352 replies to this topic

[The Shark]

I think he should return. You need a composer who understands the musical style of the series and Arnold certainly does.

Does he? I certainly wouldn't say that.

yet he still produced scores that belonged in a Bond film.

Despite some good bits here and there, on the whole I'd say the last two scores belonged in a Transporter film, Bourne film, or MTV Bond parody, as opposed to a Bond film.

I have been reading your posts Shark and I on the whole agree with why someone other than Arnold might not necessarily be a bad thing. However, I am also willing to go with Arnold for Bond 23 on the basis of what he did in CR and QOS.

He definitely has improved and developed a style that distances itself from his Brosnan soundtracks. The QOS soundtrack contains many great cues that take advantage of the locales in order to give the soundtrack that great regional flavor that made many of these cues so memorable. He composed a great action cue that is the best since OHMSS. And while the QOS from beginning to end is certainly not as good as the entire OHMSS soundtrack, for me to say that he finally nailed many of the QOS action scenes is quite a statement coming from someone who couldn't stand most of them.

Now is he perfect? Far from it. And I agree with others who say that he could go two ways with the next Bond 23. He can either expand and improve even more from his QOS soundtrack, or he could actually regress back to a more "Brosnan" sounding score. I have said before that having the extra time and directive given to him by Mark Forester probably gave him more time to come up with something more creative and original. Therefore, I think as long as Arnold is given this "short leash" to work with he can continue to improve his sound. But yes, Bond 23 could be a roll of the dice with him depending on the director. Therefore it probably would not necessarily be a bad thing if EON went in a different direction, but it would ultimately be a "high risk, high reward" issue with whomever they decide to bring in.

And I agree 100% with you shark about Arnold's issue with mimicing every action that occurs on screen! The fact that many of his action cues come to a screeching halt every 20 seconds may be the single most annoying technique he uses, even worse than the techno! It takes all the momentum out of a cue when he does that, the most visible example of that being "African Rundown". Here he has a cue that is gaining momentum, only to come to a screeching halt (literally and figuratively) just as the cue is taking off into something memorable! It downgraded an outstanding cue to just very good, and it is something that is both unnecessary and irritating.

Having said all that though, he has done more good than bad lately and I would be more than willing to see him back for at least one more film, if that's was EON so desires to do. There were too many memorable cues from QOS to deny him from coming back. His QOS soundtrack was by far his best Bond soundtrack (and probably his best ever), and is the best non-Barry Bond soundtrack, so based on that this may be the wrong time to go with someone else.

Thank you for your intelligent reply!

I also agree that QOS is his best so far, next followed by TND, though I personally hate his score for CR.

To keep it short, I'd say that they should try a new composer for the next film, though I'm not sure who.

[A Kristatos]

Thank you for your intelligent reply!

I also agree that QOS is his best so far, next followed by TND, though I personally hate his score for CR.

To keep it short, I'd say that they should try a new composer for the next film, though I'm not sure who.

No problem! This is a subject that is a hot button issue for most on this board. People either love Arnold or hate him, with very little in between it seems.

I don't know which new composer should be brought in either if EON decides to make a change. There's no guarantee even how well the score will sound even if they bring in a "big name" composer. Kind of a "high risk, high reward" move if they decide to go in a different direction.

[jamie00007]

Arnold just keeps getting better. I think his QoS score is by far his best, and his Casino Royale one was excellent too. So yes, I definately want them to hang on to him, the guy knows how to score a Bond film.

[JimmyBond]

So yes, I definately want them to hang on to him, the guy knows how to score a Bond film.

True, but just because he knows how, does that really make him the best man for the job? While I think his music works for the most part in the films, as stand alone music it's not something I feel like popping into the cd player for a listen to. Now Barry, I can pop in one of his scores and listen for hours on end, he made music that not only fit the film but was great music in general.

I'm ready for something new, the Producers told us we'd have something new when they rebooted the films, and for the most part we do (I think Lamont not doing QoS was one of the best things to happen to that film). It's time to bring in some fresh talent musically, I'm ready for it...and from the looks of this thread so are a lot of other Bond fans.

[tdalton]

I'm ready for something new, the Producers told us we'd have something new when they rebooted the films, and for the most part we do (I think Lamont not doing QoS was one of the best things to happen to that film). It's time to bring in some fresh talent musically, I'm ready for it...and from the looks of this thread so are a lot of other Bond fans.

Completely agreed. I can only think of where they could take this rebooted franchise if they were to put it in entirely new creative hands. While I respect the work of Arnold and Purvis & Wade on the last two outings (and I even think that P&W get shortchanged a bit for their excellent work on Casino Royale in terms of more credit than is necessarily deserved going to Haggis), I can only imagine what type of film we'd get if Sam Mendes (or whoever ultimately directs Bond 23), Peter Morgan, and a new composer were left to do the film on their own.

[Turn]

I took the CR soundtrack on a road trip for work the other day. Unfortunately, it hasn't gotten any better. Most of it just drones on and on with my having to reach for the jewelcase to see which track it is. Miami International is still the worst offender for this.

Again, the only time it really comes to life is African Rundown, the final track, some of his romantic tracks and when he incorporates bits of the theme into it.

[A Kristatos]

I took the CR soundtrack on a road trip for work the other day. Unfortunately, it hasn't gotten any better. Most of it just drones on and on with my having to reach for the jewelcase to see which track it is. Miami International is still the worst offender for this.

Again, the only time it really comes to life is African Rundown, the final track, some of his romantic tracks and when he incorporates bits of the theme into it.

Which is exactly why CR is one of his better soundtracks. Take out that rubbish "Miami International" and the music during the Venice footchase and he has a great soundtrack.

I've thought through in recent weeks of exactly how I would rank Arnold's soundtracks. I personally find his TND soundtrack more difficult to listen too each time. Now how could I actually dislike a soundtrack that invokes the traditional Bond sound during the first half of it? For exactly that reason. The second half of the TND soundtrack is garbage outside of "Kowloon Bay". Therefore, half a good soundtrack only gets an average rating for me even with his excellent renditions of the classic James Bond theme in the first half.

Now the one Arnold soundtrack that actually has been growing on me with each listen is the TWINE soundtrack. Now how is that possible with less of the traditional sounding James Bond theme being used here? Well, Arnold actually does a great job with the transitional cues here which help enhance the darker mood of the story. He provides several great versions of "Elektra's Theme", especially during the casino scene which invokes the sound of Barry's casino theme in OHMSS. Arnold also does a great job incorporating the TWINE theme throughout the soundtrack as well. Take out the bland "Caviar Factory" music and the music during the final submarine sequences and you have a soundtrack almost as good as CR here! This is probably his best Brosnan soundtrack.

With DAD, well the less said here the better! Outside of the excellent swordfight music which matches the onscreen action perfectly, and the Jinx theme, this is an utterly forgetable soundtrack. Kind of like the movie itself!

I've already stated that I like the CR soundtrack for its excellent incorporation of the theme into the soundtrack, and also because the main theme brilliantly satisfies the requirement of providing an "ancestoral" theme to the classic James Bond theme. Arnold also does a spot-on job with his romantic and transitional cues as well. Only that dreadful "Miami International" and climatic music keeps this from becoming a great soundtrack.

And again, QOS is far and away his best soundtrack due. He finally modernizes his sound that he can call his own, the locational cues match up perfectly with the locations Bond visits, and his action cue is actually something memorable for a change, the most distinctive one since at least the Dalton days, if not since OHMSS. Is it a perfect soundtrack? No, but it's not too far away from it. Get rid of the Siena footchase cue and it would be even more top notch.

As I have stated before, based on his previous two soundtracks I would give him one more. But again I think he needs that "short leash" from the director to make sure he doesn't get lazy and come up with the same tripe that hindered him during the Brosnan era. Keep the techno to a minimum and work on the thematic elements, and hopefully his Bond 23 soundtrack will be just as good if not even better than the QOS soundtrack.

[DamnCoffee]

I usually listen to my iPod when I travel to college on a morning. Lately, I've started to become more and more annoyed at Arnold. He's so bloody dull. I'm at the stage where I don't even want him back for Bond 23. Granted, his work on Casino Royale was alright, but it wasn't THAT great.

Die Another Day has a fun soundtrack, but everytime I hear the stupid electronics, especially at the start of 'Zao Dies / Jinx Gets Rescued' I really want to punch something. The World is not Enough is terrible. Quantum of Solace is just plain dull. None of his tracks have any variation. Time to Get Out was probably his most interesting track, followed by Inside Man and I'm the Money. Do you know what the worst thing is. He's CRAP at action cues. It's just the same thing over and over again.

It's just all urghh. Even Tomorrow Never Dies doesn't do it for me anymore. I really hope Arnold is replaced for Bond 23. He's just plain terrible. I've actually taken him off my iPod.

Hans Zimmer would be better! He may be repetitive, but my god, his music is amazing. I'd rather have repetitive and amazing, rather than repetitive and dull.

Mark Snow would be an interesting replacement, as well. He's given us some really good scores. I especially enjoyed his work on 'I want to Believe'.

[delfloria]

I'd just like to hear something closer to Tomorrow Never Dies next time around. Can't get enough of the Bond theme.

[mattjoes]

Time to Get Out was probably his most interesting track, followed by Inside Man and I'm the Money.

What about Talamone and Night at the Opera?

Do you know what the worst thing is. He's CRAP at action cues. It's just the same thing over and over again.

Agreed, action music is his weakness. What Barry, Martin, Hamlisch and Conti did that he doesn't is compose themes for the action, rather than use random orchestral hits.

Even Tomorrow Never Dies doesn't do it for me anymore.

It holds up for me, basically because it puts two great themes (the Bond Theme and Surrender) to good use, keeping things interesting throughout the score. But when he is not working with such good themes as those, his music can be rather dull.

Arnold is good, but not great. We could be doing worse.

Edited by mattjoes, 17 March 2010 - 08:22 PM.

[DamnCoffee]

Oh, I forgot about Surrender. Yes, brilliant track indeed. Night at the Opera, I wasn't too keen on. Tamalone, was just a rehash of I'm the Money.

[The Shark]

As you're probably well aware, I'm one of David Arnold's most outspoken critics around here. However, none of the alternatives or replacements mentioned by users are particularly appealing either.

Mark Snow? Not really. He's not bad, but he doesn't provide the loud, dissonant, purely (or almost purely - if you count guitar and analogue snyths) orchestral sound that Bond requires.

Hans Zimmer? Definitely not, even a step down from Arnold IMO. I really despise his thin, crash-bang-wallop electronic "sound", and with his general arrogance and laziness, which outshines any little talent he's got. The man's the emblem of the modern day, McDonald's, fast food standard of film composition, and heavily responsible for lowering it to the ground.

Here are my ideas for future composers:

1. Lalo Schifrin -

The man's a great of late 20th Century film composition, is responsible for many great soundtracks, most notably the original Mission Impossible TV series, Bullitt, Cool Hand Luke, and the Dirty Harry films. What's most important is that he's alive, working, and will likely accept the job if asked. After all, he composed the score for Rush Hour 3, surely wouldn't Bond be something of a step-up?

2. Elliot Goldenthal -

Highly regarded and distinctive American film and classical composer, known for his eclectic blend of various disparate musical styles. Trained under John Corigliano and Aaron Copeland, most well known for the composing the scores for Alien 3, Michael Collins, Batman Forever, Heat and the Academy Award-winning score for Julie Taymor's "Frida". This is probably the bravest and potentially most rewarding choice for the Bond producers, but some of his recent scores (i.e. Michael Mann's Public Enemies) have been less than inspiring.

3. Michael Giacchino -

A highly prolific and talented modern film composer, who recently one an Oscar and Bafta award for best original soundtrack, for his score for Pixar's animated feature - Up. He's proven his versatility with wide ranging scores from Up, Star Trek, The Incredibles, Alias, Lost, Ratatouille to Mission Impossible 3.

[Ambler]

I always liked Dominic Frontiere but that tax scandal appears to have damaged his career.

Frontiere could handle journeyman efforts as varied as the Moriccone-style Hang ‘em High or On Any Sunday (all available on youtube), but his own style was far more interesting as could be heard in The Invaders.

As a kid, The Invaders' ominous music used to fill me with dread. Unfortunately the only reasonable quality theme I could find is this techno remix, but at least it uses many of the original orchestral cues.

Anyway, all this to say I’d rather a composer in his 70s than a MIDIhead like Dave Arnold.

Edited by Ambler, 17 March 2010 - 10:35 PM.

[The Shark]

I always liked Dominic Frontiere but that tax scandal appears to have damaged his career.

Frontiere could handle journeyman efforts as varied as the Moriccone-style Hang ‘em High or On Any Sunday (all available on youtube), but his own style was far more interesting as could be heard in The Invaders.

As a kid, The Invaders' ominous music used to fill me with dread. Unfortunately the only reasonable quality theme I could find is this techno remix, but at least it uses many of the original orchestral cues.

Anyway, all this to say I’d rather a composer in his 70s than a MIDIhead like Dave Arnold.

Excellent choice. I'd forgotten about Frontiere. Is he still composing? If he is then hire him immeditatly, I would easily accept him instead of the other 3 I mentioned.

His Invaders Theme and Score, remind me a lot of one of my heroes of film composition - Leonard Rosenman (Fantastic Voyage, East of Eden, Lord Of The Rings animated film, Rebel Without A Cause, Return To The Planet Of The Apes, The Cobweb etc...).

[Ambler]

I'd forgotten about Frontiere. Is he still composing?

He doesn't seem to have any film credits this century so maybe he's retired. There's a rather poor fan website hosted by the unfortunately named fredwest.nl

[The Shark]

I'd forgotten about Frontiere. Is he still composing?

He doesn't seem to have any film credits this century so maybe he's retired. There's a rather poor fan website hosted by the unfortunately named fredwest.nl

I agree, it's a pretty shoddy site. It sacrifices decipherable for aestheticism.

Also, I also managed to find the opening title rendition of the Invaders theme that you were referring to.

Oh yeah, and if anyone has any doubts about Frontiere not being 'cool' enough - check this out.

[A Kristatos]

3. Michael Giacchino -

A highly prolific and talented modern film composer, who recently one an Oscar and Bafta award for best original soundtrack, for his score for Pixar's animated feature - Up. He's proven his versatility with wide ranging scores from Up, Star Trek, The Incredibles, Alias, Lost, Ratatouille to Mission Impossible 3.

Ehhh, I'm not a big fan of Giacchino based on his MI3 soundtrack. Although he composed a terrific modern renditon of the original MI theme, much of the rest of this soundtrack also consists of the "thin, crash-bang-wallop electronic sound that lacks any recognizable theme as well. And of course we are trying to get away from this with Arnold.

Having said that though, I still think Arnold's action themes in QOS were miles ahead of Giacchino's action thems in MI3. So while I'm not sure if Arnold would be able to build upon the great strides he made in QOS for Bond 23, I don't think Giacchino is the answer either. Both of them excel at the romantic cues, but that's not where the problem lies. So if the Bond 23 producers decide to bring in a new composer, they better be very sure they find the right one. If not, Arnold probably would be servicable for at least one more Bond film.

Edited by A Kristatos, 21 March 2010 - 10:48 PM.

[The Shark]

3. Michael Giacchino -

A highly prolific and talented modern film composer, who recently one an Oscar and Bafta award for best original soundtrack, for his score for Pixar's animated feature - Up. He's proven his versatility with wide ranging scores from Up, Star Trek, The Incredibles, Alias, Lost, Ratatouille to Mission Impossible 3.

Ehhh, I'm not a big fan of Giacchino based on his MI3 soundtrack. Although he composed a terrific modern renditon of the original MI theme, much of the rest of this soundtrack also consists of the "thin, crash-bang-wallop electronic sound that lacks any recognizable theme as well. And of course we are trying to get away from this with Arnold.

I sort of agree. To be honest I was just throwing out a few names to see what people thought. Godldenthal and Schifrin are the only ones that I trust for sure.

On Giacchino. I concur that is MI:3 score is pretty sub-par, the only bright spot being his rendition of Schifrin's original theme. I think his score for Up and The Incredibles would be better examples to look at.

To be frank, I don't really think Arnold excels at the romantic cues at all. His City Of Lovers/Vesper/I'm Yours/Death Of Vesper cues for CR, were nearly all tedious, workman-like, lacking in creativity, imagination and discipline. His Solange cue was alright, but at times seemed like a recycled, generic version of Jinx's theme (if it was generic enough) delegated to alto flute.

Though, he's at his best when he's scoring travelogue scenes - i.e. Helicopter to Saigon, Halong Bay, Welcome To Baku, Snow Business, Welcome to Cuba, Blunt Instrument, I'm The Money, Aston Montenegro, Inside Man, Bond in Haiti, Night At The Opera, Talamone, Bolivian Taxi Ride, and The Dead Don't Care About Vengeance.

Other than that, he's terribly limited as a composer. Much more so that Giacchino - even if he suffers from the same ineptitude for action sequences.

[DamnCoffee]

Agreed.

I was listening to 'I Never Miss' tonight, and there was a piece that was completely self-plagiarised in Casino Royale's, 'A Fall of a House in Venice'

[The Shark]

Agreed.

I was listening to 'I Never Miss' tonight, and there was a piece that was completely self-plagiarised in Casino Royale's, 'A Fall of a House in Venice'

What's even sadder is that most wouldn't be able to tell it, which I guess is all fine and dandy for Mr. Arnold. However, it owes a lot to the homogeneity and lack of memorability of these two cues, and most of his work for Bond. The fact that he can recycle countless of his own cues says a lot about the lack of the uniqueness of the original and copied forms, and says something about his creativity.

[Guy Haines]

I'm sticking with David Arnold for the next film because for all his faults, he has the experience of five movies, and I think has the right attitude - he says he's a Bond fan, and when watching a Bond film wants to hear a Bond score.

His scores aren't perfect. They tend to be referential, and until the Craig movies came along he really hadn't got the hang of action cues. But if you listen to a good many soundtracks by modern composers, that seems to be a common problem. Music for action scenes doesn't have to be a discordant mess, yet that is how it comes across in some modern film soundtracks, to me at least.

Of course, if a certain former native of York, now resident in New York, could be persuaded to compose a Bond score one more time.........

[The Shark]

I'm sticking with David Arnold for the next film because for all his faults, he has the experience of five movies, and I think has the right attitude - he says he's a Bond fan, and when watching a Bond film wants to hear a Bond score.

I would say I musical talent, training, and experience (musical, not Bondian) is more important for the job than being an aficionado. That's where David Arnold lacks.

His scores aren't perfect. They tend to be referential, and until the Craig movies came along he really hadn't got the hang of action cues.

He still hasn't, after 5 films (with the exception of perhaps African Rundown and Time To Get Out). They're still discordant, chaotic, poorly composed messes that stop and start every 20 seconds with a loud crescendo, to underscore every explosion, jump, or fall.

But if you listen to a good many soundtracks by modern composers, that seems to be a common problem. Music for action scenes doesn't have to be a discordant mess, yet that is how it comes across in some modern film soundtracks, to me at least.

Shouldn't a decent Bond composer fight against that trend, instead of following it?

[Guy Haines]

I'm sticking with David Arnold for the next film because for all his faults, he has the experience of five movies, and I think has the right attitude - he says he's a Bond fan, and when watching a Bond film wants to hear a Bond score.

I would say I musical talent, training, and experience (musical, not Bondian) is more important for the job than being an aficionado. That's where David Arnold lacks.

His scores aren't perfect. They tend to be referential, and until the Craig movies came along he really hadn't got the hang of action cues.

He still hasn't, after 5 films (with the exception of perhaps African Rundown and Time To Get Out). They're still discordant, chaotic, poorly composed messes that stop and start every 20 seconds with a loud crescendo, to underscore every explosion, jump, or fall.

But if you listen to a good many soundtracks by modern composers, that seems to be a common problem. Music for action scenes doesn't have to be a discordant mess, yet that is how it comes across in some modern film soundtracks, to me at least.

Shouldn't a decent Bond composer fight against that trend, instead of following it?

Yes he should. And in the last Bond soundtrack, to an extent he did. I think with me it is a case of sticking with the devil you know, because I'm not convinced that any of the alternatives out there would do any better. I think you would either get a composer going out of his way to be radically different (Eric Serra for example) and losing the audience, or an established composer going overboard to prove that he's written a Bond score by sticking in variations of the Monty Norman theme every few minutes.

[The Shark]

I'm sticking with David Arnold for the next film because for all his faults, he has the experience of five movies, and I think has the right attitude - he says he's a Bond fan, and when watching a Bond film wants to hear a Bond score.

I would say I musical talent, training, and experience (musical, not Bondian) is more important for the job than being an aficionado. That's where David Arnold lacks.

His scores aren't perfect. They tend to be referential, and until the Craig movies came along he really hadn't got the hang of action cues.

He still hasn't, after 5 films (with the exception of perhaps African Rundown and Time To Get Out). They're still discordant, chaotic, poorly composed messes that stop and start every 20 seconds with a loud crescendo, to underscore every explosion, jump, or fall.

But if you listen to a good many soundtracks by modern composers, that seems to be a common problem. Music for action scenes doesn't have to be a discordant mess, yet that is how it comes across in some modern film soundtracks, to me at least.

Shouldn't a decent Bond composer fight against that trend, instead of following it?

Yes he should. And in the last Bond soundtrack, to an extent he did. I think with me it is a case of sticking with the devil you know, because I'm not convinced that any of the alternatives out there would do any better. I think you would either get a composer going out of his way to be radically different (Eric Serra for example) and losing the audience, or an established composer going overboard to prove that he's written a Bond score by sticking in variations of the Monty Norman theme every few minutes.

Or what about a breath of musical fresh air to the franchise - with rich harmonies, biting orchestration, well-formed melodies, and most importantly an individual and unique atmosphere to the film - the kind of composer we should have got when they wiped the slate clean with Craig.

ANYONE would be better right now, IMO. Bring back bloody Eric Serra, at least he provided an original sound for GE.

[Quantumofsolace007]

I'm sticking with David Arnold for the next film because for all his faults, he has the experience of five movies, and I think has the right attitude - he says he's a Bond fan, and when watching a Bond film wants to hear a Bond score.

I would say I musical talent, training, and experience (musical, not Bondian) is more important for the job than being an aficionado. That's where David Arnold lacks.

His scores aren't perfect. They tend to be referential, and until the Craig movies came along he really hadn't got the hang of action cues.

He still hasn't, after 5 films (with the exception of perhaps African Rundown and Time To Get Out). They're still discordant, chaotic, poorly composed messes that stop and start every 20 seconds with a loud crescendo, to underscore every explosion, jump, or fall.

But if you listen to a good many soundtracks by modern composers, that seems to be a common problem. Music for action scenes doesn't have to be a discordant mess, yet that is how it comes across in some modern film soundtracks, to me at least.

Shouldn't a decent Bond composer fight against that trend, instead of following it?

Yes he should. And in the last Bond soundtrack, to an extent he did. I think with me it is a case of sticking with the devil you know, because I'm not convinced that any of the alternatives out there would do any better. I think you would either get a composer going out of his way to be radically different (Eric Serra for example) and losing the audience, or an established composer going overboard to prove that he's written a Bond score by sticking in variations of the Monty Norman theme every few minutes.

Or what about a breath of musical fresh air to the franchise - with rich harmonies, biting orchestration, well-formed melodies, and most importantly an individual and unique atmosphere to the film - the kind of composer we should have got when they wiped the slate clean with Craig.

ANYONE would be better right now, IMO. Bring back bloody Eric Serra, at least he provided an original sound for GE.

Though I loved Arnold's last 2 scores the only other composer I'd be comfertable with would be Trevor Rabin I loved his Con Air and Get Smart scores and of course I'm a big Yes fan so obviously I loved his work with Yes (Talk will always be a personal album with me as I was 7 when it came out and my father died shortly after it's release it was last musical experience we shared) but i digress. Trevor rabin I feel would be great for bond. My opnion take it or leave it.

[Guy Haines]

I'm sticking with David Arnold for the next film because for all his faults, he has the experience of five movies, and I think has the right attitude - he says he's a Bond fan, and when watching a Bond film wants to hear a Bond score.

I would say I musical talent, training, and experience (musical, not Bondian) is more important for the job than being an aficionado. That's where David Arnold lacks.

His scores aren't perfect. They tend to be referential, and until the Craig movies came along he really hadn't got the hang of action cues.

He still hasn't, after 5 films (with the exception of perhaps African Rundown and Time To Get Out). They're still discordant, chaotic, poorly composed messes that stop and start every 20 seconds with a loud crescendo, to underscore every explosion, jump, or fall.

But if you listen to a good many soundtracks by modern composers, that seems to be a common problem. Music for action scenes doesn't have to be a discordant mess, yet that is how it comes across in some modern film soundtracks, to me at least.

Shouldn't a decent Bond composer fight against that trend, instead of following it?

Yes he should. And in the last Bond soundtrack, to an extent he did. I think with me it is a case of sticking with the devil you know, because I'm not convinced that any of the alternatives out there would do any better. I think you would either get a composer going out of his way to be radically different (Eric Serra for example) and losing the audience, or an established composer going overboard to prove that he's written a Bond score by sticking in variations of the Monty Norman theme every few minutes.

Or what about a breath of musical fresh air to the franchise - with rich harmonies, biting orchestration, well-formed melodies, and most importantly an individual and unique atmosphere to the film - the kind of composer we should have got when they wiped the slate clean with Craig.

ANYONE would be better right now, IMO. Bring back bloody Eric Serra, at least he provided an original sound for GE.

You have to wonder why Serra, with his original sound, wasn't brought back. And why the cue he wrote for a key scene in GE - the tank chase - was replaced by, basically, an adaptation of the James Bond theme. Innate conservatism on the part of the film makers?

[Guy Haines]

Here are a few suggestions - Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, David Newman, Alexandre Desplat (this is an interesting one), Elliot Goldenthaal and James Horner.

Anyone got any others?

I said on another part of this thread that I would stick with Arnold, really by default because of my doubts about any potential replacement. Looking at the above list, the one composer I would be happy to see score a future Bond film is James Horner. I enjoyed his two Star Trek scores and his work on Apollo 13. (less keen on "Titanic", but then I wasn't keen on the film itself!)

I would love to see somebody take over and produce a Bond score geniunely comparable to John Barry's classic scores from the Connery era. But is there anyone out there capable of it? Barry's scores were listenable whether one had seen the film or not - I have several CDs of his which include cues from films I've never seen. Too many film composers currently produce scores which are functional rather than listenable.

[The Shark]

Here are a few suggestions - Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, David Newman, Alexandre Desplat (this is an interesting one), Elliot Goldenthaal and James Horner.

Anyone got any others?

I said on another part of this thread that I would stick with Arnold, really by default because of my doubts about any potential replacement. Looking at the above list, the one composer I would be happy to see score a future Bond film is James Horner. I enjoyed his two Star Trek scores and his work on Apollo 13. (less keen on "Titanic", but then I wasn't keen on the film itself!)

My opinion's really plummeted on James Horner, along with Desplat (who's never really impressed me much anyway).

I personally would have no problem with Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, David Newman, Ennio Morricone, Elliot Goldenthal, and Lalo Schifrin replacing David Arnold as Bond composer. I personally think all of those lot are far more talented individuals, and would successfully live up to John Barry's legacy.

I would love to see somebody take over and produce a Bond score geniunely comparable to John Barry's classic scores from the Connery era. But is there anyone out there capable of it?

I think Schifrin or Morricone in particular, would be able to do that in spades.

[DominicGreene]

Here are a few suggestions - Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, David Newman, Alexandre Desplat (this is an interesting one), Elliot Goldenthaal and James Horner.

Anyone got any others?

I said on another part of this thread that I would stick with Arnold, really by default because of my doubts about any potential replacement. Looking at the above list, the one composer I would be happy to see score a future Bond film is James Horner. I enjoyed his two Star Trek scores and his work on Apollo 13. (less keen on "Titanic", but then I wasn't keen on the film itself!)

My opinion's really plummeted on James Horner, along with Desplat (who's never really impressed me much anyway).

I personally would have no problem with Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, David Newman, Ennio Morricone, Elliot Goldenthal, and Lalo Schifrin replacing David Arnold as Bond composer. I personally think all of those lot are far more talented individuals, and would successfully live up to John Barry's legacy.

I would love to see somebody take over and produce a Bond score geniunely comparable to John Barry's classic scores from the Connery era. But is there anyone out there capable of it?

I think Schifrin or Morricone in particular, would be able to do that in spades.

I think those composers are some of the best ever. Too bad they are underrated

[sthgilyadgnivileht]

I would love to see somebody take over and produce a Bond score geniunely comparable to John Barry's classic scores from the Connery era. But is there anyone out there capable of it? Barry's scores were listenable whether one had seen the film or not - I have several CDs of his which include cues from films I've never seen. Too many film composers currently produce scores which are functional rather than listenable.

Yes, isn't this the problem. Isn't true film scoring with music a dying art. Sometimes I think it is. There is a thread on here about a lack of good directors making films today, but for me much more of a problem lies with film composing. If Hitchcock was alive or David Lean who would they choose to score their films from the current crop of working composers?