Who would you like to score Bond 24?

Only two possibilities seem certain on this subject: David Arnold or Thomas Newman. Mendes would likely ask Newman, but if turned down then it's likely EON will direct him to Arnold. However, who would YOU like to have a go at a Bond film? It's something that actually stumps me. I would have said Jonny Greenwood a few years ago, but I'm unsure of him.

Alberto Iglesias is my first choice, though I'd be interested in seeing what Michael Danna would do.

Indeed, Inglesias or Newman. Unfortunately my knowledge of film composers beyond the usual suspects is quite scant.

I think John Williams or Grant Kirkhope could provide an excellent score.

John Williams has made wonderful movie soundtracks, my favourite ones being Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park and Star Wars. He's pretty well known, so there's not much to say about him.

Grant Kirkhope is a videogame composer, he is a James Bond fan, and has always wished to do a movie score. In 2006 he made a beautiful classical score for Viva Pinata, and more recently he did an amazing score for Kingdoms of Amalur, played by a full orchestra, proving he'd make a fantastic movie score.

Otherwise, I want David Arnold back. If Newman will be back, I want him to overuse the Bond theme.

Sounds like generic fantasy music. Sorry.

Makeshift Python wrote:

However, who would YOU like to have a go at a Bond film?

Well, none of these strikes me as a likely choice but I'd like:

Bill Conti

or

Dave Grusin

or

Joe Hisaishi

or

Ryuichi Sakamoto

or

Vangelis.

I´d like someone who makes pieces that are compact in themselves and make sense if played together. TLD and GE had such scores, and I have no idea who else would go there.





Apart from the above, Brian Tyler did quite a good job on Iron Man 3. So, depending on the direction the next film is going to take, I would consider him. He at least made good use of the main theme.

Loomis wrote:

Joe Hisaishi

or

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Great choices. Has Dave Grusin retired? His last film score was in 2008.

With possible no return of David Arnold or Thomas Newman and not expext there asking both, what about Craig Armstrong

My favorite track of The Incredible Hulk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48rT9es4NOQ

Also make the music for The Quiet American https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xD83kjSDvE

And like the 2 composers his music is also used for The Dutch version of the Dutch/Belgium program Wie Is De Mol. Music from  The Bone Collector.

His moost present project be The Great Gatsby remake. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGLd8oktf98

The reasen that i like to see David Arnold and Thomas Newman make the score togther is that Newman disapointed me in Asian parts and connection with Adele something David Arnold be very good in. On other side Newman bring in something fresh with his music in Turkey, England scenes and scene's iam happy we don't have David Arnold DAD style. Also i whant get ridd of the Twine boat chase as end credits, so David Arnold should created something new.

Steven Price. English and only composed 3 movies include Gravity (from Alfonso Cuarón)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1888527/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr8#composer

He also be music editor work for some movies like Johny English Reborn, Batman Begins and Lord of the rings Trilogy or additional music.

Funny thing be that David Arnold did the music for Hott Fuzz, whyle Price do the music for End Of The World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqRyWeXsQVU
In this track of End Of The World you can hear some David Arnold (QOS inspecialy..) and Thomas Newman style.

Largo's Shark wrote:

Loomis wrote:

Joe Hisaishi

or

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Great choices. Has Dave Grusin retired? His last film score was in 2008.

Dunno whether he's retired. Like I say, none of my choices strikes me as likely, but, hey, they're the people I'd choose.

I suggest Grusin on the basis of his score for THE YAKUZA. I'd be interested in knowing what you think of it if you've heard it, Sharky.

I get the feeling that sophisticated composers don´t do well on Bond films. I´m curious what Junkie XL is going to produce for the new Mad Max film. Does anyone know if the trailer music is by him?

I wonder if Alexandre Desplat would be good for Bond. I always found that he did better with quieter films, but his Godzilla score was not too bad.

Iglesias for sure.

I have no idea who's even working or current in this field. John Williams NO. Absolutely NOT. Hans Zimmer? I like his stuff far more than most around here but I would have to say he's wrong for Bond.

My favourite "current" score composers, as it were, might be said to be Brian Tyler, Kevin Manthei, Christopher Drake, Jason Graves, and David Carbonera, but as with Zimmer I can't really say if any of them are "right" for Bond.

I mean the "classic" Bond sound is Barry brass, but modern Bond is so far removed from classic Bond in feel and tone and content that there's no way that kind of score can really work anymore. But that raises the question - what does work?

Which raises the bigger question -- what is modern Bond?

CR wanted to be a Bourne film, those were scored by John Powell. QOS didn't know what the fuck it wanted to be. And SF of course was nicely scored by Thomas Newman, but wanted very much I think to be a Chris Nolan film, which means a Hans Zimmer score.

But are Bond films action movies? Spy thrillers? Character dramas? Superhero flicks? Adventure shows? I don't think they really know from one to the next what tone they want, although I think "Skyfall" was the first Bond film to feel like a Bond film in quite a long time, and so without knowing the tone is, it's hard to grasp a composer.

I wouldn't mind Alexandre Desplat having a go… His work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was magical.

SKYFALL feels like the best interpretation of Bond for the 21st century, and Newman's work was a big part of it IMO.





If Newman is a no go, I'm still uncertain of who I'd like to score it 24 and beyond.

Shanghai Drive just might be the best track in the ost.

Control wrote:

Iglesias for sure.

Great stuff no doubt, but I don´t hear anything that would qualify him especially for Bond.

Makeshift Python wrote:

SKYFALL feels like the best interpretation of Bond for the 21st century, and Newman's work was a big part of it IMO.

Fairbairn-Sykes wrote:

I have no idea who's even working or current in this field. John Williams NO. Absolutely NOT. Hans Zimmer? I like his stuff far more than most around here but I would have to say he's wrong for Bond.

My favourite "current" score composers, as it were, might be said to be Brian Tyler, Kevin Manthei, Christopher Drake, Jason Graves, and David Carbonera, but as with Zimmer I can't really say if any of them are "right" for Bond.

I mean the "classic" Bond sound is Barry brass, but modern Bond is so far removed from classic Bond in feel and tone and content that there's no way that kind of score can really work anymore. But that raises the question - what does work?

Which raises the bigger question -- what is modern Bond?

CR wanted to be a Bourne film, those were scored by John Powell. QOS didn't know what the fuck it wanted to be. And SF of course was nicely scored by Thomas Newman, but wanted very much I think to be a Chris Nolan film, which means a Hans Zimmer score.

But are Bond films action movies? Spy thrillers? Character dramas? Superhero flicks? Adventure shows? I don't think they really know from one to the next what tone they want, although I think "Skyfall" was the first Bond film to feel like a Bond film in quite a long time, and so without knowing the tone is, it's hard to grasp a composer.

CR did lend some key elements from Bourne, but so did SF, and both for sure didn´t want to be Bourne films. QOS stole even more from Bourne, yet it damn sure knew what it wanted to be, it just has a limited target audience. If at all, the new Bond dropped his balls with SF by falling back on old elements instead of pursuing further what Craig so boldly had established with his first two films.
Arnold´s scores were always less identifiable than Barry´s, but Newman´s score for SF is even worse in that regard. And Arnold at least concocts a nice mixture of sinister, introspective, and over the top. That is what Bond should be.

boldfinger wrote:

Arnold´s scores were always less identifiable than Barry´s, but Newman´s score for SF is even worse in that regard. And Arnold at least concocts a nice mixture of sinister, introspective, and over the top. That is what Bond should be.

I couldn't agree with you less. Newman is a master who revealed Arnold to be nothing more than an overgrown boy playing with his Casio.

If Eon is going to go with someone other than Newman then I'd be interested to see what Richard Gibbs might do with a decent budget. He did Are You Alive? for about $25.00 and it covers everything from ethereal to military:

Erica Ambler wrote:

boldfinger wrote:

Arnold´s scores were always less identifiable than Barry´s, but Newman´s score for SF is even worse in that regard. And Arnold at least concocts a nice mixture of sinister, introspective, and over the top. That is what Bond should be.

I couldn't agree with you less. Newman is a master who revealed Arnold to be nothing more than an overgrown boy playing with his Casio.

Certainly not with his SF score. And we didn´t need Newman to know that Arnold is an overgrown boy playing with his Casio. But at least he knows how to have fun with it. I value that higher at the end of the day than a composer who, when he´s not overly self-indulgent, thinks he has to emulate the most generic blockbuster sound of the day. Arnold at least ripped off nice-sounding composers.

Well, these things are subjective, but Skyfall is the first Bond score I've been able to listen to in its own right since GoldenEye.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Well, these things are subjective, but Skyfall is the first Bond score I've been able to listen to in its own right since GoldenEye.

Subjective indeed. For me, it is the first Bond score since DN I´m having problems listening to in its own right.

Never tire of Tennyson.

A few Zimmerisms aside, SKYFALL sounds like Newman to me. How much of his output are you familiar with, boldfinger?













If nothing else, listen to ANGELS IN AMERICA in full - Newman's masterpiece. One thing both John Barry and Tom Newman have in common is they're both minimalists, something you can't really say about Arnold (except for a few cues in QUANTUM OF SOLACE).

Thanks for all those links, Shark.
I did listen to all of those scores, and most of it, albeit undoubtedly very versatile, is not really my cup of tea. I listened to Angels in Americe when Newman was first announced for Bond. That score made me very, very optimistic. But his SF score somehow doesn´t cut it for me. I don´t think Newman uses his minimalism cleverly when it comes to Bond. Arnold is much less in control in a way, but in his case that is precisely one thing that works for me much better in the Bond films. Not to mean he´s perfect, not at all.

Different strokes I guess. I like Bond music to be loud, rousing, but economical. Costume designer Lindy Hemming described Daniel Craig's Bond as a tightly wound coil or a snake, and in that sense Newman's music fits his Bond far better than Arnold.