to composer, Joseph Trapanese, to work on the score. He's a huge fan of the original film's score and is pretty good at mixing orchestral and electronic elements together that feel both consistent and unique at the same time.

 

If I had to bring Faltermeyer out of retirement for anything, I'd have done it for Beverly Hills Cop IV. He already worked on the first two films in the series with both its score and soundtrack all drenched in his DNA that's (arguably) way more vital to capture than Top Gun. Plus, he's one of the most memorable elements of the series that define them in terms of tone and how they fit in with the movies proper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, dyemery said:

Kosinski might as well have gotten his go-to composer, Joseph Trapanese, to work on the score. He's a huge fan of the original film's score and is pretty good at mixing orchestral and electronic elements together that feel both consistent and unique at the same time.

 

If I had to bring Faltermeyer out of retirement for anything, I'd have done it for Beverly Hills Cop IV. He already worked on the first two films in the series with both its score and soundtrack all drenched in his DNA that's (arguably) way more vital to capture than Top Gun. Plus, he's one of the most memorable elements of the series that define them in terms of tone and how they fit in with the movies proper.

I think it’s pretty clear that this film started as a Kosinski project with Zimmer and Faltermayer, and ended up as a McQuarrie project with Balfe. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Skimming a few tracks on Spotify now. There are some occasional moments of 'that's not bad, I guess'. But it's still got essentially all of the hallmarks of a typical RCP score where no one's gone for any sort of originality.

 

It even sounds crap, like someone's uploaded a really bad 128k mp3 transcode. (I hope to god that the artifacts causing that reaction aren't intended)

 

5 hours ago, Drawgoon said:

 

 

Very short score presentation in the age of lengthy albums - check

 

The bit I don't entirely understand is why a short album is the outcome of a troubled production. Perhaps the composer ultimately doesn't feel it's their best work so they don't want to release large sections of it.

 

But in this case it sounds like the film has little score to begin with, which begs the question even further of how it takes so many composers to produce such a small amount of music, which varies from functional to downright rubbish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 27/5/2022 at 3:43 PM, Gibster said:

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/harold-faltermeyer-top-gun-filmmusik-hans-zimmer-lady-gaga-interview-tom-cruise-1.5588676


faltermeyer interview in German talking about the issues with the score and doesn’t seem happy about the Gaga stuff

Would you mind transcribing the article here since I can't seem to load it up properly?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, dyemery said:

Would you mind transcribing the article here since I can't seem to load it up properly?

I would but I wasn’t able to either 

Just now, Gibster said:

I would but I wasn’t able to either 

If you go to Hans-Zimmer.com someone did

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, this is ridiculous, sounds like they used the covid years to endlessly tinker with the score and somehow ended up with a Balfe-d product that resembles any old trailer score - by all accounts Cruise was hands-on with the music - but with this? Why would anyone want something so pointless as this score? There is no Zimmer influence at all in this score, or what is left of it. Apparently Balfe has confirmed a score release.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to someone at FSM, Balfe indicated somewhere that there will be a score release of some sort (possibly expanded/complete): https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?pageID=6&forumID=1&threadID=131867&archive=0

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

It just got nominated at the 65th Grammy Awards for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Visual Media.

 

Despite it being a good movie overall, the new score and songs were definitely the weakest part of this flick for being textbook bland and forgettable (especially for a sequel to a film known for its music being one of the hearts and soul of that flick). What was even the point of supposedly bringing back Harold Faltermeyer if there seems to be no trace of his style anywhere, just Zimmer’s droning and workmanlike wallpaper of a score that doesn’t feel like a good homage to the original or something new that adds to the scenes in any way.

 

In terms of Joseph Kosinski’s legacy sequels, this is LEAGUES better than Tron: Legacy, except for one aspect (and the only thing people remember the most about the flick aside from the visuals and de-aged Jeff Bridges) and that is Daft Punk’s pulsating score. It is almost nothing like the score from the original TRON, but boy does it add the movie hard. Whether the scene involves helping to create atmosphere or add to a rockin’ action sequence, the score delivers in a way to where you can’t imagine the movie without Daft Punk’s score in any way.

 

In that case, what does Hans Zimmer or Lorne Balfe bring to the table that felt essential to have in a score for the sequel of Top Gun?

 

Nothing.

 

Say what you will about the films, but John Williams and John Carpenter definitely added something to the Star Wars and Halloween sequel films with their sound at the forefront that allowed them to create new themes for them to play with in a franchise they are familiar with without resorting to just reciting themes and notes people remember for a paycheck.

 

Same thing could’ve and should’ve happened with Faltermeyer. And if that didn’t pan out for whatever reason, I’m baffled as to why Kosinski did not tap Joseph Trapanese (his go-to composer) to score. He’s apparently a huge fan of the original score and has worked on scores in franchises that have both payed homage to their respective sources while feeling like their own thing that’s new.

 

For Hans, even as a last-minute replacement, I can’t imagine No Time to Die without his score. It feels like he absolutely adores the music of James Bond (even including a few pieces and themes from OHMSS as homages), while not afraid to add that Zimmer edge in a way to where it felt like he was having fun adding his sound to the 007 universe with killer new music with different plus fluctuating tones that also lets his fellow musicians get their time to shine.

 

The only reason I feel Zimmer and Balfe worked on the score is ONLY because of their relationship with Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, and/or the late Tony Scott. Even if they liked or even loved Faltermeyer plus his work on the original, it’s clear this was a work-for-hire job for a score that needed something more to a flick almost everyone loved for many reasons that appealed to both fans and non-fans alike. It was a sequel to a film where the music added something in a way to where you can’t imagine the flick without out along with award-winning songs that make you feel so many emotions with or without context because they work so well on their own.

 

Top Gun: Maverick went far and beyond to be a masterful tribute to the original and its director. The original had the direction, the look, the sound, the star power, the sheer 80s-ness of it all. The new one had the emotion, the sympathy, the passion, the danger, the characters, the scope. Even if they were in the original, the new one added or improved upon it even more so that was familiar yet fresh at the same time.

 

Either way, the new film mixed together the past and present of filmmaking and storytelling to create something audiences will remember and go back to, Top Gun fan or not beforehand. If only that was the case with the new music as well.

 

Finally, I don’t remember zilch about the Lady Gaga song. It just sounded like a big yet generic power ballad that is begging to get awards consideration like Take My Breath Away, and for that, it sucks even more now just thinking about it (and like I said, I don’t remember much about it that’s worth reminiscing about).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I wish for LLL release of the first score but it seems too small to make it 2CD (Speed got the expansion, for example, but it was only 1CD too) but Paramount clearly had an opportunity to do it at least in digital form on the waves of the Maverick hype. (Every song from the movie should be here too)

Maverick complete score will be great too but I'm not that interested in RCP ostinato-driven stuff.

Since Faltermeyer was upset about the released score I have thoughts that it was clearly botched in the production, as was mentioned before. (Of course it will be botched, changing Kraemer in Mission Impossible for Balfe was quite jarring)

And that new re-recorded version of the Danger Zone will be great too I understand that Cruise wanted to evoke same feelings as the original but c'mon that's still too interesting to leave it "on the shelve". Remix for the Ace Combat 7 rocks btw

Edit: Wow I've listened to the complete Maverick score (of course with some audio from the movie) and aside Hold My Hand motif and original Top Gun anthem it is absolute mediocrity.

Canyon Dogfight sounds like something from Transformers, hell, even Transformers have better music than that.

It works in the context of the movie but outside of it, well, nope.

At least Zimmer did WW 1984, which is his best work in years

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.