The BFG appreciation thread

[Remco 685]

I hope this is an attempt at humor.

[bruce marshall 1,314]

3 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

The BFG was a lovely movie and score. It’s a spiritual counterpart to Hook (or ever Potter 1), just as Tintin was to Raiders. As such, they’re entirely inessential, but it’s nice to see two masters revisit previous genres with some new tricks up their sleeves. If the movie was released in the 90’s (animation style notwithstanding - the score and storytelling I mean), it would be considered a classic.

 

 

It was released as animation. On DVD.

Just as boring.

Im not sure why SS was attracted to this LESSER Dahl story

 Same goes for the dreadful TT.

Methinks he just wanted to explore motion capture tech.

Those films were so bad I skipped RPO ( plus video games hold no interest).

WH is the last score I loved

[JoeinAR 1,949]

BFG was terrible and the music uninteresting.  Spielberg bragged that his cgi was better than Avatar. Fool

[Chewy 2,372]

Disagreed, and disagreed.

[Bellosh 3,369]

i still have never listened to this score. probably because i haven't seen the movie.

[Schilkeman 951]

I enjoy the movie, and believe it to be underrated, same with Tintin, but the score is something else. There's a pall of twilight over the whole film, and that's represented in the music. If it lacks immediacy, that's because dreams do as well. It is a masterclass in orchestration.

[GerateWohl 4,322]

On 8/11/2020 at 8:37 PM, mrbellamy said:

The point is that there was never a recorded Jurassic Park suite that featured the High Wire Stunt melody and which he later removed in concert lol

 

We're talking about this in the BFG suite on album which he's since nixed in performances

 

 

It does bum me out because it's my favorite of the score and one of my favorite JW themes of the decade. I don't know why he felt like cutting it, must just be one of those things where he felt like it was a spot he could tighten it up. Could be he just doesn't think it's interesting enough or interrupts the more propulsive whimsical stuff.

I could imagine that Williams left out that theme from the concert arragement because it is very similar to Song for World Peace. So, two different concert pieces with almost the same melody might confuse the audience. 

 

 

 

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,010]

There would have been riots in the concert hall. JW was merely putting our safety first.

[crlbrg 381]

There would be a riot in my brain if the FYC ever leaked...

[artguy360 1,842]

The colorful orchestrations are the real highlight of this score. It has some decent themes and interesting little musical bits, but it reminds me a lot of Tintin in that it's nice, light, colorful music that doesn't really stick with me afterwards. 

[Falstaft 2,132]

7 hours ago, Schilkeman said:

I enjoy the movie, and believe it to be underrated, same with Tintin, but the score is something else. There's a pall of twilight over the whole film, and that's represented in the music. If it lacks immediacy, that's because dreams do as well. It is a masterclass in orchestration.

 

Beautifully put, @Schilkeman. In a way, it's a shame most listeners' exposure to the score is through the concert arrangement, since, while perfectly nice, it leaves out some of the most extraordinary instrumental writing in the score proper. 

 

Just take this passage from "Dream Country," from the celesta theme at 6:30 to its transformation in the strings at 7:30. It alone is more breathtaking in terms of its orchestrational skill & imagination than basically anything by any other major living film composer in the past 40 years.

 

 

[Schilkeman 951]

Yes, I also love the little transition at 1:18, bringing in the high strings for contrast between the two sections. It's not just the themes with Williams, Horner and Shore have great themes, it's what he does in between that separates him, and this score.

 

 

[Tom 4,632]

This is the music of a sweet and brilliant old man (Williams, that is) capturing the innocence of childhood--not sure our jaded sardonic world (as seen even in most films for children) is capable of finding beauty in it.  

[Schilkeman 951]

It's a very earnest film, for sure. I see it getting something of a cult following for that very reason.