The music… Oh god the music…
-
MrAleisterCrowley — 11 years ago(April 19, 2014 07:06 PM)
Answers to your questions jcosyn-1: I was born in 1972. I am a huge fan of early 1980s new wave, a professor of medieval literature (Chaucer specifically), and for THOSE REASONS I detest the soundtrack for this film. It is characterized by an ugly, brash tone; it is nothing like the shimmering beauty of (for example) Chariots of Fire. Alan Parsons, producer of Dark Side of the Moon, was/is a prog-rock genius. That does not mean that he or his band-mates should have been anywhere near a fantasy-film soundtrack in the mid-1980s. I studied music theory at university and my wife and I both have classical voice training (she wanted to be an opera singer). In grad school I studied filmic representations of the Middle Ages, and obviously most filmic representations of the Middle Ages have a significant fantasy element. When scoring film, the most crucial issue is the relationship between image and sound (music). I am a fan of silent film, and I know how crucial music is to the successful progression of a narrative on the screen. The music does not need to be period-appropriate in the sense of using only music that fits specific time-bound content, such as medieval polyphony in fantasy films, but it MUST BE consistent on an emotional level.
The issue that I have with Ladyhawke is that there are radical shifts in tone in the script, which are then aggravated greatly by the poor scoring. This results in the fact that nearly every scene that uses the harsh, up tempo synth sounds garish and borderline absurd, Monty Python in its effect on what is happening on screen. Re-score in your mind Star Wars or 2001 with disco (real 1970s disco) or bad 1960s euro pop in the latter case. How well would those films have worked then or work now despite other aspects that actually do date the films? Yeah, exactly.
"I love those redheads!" (Wooderson, Dazed and Confused, 1993) -
Fitvideo — 16 years ago(January 02, 2010 06:12 AM)
I completely agree with the OP, it was dated when it was written ( I saw it living in Japan in 1985, when it came out )I thought so then and still do now it was not an eighties sound, it was sort of late 70's funky upbeat whatever. the synths sounds were not current for 85, the digital era had arrived mixing synths and orchestras is always problematic, and never a good idea unless you really know what you are doingsadly in this case it really does take a good film down.
Ohh, , and yes, I have a musical education , and am quite capable of composing and scoring music. I do so on a daily basis.
regards
Fitvideo -
revengine — 15 years ago(February 25, 2011 02:13 AM)
I just finished watching it again (on VHS no less, hows that for nostalgia?) and I have to agree that the music really does date this movie. And to be quite honest, it really doesnt fit well with it. Not to say that a synth score couldnt fit, I would imagine if Vangelis (the guy who did Blade Runner) scored this movie, it probably would have worked a lot better. As it is, I think this movie would have (and could still) really benefitted from a traditional orchestral score.
"If you're waiting for a woman to make up her mind, you may have a long wait." Preacher -
gducroquet — 15 years ago(February 26, 2011 01:56 AM)
From Wikipedia :
"The film's score was composed by Andrew Powell and produced by Alan Parsons. Richard Donner stated that he was listening to The Alan Parsons Project (on which Powell collaborated) while scouting for locations, and became unable to separate his visual ideas from the music. Powell combined traditional orchestral music and Gregorian chants with contemporary progressive rock-infused material, to controversial effect. It has been cited as the most memorable example of the growing trend among 1980s fantasy films of abandoning the lush orchestral scores of composers such as John Williams and James Horner in favour of a modern pop/rock sound.[1] The soundtrack album was released in 1985 and re-released with additional tracks in 1995."
Well yes, it really sounds like Alan Parson's Project ! -
revengine — 15 years ago(February 26, 2011 08:03 PM)
I think Legend (starring Tom Cruise) with the Tangerine Dream music is a better example of 80s synth music being well incorporated into a fantasy movie.
"If you're waiting for a woman to make up her mind, you may have a long wait." Preacher -
Johnny_Wrong — 13 years ago(May 19, 2012 06:44 PM)
Tangerine Dream's score for Legend was terrible, which is appropriate, as it was recorded in about 10 minutes for a butchered cut of the film.
Jerry Goldsmith's original score is a masterpiece and if more people had seen the proper cut it would have a WAY higher rating thatn it has. -
brakerules — 9 years ago(January 15, 2017 07:33 PM)
Was this score cool in the eighties? Yup Is it cool now? No Is the music funny? Hell yeah!
The score wasn't cool not even back then. It was ridiculously out of context and this is the reason that I don't re watch the film, though I liked it in the first place. The music can put you off its time frame immediately.
I have thought many times to re score it myself with the music of Kingdom of Heaven in order to be able to watch it again.