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Which do you prefer?


David Coscina
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Which score do you prefer  

16 members have voted

  1. 1.

    • Raiders of the Lost Ark- John Williams
      15
    • First Blood- Jerry Goldsmith
      1


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I love the music of John Williams. He's tops in my books. But there is a couple of Goldsmith scores that get pretty close to my top 5 all-time fave scores, one of which is First Blood. Although the subject matter between First Blood and Raiders couldn't be more dissimilar, I always found them to be pinnacles of each composer's scoring careers in the action genre. And to my mind, First Blood has stayed with me longer. For me, it's more muscular, has greater range of emotion, and one of my all time favorite themes. Beautifully orchestrated, wonderfully scored and some excellent rhythmic moments in the percussion and brass. Awesome sound to by the National Symphony Orchestra.

Raiders was a score that I adored as a kid. But other than the appeal of the main theme, I don't find myself listening to it that much any more. And that's not because it's inferior writing. There's some exceptional moments. The Truck Chase is great although compared to "Over the Edge" cue from First Blood, it isn't quite as exciting. Maybe the differences in approach to film scoring by each composer has something to do with that. Williams' style of scoring is often reactionary, like that of a filmgoer- Goldsmith accented underlying things about a scene- he got underneath it to emphasis the entirety of the situation rather than the literal gestures. obviously this is but a theory of mine and not a declaration. I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about these two scores compared to one another.

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I know how you feel. Sometimes I'm not sure what my favorite score is. It comes down between Superman - The Movie and Star Trek - The Motion Picture.

Neil

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I'm sorry as you stated yourself the scores are so dissimilar that I might have well been asked to vote wether I prefered Russian Caviar to Peking Duck.

That's from YOLT!

;)

BTW Neil, TMP blows Superman out of the water!

Just to make a joke, Jaws does that to any other score ;)

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Part II is on top of my wishlist. In fact, I already have a copy in my basket over at Intrada, but I'm waiting to earn some more money and see if there's some more interesting CDs there so I can get a few in one go.

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Well definatly get Rambo: First Blood Part II (if it's the Silva Screen release).

It's what I consider the first modern (Goldsmith) action score.

Be sure you don't play it in the presence of anyone with a pace maker or a high blood pressure.

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What a comparison...

Be careful of your statements my very young apprentice, one could say you have experience i 'what-you-mentioned'. :P

Oh the Neil-Stef duel was funny. :nono:

But moderators should do a better example for us simple members :P

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My poll was "which do you prefer" not "which is better". I never said First Blood was better than Raiders, only that, as time has passed, I find myself still listening to First Blood much more than Raiders.

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The score to First Blood goes against the genre. It's much more emotional and filled with effective suspense cues that the blindfolded would never guess comes from a so-called "idiot-action" flick. Rambo: First Blood Part II is the weaker score because it lacks the original's heart, but on its own, it's highly enjoyable on album. From the first track, you know you're in for something unusual but exciting and thrilling from those weird macho synthy pulses.

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