I have no idea why but recently I've had Alan Silvestri's theme from Eraser stuck in my head. It probably has something to do with the fact that his G.I. Joe score comes out next week. Anyway, who wants a little overblown Silvestri?
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Jerry Goldsmith Remembrance Day
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the man who is arguably the greatest composer of music for films.
Since Goldsmith's passing there have been loads of his scores that have finally seen a commercial release. Only yesterday I received in the mail The Boys From Brazil, Lonely are the Brave (Jerry's first important film score for the development of his career) and In Harm's Way.
So I have a pile of Jerry Goldsmith CDs sitting on my desk consisting of the following:
Lonely are the Brave
Rio Conchos
In Harm's Way
The Omen
The Boys From Brazil
Lionheart
Total Recall
Basic Instinct
Rudy
The Ghost and the Darkness
The 13th Warrior
How will you spend your Jerry Goldsmith Remembrance Day?
Since Goldsmith's passing there have been loads of his scores that have finally seen a commercial release. Only yesterday I received in the mail The Boys From Brazil, Lonely are the Brave (Jerry's first important film score for the development of his career) and In Harm's Way.
So I have a pile of Jerry Goldsmith CDs sitting on my desk consisting of the following:
Lonely are the Brave
Rio Conchos
In Harm's Way
The Omen
The Boys From Brazil
Lionheart
Total Recall
Basic Instinct
Rudy
The Ghost and the Darkness
The 13th Warrior
How will you spend your Jerry Goldsmith Remembrance Day?
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Jablonsky Variations
To me there's something slightly "off" about Steve Jablonsky's score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. For awhile I couldn't put my finger on it but I think I've figured it out. More on that later though.
Jablonsky's score functions well in the film which is its primary - and arguably its only - job. It punctuates the film in all the ways we've come to expect from years of Zimmer training and, like the film, occasionally takes itself a little too seriously. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.
The old themes that reappear are clearly developed rather than merely cut-and-pasted onto the film. Nowhere is this more evident than in the theme for Optimus Prime. Not only is it much more elegiac (appropriately) this time around it is also elaborated upon and altered slightly to represent the history of the Primes. Lisbeth Scott once again is called upon to deliver her "vaguely ethnic wailing" for a Remote Control score. However it occasionally treads dangerously close to lines of questionable taste. I do miss the theme for the All Spark from the first film. I thought that it had transferred to Bumblebee during the downtown battle at the end of the first film but I guess not.*
As far as new themes are concerned I find the theme for The Fallen to be, well, a bit simplistic. I realise it doesn't have to be overly complex; all he has to do is be the really bad guy (though to be honest I never felt like the danger was that great with this character). I guess my issue with it is that it sounds like music leftover from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.
At first I wasn't wild about the album but it has since grown on me. There don't seem to be any real standout cues the way "Arrival to Earth" and "Scorponok" are on the first album/film. I don't think I'll ever find it the rollicking good time the first is, but it's still a lot of fun (which, I suppose, is unfair because the first album/film is an embarrassment of musical riches for film music lovers). It's a little uneven but there are several really nice moments on the album (I've recently come to particularly enjoy "Einstein's Wrong" and "Tomb of the Primes"). I do wish the album had been sequenced better. Most of the action cues seem to be situated on the back end of the disc and it doesn't make for quality ebb-and-flow. I think a simple matter of reordering could have made the disc better.
As far as the "off" element of the score, I think the problem is actually Hans Zimmer himself. In both the CD insert and the end of the credits in the film there's a big "thank you" to Hans. Although he is uncredited, Hans Zimmer apparently produced a large chunk of the score for the film, which is not difficult to surmise simply by listening to it. I think I know why. The score for the first Transformers is fantastic. The problem is it was for a Michael Bay film; it constantly lost out to over-the-top, amped-up sound effects. I think that Steve Jablonsky asked Zimmer to produce the score so that he wouldn't "overcompose". To be fair I think it's a perfectly legitimate concern. If you're scoring a Michael Bay film, half of your music probably won't be heard over the thunderous sound design so you may as well reign it in a bit. Perhaps Jablonsky didn't know exactly how to do that so he asked Hans for help**. I also think that Zimmer was able to bring some "darker" aspects to Jablonsky's score. These things being said, I miss all those tiny little details from the first score.
Overall I enjoyed the score and think it functioned well in the film. I just miss the abundance of thematic writing that characterizes the first score.
*In retrospect it seems plausible that this might have been Jablonsky's original intention. This would make sense since Bumblebee is the only one of the Autobots or the Decepticons that has direct contact with the All Spark (until Sam uses it to kill Megatron). Perhaps I'm giving the composer too much credit for possibly putting that much thought into it. I might be wrong but it seems that from listening to "Bumblebee" on the album (which is denoted as "different version in film") that it was more-or-less intended for use during the downtown battle when Mikaela drives the attached-to-a-tow-truck Bumblee through the streets so he can help his fellow Autobots. However, after consulting the film and listening also to the album that shall not be named this intention was never carried through. Perhaps, if this was the intent, its intelligence was lost on the director.
**Please note: I'm not denying the craftsmanship of Steve Jablonsky here, just saying that perhaps he didn't know how to write less and keep it functional and good. Hans, as we all know, has become a master of drawing on the smallest amount of material.
Jablonsky's score functions well in the film which is its primary - and arguably its only - job. It punctuates the film in all the ways we've come to expect from years of Zimmer training and, like the film, occasionally takes itself a little too seriously. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.
The old themes that reappear are clearly developed rather than merely cut-and-pasted onto the film. Nowhere is this more evident than in the theme for Optimus Prime. Not only is it much more elegiac (appropriately) this time around it is also elaborated upon and altered slightly to represent the history of the Primes. Lisbeth Scott once again is called upon to deliver her "vaguely ethnic wailing" for a Remote Control score. However it occasionally treads dangerously close to lines of questionable taste. I do miss the theme for the All Spark from the first film. I thought that it had transferred to Bumblebee during the downtown battle at the end of the first film but I guess not.*
As far as new themes are concerned I find the theme for The Fallen to be, well, a bit simplistic. I realise it doesn't have to be overly complex; all he has to do is be the really bad guy (though to be honest I never felt like the danger was that great with this character). I guess my issue with it is that it sounds like music leftover from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.
At first I wasn't wild about the album but it has since grown on me. There don't seem to be any real standout cues the way "Arrival to Earth" and "Scorponok" are on the first album/film. I don't think I'll ever find it the rollicking good time the first is, but it's still a lot of fun (which, I suppose, is unfair because the first album/film is an embarrassment of musical riches for film music lovers). It's a little uneven but there are several really nice moments on the album (I've recently come to particularly enjoy "Einstein's Wrong" and "Tomb of the Primes"). I do wish the album had been sequenced better. Most of the action cues seem to be situated on the back end of the disc and it doesn't make for quality ebb-and-flow. I think a simple matter of reordering could have made the disc better.
As far as the "off" element of the score, I think the problem is actually Hans Zimmer himself. In both the CD insert and the end of the credits in the film there's a big "thank you" to Hans. Although he is uncredited, Hans Zimmer apparently produced a large chunk of the score for the film, which is not difficult to surmise simply by listening to it. I think I know why. The score for the first Transformers is fantastic. The problem is it was for a Michael Bay film; it constantly lost out to over-the-top, amped-up sound effects. I think that Steve Jablonsky asked Zimmer to produce the score so that he wouldn't "overcompose". To be fair I think it's a perfectly legitimate concern. If you're scoring a Michael Bay film, half of your music probably won't be heard over the thunderous sound design so you may as well reign it in a bit. Perhaps Jablonsky didn't know exactly how to do that so he asked Hans for help**. I also think that Zimmer was able to bring some "darker" aspects to Jablonsky's score. These things being said, I miss all those tiny little details from the first score.
Overall I enjoyed the score and think it functioned well in the film. I just miss the abundance of thematic writing that characterizes the first score.
*In retrospect it seems plausible that this might have been Jablonsky's original intention. This would make sense since Bumblebee is the only one of the Autobots or the Decepticons that has direct contact with the All Spark (until Sam uses it to kill Megatron). Perhaps I'm giving the composer too much credit for possibly putting that much thought into it. I might be wrong but it seems that from listening to "Bumblebee" on the album (which is denoted as "different version in film") that it was more-or-less intended for use during the downtown battle when Mikaela drives the attached-to-a-tow-truck Bumblee through the streets so he can help his fellow Autobots. However, after consulting the film and listening also to the album that shall not be named this intention was never carried through. Perhaps, if this was the intent, its intelligence was lost on the director.
**Please note: I'm not denying the craftsmanship of Steve Jablonsky here, just saying that perhaps he didn't know how to write less and keep it functional and good. Hans, as we all know, has become a master of drawing on the smallest amount of material.
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