So there's a third Dragonheart coming February next year, with Ben Kingsley replacing Sean Connery as the voice of Drago. The movie will probably be lousy, but IMDB has McKenzie credited as the composer, and he did such a winning job with the first sequel that I can't wait to hear what he does here!
I found a blog crediting the following to McKenzie's facebook in early- to mid-2014:
"Very positive words from a fantastic director and producer are enough to make any composer happy…Super excited to be seeing the light of day on a 90+ minute action, adventure, fantasy score working with some incredible film makers at Universal Studios. “Dragonheart: Druid’s Curse,” #3 in the series, a score recorded only in my studio (of course I wish it had been recorded live and yes, I could possibly need a remedial social skills course after so much time alone), yet it is rewarding to freely write in alternating complex and compound meters and rhythms with no concern about the expense it can add to live recording. 17/8 was a first and I don’t think I’ve ever composed a longer cue than the the final 19 minute action sequence. What’s really something is that I washed my family’s dishes and cleaned the kitchen every night without making excuses of how much work I had..miracles do happen."
I guess I'll listen to the sound clips and give them a chance, but usually my policy is: no orchestra, no sale.
Besides that, his previous DragonHeart score was IMO a few highlights (including one great theme, too briefly heard) and a loooot of mediocrity. His arrangement of Edelman's theme wasn't particularly inspired and some of his original music was really banal.
I liked it a lot at first but the more I listened to it the more I was sure it was my least favorite McKenzie score. It feels...compromised somehow, perhaps because it is a sequel. Though I love John Morgan and William Stromberg, their Starship Troopers 2 scores comes across similarly -- some definite highlights, but compromised (compare to something like Trinity & Beyond).
Plus, as with the Matrix sequels the movie sucked so horribly it actually lowered my enjoyment of the original film (flawed but still moving)...so that didn't help my appreciation of the score.
I guess I'll listen to the sound clips and give them a chance, but usually my policy is: no orchestra, no sale.
Besides that, his previous DragonHeart score was IMO a few highlights (including one great theme, too briefly heard) and a loooot of mediocrity. His arrangement of Edelman's theme wasn't particularly inspired and some of his original music was really banal.
I liked it a lot at first but the more I listened to it the more I was sure it was my least favorite McKenzie score. It feels...compromised somehow, perhaps because it is a sequel. Though I love John Morgan and William Stromberg, their Starship Troopers 2 scores comes across similarly -- some definite highlights, but compromised (compare to something like Trinity & Beyond).
Plus, as with the Matrix sequels the movie sucked so horribly it actually lowered my enjoyment of the original film (flawed but still moving)...so that didn't help my appreciation of the score.
Yavar
I'm more or less in the same boat. Not much in Dragon Heart 2 grabbed me, except the aforementioned love theme. I guess we'll see.
I will say that the prospect of a cue written in 17/8 is pretty exciting though. It's probably no shock to people because of how big a Goldsmith nut I am, but I absolutely adore unusual time signatures!
Eek! This isn't for me at all. Sounds like generic modern trailer music during the action riffs. The "A-E-I-O-U" choir is laughable. Why did that ever become popular in the first place? Good grief. And it's really, really BAD MIDI. Like Richard Band, early 90's bad. Mckenzie should have brought in someone more tech savvy to help him with that - I work regularly with a composer whose mockups sound INCREDIBLE, almost frighteningly good. This stuff sound dreadful.
Pass, I'm afraid - Mckenzie should have done the same thing.
This is already on Netflix streaming. I was expecting something truly horrible and tacky, but I really enjoyed the film and the score. This was so much better than your average SyFy movie of the week and really better than most low budget "B" movies of this type.
It's better than the likes of The Scorpion King or Kull the Conqueror. Obviously with a much smaller budget your not going to get the scale or scope of a LOTR's movie, but the whole production was competently done.
I don't know what to make of the sound samples, they truly do sound midi, or perhaps they are just really low bit rate samples. The music sounds much better in the film and almost the entire film was tracked with score.
I don't know what to make of the sound samples, they truly do sound midi, or perhaps they are just really low bit rate samples. The music sounds much better in the film and almost the entire film was tracked with score.
Bit rate has nothing to do with it - Bad MIDI is just plain ol' bad MIDI! Shame. I wish Mckenzie would stick to his guns like he did in old days, refusing to take on projects that didn't deem his music worthy of a budget large enough for proper scoring.
I don't know what to make of the sound samples, they truly do sound midi, or perhaps they are just really low bit rate samples. The music sounds much better in the film and almost the entire film was tracked with score.
Bit rate has nothing to do with it - Bad MIDI is just plain ol' bad MIDI! Shame. I wish Mckenzie would stick to his guns like he did in old days, refusing to take on projects that didn't deem his music worthy of a budget large enough for proper scoring.
What I'm saying is it doesn't sound that bad in the film. Maybe the sound effects covered up it's deficiency? Or the music is really better than the samples provided. I don't know the answer.
Caught the film on Netflix mainly for the music (film wasn't too bad). I thought McKenzie did a decent job. In some moments (like the end credits), you could hardly tell there wasn't an orchestra.
Caught the film on Netflix mainly for the music (film wasn't too bad). I thought McKenzie did a decent job. In some moments (like the end credits), you could hardly tell there wasn't an orchestra.
Totally agree. The end credits were wonderful and the highlight of the score. It sounded like an orchestra to me.
This is on Spotify right now. The music sounds better than the sound samples indicate. But over all it has an early 2000's video game vibe to it. This would have been great with a real orchestra. The Final Victory/End Titles are the stand out and it might be worth downloading that one track from iTunes or Amazon. I'll play it a few more times before I decide if I want to get the entire score.
This is on Spotify right now. The music sounds better than the sound samples indicate. But over all it has an early 2000's video game vibe to it. This would have been great with a real orchestra. The Final Victory/End Titles are the stand out and it might be worth downloading that one track from iTunes or Amazon. I'll play it a few more times before I decide if I want to get the entire score.
The end title track features tracked orchestral music from Dragonheart: A New Beginning.
This is on Spotify right now. The music sounds better than the sound samples indicate. But over all it has an early 2000's video game vibe to it. This would have been great with a real orchestra. The Final Victory/End Titles are the stand out and it might be worth downloading that one track from iTunes or Amazon. I'll play it a few more times before I decide if I want to get the entire score.
The end title track features tracked orchestral music from Dragonheart: A New Beginning.
-Erik-
I had a feeling it was tracked. It sounded so different from the rest of the score. It didn't remind me of anything from the first score, and I Never heard "A New Beginning". Mystery solved.
