[Closed] Now Playing XXXIX

SAMURAI is another superb score, Zimmer at what he does best (ethnic-tinged scores).

NP: Broken Arrow - Hans Zimmer

LOVE IT! The tragic brother hood theme is EXCELLENT in its varied form and execution. Deakin's theme is ultra cool in its full form. Hale's theme is as straightforward as can be, incorporating Randy Edelman's famous melody. The introspective theme gives great countenance to all the testosterone. One thing that's always bothered me is how the sound scape of BA is drastically different than those in other Zimmer scores from the same year, like Crimson Tide. I would posit that this is due to the inclusion of Don Harper as a major player in the additional side of the score, beside Harry Gregson-Williams, doing his first action/major score.

The official release does have the best listening experience of all the (non/legit) releases. There's only one cue that I really wanted that wasn't available with the Milan, the parachute escape piece that is an arrangement of the Tragic Brotherhood theme. It's a very short piece, but it's what I really wanted.

NP: Paycheck (Complete Score) - John Powell

It's nice to hear some of the best stuff of the score which weren't on the original release (the music for the end of the film). And I love that there's several cues where Powell experimented different ideas with the main theme. And Powell's demos have a much more orchestral sound than Zimmer's scores.

It is.

So, if he gets it, he's getting ... Sithalous?

I actually think it ALWAYS fits the film. The "oddness" only appears in the breaking of conventions.

First off, the pop beat tracks are only used on minor action & transportation sequences, and the beat fits perfectly with the gallopping horses or the kinetic energy of the action. Plus, several of them -- like the tavern fight -- really have a comedic, semi-slapstick choreography about it.

I think the music fits perfectly in these scenes, but reactionary film music fans don't like it because it's not conventional. I say "thank God it isn't!".

The rest of the score (i.e. the majority) is, however, far more conventional. A classical, orchestral score in the style of Horner or Williams. The most important moments in the film are scored conventionally, whether romance or suspense. Plus a bunch of cool medieval source cues. So it's quite silly, when you think about it, that people only base it on those secondary moments with the pop beat.

Personally, I think it's a breath of fresh air when they try something new and when they go away from convention, like the 80's rock songs in A KNIGHT'S TALE or Horner's synth music for IN THE NAME OF THE ROSE. Or Powell's marginal use of pop beat in LADYHAWKE.

Because, if you think about it, even neoromantic orchestral music is WAY inappropriate in relation to Medieval times, but we accept it because it's convention.

But I realize people want different things when seeing a new film. Not everyone is keen on new impulses. There's something "soothing" about the familiar and the wellknown too, as I'm sure the culture-critical Frankfurter School would agree.

The point is not that you can't be different, just that you have to make 'different' feel 'right' for some chunk of the audience. And a film literate audience is far fussier than the average viewer. (see PUBLIC ENEMIES and digital cinematography for a photographic example)

The films that stand out in history as odd are usually just the ones that either weren't imitated, or didn't imitate some extant trend.

NP: Archangel - Two Steps From Hell

Not strictly an album for this thread, but this is power trailer music heaven! Track after track is such a fun listen. They miss a trick with the slower, almost power ballad/Lord of The Rings vocal tracks. But the rest is a great listen.

More hits than misses.

Sorry boys, but you all get ignored save for Zimmer in my listing of this score in iTunes.

NP : THE BOURNE IDENTITY - John Powell

And the complete version of Ultimatum gives Supremacy a run for its money.