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A friend tipped me off that 'Centennial' is due to be released on dvd at the end of July. Apparantly it is around 24 or 25 hours in length(!). I have never seen it, but will definately give it a go as a rental when it comes out (this for me is a LOT of commitment). The score was written by a favorite of mine, JOHN ADDISON. Even though I've not heard a note of this score, my best guess would be that it is a sweeping and inspired piece of work. Any chance of this being possibly being released as a cd?
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A friend tipped me off that 'Centennial' is due to be released on dvd at the end of July. Apparantly it is around 24 or 25 hours in length(!). I have never seen it, but will definately give it a go as a rental when it comes out (this for me is a LOT of commitment). The score was written by a favorite of mine, JOHN ADDISON. Even though I've not heard a note of this score, my best guess would be that it is a sweeping and inspired piece of work. Any chance of this being possibly being released as a cd?
I watched the series back then: recommended.
The cast and the story are great.
Conrad shines as Pasquinel.
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Posted: |
Dec 11, 2008 - 10:25 AM
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By: |
joan hue
(Member)
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Anyone here actually watched the new DVDs of Centennial?
I ordered the set for my brother as a Christmas present. Of course,
hubby and I decided to view it before mailing if off. I do remember
being glued to the series many decades ago when dinosaurs still
walked the earth.
There are six disks; each disk is about three hours long. Each disk
contains two episodes, lasting about 90 minutes each.
Funny how time and the decades of transformations in movies change one's tastes.
At first we had a hard time getting into the series and were bored. Seemed like
scenes and speeches just dragged on and on. Wonder if I am becoming
a victim of the quick cut/quick edit generation? Yikes. Hope not. By the second
episode we finally settled into the series and looked forward to a viewing
each night over the week. I did like a lot of the music, but it is repetitive which
is okay as themes are used as reminders. Later in the series I grew weary of the
constant flashbacks. Sometimes we'd view a 10 minute flashback that we'd just
viewed last night. Still, we really admired the great scenes, landscapes and the
development and evolution of many characters. It must have been a very expensive
series for its time due to the variety of stars and locations. I think my favorite character
was the William Atherton/Jim Lloyd character and several others.
I really disliked the last episode. It was very politically correct and VERY
preachy. We both felt like we were listening to a 90 minute sermon. Still,
it was nice to see David Janssen.
Yeah, I was a wee bit disappointed, but it wasn't the series fault. Tastes
change. Still, many places were a wonderful ride.
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Anyone here actually watched the new DVDs of Centennial?
I ordered the set for my brother as a Christmas present. Of course,
hubby and I decided to view it before mailing if off. I do remember
being glued to the series many decades ago when dinosaurs still
walked the earth.
There are six disks; each disk is about three hours long. Each disk
contains two episodes, lasting about 90 minutes each.
Funny how time and the decades of transformations in movies change one's tastes.
At first we had a hard time getting into the series and were bored. Seemed like
scenes and speeches just dragged on and on. Wonder if I am becoming
a victim of the quick cut/quick edit generation? Yikes. Hope not. By the second
episode we finally settled into the series and looked forward to a viewing
each night over the week. I did like a lot of the music, but it is repetitive which
is okay as themes are used as reminders. Later in the series I grew weary of the
constant flashbacks. Sometimes we'd view a 10 minute flashback that we'd just
viewed last night. Still, we really admired the great scenes, landscapes and the
development and evolution of many characters. It must have been a very expensive
series for its time due to the variety of stars and locations. I think my favorite character
was the William Atherton/Jim Lloyd character and several others.
I really disliked the last episode. It was very politically correct and VERY
preachy. We both felt like we were listening to a 90 minute sermon. Still,
it was nice to see Richard Janssen.
Yeah, I was a wee bit disappointed, but it wasn't the series fault. Tastes
change. Still, many places were a wonderful ride.[endquote
HI JOAN. I watched this MASSIVELY LONG, but very entertaining saga FOR THE FIRST TIME a few months ago on dvd myself. You are correct about that final episode, quite jarring in comparison with the preceeding ones. Yet...just at final fade-out, it leaves you with 'hope'; in spite of it's preachiness. And I don't particularly remember much of John Addison's score except for the opening theme which is spectacular. For THIS first time viewer of something made decades ago...I was very entertained and enthralled while the story played out!
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Posted: |
Dec 14, 2008 - 6:27 PM
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By: |
ahem
(Member)
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I did like a lot of the music, but it is repetitive which is okay as themes are used as reminders
I haven't seen the series for decades, but I think musical tracking must be blamed for the feeling of repetitiveness.
I have to disagree. It's definitely repetition in the actual composition, IMO. I have to say the same of all Addision's score work. The man's music goes straight through me, like he's beating you over the head with the same few, tiring notes, over and over. CENTENNIAL title sequence feels forty minutes long, as does BRIDGE TOO FAR's first two minutes,with the same tone killing, droney, pensioners' concert band notes played over and over with no variation. It's like that "Stanley Rodgers" sketch from Smith and Jones, as though it's all composed on a banjo.
I know Addison has his fans. However, I'd just like to note that his equally inappropriate light and Concert bandish music for those Ustinov Poirot TV movies is just as grating.
Really, I find it puzzling that so many here will beat up (the IMO incomparably more talented) Legrand or Rosenman for scoring in an unconventional or inappopriate style, yet Addison seems to get a free ride for imposing his bland, concert band lightness over everything he seems to have scored.
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Let me resurrect this thread, which, when we left the subject, the DVDs of "Centennial" had just been released, amid a lot of excitement. Well, I rented them through Netflix and was VERY disappointed -- it seemed like a pretty shoddy job, which made me glad I hadn't spent the money to buy them. But I received a notice that they're about to release it again very soon (Oct 8th) and perhaps they've done a better job ... or maybe they've put it on Blu-ray. Stay tuned.
I originally got into a discussion elsewhere about "Centennial" because of John Addison's music, which I loved when the long series was first shown and during some of its repeats. But when I watched those many DVDs, I found myself very disappointed by the music and no longer so sure that it was a holy grail for me. While the acting remained top drawer, I'm afraid my memory of the music was better than what I heard on those DVDs. So let's hope they've improved the audio too.
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Unfortuantely, we may not (stress "may") get a proper complete "Centennial". Roger posted at Intrada back in August this year on why they are not doing "Junior Bonner":
I took another run at it. The problem is it's a short score and the only available elements were 1/4" mono stored at BYU. And BYU raised their transfer rates 10 fold, making the deal financially out of reach. We had the same issue with FUNERAL HOME -- really high costs, but in that case due to the Canadian Musician's Union. But that was a decent length score coming from 24-track stereo elements so we were able to charge a premium price (and thank you all, still, for supporting that release even with the high price tag). And that will be the last score recorded in Canada we do.
I did a quick search and sadly it appears BYU (www.byu.edu) has bunch of Fielding and Addison.
By the way, I once read Legrand was going to score it but that changed during production.
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I just wanted to come back to report that I received the re-done boxed set on DVD a few months ago and looked at a couple early episodes and it looked better than what I had rented from Netflix when it was first out. Seems much better to me. But as much as I've long wanted the Addison score, my memory of it seems to be better than what I'm now hearing. But still wouldn't mind having at least the main theme!
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