Thomas Newman will score SKYFALL

It's the only non-Barry Bond CD I own, so yeah I love it. I wish EON stuck with him instead of giving into the fan complaints Serra got.

I freely admit to liking Conti's FYEO as well.

I loved this cue:



Shame there wasn't an expanded score release.

Rip-off.

right idea, wrong pussy wrote:

Hilly wrote:

Part of me is much more interested in what the score will be like than the film itself. Quite weird.

Is anyone else getting kind of an Eric Serra vibe about Thomas Newman vis a vis Bond? I don't mean that Newman sounds like Serra (Newman is a more talented and somewhat more diverse composer). What I mean is that I for one am starting to sense that we might get a soundtrack for SF that will be brilliant to listen to, but that won't entirely work in the context of the actual film. Having just listened to all the clips Sharky shared a few posts above, I have to say that apart from the second Little Women selection, they all seem to lack energy. Newman's work with Mendes in particular seems to be very lovely but very sedate - like higher quality versions of the sorts of stuff they play on "Music from the Hearts of Space". This reminds me of Serra's GE soundtrack, which lacked energy in action sequences (so much so that Serra's track for the tank scene got replaced). Serra had some good ideas (using kettledrums to play the Bond theme), but much of his music doesn't work, and even music that is lovely to listen to ("The Same Passions") not only doesn't work in the context of the film, but actually almost deflates the scenes it accompianies (GE is a more than strong enough film to survive Serra, but he does hurt the final product).

I will say though that trying to imagine what a Thomas Newman Bond soundtrack will sound like is intriguing, and just for that reason is preferably than already knowing we are going to get another David Arnold hack job.

Glad to see someone sticking by their guns and against the tide of crushing popularlity.

Yeah, I don't imagine Newman being the best fit for Bond, but it's a better prospect than another Arnold score.

Not heard enough Newman. Only vaguely recall Revolutionary Road

right idea, wrong pussy wrote:

This reminds me of Serra's GE soundtrack, which lacked energy in action sequences (so much so that Serra's track for the tank scene got replaced).

If Serra's action tracks (eg. the "GoldenEye Overture" or "Run, Shoot, Jump") lack for anything, it's not energy. They have a tremendous pace to them. Same with the unused (and undeniably goofy) "A Pleasant Drive in St Petersburg," which was replaced by a version of the Bond theme so full of false starts and pointless teases that it's probably the least exciting of all versions.

I'd say Arnold's actions tracks lack energy. Or perhaps it's not energy they lack. They are blustery beyond belief, but they lack direction. Compared to Serra's Usain Bolt, Arnold is the soundtrack to a seizure. With his tracks, the action becomes exhausting rather than exciting.

right idea, wrong pussy wrote:

(GE is a more than strong enough film to survive Serra, but he does hurt the final product).

I hold the opposite view. Serra's contribution makes the film a lot more valuable than it otherwise would have been.

Serra's weedy-ass end-credits song and the would-barely-pass-muster-in-a-video-game scoring of the Ferrari/Aston Martin 'duel' were enough for me to hope he's never asked back, IMHO.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Serra's weedy-ass end-credits song and the would-barely-pass-muster-in-a-video-game scoring of the Ferrari/Aston Martin 'duel' were enough for me to hope he's never asked back, IMHO.

Two very low points, to be sure.

But when did Ahhhhnuld ever do something like this?

Sure those two ain't great but the rest of the soundtrack makes up for that in a big big way that I can easily forgive those. At least the "Ladies First" track is more interesting than anything Arnold cooked up.

Always worth posting. The theme for j7wild's return to BAB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVFiYsciTGU#t=1m10s

Was expecting that to be some sort of 'bom chicka wah-wah' porn music, Tux ;) .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_us6n5mnq8&t=1m3s

I've always been of the opinion that Goldeneye should've had a big, bold, Barry-esque score to unequivocally state that 'Bond is BACK!!!' after the 6-year gap between LTK and it ... but maybe that's just me.

Mr. Brown wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_us6n5mnq8&t=1m3s

Clicked on the link and thought, "Jesus Christ, why don't we have women like THAT in SKYFALL?"

Marlohe? Meh.
Harris? Bad Hairris.
Greek woman: Bleh.
M: Instant boner.

Marlohe's pretty, but I wish she had bigger tits.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I've always been of the opinion that Goldeneye should've had a big, bold, Barry-esque score to unequivocally state that 'Bond is BACK!!!' after the 6-year gap between LTK and it ... but maybe that's just me.

It'd make sense to have something bombastic to herald Bond's long awaited return, but the whole atmosphere of the film is really a construction of Serra's making. You need only hear a small snippet of any track to immediately recognise it's from Goldeneye.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I've always been of the opinion that Goldeneye should've had a big, bold, Barry-esque score to unequivocally state that 'Bond is BACK!!!' after the 6-year gap between LTK and it ... but maybe that's just me.

It's not just you. I think that's what the plonkers who complained to EON thought too. I can understand where that comes from, but GOLDENEYE isn't a greatest hits, "Bond is back" kind of Bond film. That's TOMORROW NEVER DIES..

Even David Arnold likes the score.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_92rlGrnKs#t=0m48s

So Altman did the theatrical tank chase music. I didn't know that. I just figured they had Serra rewrite it.

Sharky wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I've always been of the opinion that Goldeneye should've had a big, bold, Barry-esque score to unequivocally state that 'Bond is BACK!!!' after the 6-year gap between LTK and it ... but maybe that's just me.

It's not just you. I think that's what the plonkers who complained to EON thought too. I can understand where that comes from, but GOLDENEYE isn't a greatest hits, "Bond is back" kind of Bond film. That's TOMORROW NEVER DIES..

Even David Arnold likes the score.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_92rlGrnKs#t=0m48s

I've never seen that. Will have to some time.

Altman was Serra's conductor/orchestrator.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Sharky wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

I've always been of the opinion that Goldeneye should've had a big, bold, Barry-esque score to unequivocally state that 'Bond is BACK!!!' after the 6-year gap between LTK and it ... but maybe that's just me.

It's not just you. I think that's what the plonkers who complained to EON thought too. I can understand where that comes from, but GOLDENEYE isn't a greatest hits, "Bond is back" kind of Bond film. That's TOMORROW NEVER DIES..

Even David Arnold likes the score.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_92rlGrnKs#t=0m48s

I've never seen that. Will have to some time.

Lots of John Barry in it having fun, before the Alzheimer's really kicked in.

Makeshift Python wrote:

Sure those two ain't great but the rest of the soundtrack makes up for that in a big big way that I can easily forgive those. At least the "Ladies First" track is more interesting than anything Arnold cooked up.

Yep.

"Ladies First" isn't completely bad. I like the string stuff in it.

Harmsway wrote:

Makeshift Python wrote:

Sure those two ain't great but the rest of the soundtrack makes up for that in a big big way that I can easily forgive those. At least the "Ladies First" track is more interesting than anything Arnold cooked up.

Yep.

"Ladies First" isn't completely bad. I like the string stuff in it.

I was gonna mention that's when I start to like the track, when the strings start to surface as Xenia's car spins out of control.

I like that Arnold is one of the big defenders of Serra's score, he's right that it was probably too early to go that far off. I can understand the complaints in the context of 1995. GE is the return of Bond on the silver screen, there are big expectations going on but suddenly here's Serra's score going towards the far left field. It probably would have worked out better had he toned it down the avant garde, stick to the traditional basics but not pander to the Barry sound. You could only take chances after the film series had fully rejuvenated and solidified that Bond was here to stay. I really wish he could have stuck around, I would have loved to hear his take beyond GE. Signing him up for GE alone tells you EON was ready to take a new direction musically even in the comeback film, but as Arnold said Serra probably went further than they expected and then the fanbases made a big noise about it.