NO TIME TO DIE (2021) - Discuss Hans Zimmer's Score

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  • DoctorKaufmannDoctorKaufmann Can shoot you from Stuttgart and still make it look like suicide.
    Posts: 1,261
    Eiragorn wrote: »
    vzok wrote: »

    That's about the most perfect zimmary I've ever seen :D But, honestly, after looking a bit deeper into his catalogue I got cautiously optimistic: the scores up until the early 00s that put him on the map aren't that bad. Here's hoping he doesn't do it on autopilot this time! Still I can't predict inhowfar he will embrace the Bond style fully for he hasn't shown any respect for the legacy when doing Superman or Batman. That also stretches down to referencing the title song of which he surely had a demo ready from the start.

    Btw, afaik the only composers that refused to incorporate the song into the score are Kamen and Newman since in the other examples s/o posted the timing didn't align to do so.

    And this one comes even with a tutorial...



    And if you look for "epic and dramatic music" on Google, this one is, what pops up firt:

  • Posts: 5,767
    boldfinger wrote: »
    And can people please stop posting those horrible Zimmer music clips? There isn´t one single example posted here that doesn´t give me nightmares when I think of the music of NTTD.

    This might not be the thread for you, then. :P
    Well this is the thread for the discussion of the soundtrack of a film I´m interested in, not the Hans Zimmer appreciation thread. Someone has to bring a bit of sanity into this madness ;-).

  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,231
    boldfinger wrote: »
    boldfinger wrote: »
    And can people please stop posting those horrible Zimmer music clips? There isn´t one single example posted here that doesn´t give me nightmares when I think of the music of NTTD.

    This might not be the thread for you, then. :P
    Well this is the thread for the discussion of the soundtrack of a film I´m interested in, not the Hans Zimmer appreciation thread. Someone has to bring a bit of sanity into this madness ;-).

    I'm afraid there won't be much difference between the two between now and April. B-)
  • DoctorKaufmannDoctorKaufmann Can shoot you from Stuttgart and still make it look like suicide.
    Posts: 1,261
    boldfinger wrote: »
    boldfinger wrote: »
    And can people please stop posting those horrible Zimmer music clips? There isn´t one single example posted here that doesn´t give me nightmares when I think of the music of NTTD.

    This might not be the thread for you, then. :P
    Well this is the thread for the discussion of the soundtrack of a film I´m interested in, not the Hans Zimmer appreciation thread. Someone has to bring a bit of sanity into this madness ;-).

    I'm afraid there won't be much difference between the two between now and April. B-)

    Was about to say the same. Or he has to watch the movie with earmuffs. ;)
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    boldfinger wrote: »
    boldfinger wrote: »
    And can people please stop posting those horrible Zimmer music clips? There isn´t one single example posted here that doesn´t give me nightmares when I think of the music of NTTD.

    This might not be the thread for you, then. :P
    Well this is the thread for the discussion of the soundtrack of a film I´m interested in, not the Hans Zimmer appreciation thread. Someone has to bring a bit of sanity into this madness ;-).

    I'm afraid there won't be much difference between the two between now and April. B-)

    :) Indeed....and it might be re-named The Hans Zimmer Appreciation Thread afterwards....coz we will very much come to appreciate him once NTTD is released.
  • Posts: 4,045
    boldfinger wrote: »
    boldfinger wrote: »
    And can people please stop posting those horrible Zimmer music clips? There isn´t one single example posted here that doesn´t give me nightmares when I think of the music of NTTD.

    This might not be the thread for you, then. :P
    Well this is the thread for the discussion of the soundtrack of a film I´m interested in, not the Hans Zimmer appreciation thread. Someone has to bring a bit of sanity into this madness ;-).

    I'm afraid there won't be much difference between the two between now and April. B-)

    Was about to say the same. Or he has to watch the movie with earmuffs. ;)

    Watch out, Beatles about
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,606
    vzok wrote: »

    Haha! :D
  • SatoriousSatorious Brushing up on a little Danish
    Posts: 234
    I feel this is very on point re: Eilish and Zimmer. I won't get my hopes up too much as this basically describes everything I hate about modern scoring - and Melody is what Barry did so eloquently.
  • DoctorKaufmannDoctorKaufmann Can shoot you from Stuttgart and still make it look like suicide.
    Posts: 1,261
    I only hope, that we're spared the 5th time listening to David Arnold's rendition of the Bond theme. I loved it in CR, it was okay in QOS (after all Arnold wrote the soundtrack). So please let Zimmer come up with a new arrangement.
  • Posts: 16,226
    I only hope, that we're spared the 5th time listening to David Arnold's rendition of the Bond theme. I loved it in CR, it was okay in QOS (after all Arnold wrote the soundtrack). So please let Zimmer come up with a new arrangement.

    I hope so. I want an arrangement of the Bond theme that is specific to this particular film the way George Martin did for LALD, Conti, Kamen and others. John Barry also tweaked his arrangements of the Bond them from time to time.
  • GatecrasherGatecrasher Classified
    edited January 2020 Posts: 265
    I only hope, that we're spared the 5th time listening to David Arnold's rendition of the Bond theme. I loved it in CR, it was okay in QOS (after all Arnold wrote the soundtrack). So please let Zimmer come up with a new arrangement.

    Totally agree. David Arnold’s arrangement of the been James Bond Theme has been done to death since “Tomorrow Never Dies”. I’m anxious to see what Hans Zimmer’s interpretation will be.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,589
    vzok wrote: »

    The first part of this sounds like what was used for the Prometheus trailer. LOL

  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,220
    I only hope, that we're spared the 5th time listening to David Arnold's rendition of the Bond theme. I loved it in CR, it was okay in QOS (after all Arnold wrote the soundtrack). So please let Zimmer come up with a new arrangement.

    My bet is that Zimmer will do his stuff, but EON will insist on including the arrangement from CR in order to give some musical consistency between all five films for Craig. This makes sense, given that Craig's films were more interconnected than the standalone films of the past.

    If that happens, I suspect they'll retire that arrangement of the theme for the next actor.
  • edited January 2020 Posts: 1,220
    I only hope, that we're spared the 5th time listening to David Arnold's rendition of the Bond theme. I loved it in CR, it was okay in QOS (after all Arnold wrote the soundtrack). So please let Zimmer come up with a new arrangement.

    My bet is that Zimmer will do his stuff, but EON will insist on including the arrangement from CR in order to give some musical consistency between all five films for Craig. This makes sense, given that Craig's films were more interconnected than the standalone films of the past.

    If that happens, I suspect they'll retire that arrangement of the theme for the next actor.

    I agree. I was really hoping to get a new arrangement from Newman (and I suppose technically we got a slightly different one) but I think Arnold’s arrangement will be the one musical connecting piece of Craig’s films. I’d love to hear what Zimmer’s arrangement would sound like but at this point I’m not expecting a full blown one from him.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,220
    As much as I enjoyed Newman's contributions, it was pretty deflating to first read about how he used Arnold's arrangement as the basis. If anything, I actually like the acoustic guitar used in Newman's version over Arnold's electric guitar from CR. I was never really all that fond of "The Names is Bond".
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,359
    I hope they use a new version for the credits As much as I enjoyed that version I'm tired of it being reused over and over. May as well reprise the title song or something. Anything.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    If Nomi is indeed 007, this is the perfect time to upgrade the 007 Theme, while Bond himself keeps the Bond theme.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,220
    Murdock wrote: »
    I hope they use a new version for the credits As much as I enjoyed that version I'm tired of it being reused over and over. May as well reprise the title song or something. Anything.

    You know for a fact it'll appear. Don't get your hopes up! This is all Arnold's fault! :P
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,359
    Murdock wrote: »
    I hope they use a new version for the credits As much as I enjoyed that version I'm tired of it being reused over and over. May as well reprise the title song or something. Anything.

    You know for a fact it'll appear. Don't get your hopes up! This is all Arnold's fault! :P

    ;)
    XkHc8MC.png
  • edited January 2020 Posts: 440
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Delicious!....Fukunaga has even heard part of the score & he approves....the score must be absolutely Bondian then.

    I'm not sure a statement from EON with a small quote from Cary Fukunaga saying he likes the new score is proof of his real feelings at all.

    Whenever a public shakeup happens on a prominent movie, studios will always put out press releases where the director talks about just how much he approves of the producers' changes.

    The film business is a tough one to work in and getting into very public spats with the most powerful people in it is not usually considered a great move if you want to get gigs.

    Given that Cary had collaborated with Romer on his previous two projects and let him work on the movie for around half a year, I find it unlikely that he was blindsided by what he heard.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    boldfinger wrote: »
    Delicious!....Fukunaga has even heard part of the score & he approves....the score must be absolutely Bondian then.

    I'm not sure a statement from EON with a small quote from Cary Fukunaga saying he likes the new score is proof of his real feelings at all.

    Whenever a public shakeup happens on a prominent movie, studios will always put out press releases where the director talks about just how much he approves of the producers' changes.

    The film business is a tough one to work in and getting into very public spats with the most powerful people in it is not usually considered a great move if you want to get gigs.

    Given that Cary had collaborated with Romer on his previous two projects and let him work on the movie for around half a year, I find it unlikely that he was blindsided by what he heard.

    Yeah, true....it's possible. But for the sake of optimism, I really don't mind being delusional....coz I really want NTTD to be a classic Bond film.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited January 2020 Posts: 24,257
    In my opinion, John Barry was the undisputed mastery of melody. Many of his melodies were hauntingly beautiful; some were easily hummable, some were almost elusively complex, but their power was never in doubt. I wrote a paper once in high school in which I equated Barry to "Debussy but with jazz"; it was well-received by my teacher but sadly got lost when I went from one computer to another. ;-) Barry's melodies had--and in fact, have--a tendency to nest themselves in one's mind, and remain there, ever-present, for the rest of one's life. I'm not just talking about main themes and prominent "leitmotifs", but also about twenty-second moments here and there in his scores. As a Bond fan, obsessing over Barry's scores for years, I know what I'm talking about. There have been times when I decided to watch AVTAK, MR and other films in their entirety, simply because some of Barry's magical cues, surfacing in my mind, urged me to re-live them. Barry's melodies are the closes thing I've ever come to those "voices in my head". ;-) If ever an example of the addictive nature of great melody is required, just play some John Barry; it does the trick.

    None of the above, however, immediately necessitates a score that's high on melody. As an example, let's take the gipsy camp fight in FRWL. Barry wrote '007', but only the relatively a-melodic hook (and not the big "007 Theme") of that track was used in repetitive mode during that particular sequence. And it works very well. Sometimes, a score can thrive on thrills provided by something else than melody. Especially in the horror, thriller and action genres, a-melodic or even totally dissonant music can prove far more effective for some scenes than symphony and harmony. A simple food analogy would go a little like this: steak is good, but sometimes, so is pizza. I will agree, though, that we're having a lot of pizza these days, and that's not really healthy. ;-) Of course, examples and counterexamples can always be found, which is why the best we can ultimately hope for is that a gifted composer play not by rules but by his gut feeling.

    Enter Hans Zimmer. Calling Zimmer a composer who doesn't care about melody would be wrong. Throughout his career, he's written several high-melodic scores, from Black Rain over The Lion King over King Arthur over The Da Vinci Code to Pirates OTC 2 and 3, for example. In truth, he likes to repeat his themes, but then so did Barry, and there's nothing wrong with that. But Zimmer has also gone dark on melody at times. The fact that he wrote a 2-note theme for Batman and a 1-note theme for Joker says it all; except that in this case, along with Inception and Dunkirk for example, I'm confident that he was being neither lazy nor uncreative but simply following the DNA of the story as architectured by Nolan. The 1-note Joker theme in TDK perfectly matches the character's nihilism and lack of backstory. We don't understand the character (which he barely is) and neither do we understand the music (which it barely is). It's a perfect match. Shirley Walker's pleasantly melodic Joker theme from Batman: TAS would not have worked well for this iteration of the character.

    So for NTTD, I think we should keep our fears locked away until we've actually heard Zimmer's score. I used to be angry with him for always pushing the same sounds into our '90s action movies, but Zimmer has matured since then. He doesn't merely (have his factory) produce a score to pay the bills; he actually thinks about his music as being a complementary narrator along with the visuals and dialogues. I'm confident that he will not consider himself above James Bond and just drop some pre-fabricated, generic music on this film only to please the lowest common denominator in the audience. Instead, I think he will try to make this a big part of a film that's shaping up very well to become a serious collection of really "big parts". I'm sure that Zimmer will bring his A-game to this effort, seeing that this might very well be his only chance ever at doing a genuine Bond score. Zimmer is also known to be a bit of a shape-shifter; he doesn't stick to just one or two styles. Interstellar sounds nothing like True Romance; Gladiator sounds nothing like Amazing Spider-man 2; The Ring sounds nothing like Sherlock Holmes. Even with only a few months left, Zimmer may yet come up with a new style, perhaps something both retro and new, something that both goes back as well as forward in time. Maybe he won't drag "that obvious Bond sound" with him like a curse, but rather elevate it to something the likes of Arnold and Newman were unequipped to handle. Maybe... We'll see, I guess.

    Either way, I'm more on the confident than on the fearful side right now. And I'm glad that we've got a 60-something Zimmer doing this rather than a 30-something wild and unchained Zimmer. This may work out fine. No point in us getting worked up before we've heard anything.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,220
    Popular music over the years has definitely become more rhythmically driven than melodically driven, but I’m not particularly upset about that.

    As a famous musician once said “melody isn’t everything”.
  • DrunkIrishPoetDrunkIrishPoet The Amber Coast
    Posts: 156
    Zimmer, eh? Welp, we all know what this means:

    Nolan is a lead-pipe cinch for B26.
  • Posts: 3,278
    @DarthDimi

    Excellent.

    Case in point - here's Nolan and Zimmer discussing the 'Interstellar'-score:


    The NTTD score is going to be fantastic.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,257
    Zimmer, eh? Welp, we all know what this means:

    Nolan is a lead-pipe cinch for B26.

    Aren't you a little fast with that conclusion? Zimmer isn't locked in some partnership with Nolan, is he? He isn't even scoring Tenet. Nolan isn't doing the next X-Men film either, as far as I can tell.
  • Posts: 5,767
    @DarthDimi, you never fail to provide a good read, but you don't mention the phenomenon of the extremely high percentage of Zimmer-related scores that are very uneven, meaning they contain some very classy material as well as a lot of very dragging material, no matter wether it's melody-based stuff, or more percussive stuff, or sound effects.

    @Zekidk, that Zimmer is very professional in justifying what he does is in no way an indication of the quality.
  • DeerAtTheGatesDeerAtTheGates Belgium
    Posts: 524
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Zimmer, eh? Welp, we all know what this means:

    Nolan is a lead-pipe cinch for B26.

    Aren't you a little fast with that conclusion? Zimmer isn't locked in some partnership with Nolan, is he? He isn't even scoring Tenet. Nolan isn't doing the next X-Men film either, as far as I can tell.

    At the same time, Nolan hasn't had talks about the X-Men franchise, but he has talked with the producers of the Bond films. Now, that doesn't mean he's a surefire choice for Bond 26, but I wouldn't be surprised if he meets BB and MGW again after Craig's tenure is officially done. Whether they want him too is something else.

    But this is not the Bond 26 topic, I digress. Excellent post there, @DarthDimi, about Zimmer. I think that he as a composer can adapt to the needs of the films he's scoring. It's clear Nolan likes a very moody, minimalist soundscape with his films and Zimmer delivered that. It's a far cry from his melodic work for The Lion King or some themes in Pirates, or the epicness of a Gladiator.

    And as a final thought, we know that the producers know what they want from a Bond film and have certain expectations about the score. If BB and MGW let Dan Romer go because his efforts were 'not Bond enough', do you all really think they let Zimmer compose something that does not sound melodic?
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,257
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Zimmer, eh? Welp, we all know what this means:

    Nolan is a lead-pipe cinch for B26.

    Aren't you a little fast with that conclusion? Zimmer isn't locked in some partnership with Nolan, is he? He isn't even scoring Tenet. Nolan isn't doing the next X-Men film either, as far as I can tell.

    At the same time, Nolan hasn't had talks about the X-Men franchise, but he has talked with the producers of the Bond films. Now, that doesn't mean he's a surefire choice for Bond 26, but I wouldn't be surprised if he meets BB and MGW again after Craig's tenure is officially done. Whether they want him too is something else.

    But this is not the Bond 26 topic, I digress. Excellent post there, @DarthDimi, about Zimmer. I think that he as a composer can adapt to the needs of the films he's scoring. It's clear Nolan likes a very moody, minimalist soundscape with his films and Zimmer delivered that. It's a far cry from his melodic work for The Lion King or some themes in Pirates, or the epicness of a Gladiator.

    And as a final thought, we know that the producers know what they want from a Bond film and have certain expectations about the score. If BB and MGW let Dan Romer go because his efforts were 'not Bond enough', do you all really think they let Zimmer compose something that does not sound melodic?

    Exactly!
  • Posts: 3,278
    boldfinger wrote: »
    @Zekidk, that Zimmer is very professional in justifying what he does is in no way an indication of the quality.
    I never said that. But they were discussing finding the "emotional core" - and this is where I think he is a genius. I used that specific segment in a montage I did for my son. I only later realised that Zimmer was thinking of his relationship with his own son when he wrote it. Having him onboard a Bond production is a dream come true for me. Every movie with him in charge of the score, is an elevation. Sometimes I rewatch movies like Gladiator or Da Vinci Code, just because of the music. Not even John Williams can make me do that.
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