Why are we presuming that Spielberg and Williams should go the most obvious creative route with this score?
I would think most obvious and best case scenario would be to follow the Guardian of the Galaxy model:lots of songs, serious score, but I don't see Spielberg going for lighthearted popcorn flick, not with the emotional gravitas to work with at the center of the novel. He'll be crucified if he doesn't include all the 80's references, but frankly that was my least favorite part of the book (and I know I'm in the minority). And toward some of the other posts, jeez, just cause you LIKE a score doesn't mean it isn’t dated. 99% of the movies out there wouldn't work with a score from 20 years ago. And 99% of the sci-fi movies that could have become the phenomenon that was Star Wars didn't because they had a score (orchestral or otherwise) that was era specific.
Electronic scores in general are cheap awful nasty and unlistenable .......Jarre , Goldsmith and Barry tried their luck in this department and all failed spectacularly .......
I'll admit that their electronic scores (especially Maurice Jarre's) are far from their best efforts, but "all failed spectacularly" is overdoing it.
Why are we presuming that Spielberg and Williams should go the most obvious creative route with this score?
Agreed. Referencing the eighties through the music is one way, but Williams may rather focus on the characters and the drama. After all "Angela Ashes" didn't sound Irish at all (although "Far And Away" kind of did), "Super 8" didn't sound eighties at all (but rather Williams-inspired 80s film music ;-)
Likewise, one could have expected a Goldsmith-like sci-fi/orchestral/synth effort on "Minority Report", which turned out more focused on the "film noir" aspect of the movie in the end.