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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Score Predictions


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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Mid Year Score Predictions  

47 members have voted

  1. 1. Has John already completed a batch of recording sessions?

  2. 2. Which new characters has John written a theme for?

    • Jannah (Naomi Ackie)
    • Zorri Bliss (Keri Russell)
    • Allegiant General Pryde (Richard E. Grant)
    • The Knights of Ren
    • Klaud (the slug creature)
    • D-O (BB8's new companion)
    • Something else (specify in the comments)
  3. 3. Which existing characters receive a new theme?

    • Rey
    • Kylo Ren
    • Lando Calrissian
    • The First Order
    • Finn
    • Someone else (specify in the comments)
  4. 4. What is the score's 'signature' new theme?

    • Rey/Kylo Ren duality/showdown theme (ala Battle of the Heroes)
    • Rey's Destiny/family discovery type theme (ala Window to the Past)
    • Kylo Ren's long-anticipated march
    • A stirring 'uniting the galaxy' theme about the Resistance rallying planets to fight the First Order
    • Just a new character theme; the score won't have any 'nebulous' themes (ala Anakin's Betrayal)
    • Something else (specify in the comments)
  5. 5. How long will the complete score be?

    • Far shorter than either TFA (175 minutes) or TLJ (185 minutes) due to the compressed production schedule; a 'normal' 2 hours
    • About the same as TFA and TLJ (3 hours)
    • Far longer than the previous two scores, due to extensive JJ revisions (200+ minutes)
  6. 6. What microphone setup will Murphy use for his recording?

    • Something dry and harsh, like The Force Awakens
    • Something wet and warm, like The Last Jedi
    • Something in between
  7. 7. Which noteworthy theme DOES NOT return?

    • Poe's Theme
    • Rose's Theme
    • Han Solo and the Princess
    • Kylo Ren's B or C Theme
  8. 8. Does John or his music have any form of diegetic cameo in the film, even as an easter egg?

  9. 9. Which (relatively unused) theme/idea from the previous trilogies makes a return?

    • Lando's Palace (ESB)
    • Emperor's Theme (ROTJ)
    • Duel of the Fates (TPM)
    • Across the Stars (AOTC)
    • The Asteroid Field (ESB)
    • The Imperial March (ESB)
    • Lament/Immolation Scene (ROTS)
    • Into the Trap (ROTJ)
    • Through the Flames (ROTJ)
    • The Dark Side Beckons (ROTJ)
    • The Legend of Darth Plagueis (Sith motif from ROTS)
  10. 10. Will the score feature choral elements?

    • Yes, prequel-esque choir for the epic climax
    • Yes, but only in short, select moments (like Finn's Attempted Sacrifice)
    • No

This poll is closed to new votes


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I like the scores, but the scores are secondary in my mind to the films, and those are unnecessary from a storytelling perspective.

 

The story from I to VI is perfectly complete. Not a single thread is left dangling for the sequel trilogy to pay off. Its useless.

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Whatever can be said of the sequel trilogy itself (or as I think of it, sequel series-of-interconnected-scenes-some-of-which-I-enjoy-immensely-and-many-of-which-I-don't), there's no question this is a big musical deal.  My money right now is on the sudden and not-quite-thematically-justifiable return of some random prequel theme.  Hopefully "Duel of the Fates," which would be thematically justifiable almost no matter what with Palpatine back, but more likely "Across the Stars," since it's probably bouncing around Johnny's brain thanks to the ASM album.  I just have a feeling Episode IX is cruising for a Thorin running moment.

 

Overall, I want a movie whose plot justifies the return of as many themes as possible.  And I don't want Williams to forget about "Lando's Palace."  But I'll bet he has. B-)

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1 hour ago, Chen G. said:

I doubt it’ll be able to really tie everything together.

 

Provided it doesn’t, the sequel trilogy would have been better off never having been made. Its superfluous.

If the sequels are superfluous, what does that make the prequel trilogy?

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There was every reason to make prequels to Star Wars, given the Empire Strikes Back reveal.

 

They weren’t much good, but they weren’t superfluous.

 

When I watched the movies with a young cousin of mine for the first time, by the end of Return of the Jedi he was sure it was the end: and he was right.

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33 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

I like the scores, but the scores are secondary in my mind to the films, and those are unnecessary from a storytelling perspective.

 

The story from I to VI is perfectly complete. Not a single thread is left dangling for the sequel trilogy to pay off. Its useless.

I agree that the ST in general has no real purpose in the context of the larger saga but it still works for me as stand-alone entertainment and "Expanded Universe" stuff.  Plus it gave us 3 new Star Wars Williams scores, which alone completely justifies its existence.  

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39 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

I like the scores, but the scores are secondary in my mind to the films, and those are unnecessary from a storytelling perspective.

 

The story from I to VI is perfectly complete. Not a single thread is left dangling for the sequel trilogy to pay off. Its useless.

 

Your stance on this is well-known to me by now, but I hope you do realize it comes off a bit weird on a forum where (I think) the majority of people find enjoyment in listening to the music outside of the movies.

 

But I do wonder, when you listen to the Star Wars scores outside of the movies (if you do that at all!), do you find your enjoyment of the music to be hindered by the fact you find the stories unnecessary?

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Not only do I like the scores: I actually like the movies as pieces of cinema. It’s as entries in a series that they fall flat, and it’s this “conclusion to the ‘Skywalker Saga’” that this one is advertised as being that I find misleading. Surely no-one here is gullible enough to fall for it?

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3 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Nah, the ewok barbecue party song's the real conclusion.

 

giphy.gif

 

2 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

If I were JJ Abrams, I would specifically ask JW to compose an end credits suite that reflects this huge achievement. I would want him to do brief statements of loads of Star Wars themes, even from the prequels, and then end with a grand finale befitting his work on these 9 movies.

 

None of us are JJ Abrams, but if I were in his place, and I didn't have a specific wish for the end credits as pertaining to this specific film (they are, after all, the credits of Ep9), I would tell Williams to write whatever he would like for them, and to bear in mind that they're both the conclusion of this film, and this trilogy, and the Skywalker Saga (at the very least inasmuch as they form a linear narrative and are based on the same characters), and with that in mind to focus on whatever he deems most appropriate.

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There is one thing that strikes me. We all know from various interviews that Williams seems humble to a fault regarding his career and successes.

 

That’s why I have a realy hard time believing he would write some sort of grand finale containing all the themes. I think, as always, he will try to fit the picture, story and directors’ needs. No more, no less.

 

So our only hope for some sort of us big special score from Williams is that JJ asks and argues for it. 

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6 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

giphy.gif

 

 

None of us are JJ Abrams, but if I were in his place, and I didn't have a specific wish for the end credits as pertaining to this specific film (they are, after all, the credits of Ep9), I would tell Williams to write whatever he would like for them, and to bear in mind that they're both the conclusion of this film, and this trilogy, and the Skywalker Saga (at the very least inasmuch as they form a linear narrative and are based on the same characters), and with that in mind to focus on whatever he deems most appropriate.

I heard that JJ mentioned to Williams he expected at least 300 bars for the end credits.  He was not forceful about it, though he was humming themes from Rogue One in and out of talking to him.  

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3 hours ago, Chen G. said:

Not only do I like the scores: I actually like the movies as pieces of cinema.

 

At least we agree on that; leave it be. Now, to enjoy the rest of my Sunday afternoon with a hot cup of tea and continuing the Star Wars Saga with Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

 

One question, though. By what time frame is the soundtrack estimated to be available to pre-order, compared with Episode VII: The Force Awakens and Episode VIII: The Last Jedi?

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22 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again- the iron scene is one of Williams most loveable little play-alongs, between the Death Star motif and the youthful main theme that follows.

 

Yeah, Williams has more-than earned the right to be a little bit tongue-in-cheek and self-referential. Gives a whole new layer to that score.

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I have my issues with RJ, but to his credit, he offered Williams an actual near-final edit and let him do his thing.  Now that I think about it, I do not have any issues with the directing of TLJ--they all reside with the script.  LFL's weirdest decision was to have all the ST movies directed by the screenwriter.  

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Less acronyms pretty please. Who or what is LFL?

 

Got it Lucas Film Limited. Why not just type Lucas Film? Oh nevermind. Pet hate of mine, but I'll get over it. 

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Cheers. Just noticed it's not an acronym the company uses. Again, pet hate - calm blue ocean.... FBI, NASA, the UN, USA, UK, WTF? - they're all fine^

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Also, while not neccesarily a Mickey mousing moment there are a few other very neat instances in The Last Jedi that are very interesting to me, namely the dramatic buildup during Lesson One, that short fanfare around when Poe confronts Holdo, and the little melody at the beginning of the Finale, among others. All small moments that are astoundingly good considering how short a time they amount to. Further proof that John Williams is at an unprecedented height even in his late eighties, being able to write stellar music for single use that's better than most main themes many composers will ever write. 

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STFU!

 

 

 

just kidding! :D

 

29 minutes ago, pete said:

Cheers. Just noticed it's not an acronym the company uses. Again, pet hate - calm blue ocean.... FBI, NASA, the UN, USA, UK, WTF? - they're all fine^

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So the fact that Carrie Fisher is first billed, JJ Abrams calling Leia the “heart” of the movie, and a general wistfulness that comes with this being the last one makes me feel like the odds are way up that he’s gonna do the 77 version of the end credits like Ep III, with the march going into Leia’s Theme. I think this is almost a given, right?

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24 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I predict that since Leia’s Theme was used for the death of Ben Kenobi, obviously Ben’s Theme will be used for Leia’s Death.

 

The funny thing is this is entirely plausible.

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48 minutes ago, Modest Expectations said:

The fact that this film's marketing focuses so much on Carrie Fisher seems perverse and creepy to me. It's like an obsessive cult. It's not even about Leia, it's about the actress!

 

Inflated necrohype.

The first part of your sentence explains the rest.  It is all about marketing and profit.  The dead woman is a means to an end.  

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KK originally said that Carrie would not appear in IX and she seemed adamant about it. So what changed? The fact that realized that they could do it using outtakes?

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/video/lucasfilms-kathleen-kennedy-carrie-fisher-star-wars-episode-46807743

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2 minutes ago, Balahkay said:

KK originally said that Carrie would not appear in IX and she seemed adamant about it. So what changed? The fact that realized that they could do it using outtakes?

 

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/video/lucasfilms-kathleen-kennedy-carrie-fisher-star-wars-episode-46807743

See my comment above.  

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Perhaps I'm just being naive, but I feel like once Abrams boarded the project he sincerely saw a legitimate opportunity to narratively give a satisfying farewell to honor both Leia and Fisher and that that, not corporate exploitation, was the driving force behind her inclusion in the film. 

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10 minutes ago, Cerebral Cortex said:

Perhaps I'm just being naive, but I feel like once Abrams boarded the project he sincerely saw a legitimate opportunity to narratively give a satisfying farewell to honor both Leia and Fisher and that that, not corporate exploitation, was the driving force behind her inclusion in the film. 

 

What were they supposed to do, really. They would have been shit on if they killed her off, or wrote her out any other way, or recast. They knew people would want to see her in this and they had extra shit they could kinda sorta write around. It doesn’t make them psychopaths lol. It’s probably gonna come off kinda weird, I doubt it’ll be as perfect and seamless as JJ claims, but I’m guessing it’ll work fine (or, with any luck, it’ll be all-time awful!)

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You know what I want to hear more than anything in this score (or at least as much as the other stuff I've mentioned in this thread)?  A return of the punchy, fun statements of Luke's theme that used to punctuate moments of heroic action in the OT.  Not since the climax of TPM have we seen a quick, energetic little concussion missile of joy like that.  Every time the main theme plays in scores of the Disney era, it's done like a hymn—think of the Falcon reveal in Solo.  I know there are other examples, but they're deserting me right now.  Honestly, the closest we've come to a fun rendition is the droid cameo in Rogue One.

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12 hours ago, igger6 said:

You know what I want to hear more than anything in this score (or at least as much as the other stuff I've mentioned in this thread)?  A return of the punchy, fun statements of Luke's theme that used to punctuate moments of heroic action in the OT.  Not since the climax of TPM have we seen a quick, energetic little concussion missile of joy like that.  Every time the main theme plays in scores of the Disney era, it's done like a hymn—think of the Falcon reveal in Solo.  I know there are other examples, but they're deserting me right now.  Honestly, the closest we've come to a fun rendition is the droid cameo in Rogue One.

 

Scherzo for X-Wings?

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13 hours ago, igger6 said:

You know what I want to hear more than anything in this score (or at least as much as the other stuff I've mentioned in this thread)?  A return of the punchy, fun statements of Luke's theme that used to punctuate moments of heroic action in the OT.  Not since the climax of TPM have we seen a quick, energetic little concussion missile of joy like that.  Every time the main theme plays in scores of the Disney era, it's done like a hymn—think of the Falcon reveal in Solo.  I know there are other examples, but they're deserting me right now.  Honestly, the closest we've come to a fun rendition is the droid cameo in Rogue One.


There’s a few in Solo that are far less hymn like towards the end IIRC.

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7 hours ago, tmarps said:

 

Scherzo for X-Wings?

 

That doesn't count in my book because it's almost impossible to hear in context in the movie, and despite the "scherzo" title, I find the main theme statements in it to be kind of staid and obligatory.  It seems like too obvious a pose—"Hey!  Recognize THIS?"—rather than an organic part of the score that underlines a burst of heroic action.

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The one that I always remember first is when Finn tells Poe he's breaking him out, probably because it's the first time we hear it. Not a bombastic rendition by any means but I wouldn't call it hymn-like.  

 

 

 

 

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