Forum Topic

haydn
MemberOvomorphOctober 14, 2012Jerry Goldsmiths soundtrack is pitch perfect for the Scott's Alien movie.
Its all there, you can smell the alien in it, seriously scary too.
Why wasn't Prometheus's soundtrack approached in the same way, it would of set the atmosphere, the mood and kept it into the same universe as Alien.
Instead of which, after buying the blu-ray, I cannot shake off the theme tune of 'Jurassic Park'. It sounds too similar to me, too 'Speilsbergesque'
*Thread content moderated by Svanya.
October 14, 2012
are you saying that "Speilsbergesque" and "gay" are the same thing? thast depressing on your part, but i do agree that the soundtrack doesnt work. its not "bad" its just not right, its sounds to adventurous and it has the smell of discovery, its not dark and creepy like it should be.
October 14, 2012
Your'e right, but as a fan of the first Alien, that was seriously adult. I like Spielsberg anyway, but he's a million miles away from the Alien universe.
October 14, 2012
Let's not use the word gay to criticize.
Before seeing the movie, I had heard a lot about the soundtrack, little of it good. Personally, I was blown away hearing it for the first time. It's HUGE, and hugeness was what they were going for. And yes, it does have a pop adventure urgency to it, but I found that refreshing. And it's dark and hopeless when it needs to be. I agree that different music would have lent it a very different tone, but they were also distancing themselves from Alien. Think of Prometheus as a cross fade from Alien to a new franchise in the same universe, with all it's horrible possibilities.
October 14, 2012
+1 major noob.
I think the score for prometheus works remarkably well with the image/narrative.
@haydn: it seems that the core of the problem you are having with the score stems from the fact you want both prometheus and its accompanying score to be aesthetically sympathetic with Alien. Essentially... trying to force a square peg into a round hole. If the sonic aesthetic of prometheus had matched the sonic aesthetic of Alien (and i agree goldsmith's score was perfect...but thats a lengthy discussion in and of itself) ), the score would have been antithetical to the point of the film (imo). Although some of the same elements/motifs etc are used, at the end of the day, prometheus is fundamentally a very different film than Alien; the score reflects this.
October 14, 2012
I thought the soundtrack really added to the sense of wonder and exploration themes well. Though at points when the main theme would start it felt like it didn't fit what was going on. Nonetheless over all I thought it was a good soundtrack. But to just throw in a Alien type soundtrack would have been terrible.
October 14, 2012
I agree with joeyjoe and thegoodtimesgur, it wasn't alien and wouldn't have benefited from the same score, although there is one track that was taken from alien, the main theme in fact, in the scene where weyland is briefing them.
John Williams is not gay btw
October 14, 2012
personally, i love Marc Streitenfelds prometheus score. i can see what people mean by it being a little star trek-like but i think its a lot better. then again jerry goldsmith also did some of the star trek music... but i think its fantastic. aside from that one theme , most of the score is very dark. it does have some nice lush stringy moments as well. i agree that jerry goldsmiths score was perfect for alien, but it wouldnt be at all appropriate for prometheus. i think both scores stand on their own quite well, and accompany the films quite well. as a bit of a musician myself, cannot fathom what should be done differently for the most part. i tend to prefer scores that are less traditional but even the parts that are such as the heroic theme that was composed by Harry Gregson Williams, i think is quite nice -especially in the opening of the film and during the star map scene. my favorite part is the first track "a planet" and the action reprise of that first theme which is used during the crash scene. i also really enjoy a lot of the quieter moments.
October 14, 2012
I thought the soundtrack on it's own was great, however within the context of the movie it was too uplifting at odd times. It reminded me of Star Trek.
As for it not sounding like Alien, well that's because it isn't Alien... I wish people would stop comparing this movie to Alien. It isn't Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 or anything to do with them. It has it's own life...
Wat
October 14, 2012
The music was beautiful in my opinion, and completely worked
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October 14, 2012
I love Prometheus soundtrack. This is a different story and it is appropriate, well, in my point of view, anyway.
October 14, 2012
The track [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgfDnflqMGA]'Life'[/url] which kept popping up in the flick really sucked. It sounded like the movie was screaming AREN'T YOU WONDERFULLY MYSTICISED RIGHT NOW?
That track really brought the whole level of enjoyment down.
October 14, 2012
Just remember, you are all commenting on the additional contribution, harry Gregson-williams' "life" theme, in its variations. Marc Streitenfeld, on the other hand, made the apprehensive, cerebral, sometimes pastoral, and downright Goldenthalesque scarefest. I love that machinistic rhythm for the vehicular scenes and the Engineer motif with its male choir sublimation (Religious again) is fanatastic, and took a crapload of work to create. Not to mention that the orchestra played some score that Marc had written with the thought to flip the recording around, so that it plays backwards, but with style. Who does that now? And the Abbey Road recording still maintainds its reputation.
Brilliant!
October 14, 2012
Opinions. Opinions. Opinions.
The Prometheus score and sound design in general are executed brilliantly IMO. Like all great music, you have to listen to it a few times before you understand it and really appreciate it.
I would distinguish it from 'nice' music, like the soundtrack to the movie [i]Drive[/i], which you can appreciate instantly for what it is — pop and snappy. The Prometheus score, by contrast, is [i]epic[/i] and full of meaning. You simply can't appreciate the subtleties on the first couple of hearings.
The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent
October 15, 2012
alrighty NCC, I get to lead
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October 15, 2012
@haydn
I agree with you to a point. For me, the PROMETHEUS score was pretty good, but did not create, entirely…the cinematic atmosphere that I personally was hoping for. I must however confess that I’m an avid ALIEN fan, ever since my first viewing back in ’79, when I was 12 years old. So perhaps my 33 year old love affair with the original and its Jerry Goldsmith masterpiece score (which included selected pieces from J.G.’s score for the film “Freud”) slightly prejudices my expectations. Having said that, I feel that the appreciation of music…is in the “ear of the listener.”
Personally, I would have preferred a more dark, eerie, haunting score, with a stronger sense of foreboding. And for that matter…same thing with the visuals. Keep in mind, I wasn’t expecting or even wanting an ALIEN remake. PROMETHEUS is a different film, but Ridley Scott did say that he intended to “scare the shit out of us,” in an interview. I don’t know about y’all, but I wasn’t scared…not in the slightest. I thought that the strings and brass in several scenes (especially the Ampule Room) were far too sappy, as Streitenfeld worked to create a atmosphere of exploration, discovery, and wonderment. It wasn’t to my liking. Didn’t ruin the film for me, but defiantly knocked it down a few notches.
~Neurion
October 15, 2012
The soundtrack is good, if they used the old Alien OST written by Goldsmith, you would make complaints that RS copied himself and could not come up with a genuine idea. The soundtrack is good.
"... and the sea will grant each man new hope, as sleep brings dreams of home." Christopher Columbus.
October 15, 2012
For me it WAS scary. From the very first note, but especially during the first scenes aboard the Prometheus, there was this breathless apprehension, a wrongness, like a freight train gaining speed and going somewhere unknown, it accompanied the visuals and Davids surreal dialog perfectly.I haven't experienced dread like that in the theatre in many a year. Or for that matter the feeling of actually being far, far from Earth with a team of strangers. I've been searching for the words to describe this for 4 months now. I am Major Noob, and I'm still searching.