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Goldeneye Score by Eric Serra: Severely Underrated?

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  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    fromswedenwithlove wrote:
    Sorry, but I think the score for GE is horrible! I really wish that Newman or Arnold would re-score it! I know it will never ever happen, but still...

    Technically Arnold kinda did with the GE remake game.

  • dramaticscenesofQOSdramaticscenesofQOS
    Posts: 1,282
    Even if re-scored we're at a point where GE is an old movie.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    dramaticscenesofQOS wrote:
    Even if re-scored we're at a point where GE is an old movie.

    A Golden Oldie if you will. ;)
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,161
    The GE score sounds a lot weaker on CD than it does as mixed in the film. As such, I think it was adequate, even more than that: it worked very well.

    I think the score gives the film a cold thriller vibe. Every time a goldeneye satellite is activated, that scary "Fatal Weakness" track is played, its thunderous, ominous vibes signalling that we mean business. Also, the score is very compartmentalised, meaning that music is played sparingly, only when needed and with a strong variation in sound.
    I have always been fond of GE's thriller elements, its "updated" style, its seriousness. The electronics add to that techno-thriller concept. This film is heavy on computers, it has Bond kill two dozen Russian soldiers, it shows the brutal shooting of all but one of the Severnaya personnel, it keeps the Bond-M conversation devoid of jokes and it even updates the sex a bit. The dark tones of Serra are precisely what we needed.

    I'll even go so far as to call the music to which Bond and Xenia are racing rather enjoyable. It's a playful track and very reminiscent of where music was in '95.

    I like the GE score. I don't think the film would have been improved had they used another score altogether.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    I agree that it suited the film well and fit the scenes. I don't hate it like many seem to. I just missed - more than anything - the Bond theme. It was palpably absent.
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    edited August 2018 Posts: 3,675
    Murdock wrote: »
    I can't believe I'm the only one here who absolutely loves the GoldenEye score... :O That techno remix Gunbarrel was the most epic thing I ever heard when I first saw Goldeneye at the tender age of 5!

    I love it!



    2:21! I resurrected an old thread.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,368
    Might as well throw in my 2 cents that will get me chastised :)

    Love this score, though I admit some of it has to do with nostalgia and the GoldenEye 007 for N64 soundtrack that mimicked the style.

    There's something so 90s about the track from the synth to the industrial griminess that dates the film in a good way; similar to how FYEO is firmly dated in the 80s in terms of score.

    I even like the original tank soundtrack, the rescore was definitely the 'safe' play. But it's about as generic Bond as you get, I respect that Serra tried something new and largely it worked for me.

    I wouldn't put it in my top 10 soundtracks, but I still love it dearly.
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,534
    MooseWithFleas wrote: »
    Might as well throw in my 2 cents that will get me chastised :)

    Love this score, though I admit some of it has to do with nostalgia and the GoldenEye 007 for N64 soundtrack that mimicked the style.

    There's something so 90s about the track from the synth to the industrial griminess that dates the film in a good way; similar to how FYEO is firmly dated in the 80s in terms of score.

    I even like the original tank soundtrack, the rescore was definitely the 'safe' play. But it's about as generic Bond as you get, I respect that Serra tried something new and largely it worked for me.

    I wouldn't put it in my top 10 soundtracks, but I still love it dearly.

    I came to post the exact same thing but you beat me to it. I love the score for GE. Especially The GoldenEye Overture. So awesome. Even Ladies First fits the car chase.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    While I can understand some of the criticism, there’s a lot of cues and tracks in the score that I really like.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited August 2018 Posts: 23,883
    I don't know about it being underrated, but I will say that I absolutely love the score. I always have, since my first viewing. It's got a very distinct vibe which fits the film like a glove. When I first saw the Bourne Identity (another film whose score I really enjoy), I was reminded of it in a way.
    Remington wrote: »
    MooseWithFleas wrote: »
    Might as well throw in my 2 cents that will get me chastised :)

    Love this score, though I admit some of it has to do with nostalgia and the GoldenEye 007 for N64 soundtrack that mimicked the style.

    There's something so 90s about the track from the synth to the industrial griminess that dates the film in a good way; similar to how FYEO is firmly dated in the 80s in terms of score.

    I even like the original tank soundtrack, the rescore was definitely the 'safe' play. But it's about as generic Bond as you get, I respect that Serra tried something new and largely it worked for me.

    I wouldn't put it in my top 10 soundtracks, but I still love it dearly.

    I came to post the exact same thing but you beat me to it. I love the score for GE. Especially The GoldenEye Overture. So awesome. Even Ladies First fits the car chase.
    +2.

    EDIT: I've mentioned before that the often criticized cheesy porno sound perhaps was intentional, to reflect Xenia's unique sexual predilections. I thought it worked.
  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,044






  • NS_writingsNS_writings Buenos Aires
    Posts: 544
    I love Serra's GoldenEye. It gives GE a different feeling among the Brosnan films, and it gives the film a unique 1990s post Cold War feeling. Serra's take wouldn't work on any other film, but it did work on GE. By the way, I wouldn't like an Arnold like score for GE.
  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,044
  • NS_writingsNS_writings Buenos Aires
    Posts: 544
    vzok wrote: »

    And I totally LOVE this song!
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,534
    NS_writings wrote: »
    vzok wrote: »

    And I totally LOVE this song!

    I hate admitting it, but so do I.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,368
    NS_writings wrote: »
    And I totally LOVE this song!

    100%!

    All of the late 80's / 90's outro tracks have such a great nostalgia feel that I just adore. TLD (If There Was a Man), LTK (If You Asked Me To), GE (Experience of Love), TND (Surrender) are all tremendous.
  • RemingtonRemington I'll do anything for a woman with a knife.
    Posts: 1,534
    MooseWithFleas wrote: »
    NS_writings wrote: »
    And I totally LOVE this song!

    100%!

    All of the late 80's / 90's outro tracks have such a great nostalgia feel that I just adore. TLD (If There Was a Man), LTK (If You Asked Me To), GE (Experience of Love), TND (Surrender) are all tremendous.

    @MooseWithFleas great minds think alike.
  • barryt007barryt007
    Posts: 19,339
    It basically tried to do what CR copied years later...keep the Bond theme out as much as possible,show it is a new time for 007.

    CR got it right with a great score throughout ,whereas GE only succeeded in parts,once again before its time,but the quality of the film and Brosnan made it.

    TND then takes the Bond score to the full....imo.
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,020
    vzok wrote: »
    Nice remake. Thanks for sharing.
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,462
    Not sure if this one was mentioned yet, but I love this track:



    Captured the grim, sad mood perfectly. One of the best scenes and songs from the film IMO. I love GE.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,179
    I very much like Serra's score. I like that he took chances he took even if some of them were not successful. I'm completely at odds with those that hate this simply for being different, that because it doesn't "respect" the franchise's music history or whatever nonsense. Bond films are already constrained as they are. I couldn't care less whether a Bond composer adhered to John Barry's sound (which even changed dramatically between the 60s and 80s). I want a music score that fits an individual film and Serra's for GOLDENEYE fits like a glove. Having it re-scored by a hack like David Arnold with pastiche Barry sounding music would be utterly ruinous and tone deaf. CASINO ROYALE is already plagued with his trash, we don't need to ruin the other Martin Campbell film.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,108
    MooseWithFleas wrote: »
    NS_writings wrote: »
    And I totally LOVE this song!

    100%!

    All of the late 80's / 90's outro tracks have such a great nostalgia feel that I just adore. TLD (If There Was a Man), LTK (If You Asked Me To), GE (Experience of Love), TND (Surrender) are all tremendous.

    Fully agree with this.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,106
    I wouldn't say severely underrated, but I never complained about it when GE was released. It's only years later that I discovered it was disliked that much.
  • petergreenhill5petergreenhill5
    edited August 2018 Posts: 824
    Goldeneye is a wonderful score. Serra had a new approach, Barry pastiche wasn't enough. Works perfectly for the film. Scoring Bond is about more than reproducing what's gone before. That second part of Whispering Statues is gorgeous.
  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,044
    The more I listen to this score the more I like it. I like the industrial sound that suits the Russian scenes well. His romantic pieces are suitably lush and stylish. He can do action music 'Run Shoot Jump' reused at the end works brilliantly.

    I like the PTS tracks and also that sweeping moment as Bond jumps off the satellite and on to the helicopter.

    I just think there are two moments where his sound doesn't work for me. First 'Ladies First' is too jarring right at the start of the movie. Second his Bond theme revamp for the tank chase is too light-hearted (but as it was dropped it doesn't affect the film).
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,179
    I think the light-hearted approach to the tank chase was perfectly in tone. There's really nothing suspenseful about the action sequence, as Bond is literally plowing through everything as an unstoppable force. Had Barry scored it himself, I bet he would have brought back the 007 theme to reflect the jovial quality of it.

    And I gotta concur with Serra's gun barrel music. It was initially jarring at first to the point I didn't even recognize the Bond theme within it, but after hearing it so much I've come to really appreciate its purpose. It's Serra letting you know exactly what you're in for whether you love it or hate it. It's his interpretation for Bond entering a new era.
  • nobodydoesitbetternobodydoesitbetter
    Posts: 1,021
    its still awful...
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,179
    The more fans hate on this score, the more its admirers can make the case of it being severely underrated. YOU ONLY THROW GASOLINE ONTO THIS FIRE! WE CAN'T LOSE!!!

    laugh.png
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,205
    The romantic and atmospheric stuff is ace. The action stuff, gunbarrel aside, is fairly hit and miss. Certainly undeserving of its hate, nonetheless.
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    I particularly like Bond's drive to the casino. Something very magical to that bit.
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