Movie Score Monday
It’s time for another installment of Movie Score Monday, wherein I discuss and share some of my favorite film scores…
AMELIE
I’m going to get very sappy here and admit that I, Sean, do in fact <3 this movie. Yes, just as teenage girls less-than-three their crushes, so do I adore Amelie. But beautiful as it is, it would simply be unfinished without the wonderfully warm and whimsical score by Yann Tiersen. It compliments the movie perfectly, note for note. And as if most American's didn't already soundtrack their fantasy visits to Paris with an accordion, they certainly did so after hearing this soundtrack where the instrument dominates, alongside piano and violin accompaniment. This is the kind of music I love to have on when I'm doing something creative, or even when I'm simply trying to inspire creativity.
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Yann Tiersen – La valse D’Amelie
LEGEND
This is tricky because there are actually two soundtracks to Legend. The original was by Jerry Goldsmith, but the studio didn’t like it and forced director Ridley Scott to re-edit the film and use Berlin Schoolers Tangerine Dream instead of Goldsmith. The film was also edited down from its original 2 hour from to 1 hr and 30 minutes. The short version was released here in the states, and the longer version was shown in Europe. Both are actually worth watching because they each have their strengths and weaknesses. In terms of the soundtrack, I prefer a mix of both, really. I could do without Bryan Ferry and Jon Anderson’s contributions to the Tangerine Dream version, for example, because they just feel totally wrong in a fantasy film (although I dig them outside this context). On the other hand, I think Goldsmith went a bit bland in places, especially during the Waltz scene with Mia Sara’s character. The Tangerine Dream version invokes carnival music, and for some reason carnival music has always creeped me out. Maybe it was watching Something Wicked This Way Comes when I was little? At any rate, there’s one really fantastic soundtrack if you mix and match.
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ALIENS/STAR TREK II & III
Here’s the thing – James Horner has a bad habit of ripping himself off. I’m not sure if it’s deliberate, if it’s a kind of easter egg or he’s just not very inventive. All I know is, he doesn’t try to hide it. Take the films referenced above – he scored Star Trek II in 1982 and Star Trek III in 1984. III uses a great deal of his score for II, just resequenced and rearranged. That’s not so bad, really, as the 2 films were part of the same series and III was a direct continuation of II. But then came 1986, and he took the job for Aliens, which reuses a lot of the themes and motifs from the Trek arrangements (he also threw in some incidentals from his Krull score). I’ll confess to totally enjoying them, however, despite the fact that it can be distracting at times. Since I like the original score, I can’t really say I don’t like the copied and cannibalized versions, can I? He did dress it up a bit more for Aliens, but his Trek II & III scores really conjure up old Hollywood swashbuckling epics and bring them into the future. They’re just so dramatic and OTT – perfect for what many call the ultimate Space Opera.
Compare these two:
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James Horner – Klingons (Star Trek III)
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James Horner – Ripley’s Rescue (Aliens)
And now these two:
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James Horner – Genesis Countdown (Star Trek II)
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James Horner – Going After Newt (Aliens)
NEXT WEEK: V FOR VENDETTA, THE FOUNTAIN
Tags: movie score monday, Movies & TV
Amelie and The Fountain are also on my favorite scores list – Somewhere in Time is another.
Both incredibly beautiful scores!