The Day the Earth Stood Still
Tyler Bates
" A shameful and uninspired borefest "Written by William Bard - Review of the regular release
Hiring Tyler Bates as the composer for the 2008 remake of the sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still was the first mistake. Allowing him to get away with 'composing' such a piece of aural trash was the second. What this film needed was a composer who could pay homage to Herrman, provide an interesting, haunting, otherworldly, brilliant musical accompaniment that could stand on its own two feet and be remembered as a score – as Herrman's was. But alas, remakes do often tend to be nothing compared to their originals. And this fact applies to both this film and score.
Opening with the dull "Stars" (a haunting cue which sounds like little more than an extended version of LOST's "Main Title"), the score begins slowly, creepily. In fact tracks of choral mystery and wonder (yeah, right) are the highlights of the score. We are talking about "Mountain Climber", "Orb Rising / the Day the Earth Stood Still" and "He's Leaving", and even they fail to capture one’s attention for anything longer than three minutes at a time. That’s nine minutes maximum in three tracks, out of over fifty minutes of score.
More tracks of pure boring and/or dissonant trash make up a majority of the score. You may pick a track which you hate the most: "Do You Feel That?", "G.O.R.T.", "Surgery", "Interrogation", "You Should Let me Go", "A Friend to the Earth", "Came to Save the Earth", "I’m Staying", "Containing G.O.R.T.", "They’re Not Afraid of Us", "Flash Climber", "See my Son", "Cemetery", "Distress", "Power Down", "The Beginning"; ... This we all encounter, while a small few attempts to lull us with their ten seconds of non-cacophonous, soft strings – or excite us with their ten seconds of rhythmic electronic 'battle music' are tossed onto the end. These tracks are what really bring the score's rating down.
Another small assortment of tracks are primarily 'battle music' with not quite as many of those electronic dissonant chords that the listener comes to loathe in the above-listed tracks, but still enough to kill what’s left of the tracks ("National Security", "This is Not an Exercise", "Military Approach", "Fighter Drones", "Helicopter Collision", "Wrong Place Wrong Time" and "Aphid Reign").
While tracks like "Aphid Reign" do indeed attempt to redeem themselves by the time they end, it comes across as altogether cheesy with emotionality. Poorly orchestrated, synthesized trash, it sounds no better than what an amateur would write. A professional should do better. And this score alone has done a wonderful job of pointing out to me – and many others, I presume – at just how unprofessional Mr. Bates can be at his film scoring. For if I were him, I'd be ashamed.
In conclusion, the score to the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still begins as a boring and cacophonous mess. And it stays that way most of the time. Very rare are the occasions on which the score will rise up with something, and I can honestly say I cannot recall a single motif (if there are any) featured in this album. It seems as if Bates was more intent on keeping the overall atmosphere of the listen to the 'creepy' level, rather than establishing any sort of main theme – even if that meant keeping it to the 'boring' level as well.
The fifty-three or so minutes of 'score' on this album drag along at the slowest rate imaginable, with twenty-eight tracks of extreme shortness. One feels as though they are making virtually no progress when attempting to listen to the album as a whole, because the tracks just keep on coming. When we reach the final track "The Beginning" (an ironic title for the final track), this track is considered to be a breath of fresh air! And if you make it that long without contemplating or acting upon the thought of suicide, you will feel relieved that the nightmare is over.
Tracklisting
1. Stars (0.39)
2. Mountain Climber (2.41)
3. National Security (2.48)
4. This is Not an Exercise (0.53)
5. Do You Feel That? (2.00)
6. Military Approach (1.07)
7. G.O.R.T. (2.43)
8. Surgery (1.31)
9. Interrogation (2.33)
10. You Should Let me Go (2.25)
11. A Friend to the Earth (1.55)
12. Fighter Drones (1.24)
13. Came to Save the Earth (0.46)
14. I'm Staying (1.11)
15. Helen Drives (0.45)
16. Containing G.O.R.T. (0.45)
17. Orb Rising - The Day the Earth Stood Still (2.41)
18. They're Not Afraid of Us (1.21)
19. Flash Chamber (0.54)
20. Helicopter Collision (5.14)
21. See my Son (2.12)
22. Cemetery (3.19)
23. Distress (2.00)
24. Wrong Place Wrong Time (0.56)
25. Aphid Reign (4.17)
26. Power Down (0.56)
27. He's Leaving (1.50)
28. The Beginning (1.11)
Total Length: 52.57
Opening with the dull "Stars" (a haunting cue which sounds like little more than an extended version of LOST's "Main Title"), the score begins slowly, creepily. In fact tracks of choral mystery and wonder (yeah, right) are the highlights of the score. We are talking about "Mountain Climber", "Orb Rising / the Day the Earth Stood Still" and "He's Leaving", and even they fail to capture one’s attention for anything longer than three minutes at a time. That’s nine minutes maximum in three tracks, out of over fifty minutes of score.
More tracks of pure boring and/or dissonant trash make up a majority of the score. You may pick a track which you hate the most: "Do You Feel That?", "G.O.R.T.", "Surgery", "Interrogation", "You Should Let me Go", "A Friend to the Earth", "Came to Save the Earth", "I’m Staying", "Containing G.O.R.T.", "They’re Not Afraid of Us", "Flash Climber", "See my Son", "Cemetery", "Distress", "Power Down", "The Beginning"; ... This we all encounter, while a small few attempts to lull us with their ten seconds of non-cacophonous, soft strings – or excite us with their ten seconds of rhythmic electronic 'battle music' are tossed onto the end. These tracks are what really bring the score's rating down.
Another small assortment of tracks are primarily 'battle music' with not quite as many of those electronic dissonant chords that the listener comes to loathe in the above-listed tracks, but still enough to kill what’s left of the tracks ("National Security", "This is Not an Exercise", "Military Approach", "Fighter Drones", "Helicopter Collision", "Wrong Place Wrong Time" and "Aphid Reign").
While tracks like "Aphid Reign" do indeed attempt to redeem themselves by the time they end, it comes across as altogether cheesy with emotionality. Poorly orchestrated, synthesized trash, it sounds no better than what an amateur would write. A professional should do better. And this score alone has done a wonderful job of pointing out to me – and many others, I presume – at just how unprofessional Mr. Bates can be at his film scoring. For if I were him, I'd be ashamed.
In conclusion, the score to the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still begins as a boring and cacophonous mess. And it stays that way most of the time. Very rare are the occasions on which the score will rise up with something, and I can honestly say I cannot recall a single motif (if there are any) featured in this album. It seems as if Bates was more intent on keeping the overall atmosphere of the listen to the 'creepy' level, rather than establishing any sort of main theme – even if that meant keeping it to the 'boring' level as well.
The fifty-three or so minutes of 'score' on this album drag along at the slowest rate imaginable, with twenty-eight tracks of extreme shortness. One feels as though they are making virtually no progress when attempting to listen to the album as a whole, because the tracks just keep on coming. When we reach the final track "The Beginning" (an ironic title for the final track), this track is considered to be a breath of fresh air! And if you make it that long without contemplating or acting upon the thought of suicide, you will feel relieved that the nightmare is over.
Tracklisting
1. Stars (0.39)
2. Mountain Climber (2.41)
3. National Security (2.48)
4. This is Not an Exercise (0.53)
5. Do You Feel That? (2.00)
6. Military Approach (1.07)
7. G.O.R.T. (2.43)
8. Surgery (1.31)
9. Interrogation (2.33)
10. You Should Let me Go (2.25)
11. A Friend to the Earth (1.55)
12. Fighter Drones (1.24)
13. Came to Save the Earth (0.46)
14. I'm Staying (1.11)
15. Helen Drives (0.45)
16. Containing G.O.R.T. (0.45)
17. Orb Rising - The Day the Earth Stood Still (2.41)
18. They're Not Afraid of Us (1.21)
19. Flash Chamber (0.54)
20. Helicopter Collision (5.14)
21. See my Son (2.12)
22. Cemetery (3.19)
23. Distress (2.00)
24. Wrong Place Wrong Time (0.56)
25. Aphid Reign (4.17)
26. Power Down (0.56)
27. He's Leaving (1.50)
28. The Beginning (1.11)
Total Length: 52.57