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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
 Posted - 01/25/2007 : 9:34:15 PM
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Watching Blade Runner recently it seemed to me that they heavy 80's synth soundtrack really doesn't hold up well to the test of time. Any other movies where the soundtrack just doesn't hold up?
- While science has societal benefits, science is not a social virtue. - |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 11:33:00 PM
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Blade Runner nothing- what about Ladyhawke?? Not that that soundtrack ever held up *g* Once cheesy 80's synth soundtrack that I think totally holds up is Buckaroo Banzai. But soundtracks by rock groups/stars have not faired well- there's Toto's Dune, Queen's Flash Gordon, Keith Emerson's Night Hawks and Tony Banks' Wicked Lady- all pretty stinky. And let's not even go into the unholy pairing of Rick Wakeman and Ken Russell *lol*
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/25/2007 : 11:34:01 PM
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Oh and speaking of Ridley Scott and synths, the Tangerine Dream version of Legend is nothing to write home about.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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BradH812
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1294 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2007 : 06:28:48 AM
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Actually, I think Blade Runner has taken on a retro-cool feel lately, a bit like Tron (and the music in Blade Runner is better, IMHO).
Not sure whether Giorgio Moroder's soundtrack for Scarface is retro-cool or 80's cheese. His Neverending Story music is squarely in the Cheddar category. |
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2007 : 10:51:20 AM
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Toto's music didn't really mesh well with Dune from the start. However, the title music is pretty good. Now, one soundtrack I still like is Queen's Flash Gordon soundtrack. "FLASH!!! AHH AHH...Savior of the Universe" But maybe that's because it's cheese with cheese.
How long before someone decides to start rescoring movies?
- While science has societal benefits, science is not a social virtue. - |
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Altair IV
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
Japan
110 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2007 : 12:01:18 PM
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Huh? Vangelis is great. He's one of my favorites. I love the Bladerunner soundtrack. It fits the mood and theme of the movie perfectly, and I think it's one of the key elements that makes it the classic that it is. I have a Romanian bootleg version of the soundtrack that's much better than the limited CD released in the US.
Flash Gordon was awesome too. A very enjoyable cheesy movie with awesome Queen music. How can you not love it? Queen also outdid themselves on Highlander.
Buckaroo Banzai was excellent, though mostly for the main instrumental theme. The pop stuff was fairly forgettable.
Labyrinth was another good one. David Bowie was a perfect fit.
Come to think of it, there were lots of good 80's soundtracks. Bill & Ted's Great Adventure, for example. Most of it was by completely unknown artists, and in my opinion the songs were often better than the big names they got for Bogus Journey. (With a few exceptions of course).
I agree about Dune though. It was not the kind of movie you'd expect to have a rock/pop soundtrack. And Sting in a jockstrap...gack.
Maybe not quite the same, but Moonraker came on TV here the other day. I was getting very tired of that soundtrack after about the 50th variation of "Nobody Does It Better".
Can't think of any other bad ones off the top of my head right now. I'll have to mull it over for a while. |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2007 : 12:31:02 PM
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I say Scarface squeaks by in the not cheddar category, but not by much. Midnight Express is a huge stinky piece of Limburger though.
OK, I withdraw my objections to Flash. It's a camp movie, so the score fits.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2007 : 1:45:56 PM
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Funny, I was just watching Blade Runner the other night and I was thinking the exact same thing. Vangelis' synth score just sounds cheap and dated and doesn't really serve the scope of the picture. I'm not saying a roaring John Williams score would be more appropriate. Maybe a happy medium, like Vangelis' original score conducted with a full orchestra. As it stands, the cheap, electronic music that infuses Blade Runner is more worthy of '80s sci-fi cheese like Space Mutiny.
For the most part, Mioroder's score for Scarface works well but it's really his opening credits music that sucks bigtime. Actually, everything in that opening credits sequence screams cheese. Brian DePalma was too cheap to reenact the Cuban boat people sequence, he had to crib grainy stock news footage from CNN (or wherever), blow it up to 70mm, and paste it on the big screen. The opening montage, combined with Mioroder's leaden opening score, makes viewers think they're in store for some cheap '80s Roger Corman or Charles Band quickie, maybe starring Jan-Michael Vincent as Tony and Bradford Dillman as Sosa.
Trying to remember: did Manhunter have a synth score too?
Also count me as a Flash Gordon defender. IMHO Queen's music was one of the movie's few strengths.
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Edited by - zombiewhacker on 01/26/2007 1:48:02 PM |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2007 : 2:03:42 PM
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IIRC Manhunter did have a (cheesy) synth score- it tried hard to sound like Tangerine Dream but it wasn't them. Hmm, IMdB says it was Michel Rubini. Some TV credits, nothing major.
While we're on the subject of Blade Runner, I like the music. I guess I just associate it with the movie and I couldn't imagine anything else. It's certainly one of Vangelis's stronger efforts. Chariots Of Fire was really a dull plodding mess. The bits they took from Heaven And Hell and other early work for Cosmos were good but of course they weren't written for the series.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
Edited by - Sardu on 01/26/2007 2:04:32 PM |
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BradH812
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1294 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2007 : 6:04:13 PM
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| Manhunter's score hasn't aged well, but I thought it worked pretty well overall. Same thing with most of the songs: they're dated now, but they fit the movie nicely... except that God-awful final song. I'd say Manhunter was every bit as good as Silence of the Lambs (and maybe even better), but that "Heartbeat, heartbeat, lookin' for a heart-beat, OH OH Oh!!!" torture brought it down a notch or two. |
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nshumate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
464 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2007 : 08:19:54 AM
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I love the Ladyhawke soundtrack. Always have. But I still listen to The Alan Parsons Project regularly.
Nathan Shumate
http://www.coldfusionvideo.com |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 02/06/2007 : 10:33:28 PM
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| Why did synth even catch on in the first place? I can understand its place in a low budget film where money is tight, but in a major motion picture, why would any director insist on a musical score that sounds like it was played on one of those electronic organs they used to sell at the mall back in the '80s? |
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Bobby-G
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
904 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2007 : 12:55:22 AM
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Last time I watched THE TERMINATOR, the soundtrack did seem to stand out in a cheezy way which I'd not really noticed when I'd first seen it in it's theatrical release.
Rob |
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Neville
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Spain
1590 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2007 : 12:37:35 PM
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I love most of those, except the Ladyhawke one. It's one of the things of being a baby of the 80s, a few seconds of synth music and you feel right at home. Hey, I even like the Scarface intro. Since the movie slowly moves from more or less realistic ground to a highly stylized 80s version of a nightmare, I though the grainy TV images were a good idea.
About the Blade Runner score, it shouldn't even belong to this discussion: it's perfect, one of the best scores I've ever heard, I can't think of a better complement / extension for the images. And Vangelis seems to be in good shape, his work for Alexander was easily the best thing in the movie. |
Edited by - Neville on 02/07/2007 12:41:07 PM |
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2007 : 8:21:19 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by zombiewhacker
Why did synth even catch on in the first place? I can understand its place in a low budget film where money is tight, but in a major motion picture, why would any director insist on a musical score that sounds like it was played on one of those electronic organs they used to sell at the mall back in the '80s?
I think it was just one of those "it's cutting edge" type of things. It's fascinating how "cutting edge" usually results in "really dated" in a short period of time.
You did answer Bobby-G's question though about Terminator. Although it really doesn't look it for the most part, it was a low-budget movie. The intro music to the film is good. I always liked it.
- While science has societal benefits, science is not a social virtue. - |
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Cannon Fodder
Preeminent Apostolic Prelate of the Discipleship of Jabootu
Australia
176 Posts |
Posted - 02/08/2007 : 12:36:56 AM
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| Well, I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who actually likes the Ladyhawke soundtrack- I thought it was perfect for the movie but it seems be held up as being THE example of bad movie music online. Ultimately I love 80's synth music. I can recognise that it is a little cheesy and is certainly dated but I also think there a some genuinely good synth based movie scores out there. Terminator, Scarface, Beverly Hills Cop, Blade Runner, any John Carpenter soundtrack... well I like them. |
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