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Should a Bond film ever have an overture at the beginning?
StirredNotShaken
Toronto
We all love our Bond music. This film series is unique from a soundtrack perspective as it has crossed almost 55 years of an ever-changing musical landscape. We've had brassy orchestras, rock bands, techno pop, disco, industrial music, latin infusions... the music of Bond has become incredibly rich.
Even moreso, certain scores in the series - Thunderball, OHMSS, The Living Daylights often being the first three to come to mind - have had so many leitmotifs and themes that they transcend the typical style and fashion of most Bond soundtracks. Some of these soundtracks are, I think, among the all-time greatest of cinema (and, yes, nearly all of those picks are Barry soundtracks). Many of Barry's records even contain a sort of overture or combination of the many themes - the particular Bond theme for that film; the main theme song; the other leitmotifs throughout the film - akin to that of, say, Lawrence of Arabia or Ben-Hur's opening salvos.
So that brings me to the topic of this thread. I watched Lawrence again this morning and a thought occurred to me; past or present or future, would an overture ever work for Bond? Lawrence of Arabia opens right on the black screen for four and a half minutes of Maurice Jarre-style perfection, then the company logo - in this case, Columbia - pops up, and then the film proper begins. So I thought of that format. A Bond overture, the MGM lion, and then the gunbarrel and the proper film. I think, given the right soundtrack, this could be a magnificent idea for Bond. But I'd like to hear your thoughts below!
Even moreso, certain scores in the series - Thunderball, OHMSS, The Living Daylights often being the first three to come to mind - have had so many leitmotifs and themes that they transcend the typical style and fashion of most Bond soundtracks. Some of these soundtracks are, I think, among the all-time greatest of cinema (and, yes, nearly all of those picks are Barry soundtracks). Many of Barry's records even contain a sort of overture or combination of the many themes - the particular Bond theme for that film; the main theme song; the other leitmotifs throughout the film - akin to that of, say, Lawrence of Arabia or Ben-Hur's opening salvos.
So that brings me to the topic of this thread. I watched Lawrence again this morning and a thought occurred to me; past or present or future, would an overture ever work for Bond? Lawrence of Arabia opens right on the black screen for four and a half minutes of Maurice Jarre-style perfection, then the company logo - in this case, Columbia - pops up, and then the film proper begins. So I thought of that format. A Bond overture, the MGM lion, and then the gunbarrel and the proper film. I think, given the right soundtrack, this could be a magnificent idea for Bond. But I'd like to hear your thoughts below!
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Comments
Personally I love some of those classic overtures that combine and slightly alter the main themes of the movie soundtrack.
There are a few suites of Bond music that are at least something like a Bond overture might have been.
Bold point 1: Yes. That is a big part of the problem. Hence why I feel it would've been more appropriate for something like From Russia With Love, or Thunderball, or OHMSS. An overture - in any film, not just Bond - would be incredibly ballsy today.
Bold point 2: Those are what I referred to. The Thunderball Suite for example.
Of overture ? ;)
That is not an overture. That is a theme song.
Yes, but it basically fulfills the purpose of the old classic overtures: To present the theme and tone of the film, only in a more modern way. You are asking for a lot of patience if you expect the movie goers to sit through a full overture as well as the title credits. As a classical musician and opera lover I would be all for it, but in truth its redundant and boring for most cinema audiences.
The Da-Da----Duhh precluding the dots. Actually, the Bond theme music slowly playing during the MGM and Columbia logo might qualify. It kind of reminded me of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace when the John Williams Superman music played during the Warners logo.
Well I meant the music used at the very end of Skyfall being used for the intro with the MGM Lion and Colombia pictures logo before the dots came in. That seemed like a mini overture to me.
That is basically what Lawrence of Arabia does after the overture. The very beginning of the film proper's score starts during the Columbia logo.
I don't think one should care about most cinema audiences as the casual moviegoer has no taste whatsoever and just jumps on the first bandwagon they'll see ;).