Sad news yesterday morning of the passing of one of the greats of film soundtrack composition, John Barry.
Radio Two did him proud yesterday, with his most memorable themes - 'Born Free', the 'Bond' oeuvre and 'Midnight Cowboy' - featuring prominently in their playlist.
His work is pretty well represented in my own music collection, with 'Out of Africa' taking a place in my 'Soundtrack Retrospective' series from last year, with 'Dances With Wolves' hovering just outside the top 12, and the James Bond movies coming up behind.
But the ones I've chosen little-played ones from the Eighties, 'High Road To China' and 'Raise The Titanic!'. Not, in truth, great films, either of them. But great examples of his craft:
RIP, John Barry. Your music will live on.
Showing posts with label soundtrack retrospective. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soundtrack retrospective. Show all posts
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "Are you going to turn off the tape? Or are you going to shoot me with the .45?"
This month’s film is Russell Mulcahy’s ‘Highlander’ (1986). The film that shouldn’t have spawned a sequel, any more than ‘Titanic’, but did. Several in fact, plus at least two TV series.
The official trailer doesn't really do it justice, and it certainly doesn't showcase its best asset - the soundtrack:
Do I save the best for last, eh?
The official trailer doesn't really do it justice, and it certainly doesn't showcase its best asset - the soundtrack:
Do I save the best for last, eh?
On paper, it shouldn’t have worked, but the combination of utterly bonkers storyline and pulse-pounding soundtrack by Michael Kamen and Queen (surely as mismatched a pairing as Connery’s and Lambert’s all-over-the-place-accents) gained it cult status in a heartbeat.
Oddly enough, this is the only movie soundtrack I possess that isn’t actually a ‘real’ movie soundytrack. As Wikipedia points out: ‘While no albums specifically tied to the Highlander movie were ever released, Queen's 1986 album A Kind of Magic features most of the songs from the film, although sometimes in different arrangements, as well as other music on the same theme.’
And the single stand-out track has to be Brian May's 'Who Wants To Live Forever?'
And so ends this year’s look at some of my favourite film soundtracks. There were some that didn’t quite make the grade, hovering just outside the top twelve. Toto’s soundtrack for ‘Dune’, Graham Gouldman’s soundtrack for ‘Animalympics’, Tangerine Dream’s hypnotic synthesiser-based score for ‘Sorcerer’, for instance.
But not quite enough to make another year. So I think my focus will switch to…well, let’s wait and see.
Oddly enough, this is the only movie soundtrack I possess that isn’t actually a ‘real’ movie soundytrack. As Wikipedia points out: ‘While no albums specifically tied to the Highlander movie were ever released, Queen's 1986 album A Kind of Magic features most of the songs from the film, although sometimes in different arrangements, as well as other music on the same theme.’
And the single stand-out track has to be Brian May's 'Who Wants To Live Forever?'
And so ends this year’s look at some of my favourite film soundtracks. There were some that didn’t quite make the grade, hovering just outside the top twelve. Toto’s soundtrack for ‘Dune’, Graham Gouldman’s soundtrack for ‘Animalympics’, Tangerine Dream’s hypnotic synthesiser-based score for ‘Sorcerer’, for instance.
But not quite enough to make another year. So I think my focus will switch to…well, let’s wait and see.
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "From here on in, everythin's gonna be all right! I got a feelin'!"
This month’s film is Robbins/Wise’s ‘West Side Story’ (1961).
And isn’t ‘Gee, Officer Krupke’ just as relevant today as it was then?
I do love musicals. I've got all the greats: 'Carousel', 'The King & I', 'Camelot'...
But this is the one I put on most often, just as a soundtrack, rather than as a film. The film itself is timeless - setting it as a stage production, rather than attempting to film it 'live' on the streets of New York helps with that, I think. The music (Leonard Bernstein) and lyrics (Sondheim, of course) mesh so perfectly, so seamlessly, it's easy to see why this film won 10 Oscars.
Indeed, it's currently the only musical to achieve that, and it looks like it'll hold onto that record.
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: " Any of you boys seen an aircraft-carrier around here?"
This month’s film is Tony Scott’s ‘Top Gun’ (1986).
It came out in the height of summer here, I think, and being a fan of war machines that went ‘whooosh’, I had to go see it for the flying sequences. The fact it was also jam-packed full of tasty young men was just the cherry on the cake as far as...
Eh?
Oh. Right. That. Yes, well, that little bit of film criticism came along a lot later..
The substitution of F-5s for the MiGs could be forgiven in the days of non-CGI, just as the substitution in other movies for equally good reasons has been.
Forever to be remembered for that theme song and smash hit by Berlin:
But it was crammed with plenty of other soft-rock favourites. In fact, so far, the only one of my soundtrack retrospectives which is not mostly instrumental. My personal favourite is this one:
It came out in the height of summer here, I think, and being a fan of war machines that went ‘whooosh’, I had to go see it for the flying sequences. The fact it was also jam-packed full of tasty young men was just the cherry on the cake as far as...
Eh?
Oh. Right. That. Yes, well, that little bit of film criticism came along a lot later..
The substitution of F-5s for the MiGs could be forgiven in the days of non-CGI, just as the substitution in other movies for equally good reasons has been.
Forever to be remembered for that theme song and smash hit by Berlin:
But it was crammed with plenty of other soft-rock favourites. In fact, so far, the only one of my soundtrack retrospectives which is not mostly instrumental. My personal favourite is this one:
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "It's too bad she won't live! But then again, who does?"
This month’s film is Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’ (1982). I know it'll be a favourite of a few regular readers too.
The original theatrical trailer doesn’t do it justice, with the cod-private-eye voiceover, and no starring role for the wonderful Vangelis theme:
By contrast, the trailer for ‘The Final Cut’ version is much, much slicker, as is the film itself, shorn of some of the original slip-ups in editing:
Yet that, too, doesn’t do justice to the atmospheric soundtrack, played to best effort over that iconic shot of the dystopian skyline:
The story behind its making is almost as enjoyable as the film itself. Who could now imagine it with its originally-tipped leading man, one Dustin Hoffman? Would it have become as celebrated a sci-fi classic with a different cast?
We'll never know...
The original theatrical trailer doesn’t do it justice, with the cod-private-eye voiceover, and no starring role for the wonderful Vangelis theme:
By contrast, the trailer for ‘The Final Cut’ version is much, much slicker, as is the film itself, shorn of some of the original slip-ups in editing:
Yet that, too, doesn’t do justice to the atmospheric soundtrack, played to best effort over that iconic shot of the dystopian skyline:
The story behind its making is almost as enjoyable as the film itself. Who could now imagine it with its originally-tipped leading man, one Dustin Hoffman? Would it have become as celebrated a sci-fi classic with a different cast?
We'll never know...
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "This is not the time or the place to perform some kind of a half-assed autopsy on a fish..."
This month’s film is Stephen Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’ (1975). Another of John Williams’ masterpieces. Could anyone imagine it now without that wonderful and subtly menacing main theme?
It isn’t all brooding, menacing strings, though. Some of the rest of the incidental music is delightfully jaunty:
And by contrast, the famous ‘Indianapolis’ scene has barely any music at all:
It's not really a relaxing soundtrack to listen to, but it's one of the most evocative, that's for sure...
Peter Benchley underwent a bit of a crisis of conscience after the movie sparked a boom in shark fishing, endangering the great white shark he made the unwitting star of his film. The story on which he based 'Jaws' - the Matawan, New Jersey shark attacks - is a facinating story in its own right.
Not least because the animal was never positively identified. It may not have been a great white at all...
It isn’t all brooding, menacing strings, though. Some of the rest of the incidental music is delightfully jaunty:
And by contrast, the famous ‘Indianapolis’ scene has barely any music at all:
It's not really a relaxing soundtrack to listen to, but it's one of the most evocative, that's for sure...
Peter Benchley underwent a bit of a crisis of conscience after the movie sparked a boom in shark fishing, endangering the great white shark he made the unwitting star of his film. The story on which he based 'Jaws' - the Matawan, New Jersey shark attacks - is a facinating story in its own right.
Not least because the animal was never positively identified. It may not have been a great white at all...
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "Perhaps he knew, as I did not, that the Earth was made round so that we would not see too far down the road."
This month’s film is Sydney Pollack’s ‘Out Of Africa’ (1985).
The original trailer, surprisingly, doesn’t use the score that became almost more famous than the film. In fact, it doesn’t really do it justice as all:
The music is, of course, by the incomparable John Barry, veteran of memorable movies scores:
.
One of the best scenes, and the most remembered of any in the film, is the flight in the biplane, with the beauty of the scenery combining with the score to provide an unforgettable experience:
Not as often heard as the haunting main theme is the very ‘80s soft-rock ballad ‘The Music Of Goodbye’ by Al Jarreau (fresh from ‘Moonlighting’ success) and Melissa Manchester:
The original trailer, surprisingly, doesn’t use the score that became almost more famous than the film. In fact, it doesn’t really do it justice as all:
The music is, of course, by the incomparable John Barry, veteran of memorable movies scores:
.
One of the best scenes, and the most remembered of any in the film, is the flight in the biplane, with the beauty of the scenery combining with the score to provide an unforgettable experience:
Not as often heard as the haunting main theme is the very ‘80s soft-rock ballad ‘The Music Of Goodbye’ by Al Jarreau (fresh from ‘Moonlighting’ success) and Melissa Manchester:
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "Every time it happens... you tell yourself it's love. But it isn't. It's blood. And death."
This month’s film is Paul Schrader’s remake of ‘Cat People’ (1982).
The original 1942 film, as can be seen from the trailer, was one of Val Lewton’s masterpieces, full of implied threat and menacing shadows:
However, that wasn’t going to fly for Paul Schrader in the 80s, oh, dear me no! The action moves to sultry New Orleans and the legend gets an overhauling too. Now a mere kiss isn’t going to transform Nastassja Kinski’s anti-heroine, and what better to include than incest, the game the whole family can play, as a potential get-out clause and source of further angst and motivation? Thus the introduction of Irina’s brother, played with perfectly-pitched lecherous pathos by Malcolm McDowell.
Plus there’s the addition of better special effects (though the scenes where a dyed-black puma has been substituted for the less-manageable and far more dangerous trained leopard still jar even today) and buckets of gore.
The trailer is a pretty stunning contrast as a result:
It’s Giorgio Moroder’s moody and seductive theme music, however, that helps this uneven film hold together. And the David Bowie title track is, you should pardon the pun, an absolute killer...
Dream sequence:
Title track by Bowie:
The original 1942 film, as can be seen from the trailer, was one of Val Lewton’s masterpieces, full of implied threat and menacing shadows:
However, that wasn’t going to fly for Paul Schrader in the 80s, oh, dear me no! The action moves to sultry New Orleans and the legend gets an overhauling too. Now a mere kiss isn’t going to transform Nastassja Kinski’s anti-heroine, and what better to include than incest, the game the whole family can play, as a potential get-out clause and source of further angst and motivation? Thus the introduction of Irina’s brother, played with perfectly-pitched lecherous pathos by Malcolm McDowell.
Plus there’s the addition of better special effects (though the scenes where a dyed-black puma has been substituted for the less-manageable and far more dangerous trained leopard still jar even today) and buckets of gore.
The trailer is a pretty stunning contrast as a result:
It’s Giorgio Moroder’s moody and seductive theme music, however, that helps this uneven film hold together. And the David Bowie title track is, you should pardon the pun, an absolute killer...
Dream sequence:
Title track by Bowie:
Wednesday, 12 May 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "Great storms announce themselves with a single breeze, and a single random spark can ignite the fires of rebellion."
This month’s film is Richard Donner’s ‘Ladyhawke’ (1985).
It infuriated sword ‘n sorcery fans with the heresy of a soft-rock soundtrack by Andrew Powell when it first came out, but since I was a huge Alan Parson’s Project fan already, it only made me even more determined to go see it.
I liked its fight scenes too - no chivalrous, formalised combat here, the hero (brilliantly played by Rutger Hauer) was more than happy to wallop his adversary with whatever came to hand. The obligatory 80s young sidekick wasn't too irritating, for once, and Leo McKern does a great turn as an irascible old priest who jolds the key to reversing the curse.
Unashamedly romantic without veering too far into sloppiness, it's still a firm favourite of mine for an evening's viewing.
It infuriated sword ‘n sorcery fans with the heresy of a soft-rock soundtrack by Andrew Powell when it first came out, but since I was a huge Alan Parson’s Project fan already, it only made me even more determined to go see it.
I liked its fight scenes too - no chivalrous, formalised combat here, the hero (brilliantly played by Rutger Hauer) was more than happy to wallop his adversary with whatever came to hand. The obligatory 80s young sidekick wasn't too irritating, for once, and Leo McKern does a great turn as an irascible old priest who jolds the key to reversing the curse.
Unashamedly romantic without veering too far into sloppiness, it's still a firm favourite of mine for an evening's viewing.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "I've been a soldier, 'til I ran out of wars."
This month’s film is Walter Hill’s ‘Streets of Fire’ (1984). It'll delight Pavlov's Cat, for sure ;)
It is, to be fair, safe to say it’s not the best acted film in movie history. It stars Michael Pare, for heaven’s sake! Most of the time, he looks like he's struggling to stay awake long enough to remember his lines...
Set in an unnamed US city lacking in distinctive features or geographical references, and with an odd retro-1950s look to the cars and the police uniforms, it was a commercial flop on first release, but has since become something of a classic for one thing only. The soundtrack. And with Jim Steinman and Ry Cooder, how could it fail to be anything else?
The trailer gives you a flavour of just what the film’s about:
Daryl Hall had a minor success a few years ago with his cover version of this one:
Here’s the closing number:
It is, to be fair, safe to say it’s not the best acted film in movie history. It stars Michael Pare, for heaven’s sake! Most of the time, he looks like he's struggling to stay awake long enough to remember his lines...
Set in an unnamed US city lacking in distinctive features or geographical references, and with an odd retro-1950s look to the cars and the police uniforms, it was a commercial flop on first release, but has since become something of a classic for one thing only. The soundtrack. And with Jim Steinman and Ry Cooder, how could it fail to be anything else?
The trailer gives you a flavour of just what the film’s about:
Daryl Hall had a minor success a few years ago with his cover version of this one:
Here’s the closing number:
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "Build coffins. That's all you'll need."
This month’s film is another that I have a fellow blogger to thank for reminding me about, this time it’s North Northwester whose blogmeme from last year prompted DumbJon to nominate Boris Sagal’s ‘The Omega Man’ (1971). Based on Richard Matheson’s novel ‘I Am Legend’, this typically 70s tale of out-of-control scientific discovery and individuality is probably one of Heston’s most iconic films after 'Spartacus' 'Ben Hur' and 'Planet of the Apes'.
The trailer is available online:
The iconic opening shots of Neville driving down deserted and decaying streets, accompanied by a funky version of ‘Theme from a Summer Place’ are all the more astonishing to modern audiences because they are filmed in a real, closed-off downtown LA, not the soulless CGI-fest of the recent remake (moved to New York) starring Will Smith:
It’s Ron Grainer’s score that is – for me – the most memorable thing about the movie. NNW likened it to ‘Greensleeves crossed with Shaft’ and he isn’t wrong!
Update: Thanks to MacHeath and Peter for pointing out that it was that other lantern-jawed actor, Kirk Douglas, who graced the silver screen as Spartacus. Memory, eh? It's what the IMDB was made for...
The trailer is available online:
The iconic opening shots of Neville driving down deserted and decaying streets, accompanied by a funky version of ‘Theme from a Summer Place’ are all the more astonishing to modern audiences because they are filmed in a real, closed-off downtown LA, not the soulless CGI-fest of the recent remake (moved to New York) starring Will Smith:
It’s Ron Grainer’s score that is – for me – the most memorable thing about the movie. NNW likened it to ‘Greensleeves crossed with Shaft’ and he isn’t wrong!
Update: Thanks to MacHeath and Peter for pointing out that it was that other lantern-jawed actor, Kirk Douglas, who graced the silver screen as Spartacus. Memory, eh? It's what the IMDB was made for...
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "An hour ago a kid saw a fin off the north point. A fin with a nick in it. Stationary. Just waiting..."
I have John Ward to thank for reminding me of this one in his own round-up of memorable themes from last year;Michael Anderson’s ‘Orca, Killer Whale’ (1977), a film that came out two years after ‘Jaws’, and was considered a bit of a rip off as a result.
Certainly, the trailer helped to give that impression:
But it isn’t really just a story about cruel mankind and killer beast. It’s a story about sin and redemption. And the corrosive effects of vengence.
The haunting Ennio Morricone soundtrack is what, for me, makes this film memorable, though:
The main theme also had words, and was sung in the film by Carol Connors:
It's considered by fans of the film to be an inferior version of the purely instrumental title, but I rather like it. And the words so perfectly match the film's message.
Certainly, the trailer helped to give that impression:
But it isn’t really just a story about cruel mankind and killer beast. It’s a story about sin and redemption. And the corrosive effects of vengence.
The haunting Ennio Morricone soundtrack is what, for me, makes this film memorable, though:
The main theme also had words, and was sung in the film by Carol Connors:
It's considered by fans of the film to be an inferior version of the purely instrumental title, but I rather like it. And the words so perfectly match the film's message.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Soundtrack Retrospective: "You're supposed to be stupid, son. Don't abuse the privilege."
I thought I’d kick off this new monthly feature with one of my all-time favourites: John Badham’s ‘Blue Thunder’ (1983), a film that still has a message for modern day audiences distrustful of state power and the advance of technology, and especially of some of the uses that technology can be put to.
The trailer is available on YouTube:
If you haven’t seen it yet, you’ll note that it ticks a lot of the boxes for an 80’s film; tortured Vietnam vet hero, cocky young sidekick, British villain, shadowy conspiracy by corrupt officials, spectacular (pre-CGI) stunts, including a breathtaking chase sequence through LA and a cat and mouse game with two F16s before the inevitable head to head with the main villian...
One of the most iconic images in the film is in the trailer – it’s the scene where Scheider’s character’s girlfriend, played by Candy Clark, racing to a newspaper office to hand incriminating tapes to a journalist (it’s 1983, it seemed the proper thing to do in those days!) is stopped by police on a bridge over those famous LA drainage culverts, and Murphy rises from below in the stolen chopper to distract the cops and give her a chance to reach the reporter’s office.
It’s been used in many other media – most notably in ‘Firefly’, in the episode ‘The Train Job’ where Mal and his team, having started an ill-judged bar fight, are now backed against a canyon edge, until Wash rises over it to save the day with the bluff of the Serenity’s non-existent cannons.
And most recently in the new dungeon encounter in ‘World of Warcraft’ where your group is backed onto a similar clifftop overlook, facing the forces of the Lich King, and the ‘Skybreaker’ (an Alliance flying ship that bears a suspicious resemblance to Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier) rises from below to save your group's bacon in a neatly scripted part of the encounter.
But it’s without a doubt that the most memorable part of the film, for me, was the theme by Arthur B. Rubinstein. This was back in the day when the music was considered to be just as important as the visuals and the performances.
It’s still available, and here’s the main character theme from YouTube:
The trailer is available on YouTube:
If you haven’t seen it yet, you’ll note that it ticks a lot of the boxes for an 80’s film; tortured Vietnam vet hero, cocky young sidekick, British villain, shadowy conspiracy by corrupt officials, spectacular (pre-CGI) stunts, including a breathtaking chase sequence through LA and a cat and mouse game with two F16s before the inevitable head to head with the main villian...
One of the most iconic images in the film is in the trailer – it’s the scene where Scheider’s character’s girlfriend, played by Candy Clark, racing to a newspaper office to hand incriminating tapes to a journalist (it’s 1983, it seemed the proper thing to do in those days!) is stopped by police on a bridge over those famous LA drainage culverts, and Murphy rises from below in the stolen chopper to distract the cops and give her a chance to reach the reporter’s office.
It’s been used in many other media – most notably in ‘Firefly’, in the episode ‘The Train Job’ where Mal and his team, having started an ill-judged bar fight, are now backed against a canyon edge, until Wash rises over it to save the day with the bluff of the Serenity’s non-existent cannons.
And most recently in the new dungeon encounter in ‘World of Warcraft’ where your group is backed onto a similar clifftop overlook, facing the forces of the Lich King, and the ‘Skybreaker’ (an Alliance flying ship that bears a suspicious resemblance to Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier) rises from below to save your group's bacon in a neatly scripted part of the encounter.
But it’s without a doubt that the most memorable part of the film, for me, was the theme by Arthur B. Rubinstein. This was back in the day when the music was considered to be just as important as the visuals and the performances.
It’s still available, and here’s the main character theme from YouTube:
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