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I’m surprised they went with such an obscure joke. I mean, who else but us would get that? But seriously, Hans Zimmer would have been a better joke. And seeing Danny Elfman getting decapitated was traumatizing to me.
I was watching happily with my friends, laughing heartily at the John Williams jokes, when all of a sudden, Chris uttered Danny’s name, the music played, and then I let out a gasp from which I did not recover for a good minute. Why, Seth Macfarlane? Why?! The horror!
I also liked “Hulk” and “Planet of the Apes,” and at first I thought “The Kingdom” would sound similar, but it didn’t. It honestly sounded like a Harry Gregson-Williams or John Powell score (thank goodness it didn’t sound like a Gustavo Santaolalla score). I can definitely understand why Elfman decided to tackle this project, as it’s a complete shift from the stuff he’s been doing for the past few years, and the movie is certainly provocative and intense. Now I’m just going to have to wait for his other works, and film-wise, we won’t hear from him again until “Hellboy 2” next JULY! Ahhh!!!
That sounds insanely familiar. As in, wow there are a lot of fantasy novel series about similar things getting adapted into movies (Harry Potter, Golden Compass, Dark is Rising, Spiderwick Chronicles, etc). Maybe Burton can put a fresh spin on the genre?
Thanks a bunch for coming here and sharing your story, Mike. I think it’s unanimously agreed that you did a stellar job adapting Elfman’s theme and creating just a fun and exciting piece of music. Keep up the great work and good luck on your future projects!
In Verta’s defense regarding the Catwoman/Joker themes, that is a very short score selection. The whole thing is just over four minutes, so snippets of the themes really would have been so brief that it was probably wiser to just take a chance and write abbreviated themes for them. I think it’s a really great piece of adapted writing, something that Chris Young could learn from. This is just a guy who took a great established theme and really had a great time exploring all of its variations. One I particularly like is from 3:15-3:30, where he sort of does “Charge of the Batmobile” but still spices it up, and it sounds great. So agreed, really great piece of music.
Most likely he was looking for a more interesting and intense project than the light stuff he’s been doing for the past few movies, just to spice things up. My school is holding a free screening of the movie on 9/18 that I’m planning on seeing, so I’ll be interested to see how it turns out.
There’s the Chris Young promo and the Deborah Lurie promo, and Lurie’s is far superior. Young’s deleted tracks, including his new version of the love theme, were godawful to me, and the only standout track was “Birth of Sandman.” Lurie’s stuff is pretty good, my favorite being “Setting MJ Down,” which has a really nice statement of the Spider-Man theme and the Elfman love theme.
“Remains of the Day” wins for me. “Oogie Boogie’s Song” was the only one from NBC that I disliked, and I was totally into “Remains of the Day” from the time I first heard it.
The guy behind the last bazillion “Saw” movies has a supposedly gruesome movie coming out called “Repo! The Genetic Opera,” which is supposed to top all other movies in the disgust factor — Paris Hilton’s in it.
Well, that offends me greatly. Anyway the “I’m a Marvel, and I’m a DC” thing has been done soooooo much and was better with the original ones.
I LOVE the prospect of this being R-rated. I mean, it has to be, right? Burton’s only gotten to make two R-rated movies, and “Ed Wood” was only for language. If he can match or outdo “Sleepy Hollow” for gore, I’m all in. It’s about time the gross-out movie franchises like “Saw” or “Hostel” got taken down a few notches by a good ole Burton slashfest.
Not quite sure how this happened, but the DVD gets released in the UK on September 10 and in the US on October 23.
I haven’t seen the movie yet (and since my first year of college starts next week, I’ll probably have to wait until the DVD comes out) but are you saying that the tracks are for different parts of the film than the titles suggest? Because the CD for “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” had that same issue, and Zimmer worked heavily on that score. I think he likes to mess with us, but then again, he’s a hell of a quirky guy.
It seems like electronics, percussion and guitar are obvious choices for a movie like this. Granted, its Mann-inspired and Peter Berg probably requested that sound, but I think it would have been more inventive to go with an orchestra. I know I’m already complaining before I’ve even heard the full score or seen the movie, but that sound for this kind of movie has become a bit cliche, has it not?
I hadn’t watched the first “Batman” in quite a while and I watched it when it was on AMC the other night, and for me it was one of those “jeez, this is a fantastic movie” moments. The music, the visuals, the Jack Nicholson, it’s all fantastic. A special edition CD would be splendid, although the music features on the “Batman Anthology” DVDs are a nice touch.
That was pretty much what I related it to… part- “Planet of the Apes,” part-“Matrix,” and I think part-“Hulk.” It’s really not my favorite side of him, but generally I always love an Elfman score after multiple listenings, so it probably just needs time to showcase more of itself and grow on me. Hell, the music on the intro page is already stuck in my head!
“Setting MJ Down” plays during the “battle royale” (which was particularly lame) when MJ is falling yet again from a very high point and Spider-Man saves her yet again. Yawn. Lurie’s portion follows music from an unidentifiable composer, considering it incorporates the Spider-Man theme and actually sounds pretty cool — this occurs when Peter and Harry are both riding the “Sky Stick” and battling Sandman while MJ lays helpless in Venom’s web. I actually really enjoyed this music on its own, but not in the context of the movie because it didn’t have that frantic feeling that Elfman would have put in.
Actually, I’m in agreement, Danny Burton. The “Main Titles” rehash may be just a rehash, but the bombast is pretty cool. And I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t Chris Young who wrote it. On his website, he has the “Harry Attacks Peter” track and if you give it a listen, it’s missing the portion played in the movie where a choral version of the “Main Titles” rehash kicks in when Peter starts evading the flying blade thingys. This leads me to believe that either Lurie or Debney were asked to work on that and insert it in key Spider-Man moments that lacked the Spider-Man theme in Young’s score.
I really look forward to hearing some of the stuff she produces in the next few years. She’s young, talented, and has a really delightful sound in her music. And she appears to have worked alongside Danny Elfman and John Ottman, so her influences are pretty good. Not only was she able to adapt the Spider-Man theme for the crappy third movie in a way that Chris Young couldn’t seem to fathom, but she also got to integrate her music with original Elfman material (the sea turtles part of “Deep Sea 3D” alongside “Serenada Schizophrana”) and I loved what she did with it. Presently her “Setting MJ Down” track from “Spider-Man 3” is my ringtone. She’s cool to me.
I never realized Burton was only 29 when he made this movie. He seemed so… out there, in an ’80s kind of way. He looks a lot more grounded nowadays, but at least he’s still making fantastic movies.
I never saw “The Loop,” but I thought Bret Harrison was quite likable and relatable in his role on “Reaper.” Tyler Labine was the one I felt was a bit over-the-top as the sidekick, but you can really tell that Kevin Smith tweaked his dialogue to shift him from a Jack Black to a Jason Lee (“Mallrats” Jason Lee, not “Underdog” and “Alvin and the Chipmunks” Jason Lee). But it all comes together pretty well, especially with the really great VFX and the “Dogma” vibe it has thanks to Kevin Smith (there’s also a rather gruesome scene that definitely has the View Askew influence).
“Hellboy 2” has just been bumped up to July 11, 2008, switching placed with “The Mummy 3” (necessary? Not really, but Brendan Fraser’s the man!) This would probably make “The Incredible Hulk” impossible for Elfman to do now. Happy now, haters? Still, who could top what Danny did for the first movie? It had that fantastic blend of nerdy science, painful memories, and ass-kickery. What other composer is qualified for that?
I just finished reading the final book, and while I wouldn’t dare write any spoilers here (that was my worst fear over the past few days as I was reading it) I must say that the cinematic potential is GIGANTIC! This story is far beyond David Yates, Mike Newell, Chris Columbus, and perhaps Alfonso Cuaron, and even Guillermo del Toro. I’d say that a movie of this scale would need a Gore Verbinski or a Steven Spielberg (cliche as it sounds, Spielberg would be perfet for this, and he had expressed interest in the series in the past). Hell, if he got his act together, Sam Raimi might even be good for this thing. Musically, well, it really should be John Williams finishing where he began, granted he’s still got the energy by the time this gets made. If not him, then I could without hesitating say that Hans Zimmer could totally nail this project; he really knows how to tackle the scale of a film. Of course, Danny Elfman would definitely be on my wish list, but that’s just a fantasy that’ll never come to be. I go on this rant because I’m feeling empty now that the Harry Potter portion of my life is now over and I need to vent, so if you’ve made it this far, I appreciate it. And if you’ve finished the book, I’d like to hear input,
