While a lot of emphasis and attention is often given to the best, most wonderful and most effective film scores in fora like these, I thought it might be interesting to see which soundtracks people don't agree with, think to be unworthy of a release or simply to be unlistenable. Here are my four top contenders, in order of being exposed to them:
A. Starship Invasion by Gil Melle: I was about 9 when my family and I sat down one Friday evening to watch another Christopher Lee movie on West German television. While I remember not much of the movie, other than the alien commander hailing from the innovatively named Planet Alpha, I do recall that the Main Title must have been some of the most amateurishly assembled bleeping cacophony I had ever heard until then. The less said about the music the better. B. Cheyenne Autumn by Alex North: Another round of family watching on early evening West German TV, this one featured, I recall myself saying to my parents, "I hope the rest of the film isn't as boring as this Main Title". The music in the film didn't do much to propel the action, little of it there was. It is still some of the most boring film music ever written, at least to my taste. So much, that I have no interest in revisiting it today. C. Death Wish II by Jimmy Page: Simply put, this LP that I purchased for 2.95 Deutsche Marks, contains the most atrocious and convoluted atonal mess I have ever laid ears on. However, not as bad as Cheyenne Autumn, so that I still would be inclined to give it a re-listen now that my replacement stylus for my turntable have arrived. D. Dragonslayer by Alex North: Sorry Robert Townson, I seem to have it in for your favorite composer, but Alex really missed the boat with this, in my opinion, biggest failure in film scoring history. He was given everything a film composer could ask for: A solid script, great direction by Matthew Robbins, beautiful locations, special effects way ahead of their time and a marvelous antagonist in the shape of Dragon King Vermithrax, and a story to boot. What does dear Alex deliver? The timid pluckings of what seemed to be a chamber-orchestra-sized band with no themes for any of the characters, no sweeping dragon motif and not a melody in sight. Sorry Alex, zero out of four.
Then there is a score that is very special to me: While it didn't work in the movie, because it was completely anachronistic and stood out like a sore thumb every time the first note of a cue arose, I love it as a listening experience outside the movie. That score is Ladyhawke by Andrew Powell. In 1985, when the movie was released, I was madly in love with a girl named Claudia, and the film was so romantic that I fell in love with it the same way I had with her. The music was supposed to have been "our soundtrack". It's probably the most mis-scored film ever, but, oh, what a revelation for your ear buds on the stereo. (Especially when you're in love with Claudia.)
So let me know which score affronted you. I hope to hear from you on this message board, be it constructive criticism or blatant rebuttal.
I love the movie, I like Burwell usually, but I don't think the score fits AT ALL, in fact I'd say it undermines the film. It creates an atmosphere of homeliness, of the prairie, of back porches, and pie, when the movie is one hundred percent set elsewhere. I guess it makes sense in a way, that's what she comes from, and what she wants to protect, but meanwhile we're rolling around the wild Indian nation under the threat of bandits and rattlesnakes, none of which seem to get a voice. It's not the only thing that's off in the movie for me, the opening horse-trading scene between the girl and the businessman is played too much for laughs, and sets things off on the wrong tone IMO, but beyond that the film is, I think, brilliant. It's a shame that the score is so safe, and boring, and typical, and one dimensional, and irrelevant.
I fear this is the type of thread which will degenerate into slanging matches but, in the hope that it will remain civilised ... being very much subjective and highly dependent upon one's taste in music ...
... there are more than a few to choose from and trying to identify my 4 least favourite is a tall order. Sticking to bigger names/bigger films I have to nominate the two Thomas Newman JB007 scores: Skyfall and Spectre as both contributed greatly to my disappointment of both films ... and both scores are uninteresting listening experiences away from the visuals. This contrasts with GoldenEye where I find Eric Serra's score jarring in the film but an okay~good listen on its own (save for the awful end title song).
I like a lot of works by Riz Ortolani ... he was one of the first composers whose name registered with me back in the 1970s ... but I recall watching a TV broadcast of A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die (1972) and thinking how boring but intrusive the score was ... not one I wanted to add to my collection.
And I'm very critical of the CD presentation of David Holmes' efforts for Out of Sight (1998) ... though, in the film, I have little recollection of liking/disliking the score. I bought the CD and got rid of it quickly but perhaps I'm being unfair on Mr. Holmes. It certainly influenced me ... I've avoided buying any other works by him.
As of for the aforementioned Carter Burwell score for True Grit (2010) ... I think it's okay ... and easily the best thing about this waste-of-time remake ... which only goes to show how subjective this thread is!
And I'm very critical of the CD presentation of David Holmes' efforts for Out of Sight (1998) ... though, in the film, I have little recollection of liking/disliking the score. I bought the CD and got rid of it quickly but perhaps I'm being unfair on Mr. Holmes. It certainly influenced me ... I've avoided buying any other works by him.
Oh Mitch, next time I see David I'll have to pass on your remarks
Surely this must be the 4 least favourite film score from the higher echelons of film music. Otherwise, I can think of loads of film scores way more unlistenable than those four.
These threads end up stirring nothing but negative vibes (well, obviously) and in general go to a dark place even quicker than the positive threads on this forum.
Nevertheless, I'm going to break one of my own rules and play.
I'm going to limit myself to scores from top composers, because I think it's only even remotely interesting to talk about least favourites from top composers. Otherwise you just end up listing what everyone agrees is shit and then it's a big, "So what?" exercise.
I absolutely adore Jerry Goldsmith and would state he is the best composer of them all in terms of his combined range, depth and dynamism. His 1960s and 1970s scores are wonderful to me. I will say, however, I am not a fan of a number of his late 80s and 90s works. Extreme Prejudice, Link, Criminal Law, I really do not like. I'm not actually that big a fan of his "muscle movie" scores either to be honest, or of scores like The Haunting. Nevertheless, to end on a positive, his wonderful scores for films like The Blue Max, Patton, The Omen, Islands In The Stream, etc, are sheer perfection.
I am really not a fan of a lot of the superhero scores going round at the moment, either. Destruction porn doesn't bring out the best in film music, it brings out the worst. IMO.
Surely this must be the 4 least favourite film score from the higher echelons of film music. Otherwise, I can think of loads of film scores way more unlistenable than those four.
These threads end up stirring nothing but negative vibes (well, obviously) and in general go to a dark place even quicker than the positive threads on this forum.
Nevertheless, I'm going to break one of my own rules and play.
I'm going to limit myself to scores from top composers, because I think it's only even remotely interesting to talk about least favourites from top composers. Otherwise you just end up listing what everyone agrees is shit and then it's a big, "So what?" exercise.
I absolutely adore Jerry Goldsmith and would state he is the best composer of them all in terms of his combined range, depth and dynamism. His 1960s and 1970s scores are wonderful to me. I will say, however, I am not a fan of a number of his late 80s and 90s works. Extreme Prejudice, Link, Criminal Law, I really do not like. I'm not actually that big a fan of his "muscle movie" scores either to be honest, or of scores like The Haunting. Nevertheless, to end on a positive, his wonderful scores for films like The Blue Max, Patton, The Omen, Islands In The Stream, etc, are sheer perfection.
I am really not a fan of a lot of the superhero scores going round at the moment, either. Destruction porn doesn't bring out the best in film music, it brings out the worst. IMO.
Cheers
"Destruction Porn" Good one, I'll have to remember that. I'm getting so tired of Super Heroes throwing each other and/or Super Villains into buildings. And you are so right....it seems to cause terrible film music.
As for the point of this thread....I think I'll sit this one out because it's been done before and usually degenerates really quickly.
I absolutely adore Jerry Goldsmith and would state he is the best composer of them all in terms of his combined range, depth and dynamism. His 1960s and 1970s scores are wonderful to me. I will say, however, I am not a fan of a number of his late 80s and 90s works. Extreme Prejudice, Link, Criminal Law, I really do not like. I'm not actually that big a fan of his "muscle movie" scores either to be honest, or of scores like The Haunting. Nevertheless, to end on a positive, his wonderful scores for films like The Blue Max, Patton, The Omen, Islands In The Stream, etc, are sheer perfection.
Ditto! That's exactly how I feel, except that absolutely adore part. I mean. I liked his scores, but adore the man? You silly.
While I'll sit out this latest iteration of an oft posted topic, I will point out that 3 of the scores in the 1st post are among my favorites. And one of them is in my top 10 favorites.
I don't really mind such threads (we've seen plenty of them). One should be confident enough in one's own taste, not to let others disparaging remarks put you down.
For example, the original poster mentioned LADYHAWKE, and that is one of my alltime favourite soundtracks. I also think it works wonderfully in the film, and that the negative comments it receives are wildly out of proportion. But rather than go into all of that again, I'll forward you to this defense thread I did years ago:
As for the topic at hand, there are any number of scores I don't like, but to pinpoint the 4 worst (or least favourite, which is a slightly more positive term) is not something I've tried. It's easier for me to pinpoint composers whose work I generally don't like, but which is praised by most everyone else (like Giacchino, Desplat, Barry and a few others).
Three off the top of my head, and one after a little further thought:
• Goldeneye (ruins an otherwise decent James Bond movie) • Batman v Superman (such a wasted opportunity, yet so easy to see coming considering the composers) • Captain America: The Winter Soldier (overprocessed electronic textures over Silvestri's classic orchestral approach?) • X-Men (Michael Kamen, who I usually enjoy)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (overprocessed electronic textures over Silvestri's classic orchestral approach?) • X-Men (Michael Kamen, who I usually enjoy)
The story behind that is Kamen originally wrote a score that was more thematically strong, but it was partially rejected and he had to rewrite most cues and "tone it down". If LLL ever gets to put out their expanded edition I hope it turns out that they were able to locate some of the original recordings.
RE: Winter Soldier, I agree about most of the underscore, but the end credits are possibly my favorite of any Marvel movie, so Jackman has the chops:
Thanks for the thoughts, Yavar. I would definitely be more interested in hearing Kamen's original concepts. Regarding Winter Soldier, the end credits is a decent piece (and the most listenable track on the album) with a great pulsing rhythm to it, but for me it doesn't exactly go anywhere, especially apart from the visuals. Among the Marvel movies I prefer the end credits to both Avengers movies, Iron Man 3, and especially the first Captain America. But I appreciate your point of view!
That was some rather cheesy opening credits. From the drum machine snare that cut off before fading the notes would even finish, to the UFO that didn't reflect over the ocean. And I guess they ran out of ocean footage, 'cause after that UFO flew passed us, the ocean flows back the other way, stops, flows back the way it was going, stops, flows back the other way.....
I can't say much better of the score I did hear while skimming the film.
I have several in mind, but here are the top 4 least favorite scores:
Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959) scored by Douglas Gamley. The Unforgiven (MGM, 1960) scored by Dimitri Tiomkin. Major Dundee (Columbia, 1965) scored by Daniele Amfitheatrof -- horrid sound effects, too. The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) scored by Marvin Hamlisch.
In contrast, I think Richard Fleischer's The Narrow Margin (1952) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) have two of the best soundtracks I've ever heard.
Taking another approach, here's some scores that frustrate me. There's parts of each that I love, but also large sections I don't care for, or they contain horrible edits, or dialog. So close yet so far.
