Lorne Balfe's MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7 & 8 (2021/22)

[Unlucky Bastard 7,764]

The third is the worst looking entry as it uses an ungodly level of orange and teal colour-timing that must have been the in-thing in the mid-to-late 2000s.

[Jurassic Shark 8,703]

36 minutes ago, crocodile said:

No love for the original?

 

Karol

 

The 60s series is pretty good.

[toothless 894]

Rogue Nation > Ghost Protocol > M: I 3 > M: I 1 > M: I 2 > Fallout

[Jay 26,882]

Films:

 

1) Mission: Impossible

2) Rogue Nation

3) Ghost Protocol

4) M:I:III

5) Fallout

6) M:I:II

 

Scores:

 

1) Mission: Impossible

2) Rogue Nation

3) Ghost Protocol

4) M:I:III

5) M:I:II

6) Fallout

 

[crocodile 6,262]

11 minutes ago, Jay said:

Films:

 

1) Mission: Impossible

2) Rogue Nation

3) Ghost Protocol

4) M:I:III

5) Fallout

6) M:I:II

 

Scores:

 

1) Mission: Impossible

2) Rogue Nation

3) Ghost Protocol

4) M:I:III

5) M:I:II

6) Fallout

 

If films 4 and 5, and scores 5 and 6, were to swap places you'd have my lists.

 

Karol

[Edmilson 3,716]

My ranking of scores:

 

1- Rogue Nation - Joe Kramer

2- M: I - Danny Elfman

3- Ghost Protocol - Gia

4- Fallout - Lorne Balfe

5- M: I 2 - Hans Zimmer

6- M: I 3 - Gia

 

Elfman's and Kramer's efforts are the best. Lorne's has some decent moments here and there. I like the Injection theme from the second one. And don't remember much about the Giacchino scores except for some Russian-sounding theme for the fourth.

[HunterTech 448]

Films:

1). Ghost Protocol

2). Fallout

3). M:I-2

4). M:I

5). M:I-III

6). Rogue Nation (haven't seen it in a while, but I remember not being too crazy about it)

 

Scores:

1). M:I

2). Ghost Protocol

3). M:I-2

4). Rogue Nation

5). Fallout

6). M:I-III (these last two can switch depending on the mood)

 

2 I adore on a guilty pleasure level (for both score and film), but I picked Elfman's and Gia's efforts on 1 and GP for being what I enjoyed most and thought fit the series the best. RN still hasn't quite clicked with me, but it has excellent moments. Fallout & 3 are basically about on par for different reasons, but still have their one or two moments.

[Jay 26,882]

24 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Elfman's and Kramer's efforts are the best. Lorne's has some decent moments here and there. I like the Injection theme from the second one. And don't remember much about the Giacchino scores except for some Russian-sounding theme for the fourth.

 

7 hours ago, Jay said:

Just so you know his name is Joe Kraemer, not Joe Kramer

 

[mstrox 5,176]

Films (that I've seen):

 

1)  Ghost Protocol

2)  M:I

3)  M:I III

4)  M:I II

 

Scores:

 

1)  M:I

2) Ghost Protocol

3) Kraemer's score

4) M:I 3

5) Balfe

6) M:I2

[Matt C 421]

6 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Perhaps we're criticizing the wrong people. Maybe McQuarrie actually wanted to stay true to his "new composer every movie" motto, but Paramount and Cruise saw how wildly successful Fallout were and pushed for more of that. 

 

This is peak Hollywood: if something goes right, then let's do the same thing over and over again.

 

 

Kraemer worked his ass off on Rogue Nation during the shortened post-production schedule, even recorded extra and alternate takes for McQuarrie to use in final editing.

 

McQuarrie has the pull to get the composer he wants now. It's a damn shame the one he wants is Balfe.

[Koray Savas 2,089]

Fallout

Rogue Nation

M:I-2

M:I:iii

Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible

[Chen G. 2,542]

I really like Ghost Protocol, which I've just rewatched. It takes a lighter approach, with bright locales, a brisk pace and quite a lot of comedy - which is a very sound approach to a movie like this. Rogue Nation is closer to a spy thriller, which could be a downer in a film like this, but I also feel its better directed. So I'm kind of between the two. I need to rewatch the original, but it lacks the polish of those films.

 

Fallout is good, but not nearly as much. I don't think the choice of carrying the storyline of the previous film forward was necessarily worthwhile, and I enjoyed the slightly more managable scale on the previous films. Fergusson's Ilsa works better in Rogue Nation than she does as the crudely-inserted doe-eyed love interest in Fallout.

 

MI: III is impressive, but its JJ Abrams by way of Michael Bay, in terms of the overwhelming freneticism of the camerawork. Nowhere nearly as good, but still way better than the second film.

 

None of these are anything by way of "all-timers" for me: just some enjoyable action/spy films. With Cruise getting older, I'm hoping they go out with a bang in the eighth film and leave it at that.

[Edmilson 3,716]

3 hours ago, Matt C said:

 

 

Kraemer worked his ass off on Rogue Nation during the shortened post-production schedule, even recorded extra and alternate takes for McQuarrie to use in final editing.

 

McQuarrie has the pull to get the composer he wants now. It's a damn shame the one he wants is Balfe.

 

That's the sad part. Kraemer knew Rogue Nation was his first blockbuster, his big break out, so he worked hard and impressed with his score. And when opportunity of him returning arose, they decided to go with another, more pop-sounding composer.

 

I don't hate the Fallout score, but I think it's revolting what they did with Kraemer.

[Matt C 421]

6 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

 

 

I don't hate the Fallout score, but I think it's revolting what they did with Kraemer.

 

I would get it if McQuarrie and Kraemer had a falling out on Rogue Nation. Then it would make sense for McQuarrie to go with someone else.

 

I hope someone snaps Kraemer up for another franchise. Much more versatile than Balfe.

[Edmilson 3,716]

It's sad, apparently the only one giving Kraemer opportunities was McQuarrie, and now that McQuarrie found another favorite composer, Kraemer will unfortunately be left with smaller, direct-to-home-video movies.

[Matt C 421]

2 hours ago, Edmilson said:

It's sad, apparently the only one giving Kraemer opportunities was McQuarrie, and now that McQuarrie found another favorite composer, Kraemer will unfortunately be left with smaller, direct-to-home-video movies.

 

Kraemer would be in my list of top five composers I would want to work with. Especially on a high-profile blockbuster.

[Bilbo 3,521]

ClintEastwoodShudder.gif 

[Jurassic Shark 8,703]

11 hours ago, Matt C said:

 

Kraemer would be in my list of top five composers I would want to work with. Especially on a high-profile blockbuster.

 

Just ask him then.

[Will 2,045]

Yeah, really gutted to see that Kraemer's time with the franchise is over. Not that I really expected him to be brought back, but I was holding out a tiny bit of hope...

 

I actually really enjoyed Balfe's Fallout score. It might even be second place of the MI scores for me. But Kraemer's is just in another league -- the best of the franchise IMO. So sad that Kraemer hasn't gotten any big chances since then. So talented. 

[MedigoScan 251]

I cant really rank the scores myself, but I will also throw my hat in with the 'MI2's score is so ridiculous I keep listening to it'

[Marian Schedenig 5,443]

The only MI2 score I listen to is this one:

 

[Jay 26,882]

 

[crocodile 6,262]

EPIC EPICNESS EPIC-ING.

 

Karol

[Anthony 474]

Bring back Joe Kraemer.

[Bellosh 1,387]

goddamn is trailer music awful

[Richard Penna 2,024]

Some trailer music is really good.

 

It's unfortunate that rubbish like this is what gets released.

[Marian Schedenig 5,443]

1 hour ago, Bellosh said:

goddamn is trailer music awful

 

In this case it's at least honest, because the actual score will likely sound just like it. (Actually, this still sounds better than anything I remember from M:I 6).

[Jay 26,882]

I bought a CD of trailer music in the 90s

 

 

 

Lots of good stuff on there, Like Jerry's Judge Dredd trailer cue (this is actually the recording Intrada accidentally put on the first pressings of their Judge Dredd set IIRC)

[Yavar Moradi 1,263]

1 hour ago, Bellosh said:

goddamn is trailer music awful

 

Often yes, but not inherently.

 

Yavar

[Edmilson 3,716]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

 

My gosh, this is atrocious.

 

And I'm pretty sure the final score won't be much different from this crap.

 

I can't believe that McQuarrie actually prefers this over Joe Kraemer's music. No, I'd rather believe that Balfe returning was studio mandate because they were happy with how Fallout performed at the box office.

[HunterTech 448]

I legitimately wonder if different people get to call the shots for each installment in the franchise, since you have Cruise replacing Silvestri with Elfman for the first movie (and supposedly being the one to push for 5 to have the classic series sound against McQuarrie's wants), but then it seems the directors got more leeway from 3 onwards (with McQ having to initially fight for Kraemer when Bad Robot wanted to keep Giacchino after doing 3-4). It just gets very confusing when you put it at together.

 

I guess it's possible that Cruise decided the general Schifrin sound ran its course after 3 films, and wanted to modernize to keep things fresh (since that's sort of what the franchise was about before sticking with the same guy for 4 movies). After all, Kraemer never did give a concrete motivation for McQ deciding to ditch him (despite liking a tweet suggesting he got fired out of pettiness), so the studio demanding Balfe isn't fully far fetched. Especially when he fits the director's wants just fine, so he'd have no real reason to complain for films he has full control of otherwise.

 

(Though it does get more worrying if Balfe's subsequent involvement with TG Maverick was purely because McQ got more hands on with the project later on (which admittedly would gel better with HZ's style, so I guess it's less questionable there).)

[Anthony 474]

The thing I don't get is: McQ seems very comitted to making high-quality, entertaining films, done properly. But when it gets to the music, it's as though he couldn't give a crap. Or he's severely misguided that this sort of rubbish is good music, when it really, really isnt.

 

For all your clever stunts and cinematography and sound desgign and effects and everything else...why does the ball get dropped when it comes to music?

[Gibster 177]

It seems to be the music he wants for some reason, Kraemers stuff was awesome and it sucks cuz it seems like he gave him a tough time.

Mcq is probably the best working filmmaker right now imo but he’s gotta work on his music.

[Richard Penna 2,024]

To me it's clear that McQ just wants the RCP sound, and Cruise either does too or has no problem with it.

 

And I'll stick up for Fallout to a limited extent. When it's good, it's solid, entertaining music (as long you're not completely allergic to the general RCP sound, which many here are). Unfortunately quite a lot of it is not very interesting.

[Anthony 474]

Why is this kind of modern rubbish appealing to joe public? Have they not heard what proper film scores sound like? Aren't people thinking "this all sounds the same" by now? Why does this keep continuing?

[HunterTech 448]

Because chances are they only notice when it sounds slightly different the few times it actually has a presence in the sound mix of a big blockbuster, since we do have to remind ourselves that film scores is unfortunately a bit of a niche interest in the medium of music (as this has been an issue for a long while, since even back then a select few only ever got to remain in popular osmosis).

[Edmilson 3,716]

It's not surprising that the average filmgoer these days thinks that crap like the score for Fallout is actually good music ("OMG it's so EPIK! ") after years listening to this kind of music on blockbuster movies and TV shows. 

 

What is more infuriating is that a talented, experienced filmmaker like McQuarrie actually prefers this generic and bland TDK-style of music to suit his movie.

 

But it's not just him though. It's Hollywood as a whole. 

 

If you are a producer and want a modern, edgy blend of orchestra and synths? Call Lorne Balfe, Junkie XL or Ramin Djawadi! Want a more orchestral, traditional, John Williams-like score? Call Michael Giacchino! Don't have money to hire any of these? No problem: there's countless composers around there who can approximate their style and are willing to work in exchange for a nice sandwich!

[Jurassic Shark 8,703]

14 hours ago, HunterTech said:

Kraemer never did give a concrete motivation for McQ deciding to ditch him

 

Didn't McQ state he wanted to make a different kind of film with MI:6 by replacing many of the key people in the production?

[HunterTech 448]

That's his official reason, but quite frankly, it's very questionable given everything Kraemer has discussed and alluded to (plus Dead Reakoning full on seeming to just continue where Fallout left off, suggesting the possibility that the studio/Cruise specifically requested it being so).

[Edmilson 3,716]

The better question is: "Is it true that McQuarrie did in fact replaced a bunch of people between Rogue Nation and Fallout to "do a different movie", or does he only says that to justify not bringing back his (personal friend and collaborator) Joe Kraemer?"

 

Well, according to Wikipedia, he used different cinematographers on RN, Fallout and DR1 and 2, but still retained the same editor (Eddie Hamilton) across the four movies.

 

Source

 

 

If he was willing to change the cinematographer, why not the composer? I imagine either he, Cruise or Paramount (or all three put together) think Balfe did an amazing job on Fallout and helped that movie get all those positive reviews, so they wanted him back. The same goes for the editor.

[Edmilson 3,716]