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Lorne Balfe's BLACK WIDOW (2021)


Jay

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It worked well enough for me underscoring the action as a Supero Bourne score which is what this movie seemed to want to be.  The only part at all that seemed out of place to me was the Avengers quote - felt weird in the moment and also as a piece of the score overall which had a very different tone.


I’ll agree that nothing grabbed me and made me want to jump into a listen, although I don’t think any score is successful or unsuccessful based on that metric. I’ll give it a couple listens sometime.  MCU scores in general don’t do a lot for me - usually just one or two tracks that stand out from the movie, if any.  Didn’t pick any up on my viewing for this one, though, so shunt this one into the category with stuff like Djiwadi’s Iron Man, Debney’s Iron Man 2, Doyle’s Thor, Toprak’s Captain Marvel, etc…. for me.

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Seriously, I’ve tried figuring out track listings for Black Widow just based on name alone, but Balfe gave everything such vague, generic and nondescript titles, I don’t even have the SLIGHTEST idea where any of the tracks are supposed to be properly positioned. 

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I think a lot of the tracks are thematic suites or pieces put together. Because neither the bridge fight nor the budapest chase has complete cues on the album.

Red Rising is a shorter version of the actual film cue.

Arise is actually like that in the film. Amd I don't even know where Whirlwind fits. It's a bit of a weird album

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So I haven't finished listening to the Black Widow album, but I think the album most of the cues feel like they are from the movie but are shorter than the version in the movie again I've only seen the movie once and haven't finished listening yet, but I'm wondering if the album has a lot of cues shortened 

Also I think that Natasha's Lullaby plays during the end credits and The Descent is easy to place for anyone who's seen the movie, but I will agree the names make if difficult to place where they go chronologically

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8 hours ago, mstrox said:

It worked well enough for me underscoring the action as a Supero Bourne score which is what this movie seemed to want to be.  The only part at all that seemed out of place to me was the Avengers quote - felt weird in the moment and also as a piece of the score overall which had a very different tone.


I’ll agree that nothing grabbed me and made me want to jump into a listen, although I don’t think any score is successful or unsuccessful based on that metric. I’ll give it a couple listens sometime.  MCU scores in general don’t do a lot for me - usually just one or two tracks that stand out from the movie, if any.  Didn’t pick any up on my viewing for this one, though, so shunt this one into the category with stuff like Djiwadi’s Iron Man, Debney’s Iron Man 2, Doyle’s Thor, Toprak’s Captain Marvel, etc…. for me.

 

Same. I think for a Marvel score, Black Widow is pretty good, but I agree that nothing really grabs me most of the time across 24 films. There are like 30 mins of memorable music across the whole franchise.

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4 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Amd I don't even know where Whirlwind fits. It's a bit of a weird album

Wait, do you think Whirlwind doesn't play in the movie? If so, that's disappointing, it's the best action cue on the album.

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So after seeing Black Widow again, honestly the album is weird like I think the cues on the album are all in the movie (most all of them), I don't think there is much editing to them but they are really hard to place as the track titles don't really make sense when you read them and try to fit them to the scenes I did figure out a few though I think.

The Descent is played at the end of the film when the characters fall through the sky 

Whirlwind is played during the Helicopter sequence at the prison 

From the Shadows is played during The Bridge Fight near the beginning of the film 

The Pursuit is the runway sequence right at the beginning 

Natasha Soars is the first part of the end credits 

Arise is played during the fight between Natasha and the other Widows

Natasha's Lullaby is not in the movie 

I think those are right, all I was able to work out hope it helps and any feed back on these would be very helpful and appreciated  

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3 hours ago, Jerry said:

The Descent is played at the end of the film when the characters fall through the sky 

Whirlwind is played during the Helicopter sequence at the prison 

From the Shadows is played during The Bridge Fight near the beginning of the film 

The Pursuit is the runway sequence right at the beginning 

Natasha Soars is the first part of the end credits 

Arise is played during the fight between Natasha and the other Widows

Natasha's Lullaby is not in the movie 

I agree with all of these. But Whirlwind is not the prison scene. I checked and Red Rising is de cue for that scene, but a lot shorter than in the film

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The first piece of music that grabbed me was the highway battle from Winter Soldier, so I am glad that Henry Jackman at least kept being used for Captain America movie/series. Nowadays I listen to scores first a lot more, rather than seeing them in context..

Thats probably not the best way to to go about it, but I am too impatient.

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Gave the first couple of tracks a listen - the opening theme is okay, typical Russian-flavoured theme. Lactrodectus is just a typical RCP action cue really.

 

I'm sure it works fine in the film, but as a standalone listen, not really doing a whole lot for me.

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7 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

I agree with all of these. But Whirlwind is not the prison scene. I checked and Red Rising is de cue for that scene, but a lot shorter than in the film

Alright awesome, so I also think Fireflies is either the opening or the very last scene before the end credits, and then for the action cues we still have 

Latrodectus, The First Bite Is The Deepest, Whirlwind, and The Betrayed which I think that The Betrayed is played at some point during the finale just not sure where

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On 7/10/2021 at 3:39 PM, Disco Stu said:

I don't really post movie/TV opinions on the forum anymore

 

I hope you change your mind about this because I am sure I am not alone in enjoying reading your thoughts on the media you consume

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On 7/13/2021 at 5:31 AM, Jerry said:

So after seeing Black Widow again, honestly the album is weird like I think the cues on the album are all in the movie (most all of them), I don't think there is much editing to them but they are really hard to place as the track titles don't really make sense when you read them and try to fit them to the scenes I did figure out a few though I think.

The Descent is played at the end of the film when the characters fall through the sky 

Whirlwind is played during the Helicopter sequence at the prison 

From the Shadows is played during The Bridge Fight near the beginning of the film 

The Pursuit is the runway sequence right at the beginning 

Natasha Soars is the first part of the end credits 

Arise is played during the fight between Natasha and the other Widows

Natasha's Lullaby is not in the movie 

I think those are right, all I was able to work out hope it helps and any feed back on these would be very helpful and appreciated  

Found out that Into The Past is the whole apartment + rooftop chase with the widows.

In the film it start when Yelena mentions the red room and ends with the shot of the widow lying in the water.

After that the chase scene on the motorbike starts.

 

And I believe the whole chase is a mix of Latrodectus and The First Bite Is The Deepest. But both seem to slow for some reason. And there's some choral work in the chase that I can't find anywhere on the album. So if it's on the album it's alternate.

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12 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Found out that Into The Past is the whole apartment + rooftop chase with the widows.

In the film it start when Yelena mentions the red room and ends with the shot of the widow lying in the water.

After that the chase scene on the motorbike starts

Fantastic! Thank You, so far we have 

Fireflies (Opening) 

The Pursuit (The Runway Escape) 

From The Shadows (Bridge Fight) 

Into The Past (Apartment Scene / Rooftop Chase) 

Red Rising (Prison Sequence) 

Arise (Natasha Vs. Widows) 

The Descent (Fall From The Red Room) 

Natasha Soars (First Part of End Credits) 

Also I think that Faces To The Sun is right at the end when they all say Goodbye

and Natasha's Lullaby is not used

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(I haven't post in months and it's on a Lorne Balfe topic...)

 

I liked the album so I went to see the movie and while it's not great, it was entertaining. I was a bit disappointed by the absence in the (actual) movie of WHIRLWIND and NATASHA SOARS, two really stunning action tracks. The overall thematic content is pretty solid but barely heard on screen. Again, looks like someone at Marvel really dislikes themes. I mean, unless it's the Avengers theme :D

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Just watched the movie today, and LB's score worked well enough.

 

I was also disappointed that Whirlwind was unused. Maybe it was an alternate from an action scene that ended up being re-scored? I mean, Brian Tyler also includes on his OST albums the film version of a cue and its alternate. 

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A bit of what feels like a recycled score going on. Zero themes worth a damn, Inception-esque rhythmic action and recycled soundfonts. Quite possibly the worst MCU score. Balfe has done better, but this sounds phoned-in. I wonder what Desplat would've done...

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It's funny I knew well ahead there was an Avengers theme quote in the film and didn't even notice it. I assume it was for the final scene?

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The best cue in the movie was during the prologue. Nice use of piano + strings for Natasha's childhood. 

 

Is the HZ.com fansite still active? Maybe people there already figured a chronological order for the album.

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On 7/18/2021 at 7:54 PM, Jules said:

It's funny I knew well ahead there was an Avengers theme quote in the film and didn't even notice it. I assume it was for the final scene?


It was when she took off in her new jet in the very last scene, before it panned down to the fireflies in the woods

On 7/18/2021 at 8:02 PM, Edmilson said:

Is the HZ.com fansite still active? Maybe people there already figured a chronological order for the album.


Here is what seems to be an informed take, on Filmtracks

 

https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=96613

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I think the guy speculates in this way in that thread, but it’s likely that the album is full of Balfe’s pre-recording theme suites/presentations.  They also mention it wouldn’t be the first time, citing some other Balfey release.

 

I still haven’t listened to this album yet - it’s sitting with a buncha other stuff I bought and am working through - but I kind of favor the idea of that in scores like this (or in things like JXL’s Justice League, etc.) - frankly, I don’t know whether it’s how the music is recorded or how it’s sweetened in post, but everything has the sound of synth theme demos in the end, so why not include the things expressly written for listening consumption.

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  • 2 months later...

I get a feeling that the Filmtracks editor generally likes Russian tones. He seems to be taking a relatively softer tone towards such scores, even if their composer is someone he is usually quite critical about.

 

I like parts of this one too. But I think hearing Desplat's take on the subject might have been a more rewarding experience - especially if he was (miraculously) given enough creative liberties to take things outside of these studios' comfort zones.

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18 minutes ago, DeltaPupJux said:

You know.. if anyone here would like, I can just post the full list of slates from the sessions.  I am uncertain if any of the [cue] names were changed though.  

Just let me know if you would like this...

I would be interested 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 01/12/2022 at 5:17 PM, DeltaPupJux said:

You know.. if anyone here would like, I can just post the full list of slates from the sessions.  I am uncertain if any of the [cue] names were changed though.  

Just let me know if you would like this...

 

You should always assume someone in interested in any reel part numbers you know that aren't already posted somewhere!

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10 hours ago, Jay said:

 

You should always assume someone in interested in any reel part numbers you know that aren't already posted somewhere!

Noted.  

I've not had the chance to post these yet, but I'll make a point to do so by Sunday.  Life happens..

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If it's not the initials of the film, it’s often the initials of the working title. However, I'm seeing the one for BW is supposedly Blue Bayou, which I'm not sure how you get BLB out of (unless it's like BLue Bayou).

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