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The Elfman/Giacchino Battle Royale


Jay

The Elfman/Giacchino Battle Royale  

75 members have voted

  1. 1. Which of these Batman scores do you like the most?

    • Batman by Danny Elfman (1989)
    • Batman Returns by Danny Elfman (1992)
    • The Batman by Michael Giacchino (2022)
    • No preference
  2. 2. Which of these Mission: Impossible scores do you like the most?

    • Mission: Impossible by Danny Elfman (1996)
    • Mission: Impossible III by Michael Giacchino (2006)
    • Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol by Michael Giacchino (2011)
    • No preference
  3. 3. Which of these Planet of the Apes scores do you like the most?

    • Planet of the Apes by Danny Elfman (2001)
    • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes by Michael Giacchino (2014)
    • War for the Planet of the Apes by Michael Giacchino (2017)
    • No preference
  4. 4. Which of these Spider-Man scores do you like the most?

    • Spider-Man by Danny Elfman (2002)
    • Spisder-Man 2 by Danny Elfman (2004)
    • Spider-Man: Homecoming by Michael Giacchino (2017)
    • Spider-Man: Far From Home by Michael Giacchino (2019)
    • Spider-Man: No Way Home by Michael Giacchino (2021)
      0
    • No preference
  5. 5. Which of these Doctor Strange scores do you like the most?

    • Doctor Strange by Michael Giacchino (2016)
    • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness by Danny Elfman (2022)
    • No preference


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I abstain from 3 (because I don't care for any of them) and 5 (because I haven't listened to Multiverse yet).

 

Otherwise I pick Returns, MI 1, and Spidey 1

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This was all very easy up until the fifth poll option. Obviously, Elfman wins it all (BATMAN RETURNS, M:I, POTA, SPIDEY 2), but DOCTOR STRANGE is trickier. I hated Elfman's score, and I disliked most of Giacchino's too (even though it had some highlight cues, like the psychedelic stuff). So a bit tricky, but ultimately, even an Elfman score I hate is more rewarding to me than a Giacchino score I find mediocre. So 100% Elfman here.

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Batman Returns 

(Don't like Mission Impossible enough to have an opinion)

(Haven't heard Elfman's Planet of the Apes) Of the two I've heard, Dawn

Spider-Man 2

Elfman's Multiverse

 

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3 is the only one where they came close (Elfman’s Vs. War), but Elfman still had the edge.

 

I picked Giacchino for Doctor Strange just so I could vote, but I strongly suspect that vote will change once I hear Elfman’s score.  I never cared for Giacchino’s.

 

Returns

M:I 1

POTA 2001

SM2

DS1

 

I bounce between Elfman’s SM scores based on the day.  I think 1 has the best highlights and 2 is the most well-rounded album.

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Giacchino is just outclassed by Elfman I think. Danny Elfman has been one of the most well-known and revered composers (at least he was from 1988 until the later 2000s), and is practically a household name at this point because of his iconic scores of the previously mentioned era.

 

While Michael Giacchino is a talented, but ultimately bland composer who doesn't really seem to have too much of a consistent style, besides jazz elements in his work and much of it sounding semi-similar to John Williams. I don't think I could ever tell you what score is a Giacchino score just by hearing it in the film or by itself. Maybe if he did a Bond score that sounded like The Incredibles

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28 minutes ago, superultramegaa said:

I don't think I could ever tell you what score is a Giacchino score just by hearing it in the film or by itself. Maybe if he did a Bond score that sounded like The Incredibles


I feel like I could tell almost any Gia score apart because many of his scores’ “emotional moments” sound very samey, including scores that I love!  He has his go-to chord progressions, or something.

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Would probably go with Elfman's first Batman/Spidey and Gia's War 4 PotA

 

I don't really remember the M:I scores enough to vote and don't recall Gia's Strange, haven't heard Elfman's yet

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Wow, never noticed that they had so many franchises in common ! 

And now that I think about it, Elfman and Zimmer also share 5 "franchises" : Batman, Mission Impossible, Spider-Man, Snyder/Whedon's Justice League, and the Hannibal Lecter trilogy. 

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14 minutes ago, eitam said:

Wow, never noticed that they had so many franchises in common ! 

And now that I think about it, Elfman and Zimmer also share 5 "franchises" : Batman, Mission Impossible, Spider-Man, Snyder's Justice League, and the Hannibal Lecter trilogy. 


Returns; M:I 1; Spider-man 2; Justice League version 1.0; Red Dragon

 

There are Zimmer scores I’d honestly place over Elfman’s Justice League and Red Dragon, but MoS, BvS, and Hannibal aint it.

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I haven't listened to either Doctor Strange score, but on all the other categories, Elfman is far ahead, it's not even close. And with Batman and Spider-Man, he also claims the first two spots

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Batman: I like all of them, but Batman Returns wins, mostly because I love the Catwoman theme.

 

Mission: Impossible: Elfman's first score wins, and by far. Never cared much for Gia's M: I scores.

 

Planet of the Apes: I like Elfman's score, but I voted for Gia's War for the POTA because it has some truly great moments.

 

Spiderman: Oh boy, that was a tricky one. I've loved everything from the Raimi trilogy since childhood. On the other hand, Gia's scores for Homecoming and FFH are outstanding, specially the latter with its killer Mysterio theme.

 

Doctor Strange: I'm not familiarized enough with Elfman's score, I'll wait until I've seen the movie (which probably won't happen until next weekend). That said, I still think Strange is Gia's worst MCU score.

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Batman Returns: my third favourite super-hero score (after Williams' Superman of course and Horner's Spider-Man)

 

No preference for the MI: I think I prefer the score of Elfman as an album but Gia's effort are far more effective in the movie

 

War for the Planet of the Apes: one of my favourite Gia's effort

 

Spider-Man: Far From Home: Just because of the Mysterio's theme

 

No preference: it's a very hard one because Gia's theme suites simply perfectly Dr. Strange but the rest of the score is a bit weak while Elfman's score is absolutely brillant but lack of a strong themes. So Gia wins with the theme and Elfman with the general score

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Meant to do a write-up when I voted the other day:

 

The Batman: I really like Elfman's Batman theme, but I like Giacchino's score more overall, especially his themes for Catwoman and Bruce Wayne.

 

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol: GP was the clear winner for me here. I was going to list some of my favorite tracks and realized it was most of the tracks lol. (My #1 track would have to be "A Man, A Plan, A Code, Dubai".) The score has a lot of energy without being overwhelming and has a nice, easy flow to it, IMO.

 

War for the Planet of the Apes: This was a tough one because I absolutely love both of Giacchino's scores. I ultimately went with War because it reprises the themes from Dawn (except Koba's, I think?), adds some nice new ones, and evolves Caesar's theme in a cool way.

 

Spider-Man: Far From Home: I love the transformation of Mysterio's theme from heroic to villainous.

 

Doctor Strange: Having seen the new movie once and listened to Elfman's score 4-5 times now, I don't think Elfman's score has the strong sense of identity or distinct color palette that Giacchino's Doctor Strange does. I think Elfman's score serves its movie well and I'm sure I'll appreciate it more over time, but for now I'm still wishing I could peek into the universe where Giacchino got to score MoM.

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Just stumbled on this random fan-made title sequence for 'No Way Home.' It's bloody beautiful.

 

Such great work with all the Spider-Man themes together. The way they blend and move between Elfman's, Horner's, Zimmer's and Giacchino's themes is incredible.

 

 

 

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36 minutes ago, leeallen01 said:

Just stumbled on this random fan-made title sequence for 'No Way Home.' It's bloody beautiful.

 

Such great work with all the Spider-Man themes together. The way they blend and move between Elfman's, Horner's, Zimmer's and Giacchino's themes is incredible.

 

 

 

Very nice! I also like that he included the animated spider man theme as well. I would have liked more use of Elfman's Horner's and Zimmer's themes in NWH, though I do think Gia did a good job overall, its just lacking in the old theme department.

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22 minutes ago, Mr. Who said:

I do think Gia did a good job overall, its just lacking in the old theme department.

Precisely my opinion on NWH's score. It's decent music on its own, but, as a fan, I'd really love to listen to new versions of the Elfman and Horner theme in all their glory.

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Batman Returns - Elfman

Mission Impossible - Elfman

War for the Planet of the Apes - Giacchino

Spider-Man 2 - Elfman

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness by Danny Elfman (But I think Giacchino did a better job with the main theme and the intrumentation)

 

 

 

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Batman Returns (I have always preferences this to the original, and Gia’s is disappointing)

Mission: Impossible III (as good as Ghost Protocol’s score is, 3 is the defining MI film score to me... and I heretically detest Elfman’s score)

WFTPOTA (one of Gia’s best ever!)

Far From Home (the two second films are by far the best scores but I like FFH slightly more)

Doctor Strange (I wasn’t impressed by Elfman’s effort)

 

...I swear I’m not a Giacchino fanboy...

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DAWN.....APES is easily the superior score ( and film)

I suspect it didn't score above WAR is because the CD is so rare many never heard it.

 

 

 

I.just noticed " home" is in the title of all three. SPIDEY flicks!

And the APES films also have interchangeable and confusing titles I.e. DAWN and RISE mean the same thing!

 

Wassup did dat?!

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  • 7 months later...

Oh boy, Giacchino's Doctor Strange is one of his only scores I actively dislike. I think it's so bland and uninspired, and his EPIC CHOIR is so silly. For me, it's the worst superhero score he ever wrote.

 

Multiverse of Madness might not be Elfman's finest hour, but it's quite decent and fun to listen. It's much less grating to me than Giacchino's score.

 

Either way, I do think Christopher Young should've scored one of these movies. He'd surely write something that would top both of these scores.

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