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Comments
The recycling of Skyfall's score was just shameful and lazy. It was appropriate to reuse "Mother" when Judi's video cameo appears but it seemed like Tommy boy just copy and pasted Skyfall's music where he couldn't be bothered to write new material. And of course David Arnold's Bond theme arrangement from CR was used for the third time. Is Newman afraid of doing his own full rendition of the James Bond theme? How hard could it be.
Like I said, I don't hate it, but I think it's pretty boring and unexciting. It's time to bring in a new composer who's not afraid of fully adapting the Bond theme and putting their own spin on it.
I thought the Skyfall score was particularly weak. SP's score didn't bother me so much. May be the overall film was just better so I noticed the score less.
What's it to you? Just stating my opinion, not resorting. Top three or not, I enjoyed almost every track. Backfire, Vauxhall Bridge, Los Muertos Vivos Estan. Just so happens WOTW Instrumental is in there because I like the way it sounds. Has nothing to do with Newman's ability for a Bond movie.
Well you preface your original post by saying 'This is my first time actually weighing in on Thomas Newman's score for the film. I honestly don't know why there was so much hate! I found the score to be thoroughly entertaining. He hits all the right elements'.
Yet then you go on to illustrate this by citing WOTW as the 2nd best track of said 'entertaining' score?!?
I'm just going in to watch the film as we speak and I'll certainly have my ears peeled this time round for anything decent but I'm pretty sure the track when Bond and Madeline shag is not even an arrangement by Newman as per SF casino entrance but merely the title song with the vocals lifted.
He's received a lot of flak but it's about time Sam Smith got some credit for turning in the only decent music on the SP soundtrack.
Looks pretty good. Where is Madeleine?
I wasn't too sure, but having seen it again yesterday, its during the scene in the dining carriage in Morrocco, so the new running order is:
1. Los Muertos Vivos Estan
2. Day of the Dead
3. Vauxhall Bridge
4. The Eternal City
5. Donna Lucia
6. A Place Without Mercy
7. Backfire
8. The Pale King
9. Crows Klinik
10. Snow Plane
11. L'Americain
12. Secret Room
13. Madeleine
14. Hinx
15. Writing's on the Wall (Instrumental)
16. Silver Wraith
17. A Reuinion
18. Kite in a Hurricaine
19. Tempus Fugit
20. Safe House
21. Blindfold
22. Careless
23. Detonation
24. Westminster Bridge
25. Out of Bullets
26. Spectre End Titles
Tempis Fugit contains the music which accompanies the helicopter spin so I'd put that third.
Use of title song was better. The whole score is simply not very good or memorable, in my opinion. I'll write later after I see SPECTRE a couple of more times.
I think most people on here agree - even those who liked his SF score.
I personally found it less awful than SF, but I think that's because I was actually enjoying the movie.
As with SF the stand out moment for me was he one brief reference to the title song.
I really have quite a strong dislike of Newman after these two films. You have to wonder why he even took the job, as he seems so uninterested in it.
Still amazes me that he got an Oscar nomination for SF. I'm convinced the people who voted for him thought he had something to do with Adele's song.
I liked his work on SF but I thought he exceeded himself here, often elevating the drama and suspense when required. In particular, I love the ‘Madeline’ motif that is used throughout the film. For instance the moment where Bond discovers the secret room is very effective and Newman’s work gives the scene a slight pathos and longing.
Additionally, he is able to elevate some of the more shoddily handled scenes. For instance, the moment Madeline says goodbye to Bond before the third act is pretty woeful. The performances are lacklustre and the dialogue and direction is beyond pedestrian. However, Newman’s score brings the thing up to standard and brings a hint of frailty and humanity to a rather dodgy scene. The same can be said of the finale where Bond (rather obviously) stands on Westminster Bridge and has to decide between his old life or his new one. Newman’s work here stops the piece from becoming too mawkish and sentimental.
Also, I love a lot of the work in the third act, the score really contributes to the great pacing and keeps the thing alive. Especially the riff Newman uses when Bond escapes on the speedboat.
I’d imagine the reason people dislike it is because it isn’t a typical clichéd action-movie score, the type of personality devoid nonsense you’d expect from a John Barry tribute act like Arnold. Barry was unimpeachable, there’s no point trying to scale those heights, I’d rather hear something new and different. Bond fans are nothing if not traditionalists so it’s no wonder they have mostly rejected this score (not to mention the expanded roles of the MI6 team – but that’s an entirely different conversation).
Let go of Barry and enjoy the music.
I am listening to the 24 bit 96 kHz high definition audio version, and it really sounds great.
For those who may not know this is like 1080p video but for music. A lot of the Bond soundtracks are now being released for download in this new format. If you have the appropriate equipment to try them i suggest you do because they are great.
@DonnyDB5
That makes two of us. It took me about a month to get around to it, but last week I finally sat down and just listened to the score. I've done so a couple of times since. I do, honestly, enjoy Newman's work here. It could never be on the level of Barry (for artistic reasons Newman probably feels but also for some royalties issues I've heard about). I agree with other fans wishing that it would be great to have a score in which the composer went for more melodies and built the entire score around them, but I do think what Newman's done here is fine work. Of course I prefer Barry, dare I say I think I prefer Arnold, but the SP score is solid, if unspectacular.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bxuzsl4NRLwFX0dCN2tvSXZJTGs&usp=sharing
Such a punchy, stylistic, beautiful chant-turned-melody.
That and his transition to the theme song at the end of the PTS.
Newman's best lives in the PTS of SPECTRE.
Question -- when Los Muertos Vivos transitions into the operatic spanish music, is that an actual isolated song? I'd be very interested in finding it all on its own. Can anyone help?
It's the moment Bond enters the elevator and the music transitions into this haunting opera.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0Bxuzsl4NRLwFX0dCN2tvSXZJTGs&usp=sharing
Check: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2379713/soundtrack?ref_=tt_ql_trv_7
Wtf? You mean Newman's best lives in SF surely - because he just nicked 90% of SP's PTS from SF.
Can you sue yourself for plagiarism? Because I reckon he has a watertight case.
If I were EON I would seriously consider legal action against Newman. Copied half the score from SF but I bet he's happy to trouser the full fee for an honest days work?
There's only 30 seconds of Newman copying himself in the OPENING of SPECTRE, and that I am completely okay with -- the majority of the sequence is all new, and the 30 seconds of copy come from the PTS of Skyfall, which is likely to serve as an audible link between the two films for the audience.
Newman "plagiarizing" himself the rest of the film is concerning, though. But I'm okay with it in the opening.
It's some Newman stuff with Arnold's CR Bond theme slapped on.
http://picosong.com/QfxL/
I completely agree. I would really like it if a future Bond would also play a slow and haunting version of the JB theme - perhaps as Bond is stealthing around somewhere. It has that bombastic bebop bit that Barry arranged, but the guitar bit that Norman took from Good Sign/Bad Sign is quite haunting when played slow.
Didn't Kamen do this in LTK? An underrated score, that one.
My stand is that SPs score is worse than SF. I loved Newman's work in SF (probably my favourite), thus i was very surprised to hear SP's score. To me, SP's score was very much based on percussion, with no real melody, and out of those melodies, many were lifted from SF, with no change in rhythum, the keys, even the instruements involved. From the motorcycle chace soundtrack used in the car chace, to "Mother" used in Bonds apartment, to "Shes Mine" used in helicopter scene. However, i do appreciate how SP's score mirrors that of SF in one track, "Brave New World" of SF and "The Eternal City" of SP. Listen to them both back to back and u can see the similarities, but they're not identical.
Now, the new original melodies. The most obvious would be the car chase (C D Eb D D Eb F#) but the melody that plays when we are introduced to Rome (G F# Eb D) is very striking as well. However, it pales in comparison with the Shanghai track in SF (C# G# F#). The new remix of the Bond theme is nicely done too (E G Eb D, E G Eb F#). BUT WHERE IS THE THEME FOR SPECTRE? OR BLOFELD? Come on Newman, you have a chance to create a theme as iconic as Bond, or Hydras theme! Its a big waste of an opportunity, which would add to the film a lot (imagine a theme playing each time Spectre appears on screen)
In conclusion, i think my main problem with SP's score would be that it has many recycled tracks (referencing is one thing, copying is another) and depends too much on percussion.
Even his Bond theme is either reusing Arnold or doing a remix version of it and even then it's all half arsed because we don't even get the full theme. Why was this man hired? As for reusing music from SF, he's not the only one that does this and it's fine if the music is good; case in point, John Williams but Williams is a musical genius and his work is beyond magnificent so he can get away with it not to mention he creates new original pieces but Newman isn't Williams...not even close and should therefore stay in his lane and put the work in and create something of note and worth before trying to immortalise his lame sounds with unwanted repeats. The man had no excuse with SP and he failed. Good riddance to the guy.
Have been looking for it EVERYWHERE, and just can't find it :(