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WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005) 2CD edition from Intrada Records 2020


crocodile

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1 hour ago, Brundlefly said:

There is only five tracks in the main program that do not have one or two stars behind their title. Mr. Williams microedited the hell outta that one.

It's going to be an interesting listen. 😊

 

Karol

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1 hour ago, crocodile said:

It's going to be an interesting listen. 😊

 

Karol

Yes indeed. Can't wait!

3 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

There is only five tracks in the main program that do not have one or two stars behind their title. Mr. Williams microedited the hell outta that one.

Yeah the OST was never a truly satisfying listening experience in my opinion. I vastly prefer the complete chronological score for its narrative flow.

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22 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Who cares about film narrative on an OST. It's the musical narrative that matters!

Thank you. Had to be said.

 

20 minutes ago, Holko said:

It's a film score, it was written to support the film narrative with its musical narrative.

It's simply condescending towards the music to say that it can by no means build its own narrative, but that it is stuck to the film forever.

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I'd say both views are valid, it just depends on what you want out of the music presentation. If you replay the movie in your head while listening, I understand that it could be weird if the music isn't chronological. But I usually don't remember films in that exact detail, so I approach the music more on its own.

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12 hours ago, Jay said:

We can get inoculated before going to another country for specific diseases we know are there and have an inoculation for. If this is their first time on our planet they wouldn't be prepared. 

 

Didn't we quarantine the astronauts coming back from the moon in case they were exposed to moon bugs?  We didn't know much back then but knew that already.  I just wish they updated it.  At least ID4 made it  computer virus brought in by a Trojan horse of one of their captured flying saucers.  The writers could have come up with something.

 

https://www.space.com/apollo-11-astronauts-quarantined-after-splashdown.html

 

To me this is an example of an impressive movie setup with the worst type of ex machina ending. 

 

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19 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

If you replay the movie in your head while listening, I understand that it could be weird if the music isn't chronological.

 

Most scores are hacked to pieces to fit the narrative (usually due to never ending editorial tweaks) so the C & C score often does not track the film narrative 100%. I listen to film scores primarily because I enjoy them as pure music rather than "movies without pictures and dialogue / sfx".

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11 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

911 had NOTHING to do with it.

Spielberg set out to depict what would happen if the US was invaded ( we had been invading other countries for fifty years).

He accomplished this feat with spectacular results. If you obsess over microbes and reunions you're totally missing the point.

https://medium.com/@alpenglowmemory/spielbergs-war-of-the-worlds-and-post-9-11-american-cinema-6b375a82272d

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I don't know how anyone could see Tom Cruise running through all that dust and not think of 9/11.

 

And I want the first album to be what the composer wants. We can decide if that is enough later but they should have the right to curate their own work since they do not have complete control over the film. Sometimes they perform a function they may not otherwise wish to perform. Maybe they think music would be wrong somewhere and the studio insists and they just do the best they can. Regardless, the album (if they have control over it) is their chance to make a statement.

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17 minutes ago, blondheim said:

I don't know how anyone could see Tom Cruise running through all that dust and not think of 9/11.

 

And I want the first album to be what the composer wants. We can decide if that is enough later but they should have the right to curate their own work since they do not have complete control over the film. Sometimes they perform a function they may not otherwise wish to perform. Maybe they think music would be wrong somewhere and the studio insists and they just do the best they can. Regardless, the album (if they have control over it) is their chance to make a statement.

Yes, it is obvious is was a 9-11 reference, as the "is it the terrorists?" lines are. As I have said, this is also a major weakness of the film.  It came out in 2005--the panic of 9-11 had long since dissipated.  It just felt contrived and hollow at that point.  Maybe the script was written during the time of national panic or something.  

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6 minutes ago, Tom said:

Yes, it is obvious is was a 9-11 reference, as the "is it the terrorists?" lines are. As I have said, this is also a major weakness of the film.  It came out in 2005--the panic of 9-11 had long since dissipated.

 

Whenever there is an explosion somewhere, social media and news channels are full of "could it have been terrorists" speculations. I think it would be highly unrealistic to *not* have a single person in a large crowd to jump to that train of thought. Yes of course it's also a 9-11 reference. Because 9-11 and similar events are what people are reminded of in situations like these.

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I like the first 2/3 of the film just fine...maybe even 75% of it. The last bit doesn't really feel satisfying for some reason. I guess WHY they decided to go for certain things but it just doesn't quite work. Kind of like Schindler's List. The first two hours are masterful and then it just becomes "just a movie" with a forced "movie happy ending" even if one wasn't necessary or appropriate. But I suppose Spielberg feels the urge to give you some semblance of hope. But then, I ask myself why maje it in the first place?

 

Karol

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17 hours ago, BrotherSound said:

 

The same thing happened back in August: 

 

It took 8 years to just sell the first 2,000 out of the limit of 3,000, so it's going to be a long wait.

 

Perseverance Records holds their name well

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27 minutes ago, crocodile said:

I like the first 2/3 of the film just fine...maybe even 75% of it. The last bit doesn't really feel satisfying for some reason. I guess WHY they decided to go for certain things but it just doesn't quite work. Kind of like Schindler's List. The first two hours are masterful and then it just becomes "just a movie" with a forced "movie happy ending" even if one wasn't necessary or appropriate. But I suppose Spielberg feels the urge to give you some semblance of hope. But then, I ask myself why maje it in the first place?

 

Karol

 

It builds up spectacularly but kind of blows its load in the first 20 minutes, then fizzles out after the Ferry sequence. A movie where the parts are greater than the sum, a lot like TLW.

 

Mostly structural issues; it doesn't make sense to go big for that first hour then trap your characters in one location for 30 minutes. Especially if you follow with an uninspired closing act where the characters stop behaving realistically. I understand why the basket sequence exists but Cruise-Action-Hero is inauthentic.

 

Then they just walk into a city and the aliens are all dead (but not before Cruise points out to the military commander that their shields aren't working :sarcasm:). Talk about an anticlimax. And yes, the son magically turning up is contrived; a reveal that exists solely because they couldn't think of an ending with Cruise ending up alone.

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45 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Whenever there is an explosion somewhere, social media and news channels are full of "could it have been terrorists" speculations. I think it would be highly unrealistic to *not* have a single person in a large crowd to jump to that train of thought. Yes of course it's also a 9-11 reference. Because 9-11 and similar events are what people are reminded of in situations like these.

Yes, but it is the little girl.  When writers have children say things they probably wouldn't (she would have been 4 years old during 9-11), but yet adults might, it feels contrived--as the panic is still so strong and tangible even the little innocent children are immediately jumping to this conclusion.  Most kids are fairly oblivious to such things, unless they recently had firsthand experience. 

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22 minutes ago, Tom said:

Yes, but it is the little girl.  When writers have children say things they probably wouldn't (she would have been 4 years old during 9-11), but yet adults might, it feels contrived--as the panic is still so strong and tangible even the little innocent children are immediately jumping to this conclusion.  Most kids are fairly oblivious to such things, unless they recently had firsthand experience. 

 

Ah, I didn't remember it that well. I understand your complaint a bit more in that case, but it doesn't really bother me. I'm mostly with Karol on this film - I like much of it well enough, but while the crowd scenes are truly brilliant (they have something in common with The Last of Us), the film as a whole isn't as convincing. Anyway, I prefer Cloverfield.

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On 10/2/2020 at 11:33 AM, Jay said:

When people complain about the ending, they aren't talking about the fact that the aliens die because of our bacteria/pathogen/microbes, which is of course the same ending as the book.

 

What they are complaining about is that in this film, for 2/3 Cruise and co survive just by luck, everyone is constantly dying, etc, then at the end he turns into an action hero and takes down a tripod himself before the military arrives and the bacteria ending happens

I thought the problem people had with the ending was that the kids’ mom’s parents come out the front door of their brownstone dressed like they’re having Sunday dinner and looking rather entirely unperturbed by the massacre of the human race.

 

Tom cruise’s character absolutely does not come across as an action hero at any point in the film. No one ought to be complaining about his character arc.

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8 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Whenever there is an explosion somewhere, social media and news channels are full of "could it have been terrorists" speculations. I think it would be highly unrealistic to *not* have a single person in a large crowd to jump to that train of thought. Yes of course it's also a 9-11 reference. Because 9-11 and similar events are what people are reminded of in situations like these.

Of course a child might/would say something LIKE that!

It's ONE effing line! What's the big deal?

And, you correctly portrayed the knee-jerk reactions of medi

 But, the film itself has ZERO to do with 911( how can you compare two planes crashing into buildings, with an alien invasion aimed at eradicating the human race!?).

It's about superpower imperialism. What happens.when the conquerors are conquered? What happens when invaders come across diseases they have no imm unity against.?

9 hours ago, karelm said:

You really expect me to click on a link with the tag " post-9-11american-cinema"?

That's for the egg heads over at CINEASTE or FILM COMMENT.

( maybe Thor or Publcicist are interested) 😆

Re:.Tom Cruise walking around covered in ash; Obviously, you never heard of Hiroshima. Or, Nagasaki. Or, the firebombing of Tokyo and Dresden. lotsa ash.lotsa dead people.( hundreds.of thousands).

Sheesh! Americans think only they have suffered!

3 hours ago, Bayesian said:

I thought the problem people had with the ending was that the kids’ mom’s parents come out the front door of their brownstone dressed like they’re having Sunday dinner and looking rather entirely unperturbed by the massacre of the human race.

 

Tom cruise’s character absolutely does not come across as an action hero at any point in the film. No one ought to be complaining about his character arc.

My complaint about the ending is the obligatory cameo by Actors who were in the original! I HATE..HATE..HATE that trope!😠😠😠

 

And, you are spot on about Cruise's character m

8 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

It builds up spectacularly but kind of blows its load in the first 20 minutes, then fizzles out after the Ferry sequence. A movie where the parts are greater than the sum, a lot like TLW.

 

 

Actually, that's one of its strength. It avoids the obligatory buildup endemic to disaster flicks; you know , the introduction of all the char and their backstory.

The other innovative aspect is limiting the the action to the pov of the characters . 🕸 only see what they see. No omniscience( GODZILLA 2014 also did this effectively)

Pure film making brilliance.

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While watching War of the Worlds yesterday, I noticed a very creepy low male choir during The Ferry Scene here (5:30): 

 

 

I wonder if this will appear on the new release or if it's some kind of effect done by the sound effects team (similar to what happened on HP3).

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@Chewy I've long wondered if that's score or SFX. The low male chorale sounds almost identical to the same chorus in the unreleased track Aliens, practically the same register!

 

The orchestral passage following the low male chorale is totally different to the OST version too. I just figured the music was dialed out and replaced by SFX but it's different music entirely (compared to JW's very busy brass/percussion combo heard on the OST). The entire passage from 3:55 - 4:19 below is replaced; could be tracked from somewhere though?

 

 

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2 minutes ago, crumbs said:

In fact, the entire passage from 3:55 - 4:19 below is replaced by alternate music in the clip you posted above!

The music that plays during this section is just tracked from "The Basket Scene" I believe. But yeah, still no idea where that choir comes from!

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18 hours ago, Tom said:

Yes, but it is the little girl.  When writers have children say things they probably wouldn't (she would have been 4 years old during 9-11), but yet adults might, it feels contrived--as the panic is still so strong and tangible even the little innocent children are immediately jumping to this conclusion.  Most kids are fairly oblivious to such things, unless they recently had firsthand experience. 

IIRC, Its robbie who mentions the terrorists, not the little girl.

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1 minute ago, Luke Skywalker said:

IIRC, Its robbie who mentions the terrorists, not the little girl.

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Chewy said:

The music that plays during this section is just tracked from "The Basket Scene" I believe. But yeah, still no idea where that choir comes from!

 

Good spot! You're right:

 

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6 minutes ago, Luke Skywalker said:

Oh. I remember robbie saying "who are they, terrorists? And tom cruise says "no, robbie, not terrorists"

 

Oh you're right, I totally forgot this exchange:

 

Haven't seen the film in years.

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5 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

Oh you're right, I totally forgot this exchange:

 

Haven't seen the film in years.

That scene was one unbroken shot and it’s phenomenal. 

 

I wish Spielberg would make more movies. Covid-19 notwithstanding, he hasn’t exactly been moving projects forward with any sense of urgency for awhile now. 

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8 hours ago, Luke Skywalker said:

Oh. I remember robbie saying "who are they, terrorists? And tom cruise says "no, robbie, not terrorists"

She wasn't four years old. At least seven.

You think a seven year old wouldn't know about the attack on the WTC? It's right across the water!

 

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Also, I didn't recall when reading the above comment that "robbie" was the daughter, and that the terrorist comment wasn't made by some random child in a crowd scene but by an actual character. In that case you may blame here reaction on how she was brought up. It doesn't seem that far-fetched for the daughter of Tom Cruise's character, as far as I remember him.

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26 minutes ago, Jay said:

I just watched the film this morning and Dakota's character was 10

She wouldn't be aware of terrorism?

Gimme a break!

People are so desperate to bash Spielberg....Nolan..Zimmer. or any SUCCESSFUL artists, they resort to misinformation and distortions.

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7 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

She wouldn't be aware of terrorism?

Gimme a break!

People are so desperate to bash Spielberg....Nolan..Zimmer. or any SUCCESSFUL artists, they resort to misinformation and distortions.

Who cares, it's just a movie.

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8 hours ago, bruce marshall said:

She wouldn't be aware of terrorism?

Gimme a break!

People are so desperate to bash Spielberg....Nolan..Zimmer. or any SUCCESSFUL artists, they resort to misinformation and distortions.

Who cares, it's just a movie.

 

****

 

Has anyone done a restored score video for the unused Attack the Car music? I was watching that clip and wondered what the agitated, action-heavy music would add to that scene which goes completely without music until the final moments.

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41 minutes ago, Arpy said:

Who cares, it's just a movie.

 

****

 

Has anyone done a restored score video for the unused Attack the Car music? I was watching that clip and wondered what the agitated, action-heavy music would add to that scene which goes completely without music until the final moments.

One hopes that the acquisition of the CD will result in that restoration!😊

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1 hour ago, Arpy said:

Who cares, it's just a movie.

 

****

 

Has anyone done a restored score video for the unused Attack the Car music? I was watching that clip and wondered what the agitated, action-heavy music would add to that scene which goes completely without music until the final moments.

Look forward to what @Chewy's planning to do!

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Wait, according the spreadsheet, isn't there just four alternates of The Reunion/Boston Street on this release? Shouldn't it be five?

 

EDIT:

 

Disc 1

22. Defeat And Reunion** • 2:35
23. Boston Street Finale** • 2:13

Disc 2

10. The Separation Of The Family • 2:37

19. Boston Street Finale (Alternate No. 1)* • 2:03
20. Boston Street Finale (Alternate No. 2)* • 2:00

 

Okay, it is actually all there.

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If Jay says four alternates, I'm sure he means four.

 

On 10/1/2020 at 2:53 PM, Jay said:

I've purposely not said a single thing about this release at all, I'm just talking bout the score in general.  We've known the ending was revised 4 times for a decade now

 

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Four revisions, that's five versions in total:

 

Disc 1

22. Defeat and Reunion** • 2:35 = 6m3cmaj Reunion in Boston
23. Boston Street Finale** • 2:13 = 6m3hp Reunion in Boston (Horn & Piano Version)

Disc 2

10. The Separation of the Family • 2:37 = 6m3 Reunion in Boston

19. Boston Street Finale (Alternate No. 1)* • 2:03 = 6m3 Alt "Boston Street"
20. Boston Street Finale (Alternate No. 2)* • 2:00 = 6m3 New Reunion in Boston

 

I'm not a hundred percent sure about 6m3hp and 6m3cmaj which could be swapped (as well as 6m3 Alt and 6m3 New).

 

"Defeat" is certainly referring to the only once recorded opening of 6m3 which is probably attached to the first revision that appears in the main program in order to have it complete.

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Revised implies an additional original one. Revised 4 times means there was an original, then it was revised 4 times. Which adds up to 5.

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2 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

Disc 1

22. Defeat and Reunion** • 2:35 = 6m3cmaj Reunion in Boston
23. Boston Street Finale** • 2:13 = 6m3hp Reunion in Boston (Horn & Piano Version)

Disc 2

10. The Separation of the Family • 2:37 = 6m3 Reunion in Boston

19. Boston Street Finale (Alternate No. 1)* • 2:03 = 6m3 Alt "Boston Street"
20. Boston Street Finale (Alternate No. 2)* • 2:00 = 6m3 New Reunion in Boston

I definitely appreciate that Mike got smart and creative with this so the bonus section wouldn't look and feel overwhelming and repetitive - though I don't know any of the versions so I don't know if they actually would feel repetitive one after the other.

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26 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Correct me if I wrong but is this the last most recent JW score is financially viable for expansion by our beloved boutique labels?

 

Karol

 
Correct, see page 1, can’t multi-quote on my phone for some reason. 

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