473 replies to this topic

[dtuba]

True, he did interpolate the Bond theme in various soundtrack cues, but what I and other posters are of course getting at is a fully fledged version of The James Bond Theme.

 

Arnold did hold back on the theme in CR and QoS, the reason being I think that Craig's new Bond was being "granted" bits of it as and when as he developed into the character. There's no need for that now, imho.

 

I'm not asking for a soundtrack with every other cue a version of the Monty Norman theme, but I'd wouldn't mind at least one major sequence in the film where Craig's Bond is in action to the original Bond theme, as arranged by the composer.

This is basically the point I was trying to make. Its not that the SF score did not contain the JB theme; it's that the arrangement of the theme seemed like it was cut-and-pasted from previous composer's scores (Most notably "The Name's Bond...James Bond" in the cue Breadcrumbs).

 

What Mr. Haines and myself would like to hear is Newman's interpretation of the JB theme, much like Martin, Hamlisch and Moby have done in the past.

Edited by dtuba, 31 January 2015 - 10:15 PM.

[x007AceOfSpades]

I believe it was the producers that insisted on using Arnold's arrangement of the Bond theme. Something tells me that they'll give Newman more creative freedom this time around, and allow him to do his own rendition/arrangement and carry off of themes he started in Skyfall for Spectre.

[Guy Haines]

I'm puzzled. Why would the film producers hire a very experienced, award winning film music composer for SF and then insist that another composer's arrangement of a theme that a third composer wrote decades ago be used? It doesn't make sense, and it's inconsistent - Messrs. Martin, Hamlisch, Conti, Kamen, Serra and Arnold were all given free reign.

 

No matter. All I'd like is a score that sounds as if it belongs in a Bond film, and I repeat, I don't want one that channels the Norman theme all the time, but hints at it often. John Barry was excellent at that. And I would like The James Bond Theme as written, rather than hinted at, in at least one major scene.

 

I'm sure the current composer for the series can do that, and then some.

[x007AceOfSpades]

I say that because it's clearly Arnold's arrangement heard at the closing credits for Skyfall, and it's used in "Breadcrumbs". I heard that it was under the insistence of the producers.

[sharpshooter]

I believe it was the producers that insisted on using Arnold's arrangement of the Bond theme. Something tells me that they'll give Newman more creative freedom this time around, and allow him to do his own rendition/arrangement and carry off of themes he started in Skyfall for Spectre.

For me, Newman has already done 'his' rendition of the Bond theme. The version heard during 'Grand Bazaar, Istanbul', 'Enquiry' and 'She's Mine'. My fingers are crossed it returns for SPECTRE.

[x007AceOfSpades]

 

I believe it was the producers that insisted on using Arnold's arrangement of the Bond theme. Something tells me that they'll give Newman more creative freedom this time around, and allow him to do his own rendition/arrangement and carry off of themes he started in Skyfall for Spectre.

For me, Newman has already done 'his' rendition of the Bond theme. The version heard during 'Grand Bazaar, Istanbul', 'Enquiry' and 'She's Mine'. My fingers are crossed it returns for SPECTRE.

 

I did like the way he incorporated the theme into those tracks. Probably should've mentioned that. Now my post feels redundant.

[S K Y F A L L]

I hope this time around he has fun with the score.

Remake the "007 theme"! Please. 

Don't end the film on the Bond theme again. I believe the Bond theme has ended each film since DAD.

[x007AceOfSpades]

Don't end the film on the Bond theme again. I believe the Bond theme has ended each film since DAD.

I honestly don't mind it ending on the Bond theme, especially since it takes up only a minute or two of the closing credits. I did like Newman's overture track "Adrenaline" for Skyfall. Thought it was great!

[tdalton]

 

Don't end the film on the Bond theme again. I believe the Bond theme has ended each film since DAD.

 

It would be nice for a change with the end credits.  I would love it if they went back to having an end title song like they did with The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, and Tomorrow Never Dies.

[Admiral Messervey]

I hope this time around he has fun with the score.

Remake the "007 theme"! Please. 

Don't end the film on the Bond theme again. I believe the Bond theme has ended each film since DAD.

The World Is Not Enough you mean. DAD had its title remix.

 

It'd be nice if they resurrect the bonus song at the end titles again having began with TLD and last done with TND

 

 

Don't end the film on the Bond theme again. I believe the Bond theme has ended each film since DAD.

 

It would be nice for a change with the end credits.  I would love it if they went back to having an end title song like they did with The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, and Tomorrow Never Dies.

 

 

And I was posting that just now. TWINE felt hollow without one; they could;ve used the rejected Straw version of the theme whilst retitle as "(KIss Kiss Bang Bang) The World Is Not Enough"

[Walecs]

 

I hope this time around he has fun with the score.

Remake the "007 theme"! Please. 

Don't end the film on the Bond theme again. I believe the Bond theme has ended each film since DAD.

The World Is Not Enough you mean. DAD had its title remix.

 

It'd be nice if they resurrect the bonus song at the end titles again having began with TLD and last done with TND

 

 

Don't end the film on the Bond theme again. I believe the Bond theme has ended each film since DAD.

 

It would be nice for a change with the end credits.  I would love it if they went back to having an end title song like they did with The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, and Tomorrow Never Dies.

 

 

And I was posting that just now. TWINE felt hollow without one; they could;ve used the rejected Straw version of the theme whilst retitle as "(KIss Kiss Bang Bang) The World Is Not Enough"

 

Totally agree.

[BondSuits]

 

I hope this time around he has fun with the score.

Remake the "007 theme"! Please. 

Don't end the film on the Bond theme again. I believe the Bond theme has ended each film since DAD.

The World Is Not Enough you mean. DAD had its title remix.

 

It'd be nice if they resurrect the bonus song at the end titles again having began with TLD and last done with TND

 

 

Don't end the film on the Bond theme again. I believe the Bond theme has ended each film since DAD.

 

It would be nice for a change with the end credits.  I would love it if they went back to having an end title song like they did with The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, and Tomorrow Never Dies.

 

 

And I was posting that just now. TWINE felt hollow without one; they could;ve used the rejected Straw version of the theme whilst retitle as "(KIss Kiss Bang Bang) The World Is Not Enough"

 

 

I think "Only Myself to Blame", a fantastic song by David Arnold & Don Black, was intended to be over the end titles. But I really liked the Bond theme at the end. It really gives a great ending to the film, and it was used at the end to great effect in a few classic Bond films, especially OHMSS.

[Walecs]

Has anyone else noticed that David Arnold is the only composer who used the part of the Bond theme from 1:07 to 1:14?

 

Arnold used it in tracks like Driving to Paris, Caviar Factory, Whiteout and Pursuit at Porte au Prince, but I can't recall its use by any other Bond composer.

[Bryce (003)]

I've cued up the SF soundtrack for this last week in the car (driving more than usual this week - i.e. crawling through a lot of traffic - It's L.A.) but just been letting it play over. I do like the feel of it.

 

As with all mentioned above, let him play with the Bond theme and rifts on his own as well as really get a take on the full theme along with whatever the title song nuances are.

 

Arnold built a lot on his themes in TND, TWINE and QOS with "Surrender", "Only Myself To Blame" and Bassey's "No Good a About Goodbyes" for the scores of each respectively.

[Odd Jobbies]

I was unhappy about Newman's appointment on Skyfall. Thought we might get an ego-score which tried too hard to reinvent Bond (like Serra - though that has grown on me a lot), or thought the theme below him, refusing to wear it proudly.

 

But, as it turned out it was probably the best score since the 60's (with the exception of LALD - my 2nd fave, next to OHMSS),

 

Subtle, yet proud. Sophisticated, yet bombastic when needed. The only part of his SF score that i don't like (utterly detest, in fact) is the 'comedy' use of the theme in the short burst to underline Bond's horror at his Aston Martin being destroyed. I can only imagine that in the edit the moment fell a bit flat, so they added this 'burst' to pep it up a little - to make it obvious that Bond's rage is to be taken tongue-in-cheek. Well it succeeds in that, but tonally sticks out like a sore thumb. Coming so soon after the same motif underlining the reveal of the Aston Martin it all feels like Newman and Mendes have grown a little bored, or just run out of ideas in the edit.

 

Anyway, it's the only moment in the whole movie where the score lets us down (IMHO), and i wouldn't jump to conclusions that this was Newman's fault. So i'm very pleased that he's back for SPECTRE.

Edited by Odd Jobbies, 09 February 2015 - 11:54 AM.

[tdalton]

I was unhappy about Newman's appointment on Skyfall. Thought we might get an ego-score which tried too hard to reinvent Bond (like Serra - though that has grown on me a lot), or thought the theme below him, refusing to wear it proudly.

 

I wish that we could get that kind of score again for Bond.  Despite the fact that virtually nobody else seems to, I quite enjoyed Serra's score for GoldenEye and vastly prefer it to the approach that they took in the next film, which was basically to plug the Bond theme into every other scene to make up for Serra's non-use of it. 

 

With Casino Royale being a supposed reboot, I feel like they missed an opportunity to really tweak the Bond sound a bit, or at least open it up a bit to allow a somewhat different sound to make its way into the films. 

[Call Billy Bob]

The only part of his SF score that i don't like (utterly detest, in fact) is the 'comedy' use of the theme in the short burst to underline Bond's horror at his Aston Martin being destroyed.

To each his own... This was my favorite moment in the film!

[Odd Jobbies]

 

The only part of his SF score that i don't like (utterly detest, in fact) is the 'comedy' use of the theme in the short burst to underline Bond's horror at his Aston Martin being destroyed.

To each his own... This was my favorite moment in the film!

 

I liked the car blowing up and Bond's outrage, just didn't think it needed hammering home with the 'rim shot drum' via the score.

 

Also thought the same about the script with the ejector seat gag; it was perfectly clear and very witty until Bond then said that he'd eject her. Seemed to me that these may have been additions by a another writer in a 'comedy' pass on the script.

 

But like you said, to each his (or her) own - fair enough. To me these aren't Roger Moore Bond movies, they're Craig's, so why try and make them all singing, all dancing. By embarking upon the path of trying to have something for everyone they may one day arrive at DAD.

[Call Billy Bob]

To me these aren't Roger Moore Bond movies, they're Craig's, so why try and make them all singing, all dancing.

I thought it was acceptable seeing as it was the 50th, and considering Craig and Mendes have professed their love for LALD on more than one occasion.

[DaveBond21]

 

To me these aren't Roger Moore Bond movies, they're Craig's, so why try and make them all singing, all dancing.

I thought it was acceptable seeing as it was the 50th, and considering Craig and Mendes have professed their love for LALD on more than one occasion.

 

Yeah, I get the feeling they are trying to use LALD and Goldfinger as the benchmarks.

 

Both of them are a little older than myself and LALD was always on TV when I was a kid!

[Odd Jobbies]

 

I thought it was acceptable seeing as it was the 50th

Very good point, i'll let them off with a warning - no excuses next time, though

[S K Y F A L L]

What is the alternative? David Arnold? He is a hit or miss, Newman will deliver another safe score but hopeully he'll push himself a little harder for SP.

[Guy Haines]

I found the scene when Bond's Aston Martin is blown to bits amusing - Craig's reaction to it that is. You can shoot him off a bridge, he can stand there sipping whisky while the femme fatale is shot dead and he takes it in his stride, but touch that car......!

 

But I didn't think of it as "comedy" in the sense we got used to during the Moore era. It wasn't a "nudge nudge wink wink" set up - the helicopter happened to shoot at the car and it explodes. It's Craig's reaction that elicits a smile, and Newman's music reflected it.

 

There is humour in the Craig films but it comes out of the situation rather than having a situation set up to generate a laugh - the prime example for me being the torture scene in CR. Amid all that brutality Bond's invitation to Le Chiffre to scratch his nether regions produced the biggest laugh of the night in the multiplex I watched the film in.

 

(Incidentally, and off topic, I'll never be able to watch the scene in CR when Obanno hands over the suitcases of cash to Le Chiffre without thinking of the accounts of very questionable banking practices being reported in The Guardian newspaper at the moment.)

[Walecs]

What is the alternative? David Arnold? He is a hit or miss, Newman will deliver another safe score but hopeully he'll push himself a little harder for SP.

 

In other words "Newman is a bad composer, but since he's better than Arnold I'm glad he'll score Bond 24"

People really can't praise Newman for his talent, can they?

[0024]

I'm puzzled. Why would the film producers hire a very experienced, award winning film music composer for SF and then insist that another composer's arrangement of a theme that a third composer wrote decades ago be used? It doesn't make sense, and it's inconsistent - Messrs. Martin, Hamlisch, Conti, Kamen, Serra and Arnold were all given free reign.

 

No matter. All I'd like is a score that sounds as if it belongs in a Bond film, and I repeat, I don't want one that channels the Norman theme all the time, but hints at it often. John Barry was excellent at that. And I would like The James Bond Theme as written, rather than hinted at, in at least one major scene.

 

I'm sure the current composer for the series can do that, and then some.

My guess would be it's the same reason those same producers rejected Serra's incongruous tank music and ordered the more tone-specific music by John Altman to replace it.  Also, count me on record as disappointed that David Arnold is not returning.

[Harmsway]

People really can't praise Newman for his talent, can they?

I think Newman can be brilliant (see The Player), and Skyfall does have some lovely cues.

There are composers I might like more, but Newman is by no means untalented.

[sharpshooter]

I wouldn't rule out Arnold returning again, but it would be a long time between drinks if so. And by that point the Bond team may have well and truly moved on. I suspect Bond 26 will be a two-parter - and that Mendes will come back after another decent rest. So that would lock in Newman at three soundtracks.

[Odd Jobbies]

I found the scene when Bond's Aston Martin is blown to bits amusing - Craig's reaction to it that is. You can shoot him off a bridge, he can stand there sipping whisky while the femme fatale is shot dead and he takes it in his stride, but touch that car......!

 

But I didn't think of it as "comedy" in the sense we got used to during the Moore era. It wasn't a "nudge nudge wink wink" set up - the helicopter happened to shoot at the car and it explodes. It's Craig's reaction that elicits a smile, and Newman's music reflected it.

 

There is humour in the Craig films but it comes out of the situation rather than having a situation set up to generate a laugh - the prime example for me being the torture scene in CR. Amid all that brutality Bond's invitation to Le Chiffre to scratch his nether regions produced the biggest laugh of the night in the multiplex I watched the film in.

 

(Incidentally, and off topic, I'll never be able to watch the scene in CR when Obanno hands over the suitcases of cash to Le Chiffre without thinking of the accounts of very questionable banking practices being reported in The Guardian newspaper at the moment.)

Indeed, Craig's films have been packed with humour, but it's wit rather than gags. IMO the SF aston martin moment is very different because of the score being used the way a 'Rim Shot Drum'  is used to punctuate the punchline of a stand-up's gag. 

 

I have no problem with the wit of, as you say, this ruthless MI6 agent being distraught at the destruction of his classic car - it chimes very well with Fleming's Bentley obsessed Bond. I just think they overcooked it a little with the too-on-the-nose 'rim-shot' beat in the score. Kill the score for just those 3 seconds and it's a stand out witty moment in the movie.

Edited by Odd Jobbies, 15 February 2015 - 11:28 AM.

[Bond of Steele]

 

The only part of his SF score that i don't like (utterly detest, in fact) is the 'comedy' use of the theme in the short burst to underline Bond's horror at his Aston Martin being destroyed.

To each his own... This was my favorite moment in the film!

 

Abso-friggin-lutely!!!!!

[dtuba]

 

I believe it was the producers that insisted on using Arnold's arrangement of the Bond theme. Something tells me that they'll give Newman more creative freedom this time around, and allow him to do his own rendition/arrangement and carry off of themes he started in Skyfall for Spectre.

For me, Newman has already done 'his' rendition of the Bond theme. The version heard during 'Grand Bazaar, Istanbul', 'Enquiry' and 'She's Mine'. My fingers are crossed it returns for SPECTRE.

 

I'm glad that you are satisfied, but I'm not. I want to hear a Newman - arranged complete composition of the JB theme (with, I'm not sure what the elements of the JB theme are called, but there are three of them, the guitar part, the horn part and the "stinger" part?)  - not just a few snippets here and there.

 

Probably a bit much to hope for though.