Arnold is far better then ur choice shark Elliot Goldenthal. The man hacked up Batman forever and as for Batman and robin it was horrible in every area including the music.
For all I know, the only reason why you dislike him is because he's got those two films on his CV.
He simpply provided light hearted, camp zany scores for two light hearted, camp, zany Batman films. If anyone is to blame or praise for those two film's tone and general direction, it's Mr. Joel Schumacher. Musically they're far closer to the spirit of John Barry's earlier scores in technique, discipline, instrumentation and dramatic flair than anything Arnold has ever accomplished. Plus, they're a lot more fun to listen to. A lot less earnest and self-important, a trend in the scores which has plagued Bond since 1997.
Bond needs that joie de vivre that it once it had in its musical legacy.
Yes, exactly, that's what I miss dearly in those Bond scores.
Not sure if that's a correct interpretation, but there is just too much damn minor-moded music in romantic or action sequences. It eventually gets too much.
It's not that Barry's cues were almost always in minor keys. In fact, the vast majority of them are in C minor, F minor, B minor and E minor, from my what I studied. Mostly C Major, F Major, A Major and E Major for the more romantic moments. Very rarely does move outside those keys. The trademark Barry sound is open voiced minor chords, with 7th, 9th and 11th extensions.
Arnold switches tonality all the time, often oscillates between Em and Gm in action sequences, then to Am then F#m - That's called an altered chord progression - where in Em, what would have been G becomes Gm, with a Bb accidental. Hence Arnold's action cues often revolve around the
octatonic scale, but unlike its most famous users - Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky and Bartók, his use of the scale feels completely clichéd, laboured and unimaginative.
Why? It's because its used
far too frequently to the point of abuse, mainly with straight triads and complex, or dissonant chords. Barry used those progressions sparingly in his later Bond films, particularly in A VIEW TO A KILL for example in the
Operation Mainstrike motif. Or in a major tonality for
007 and Counting and
Sir Hilary's Night Out.
If you have a score like QoS that is relatively short, you don't notice it as much, but in a 2 hour score like DAD, it's exhausting.
Even in completely "bunny" Bond girl scenes, when Bond bangs a girl just because he wants it, there is that dramatic sense in the music. Bond and Jinx, or Bond and Wai-Lin, or even Solange.
I miss the "Let's Go Get Them" or "Boat Chase" tone in these movies sometimes.
And Elliot Goldenthal provided scores for the Batman films that go far and beyond the enjoyability of a score like CR. There is life and colour there.
Couldn't agree more.
