Do you consider HTTYD (1 / 2 / or 3) to be one of the great film scores?

[Fabulin 3,506]

A sequel to the Solo poll.

[Marian Schedenig 8,159]

No, no, and since I haven't heard the third one but there's no "I don't know" option and I doubt it'd be a yes if the first two were a no, no.

[Edmilson 7,372]

I consider it one of the very best trilogy of scores (composed by the same dude) of the century, alongside Williams' Prequels and Shore's LOTR. 

 

Also, The Hidden World was (by far) my favorite score of 2019.

[A. A. Ron 1,736]

The first score has a couple of cues that go from excellent bombast to overwhelming noise wall, though admittedly the FYC and deluxe albums largely rectify this issue through improved mastering. This was also the first score that made me think Powell could do well with Star Wars, notably in cues like "Kill Ring" and "Ready the Ships."

 

The second score is a triumph of a follow up and even in complete form it's almost a perfect listen from start to finish. There are 2 unreleased cues however that kill the momentum and have enough of a childish tone to slightly reduce my esteem for the full score though ("Go Get 'Em, You Son of Eret" and "Riding the Hatchlings").

 

The third score has some of my favorite cues of the trilogy, a couple cues that don't really grab me, a rather odd collaborative cue with vocals from Jonsi, a particularly long, largely rehashed action sequence near the end and then a string of highly satisfying finale cues. I'd consider this last score a mixed bag.

 

All three of these scores range from great to excellent and the second score might just be my favorite of the decade (hence my vote to count it among "the great film scores"). I don't consider any of them to be perfect, but I do play them a lot and love them to pieces. In many ways, I think these scores are to the 2010s what Star Wars was to the 70s/80s, Jurassic Park was to the 90s and Harry Potter and LOTR were to the 2000s.

[blondheim 1,157]

49 minutes ago, A. A. Ron said:

All three of these scores range from great to excellent and the second score might just be my favorite of the decade (hence my vote to count it among "the great film scores"). I don't consider any of them to be perfect, but I do play them a lot and love them to pieces. In many ways, I think these scores are to the 2010s what Star Wars was to the 70s/80s, Jurassic Park was to the 90s and Harry Potter and LOTR were to the 2000s.

 

The Hobbit scores > HTTYD scores

 

The HTTYDs are still great though, don't get me wrong

[bored 304]

I love the first 2, but I can't call them part of the greats. There's still some generic-sounding moments, and you can still feel the modern Hollywood / Zimmer influence here and there.

 

I legitimately think the 3rd film's music is one of the greats however. The choral work is gorgeous, the new themes are better than ever with the most elaborate harmonies of the series, to my knowledge, and the old ones are used so well and so precisely. When "The Vikings Have Their Tea" comes in by "Once There Were Dragons" after being absent for the whole film, I got the same feeling of warm nostalgia as when The Shire theme came in, in its fuller statements in "The Fellowship Reunited". You can really tell that working with Williams affected Powell's composition style in that film. 

[A. A. Ron 1,736]

3 hours ago, blondheim said:

 

The Hobbit scores > HTTYD scores

 

The HTTYDs are still great though, don't get me wrong

 

Well I 'spose it doesn't really matter which trilogy of scores is better since the average score fan of the future will look back on the 2010s and pick some ambient RCP style score as the best/most emblematic of the decade.

[blondheim 1,157]

23 minutes ago, A. A. Ron said:

 

Well I 'spose it doesn't really matter which trilogy of scores is better since the average score fan of the future will look back on the 2010s and pick some ambient RCP style score as the best/most emblematic of the decade.

 

Orchestral music will always be more timeless because of the fellowship of the symphony orchestra. Everyone breathing together in tandem while the audience sits in silence, breathing as well. It's practically religious fellowship. Not to mention the organics of wood, strings; there are endless textures available to us to incorporate. I love electronics but they always need to be moving forward in order to sound now or ahead.

 

I myself love dated electronics the way I love Shakespeare jokes but neither is timeless so much as of a time. Acoustic sounds are where music started and where it will always return to.

 

Unless of course we start evolving into cyborgs as some have predicted. Although one could argue then that the nature of the word organic would change but this is off-topic.

[Edmilson 7,372]

In the future all film music will sound like Ross' keyboard from Friends:

 

 

 

[blondheim 1,157]

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[Loert 2,509]

HTTYD 1 is a perfect score from a story telling perspective IMO (as far as "perfection" can exist in film scores to animated films), and for that alone I wouldn't hesitate to call it great. HTTYD 2 and 3 are also really good - "Third Date" in particular seems almost a culmination point of all JP had to offer for the trilogy. But as complete scores, they don't quite cut it for me in the same way that 1 does.

 

In fact, I would say HTTYD 1 is the greatest score to an animated movie so far which doesn't contain songs.

[mstrox 6,637]

On 7/4/2021 at 10:02 AM, Marian Schedenig said:

No, no, and since I haven't heard the third one but there's no "I don't know" option and I doubt it'd be a yes if the first two were a no, no.

Exactly this!  I have come around to the first score with the DE, but certainly wouldn’t promote it to The Greats.

 

Solo was a slightly tougher answer for me but still no 

[Muad'Dib 1,800]

One and two, yes. With three I can't connect for some reason. The orchestrations and the general sound is much more mature but the music itself doesn't grab me like the other two.

[blondheim 1,157]

I haven't voted yet because I too have a hard time calling it great. Maybe it's too soon now but I think time will find the first Dragon at least to be considered a classic.

[Tom Guernsey 2,277]

I put yes to all but more in the sense of treating them as a single work in three movements. As it were.

 

I mean, you could make a minor complaint about each; the first is a bit too bombastic at times, the second has less strong new themes and the third includes more reused material from the prior scores. But the plus points far outweigh these; the first expertly introduces at least half a dozen memorable themes and uses them to expertly tell them story and is full of one of highlights that range from gentle to epic. The second is a more mature and through composed take on the material so feels like it has slightly fewer individual highlight cues, overall it’s perhaps more satisfying and Battle of the Bewilderbeast is perhaps the best action cue of the entire trilogy. The third takes a little while to get going but manages to mix the having highlights like the first (such as Third Date, Furies in Love and the finale) with the stronger overall architecture of the second.