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Far and Away x Dances with Wolves


Jarbas

Which is the best score?  

42 members have voted

  1. 1.

    • Far and Away
      27
    • Dances with Wolves
      15


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I´m a very huge fan of John Williams, but I prefer John Barry´s Dances with Wolves instead of Far and Away that is a very good work too.

Which is your preference?

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Far and Away is undoubtedly the better score. Dances With Wolves is all right, but I grow easily tired of Barry's lethargic, meandering strings.

Ray Barnsbury - who finds this comparison a bit random

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Far and Away is undoubtedly the better score.  Dances With Wolves is all right, but I grow easily tired of Barry's lethargic, meandering strings.

Exactly, I got tired of it the second time I heard it. Not much musical depth at all.

It's popular with non-score listeners though.

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It's popular with non-score listeners though.

This is indeed, quite true.

My vote went to Far and Away simply because it's not nearly as boring as Dances With Wolves.

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I'd go with Far and Away based soley on "The Land Race". I do enjoy Dances with Wolves, but it gets repetitive after a while, and while the Dunbar theme is strong and beautiful, especially as the different layers take effect until it finally climaxes (ewwww....), it can't carry the whole score on its own. As mentioned, it does seem popular with non-score enthusiasts, like Dragonheart or Titanic. Far and Away is a great Williams score, and in my opinion, more consistant and enjoyable then the other.

Tim

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Hi Jarbas, great to see you around here :angry:

I go for Far and Away -- guess you had that coming, right?

Not because is by Williams, but becasue is much mroe intresting than Dances with Wolves. Barry's score has a nice few tunes, good themes, but after a bit has nothing more to hold me on it.

On other hand, Far and Away has a great diversity, even when presenting the same thmes over and over again -- with all Williams great orchestrating and arranging technic, he makes them sound fresh every time they apear aagain.

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You don't have it?

Get it immediately!  Have you heard anything from it?

Alas, no.

If you rent the movie just to hear the score in the next 4 days you will be forgiven.

If not, alas....

Justin

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i'll have to go wtih Far and Away, also not just because its JW (well, maybe a little) but its really one of my favorite scores....ever. and yeah, Land Race was the last of the thematic action cues by JW before he came up with his post Jurassic Park sound

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Far and Away is better than Dances with Wolves but just a smidge. The themes in DwW are not my cup of tea. I just can't like them no matter how hard I try.

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Dont forget the Vol 2

Unfortunate that Vol 2 hasn't got the film version of Oklahoma Territory which is better than the OST version IMO. :angry:

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I was disappointed in Vol. 2. I had really been looking forward to hearing JW rehearse the end credits, but all you can hear is a couple takes of the piece - no insightful look into the process or anything. The best thing is when the flute player messes up.

Ray Barnsbury

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And Dancing With Wolves is incredibly slow; does "The Buffalo Hunt" never end?!

The Buffalo Hunt is actually my favorite track in the entire score.

I assume Sutrgis is talking about the film version. The alternate album verson is one of the best tracks on the album. The film version never ends, never climaxes.

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The alternate is the one with the great trumpet version of Dunbar's theme, right? That is indeed a good track. In fact, they use it quite often in the background at the Wilderness Lodge resort at Walt Disney World.

Ray Barnsbury

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Yup, that's the one.

Hard choice. With Dances With Wolves, I've seen the movie enough times to see how well scored it is. I only got through the terrible, terrible, Far and Away once. Both fantastic albums, but Far and Away has more good material on the album (and more varied), and has a higher replay value. Dances With Wolves wouldn't be in my CD case for more than a day at a time, Far and Away could be in circulation for weeks.

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Had to go with Far and Away in the end. Although I have nothing but respect for Barry's Dances With Wolves.

Justin - Who thinks both are masterpieces.

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Dont forget the Vol 2

Unfortunate that Vol 2 hasn't got the film version of Oklahoma Territory which is better than the OST version IMO. 8O

What is this Vol 2 of which you speak?

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As much as Far and awya, the film, sucks, is worth watching just to hear the score at work. The scoring is just so perfect, that make it worth the pain of watching an otherwise plain horrible film.

As for the Vol 2, that was a bootelg released on Concorde Records (the same that put out the 2 cd set of Hook) back in 1999.

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What is this Vol 2 of which you speak?

You can check some of the tracks and info (including cover art) here. Just go to "CD Covers" click on "John Williams" (not trying to insult your intelligence :( ). The scores are in alphebetical order.

Tim

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Hi Jarbas, great to see you around here  :)  

I go for Far and Away -- guess you had that coming, right?

Not because is by Williams, but becasue is much mroe intresting than Dances with Wolves. Barry's score has a nice few tunes, good themes, but after a bit has nothing more to hold me on it.

On other hand, Far and Away has a great diversity, even when presenting the same thmes over and over again -- with all Williams great orchestrating and arranging technic, he makes them sound fresh every time they apear aagain.

Hi, Miguel! I'm always here, but I'm a better observant than a participant! ;)

About Dances with Wolves... when I bought this LP in 1990 I had the same opinion that most of you here. So, I sold the LP and only this year I bought the CD (expanded version). Maybe, because these years without listening to DwW my opinion has changed... ;)

But, I love Far and Away, especially The Land Race... it's fantastic!!!!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

i didnt think F&A movie sucked that bad. sure, it wasnt great, but it was entertaining enough in a slightly silly way. it was photographed beautifully (photography is a big hobby of mine) and the land race was a good action sequence by any standard. oh yea, the music was brilliant!

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Coincidentally, for all those in the UK, "Far and Away" is on ITV3 tonight at 9:00pm.

By the way......I think the score to "Far and Away" is amazing. In fact, this score holds a sentimental value for me since it was the first Marching-band show we performed when I went to High School [in Oklahoma funnily enough]. The Land Race cue is fantastic to be playing if you're a trumpet player - but come on, what John Williams' score *isn't* amazing for trumpet players?

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Memoirs of a Giesha? :P

I know what you mean, Beowulf, and you're lucky to have gotten to play that.

~Sturgis, whose marching band show was Phantom of the Opera this year; great music ;)

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I played a Far and Away piece in marching band as well (and concert band once, for that matter). And yes, "The Land Race" has consistently great brass parts; I would say that the horn shines just as much as the trumpet in that piece, and perhaps even moreso in the score as a whole. Great stuff!

Ray Barnsbury

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I remember seeing the movie, but i cant remember hearing the score for dances with wolves. Tell the truth i don't think i seen Far and Away. So I can't vote.

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