David Arnold Back in Action

Saw this elsewhere, but Arnold scored a Bondesque advert.



Does make me half wish he did another Bond score.

Only half-wish though.

Just sounds like your generic Arnoldian Bond fare. I think we had enough films with that and it's safe to move on. Barry kept things fresh (check out the contrast between FRWL and AVTAK as a random example).

To be honest some of the EA games had better music than anything we've had in years.

CJB wrote:

Only half-wish though.

Just sounds like your generic Arnoldian Bond fare. I think we had enough films with that and it's safe to move on. Barry kept things fresh (check out the contrast between FRWL and AVTAK as a random example).

Barry always kept things fresh because he himself would get bored of just playing the same sound. That's why he'd do something radical like abandoning Vic Flick's guitar for a Moog synthesizer for OHMSS. When he was offered to score THE INCREDIBLES, the filmmakers just wanted him to do his 60s Bond sound and he wouldn't have it. So they go to Michael Giacchino instead, and he does a very good Barry pastiche, but in the end still pastiche.

I dunno if the ad is a good indication of how he would score a Bond film today, but if it is then it really doesn't sound all that different from the usual flourishes he did from 1997-2008. Just the same over-orchestrated stuff. Maybe it's meant to sound the same as his Bond scores, or maybe Arnold just revels in sticking with that same sound because he's a big self-proclaimed Bond fanboy. I dunno. I remember before CR came out he talked about changing the sound to reflect a new Bond, and I was actually excited for that. Then it turns out all he did was downplay the techno. Yawn.

I adore specific Arnold pieces and cues in TND-TWINE-DAD. Overall I think each falls short as a complete score usually due to them being overdone and heavy handed when doing references-but they are still good for each film they represent. They work best in the moment with the action cues and quiet character cues best overall. It didn't help Arnold had to do TND in piecemeal sections out of order and write as he went along. I don't know how the sessions were for the later films.

But I would argue that Serra's GE score is actually the best overall score we've had post Michael Kamen's LTK. Some may be a bit overdone but that's more in the unedited CD cues and not the film edits. Plus they did tone it down in the mix where they wanted and replaced the tank chase cue so they did adjust what they felt they didn't like. It doesn't deserve the hate and even as a giant Barry fanatic I love the experimentation Serra did without losing the Bondian essence. It's funny but the actual techno score is more palatable than Arnold overdoing techno in a orchestral score!

hegottheboot wrote:

Overall I think each falls short as a complete score usually due to them being overdone and heavy handed

Arnold for me basically commits the sin of overwriting when it comes to scoring. Take the scene with Bond and Paris in the hotel. It's already a pretty heavy handed scene as it is without the music, but it's Arnold who brings it over the top with his heavy orchestration. Subtext was never his strong suit. All John Barry would have done was use a few strings and perhaps a solo flute, and you'd be fooled for a second thinking it was the most romantic scene in cinema.

Quote :

But I would argue that Serra's GE score is actually the best overall score we've had post Michael Kamen's LTK. Some may be a bit overdone but that's more in the unedited CD cues and not the film edits. Plus they did tone it down in the mix where they wanted and replaced the tank chase cue so they did adjust what they felt they didn't like. It doesn't deserve the hate and even as a giant Barry fanatic I love the experimentation Serra did without losing the Bondian essence. It's funny but the actual techno score is more palatable than Arnold overdoing techno in a orchestral score!

100%. Part of what makes GE feel distinctive is Serra's score. It's too bad though, he basically did exactly what EON asked him to do (make a Bond score unlike other that signals Bond of the 90s) and when he delivers EON seemed to have regretted it. Ironically, Barry was the one that recommended Serra to EON due to LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL.

https://www.npeal.com/mens/james-bond

At those bloody prices, no wonder they can afford Arnold.

Glad to know I'm not the only lover of the Serra score! I think people have said Barry didn't like it it but I'd think he would have appreciated it being different as he himself had dabbled in electronic elements for decades and it was fresh blood.

I agree wholeheartedly on the score in the Atlantic suite. It's a really pretty piece of music but so overdone that it overwhelms the scene in the wrong ways for a character that will be axed off a few minutes later offscreen. It's much better with the solo piano notes at the start and then goes into 1000% overdrive so much so that it almost drowns out Paris's whispered exclamation "I missed you". Again I like the music but it's overkill.
Most of Arnold's other non-Bond scores I feel the same about. His music for even THE MUSKETEER is pretty buy WAAAAY too overbearing.


Those prices are ludicrous.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

https://www.npeal.com/mens/james-bond

At those bloody prices, no wonder they can afford Arnold.

And those cars (plus getting to film in the Burlington Arcade after dark, a place with notorious rules for shoppers).

Hilly wrote:

Saw this elsewhere, but Arnold scored a Bondesque advert.



Does make me half wish he did another Bond score.

More colour and vitality here than in most of the Bond music since EA's Everything or Nothing. #BringBackArnold.

MP wrote:

Take the scene with Bond and Paris in the hotel. It's already a pretty heavy handed scene as it is without the music, but it's Arnold who brings it over the top with his heavy orchestration. Subtext was never his strong suit

Rubbish. No doubt Barry would have done a stellar job, but this scene is full of subtext, from the writing and performances right down to Arnold's music. Gorgeous piece.

Ah, Everything Or Nothing. Now there's a kickback to a better time. Ish.