Post by Jetzt on Apr 8, 2005 21:46:55 GMT
I could begin by doing the John Williams career re-cap, which even the most basic film fan has partially memorized, or I could wax poetic about the partnership between Lucas and Williams, which we're all probably sick to death of hearing about, or I could rail about the injustices done to the last two prequel soundtracks, which is just as overdone, although the ranting, in that case, is usually justified.
Or I could just talk about what will most likely be considered the best of the three prequel soundtracks by far.
The bombast? It's here. Williams can write stirring, bombastic, blow your eardrums action sequences in his sleep--and he's definitely been accused of doing that recently, but his action work here is inspired. The opening track, "The Revenge of the Sith" explodes as the main titles (the same rendition as in Episode I) start to peacefully wind down--and it never really lets up, all military march and horn blasts.
The classic themes? They're here in force. Most of the complaints leveled at the previous two soundtracks held the opinion that the thematic elements that made Star Wars scores so great were getting VERY short shrift. Not this time out. Recurring themes pop up and play out in a large number of cues, from the Force Theme in the opener, to Across the Stars stashed amongst dissonant strings and woodwinds fighting each other in "Anakin's Dream," "Qui-Gon's Funeral" shows up during "Padme's Destiny," even "Clash of Lightsabers" from Empire Strikes Back gets a quote or two in "Anakin vs Obi-Wan." And of course, the Imperial March and the Emperor's Theme get their licks in, although not as much as you'd think in a movie called "Revenge of the Sith." There's hardly any major theme that doesn't get it's time to shine in this soundtrack. Even themes that don't seem to have any place in the movie.
For instance--the End Titles, after "Battle of the Heroes" winds down, kicks into a regal recital of "The Throne Room" from the original Star Wars, and the rendition played is an arrangement that has only been recorded once--on the "Star Wars/Close Encounters" LP from 1978, conducted by Charles Gerhardt. And when the track closes out, it goes out not with a sad coda, as did the last two, but the huge, triumphant, drawn out crescendo from the original Star Wars. Even aside from the arrangement of the medley, and the heart the orchestra plays with, the sheer nostalgia of hearing those themes, and that ending fanfare, its' going to light up many a Star Wars fan.
And the new stuff? "Battle of the Heroes," is a brassy, almost mean sounding track, with choruses wailing over the top--it honestly sounds less like John Williams, and more like Don Davis' work on "Matrix Revolutions." Imagine, if you can, a mixture between those two, but with quotes from Obi-Wan's/The Force's theme cropping up and making their presence felt, and a series of orchestra hits destined to be the score for almost every Star Wars Fan Film trailer in the coming decade. And "The Immolation Scene" is a strings-laden, melancholy, dramatic piece that stands on it's own with no help from the Imperial March, or the Emperor's theme. It's an evocative piece that underlines the brutality of what will be playing along onscreen very well. But the track dedicated to Palpatine is best described as "unnerving" with low, guttural mumblings mixed in with atonal moaning as the track builds to the familiar Imperial March.
Almost all the new pieces, as a matter of fact, have a very emotional, unique feel to them, a feel that gives the overall soundtrack a tone that's not at all dissimilar to the score for the original Star Wars, even down to using that movie's end credit sequence in THIS movie's end credits. It just feels like something he'd have written in 77, to me. There isn't much in the way of him recycling his scores from recent movies, outside from a couple moments in "Grievous speaks to Lord Sidious" that apparently come straight out of a Harry Potter movie. Most of his new work in this movie is truly NEW WORK, especially "General Grievous" which seems to build off of where "The Conveyor Belt" wanted to go, but does it in a much smoother, almost jazzier way that still manages to fit perfectly into the soundscape he's crafted here.
Sure, there's little nitpicks here and there--the soundtrack almost sounds a little OVER-produced to me, at times. Too slick and shiny for it's own good, a complaint that's been leveled by many at the movies themselves. There's an odd little transitionary bump in the End Credits that doesn't seem all that well planned out, and I would prefer the soundtrack be in movie-order, but Williams has always preferred to set up his soundtracks more as concert suites than as straight scores.
And I can see complaints cropping up that his reference to earlier themes is more like simply re-treading old ground, as he doesn't really do much more than have a new orchestra play the old arrangements, something that actually started to nag at the back of my brain during a couple tracks--but I'd prefer Williams do his OWN cutting and pasting from his history rather than let his producer or Lucas track existing recordings into those spots. At least they sound seamless and complete this time out.
But this score, make no mistake, is the operatic finale that a lot of listeners have been hoping for. It's a full, emotional, evocative score, filled with some of Williams' best writing since his brilliant "Catch Me if You Can." Film Score fans, Williams fans, Star Wars fans..it's not like you need to be told, but this is definitely a piece of work you should add to your collection as soon as possible.
Or I could just talk about what will most likely be considered the best of the three prequel soundtracks by far.
The bombast? It's here. Williams can write stirring, bombastic, blow your eardrums action sequences in his sleep--and he's definitely been accused of doing that recently, but his action work here is inspired. The opening track, "The Revenge of the Sith" explodes as the main titles (the same rendition as in Episode I) start to peacefully wind down--and it never really lets up, all military march and horn blasts.
The classic themes? They're here in force. Most of the complaints leveled at the previous two soundtracks held the opinion that the thematic elements that made Star Wars scores so great were getting VERY short shrift. Not this time out. Recurring themes pop up and play out in a large number of cues, from the Force Theme in the opener, to Across the Stars stashed amongst dissonant strings and woodwinds fighting each other in "Anakin's Dream," "Qui-Gon's Funeral" shows up during "Padme's Destiny," even "Clash of Lightsabers" from Empire Strikes Back gets a quote or two in "Anakin vs Obi-Wan." And of course, the Imperial March and the Emperor's Theme get their licks in, although not as much as you'd think in a movie called "Revenge of the Sith." There's hardly any major theme that doesn't get it's time to shine in this soundtrack. Even themes that don't seem to have any place in the movie.
For instance--the End Titles, after "Battle of the Heroes" winds down, kicks into a regal recital of "The Throne Room" from the original Star Wars, and the rendition played is an arrangement that has only been recorded once--on the "Star Wars/Close Encounters" LP from 1978, conducted by Charles Gerhardt. And when the track closes out, it goes out not with a sad coda, as did the last two, but the huge, triumphant, drawn out crescendo from the original Star Wars. Even aside from the arrangement of the medley, and the heart the orchestra plays with, the sheer nostalgia of hearing those themes, and that ending fanfare, its' going to light up many a Star Wars fan.
And the new stuff? "Battle of the Heroes," is a brassy, almost mean sounding track, with choruses wailing over the top--it honestly sounds less like John Williams, and more like Don Davis' work on "Matrix Revolutions." Imagine, if you can, a mixture between those two, but with quotes from Obi-Wan's/The Force's theme cropping up and making their presence felt, and a series of orchestra hits destined to be the score for almost every Star Wars Fan Film trailer in the coming decade. And "The Immolation Scene" is a strings-laden, melancholy, dramatic piece that stands on it's own with no help from the Imperial March, or the Emperor's theme. It's an evocative piece that underlines the brutality of what will be playing along onscreen very well. But the track dedicated to Palpatine is best described as "unnerving" with low, guttural mumblings mixed in with atonal moaning as the track builds to the familiar Imperial March.
Almost all the new pieces, as a matter of fact, have a very emotional, unique feel to them, a feel that gives the overall soundtrack a tone that's not at all dissimilar to the score for the original Star Wars, even down to using that movie's end credit sequence in THIS movie's end credits. It just feels like something he'd have written in 77, to me. There isn't much in the way of him recycling his scores from recent movies, outside from a couple moments in "Grievous speaks to Lord Sidious" that apparently come straight out of a Harry Potter movie. Most of his new work in this movie is truly NEW WORK, especially "General Grievous" which seems to build off of where "The Conveyor Belt" wanted to go, but does it in a much smoother, almost jazzier way that still manages to fit perfectly into the soundscape he's crafted here.
Sure, there's little nitpicks here and there--the soundtrack almost sounds a little OVER-produced to me, at times. Too slick and shiny for it's own good, a complaint that's been leveled by many at the movies themselves. There's an odd little transitionary bump in the End Credits that doesn't seem all that well planned out, and I would prefer the soundtrack be in movie-order, but Williams has always preferred to set up his soundtracks more as concert suites than as straight scores.
And I can see complaints cropping up that his reference to earlier themes is more like simply re-treading old ground, as he doesn't really do much more than have a new orchestra play the old arrangements, something that actually started to nag at the back of my brain during a couple tracks--but I'd prefer Williams do his OWN cutting and pasting from his history rather than let his producer or Lucas track existing recordings into those spots. At least they sound seamless and complete this time out.
But this score, make no mistake, is the operatic finale that a lot of listeners have been hoping for. It's a full, emotional, evocative score, filled with some of Williams' best writing since his brilliant "Catch Me if You Can." Film Score fans, Williams fans, Star Wars fans..it's not like you need to be told, but this is definitely a piece of work you should add to your collection as soon as possible.
