[Closed] Now Playing XLIX

David?!

NP: The Dark Knight - the most overestimated and overpaid composer in the world

Whenever I see people singing the praises of something I really hated with a passion I generally do try and check back to see what I missed, but holy neurotoxic vestibulopathy, Batman! There is absolutely nothing here of any value.
A whole bunch of retreaded ideas that suggest "urgency" (BOOMBERDEBOOMBERDEBOOM) or "drama" (synthy stringsssss) without rhyme or reason.

This REALLY is the Emperor's new clothes.
Empty noise. Suggestion of thematic development (it's a lie) and motifs (it's a lie), wrapped in such a sound volume that any listener is simply clobbered into submission to admit there's something there.
There isn't.

I *know* Nolan asked Zimmer to create mere noise (well, OK, a "soundscape" that wouldn't "detract from the action on screen"...and may he at least suffer several aeons of purgatory for this), but to perpetuate this sound and even be proud of it...worse still, to fuel the Cult Of Zimmer with this (a terrible thing as it fuels itself to the point that the deluded masses will defend the nothingness with such fervour that even the perpetrator of this abomination believes he created something: the ultimate cognitive dissonance!) is a true dark point in the history of music.
Any music.
Any genre.

I'm this close to actually arguing that pyres for burning onholy music are actually a pretty damn good idea if it gets rid of stuff like...this. Horrid, turgid, stupid, insulting.

...at this point I think it may be a good idea I switch this off and go listen to some actual music....

A wonderful idea. Go purge yourself, luxuriate in some Poledouris, Delerue, Rozsa or one of your favourites.

Ya, mon.



Urghhh.
I can quite imagine myself keeping on typing throughout (listening to) the score towards a sort of apocalyptically berserker rage document. It took quite an effort of will to stop! I shudder to think what my post would have looked like had I typed all the way through these seventy minutes of sheer and utter destruction of any honesty in composing, this bitter, cynical....
OK, now I'm doing it WITHOUT the score.
I gotta stop. Seriously. They'll find me dead, foaming at the mouth, behind my keyboard tomorrow morning.

Why so serious? You're like a dog chasing cars! You just need a little push.

I am the Batman.

Good taste prevails

Even more intrigued now. Will hunt these down next week. Thanks! And thank you, Jerry, for a lifetime of terrific music.

Have a care, Thunderer. Delerue did nothing more than diminish my raging homicidal mood to one of most willing bellicosity.

Not a big fan of First Blood, a bit too much suspense and not enough action, which features plenty in my favorite Goldsmith sound heard in the sequels. I might as well say First Blood is pretty boring.

Much more action-packed is First Blood Part II and it has the single best cue of the entire trilogy: Home Flight. A tremendously addictive theme that musically unleashes all the rage of the character in that point of the story. And a fitting finale.

But the most consistently entertaining for me is Rambo III, I can never get enough of all 76 minutes.

And Tyler? Well you all know I hate the guy's music with a passion, I've only heard his Goldsmith hacks in the film and he doesn't even give a nod to the master that well.

I thought Tyler's score for Rambo was okay, and very enjoyable in parts ( I'm no Tyler fan ) though I felt his use of JG's themes were a bit clumsy to my ears.

It's THE best Rambo film of them all, deliriously gory with a superbly grizzled and much older Stallone much more to my liking and none of that patriotic flag waving nonsense.

I should have said my favourite Rambo film, I agree with your other points. I enjoy II & III for all their wrong reasons.

I won't dispute your list (well...Mancina is a little iffy), but I just don't understand what there is to hate about Tyler's music. I mean, he kind of sucks at themes and can be generic as hell at times, but it's not like his scores are earsplitting noise or anything...you know, he's at least competent by any objective yardstick.

"Decimation Proclamation" is a fantastic action cue, one of my favorite Tyler pieces. Y'all are nuts.

Agreed! "Decimation Proclamation" is everything that is wrong with modern action scoring! The everything-PLUS-the-kitchen-sink approach doesn't make for good action music. Compare that monstrosity to the brilliant, cleanly orchestrated "Futile Escape" from Aliens.

-Erik-