Star Wars: The Force Awakens (12/18/15)

[IrishJedi]

****ing thank you Irish.

Months ago I had to read post after post of "Prequels music was better than TFA becuz of Duel of da Fatez and Across da Starz." But if you remove those signature themes from the films they really were just a jumble of forgettably recycled themes from the OT. TFA didn't rest on one big musical moment (Duel of the Fates) it had real range and nuance as you mention what with Rey's theme, Kylo's theme, the Resistance March, the freaking lovely music as Kylo watched the Starkiller blast from the bridge of the Finalizer or when Rey walked the steps to meet Luke. It had the big iconic themes, it had the subtlety (hell Rey's iconic theme itself was quite nuanced) and it blended them together in masterful fashion.

Glad to see someone else actually post on this site who could appreciate it.

:

Yeah, thing is... While "Duel of The Fates", "Across The Stars" and "Battle of The Heroes" are all great pieces of music they felt contrived then and even to this day don't really feel STAR WARS to me, whereas everything in TFA instantly did.

Also, Kylo Ren's theme is a perfect homage to Hammer Horror movie themes, yet feels unmistakably STAR WARS. It's that kind of genius that flows throughout the entire TFA score. I can only laugh at people who write off this score because it doesn't have an INYOURFACE! piece like the above 3 mentioned.

 

[jye4ever]

Genious.....Perfect.....Range.....Nuance.....Lovely!


TFA score!

 

[DiFabio]

Yeah, Irish and Khev are nuts.

EDIT: And Rorywan. TFA soundtrack is balls.


Glad Ennio Morricone won the gold for Hateful 8. That was a great and memorable score. Loved how everyone stood up for him. From The good, the bad, and the ugly, to The Thing to Hateful 8, he's done a lot of great work. Nice to see him recognized. He was one of the wins I wanted to see last night.


"You only need to hang mean bastards, but mean bastards you need to hang."

 

[Khev]

Come on jye, those of us who appreciated TFA have The Witch, those who did not have Deadpool. Stay with us man, don't strip naked and head off to join the crazy DP fans in the woods now.

 

[Khev]

I didn't see H8 because I refuse to see Quentin's edited it down version reserved for those of us who have committed the sin of not living next to a Roadhouse venue. I'll wait for blu-ray so I can experience the *entire* film the first time I see it. So for all I know the score was better than TFA's. But that doesn't change the fact that it was absolutely a great score in its own right.

 

[Rorywan]

Yeah, Irish and Khev are nuts.

EDIT: And Rorywan. TFA soundtrack is balls.


Glad Ennio Morricone won the gold for Hateful 8. That was a great and memorable score. Loved how everyone stood up for him. From The good, the bad, and the ugly, to The Thing to Hateful 8, he's done a lot of great work. Nice to see him recognized. He was one of the wins I wanted to see last night.

thanks for the edit.

You are wrong though. It's beautiful.
Maybe it wasn't commercial enough for you kids.

 

[DiFabio]

Maybe it wasn't commercial enough for you kids.

Oh the movie was commercial enough, we all know that.


Truth be told, I'm glad the Force Awakens won what it won at the Oscars . . .

 

[a-dev]

I feel like I'm reading ''Scores with memorable tunes Pffft/ Scores with ''nuance'' ''

What?

Sometimes I just don't understand human behaviour

 

[karamazov80]

That (along with Leo) was this year's "Let's just give it to him now" Award. Amazingly, Morricone had never won before.

Yeah. And for the guy in Bridge of Spies it was, "Let's just give it to him now since he's old and will never have another chance like this."

Well, if that's the case then Stallone should've got his.

Huh. I thought he won one for Rocky, but now see that he didn't. They can't all get one of those!

Neither Leo nor Morricone deserved to win for these projects. But both deserved oscars at different times in their career.

Agreed. It was the apology Oscar.

 

[Rorywan]

Oh the movie was commercial enough, we all know that.


Truth be told, I'm glad the Force Awakens won what it won at the Oscars . . .

I'm a fan of Morricone, and he more than deserves an Oscar, just not for this.

 

[IrishJedi]

You are wrong though. It's beautiful.
Maybe it wasn't commercial enough for you kids.

I feel like I'm reading ''Scores with memorable tunes Pffft/ Scores with ''nuance''

TFA has several memorable, "humable" themes (Rey's Theme, Kylo Ren's Theme, March of The Resistance, The Jedi Steps, etc). You just kinda have to listen to them more than a couple of times. And, again, I'm glad it doesn't have anything gimmicky like "Duel of The Fates".

 

[a-dev]

TFA has several memorable, "humable" themes (Rey's Theme, Kylo Ren's Theme, March of The Resistance, The Jedi Steps, etc). You just kinda have to listen to them more than a couple of times. And, again, I'm glad it doesn't have anything gimmicky like "Duel of The Fates".

It's got Rey's theme, I give it that and that alone

 

[IrishJedi]

It's got Rey's theme, I give it that and that alone

Your loss.

 

[DiFabio]

I'm a fan of Morricone, and he more than deserves an Oscar, just not for this.

I agree. Of course he's done better scores.


Hateful 8 was the best pick for Best Score last night though, that or Sicario. As soon as I heard the Hateful 8 tracks when I saw the film it clicked with me. All that new scored material, even the Thing tracks like Eternity, Beastiality, and Despair featured within the film felt atmospheric and fit in that setting. It's a pretty flawless soundtrack that really compliments the setting and action unfolding on the screen. I was aware of this from the opening with the crucifix sculpture in the snow to the very end with the Lincoln letter's where "There won't be many coming home." (non-Morricone) kicks in. If it's one of the few scores I'll listen to when I drive to work (outside of the film viewing), then it's a great score.


This is all subjective anyway, as you say. I'll give TFA Rey's theme I guess. That stood out as something.

 

[Khev]

Me, IrishJedi, and Rorywan listening to our favorite scores:

DiFabio, jye4ever, and a-dev listening to their favorite scores:

I kid, I kid...

I feel like I'm reading ''Scores with memorable tunes Pffft/ Scores with ''nuance'' ''

Okay seriously, outside of "Duel of the Fates" try and hum ANY theme from TPM. Can't do it can you? Neither can I. But with TFA I've got Rey's theme, Kylo's theme, the Resistance March, those are all very memorable. IMO The Force Awakens' score got back to that elegant combination of iconic and memorable themes with subtle, more emotional cues that we haven't had in SW since ESB. Empire has the Imperial March obviously, but also the great understated music of Yoda, Luke looking at his face in Vader's mask, the quiet Force theme that plays when Leia is "hearing" Luke, the various themes in Cloud City, etc.

 

[IrishJedi]

It's interesting that if I were to rank the 7 scores it would ALMOST line up with my ranking of the films themselves.

SCORES:

1. TESB
2. ANH
3. ROTJ
4. TFA
5. TPM
6. ROTS
7. AOTC


Films:

1. TESB
2. ANH
3. TFA
4. ROTJ
5. TPM
6. ROTS
7. AOTC

 

[Rorywan]

Did you pick up the ultimate vinyl collection? The version of the original Empire 2 LP release is superb, the HD music download of it is spectacular.

 

[IrishJedi]

Did you pick up the ultimate vinyl collection? The version of the original Empire 2 LP release is superb, the HD music download of it is spectacular.

I did!

 

[a-dev]

Okay seriously, outside of "Duel of the Fates" try and hum ANY theme from TPM. Can't do it can you? Neither can I. But with TFA I've got Rey's theme, Kylo's theme, the Resistance March, those are all very memorable. IMO The Force Awakens' score got back to that elegant combination of iconic and memorable themes with subtle, more emotional cues that we haven't had in SW since ESB. Empire has the Imperial March obviously, but also the great understated music of Yoda, Luke looking at his face in Vader's mask, the quiet Force theme that plays when Leia is "hearing" Luke, the various themes in Cloud City, etc.

I'm all for a bit of prequel bashing but no, I can in fact hum more music from TPM - Anakin's theme, the invasion of Naboo music, Qui-Gon's funeral, the celebration tune at the end going into the end credits....

I really feel like I would be required to drill the TFA soundtrack into my head to remember anything other than Rey's theme. But that's the thing, I haven't felt greatly inclined to listen to the score more than 3 or 4 times. If you have to force yourself to like something....

 

[a-dev]

Meh. Even before anyone responds I'm bowing out of this particular topic, what's the point really.