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Posted: |
Sep 4, 2010 - 5:58 PM
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By: |
Mink
(Member)
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DIE HARD
Complete Score Analysis
With the Varese club release, all its wrong sequencing, mistaken slate numbers, crossfades, edits and surprisingly incorrect liner notes as the only official release of the music and concerning the rumor of a new release of the score on its way I decided to go through my favorite film score once more and share my final thoughts with you.
I didn’t focus on characterizing the music so much but rather on describing how it was used in the film.
Basic sources for information were the article “The Classic Score: DIE HARD” by Jason Needs and the liner notes of the Varese edition by Nick Redman. As mentioned above the latter included numerous mistakes. I tried to clarify some of those in this work.
Music Composed and Conducted by Michael Kamen
Performed by The Los Angeles Motion Picture All Stars Orchestra (today’s Hollywood Studio Symphony)
Orchestrations by Bruce Babcock, Chris Boardman, Philip Giffin & Fiachra Trench
Scoring Engineers: Walt Borchers, Terry Brown & Chuck Garsha
Supervising Music Editor: Christopher S. Brooks
Music Producer: Stephen P. McLaughlin
Music Scoring Mixer: Armin Steiner
Recorded at Twentieth Century Fox Studios, June 1988
01. Main Title (?M?) 0:31
First score cue in the movie and the first one to introduce the “christmas bell”- loop which is used throughout the movie. By the way the same sort of bells was used by Kamen before in LETHAL WEAPON.
There is an edit in the loop at 0:21 that indicates a longer version of this cue, or the possibility that the whole cue itself was edited together out of existing material. The “drum burst” to underline the clash of the DIE HARD logo can not be found anywhere else in the score though. Maybe it was recorded solely to underline just that particularly moment and McTiernan and the editor decided to put the bell loop under it to give it a little bit more “drive”. Another indication for this is that the track ends rather abruptly.
02. John and Holly Meet / The Van (?M?) 1:02
This cue resembles a very interesting similarity with a track from one of Kamen’s older scores: “King’s Cross” from MONA LISA (1986) (released only on LP). The similarity is so obvious that it is highly possible that Kamen modeled the cue after that tune.
The film version leaves out the synthesizer effect starting at 0:44. It’s not clear wherever there exists a recording of the track without the synth effect. It is possible that McTiernan and the editor had access to the multiple track-mixes (as indicated in several other cues) and simply left out the synth.
This track was misplaced on the varese and was crossfaded into the last seconds of 11M5.
03. The Terrorists (2M4) 4:10
In the film the rather sweet quote of “Singing in the Rain” from 2:01 to 2:17 is replaced with music from 1:08 to 1:25 from the same cue. Supposedly it was replaced because of its comedic style.
On the varese the opening of the cues was crossfaded with a christmas bell pattern, though not the one from the “Main Title”, etc, but simply an edited loop (not a simple displacement) out of the first 11 seconds of “Welcome to the Party, Pal” (6M4). The edit of the bells is crossfaded in the end of the previous track 4M0 which itself is misplaced and mislabeled as “The Nakatomi Plaza” (see below).
04. Line Are Cut / Party Crashers (?M?) 2:22
Only the middle section of this cue from 0:45 to 1:34 is used in the movie. The cue quickly fades out and the last section from 1:29 on is replaced with “Neck Snap” (4M4a) being repeated two times.
05. John on the Stairs / Gruber’s Intentions (3M2a) 5:57
The “fanfare” like statement from 2:54 to 3:07 is faded out in the film mix. The same goes for the horn and the bell sound from 3:35 to 3:38. Despite these minor alterations the cue plays intact.
06. Takagi Dies (unused) (4M0) 1:44
Now it gets interesting. This cue isn’t heard in the movie at all, and has sometimes been mislabeled as “McClane's Theme” which it is definitely not.
Based on the slate number it must go somewhere after the previous track 3M2a and before the later 4M1. Leaving the possibility that it has to be right after the end of 3M2a and would therefore start on the cut to McClane hiding under the table.
Synchronized with the movie it runs slightly longer than it should but this seems to be the reason of re-editing. This is underpinned by a statement in the text commentary of the DVD quoting Kamen himself saying that Takagi’s death ran slightly longer in its original version.
Ultimate proof came from Kamen himself, as he titled a newly recorded version of 4M0, leaving out the guitar, on his “Michael Kamen’s Opus” compilation album, “Takagi Dies” and calling it inspired by, ironically not the McClane but the Gruber character. Not only is it the exact cue minus the guitar but the first seconds from 0:11 to 0:17 are in fact the “Singing in the Rain” quote from the very end of 3M2a leaving no further doubt that 4M0 belonged right after 3M2a.
07. Takagi’s Death (4M1) 0:52
As the slate number indicates that 4M0 must be its direct predecessor and 4M2 its direct successor (for that cue can really be heard in the movie) it is very obvious that it belongs in between them and is meant to underline the death of Takagi.
Further proof is the Cue “The Doll” on the DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER soundtrack which also presents the theme of 4M0 in an orchestral version and segues into, not material from DIE HARD 2 but actually 4M1 and 4M2 from DIE HARD! This indicates a further connection between this cue and 4M0 and that 4M1 was obviously meant to play right after 4M0.
If one listens carefully a part of the cue can actually be heard in that very scene. The string outburst from 0:08 to 0:14 is used as some sort of “shock moment”-overlay for the cue that was tracked as film version: “And If He Alters It?” (5M4/6).
It’s interesting how the full (!) cue 5M4/6 fits the scene. Obviously to accentuate the moment as Takagi gets shot the short statement from 4M1 was mixed in the cue.
The film version stops abruptly at 1:32 (as Takagi gets shot), then the part from 4M1 sets in at 1:33 and 5M4/6 comes back in at 1:34 with the 7 seconds from 4M1 continuing.
08. Planting the Explosives (4M2) 0:57
The film version leaves out the pizzicato played strings from 0:00 to 0:08. Again there’s the possibility of both, a rescore or that McTiernan and the editor just took out the strings.
09. Fire Alarm (4M3) 2:06
The movie omits the beginning from 0:00 to 0:34 and replaces it with a statement of Beethoven’s Ninth (the same that will later reappear in 11M3). It sounds as if this statement is taken directly out of Beethoven’s symphony and is not a rescore of some sort, though there’s no proof for this of course. Given the fact that the original cue comes back in rather abruptly (as a rescore would most likely create a much smoother transition into the original track) is a hint in that direction though.
In the film dub the next cue 4M4 is mixed in already at 1:57.
10. Searching For John (4M4) 1:42
The varese contains an alternate of this cue (4M4alt.). The film version omits the pizzicato played strings from 0:00 to 0:56.
11. Neck Snap (4M4a) 1:07
The cue plays almost in its entirety (with only the last few seconds faded out) and is reused a number of times in the movie.
12. Ho, Ho, Ho, One Dead Terrorist (4M5) 0:55
Plays unaltered.
13. Now I Have A Machine Gun (5M1) 1:57
Plays unaltered.
14. On the Elevator (unused) (5M3) 1:02
Completely unused in the movie. Synchronized with the film it doesn’t quite match the picture and seems too long. Again re-editing is most likely the reason for this. The second half of the scene where this cue would have gone is scored with the first 33 seconds of “And If He Alters It?” (5M4/6).
15. And If He Alters It? (5M4/6) 2:40
Plays unaltered.
16. Rooftop / Elevator Shaft (5M7) 4:28
Plays unaltered.
17. Come Out To the Coast (6M0) 0:55
Plays unaltered.
18. Air Shaft (6M1) 2:37
There is at least one alternate of this cue that replaces the first 10 seconds of 6M1. A possible second alternate can be heard partially in DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (right after McClane shot the rearguard in the aqueduct). This version has again a slightly different beginning though it could be also just an edit of the alternate version.
19. John Kills Marco (no slate, only named Cue 83) 1:59
Plays unaltered.
20. Welcome to the Party, Pal (6M4) 1:10
In the movie the middle part of the cue from 0:30 to 0:52 is faded out.
The varese edition omits the christmas bells from the first 11 seconds and uses an edited loop of them as transition between the misplaced 4M0 and 2M4 (see above).
21. News Room (6M5) 0:40
Plays unaltered.
22. His Bag Is Missing (?M?) 1:24
Now this cue is interesting. It’s the third appearance of the “christmas bell loop” (the second one being “John Kills Marco” (Cue83)) and is basically the same cue as Cue 83 (with the exception of a short “dark” string drone at the beginning, which is taken from “Lines Are Cut” 0:45 – 0:52) with almost the whole orchestra left out! Only the pizzicato played strings and the bells are left over.
The question that remains is if this is nevertheless a cue by itself, or if McTiernan and the editor just removed the majority of the orchestra to have a cue they could put under the scene. A hint at this is the segment from “Line Are Cut” at the beginning, the cues abrupt ending and, like mentioned above, that it is the exact (!) underlay of Cue 83, even the volume changes can clearly be heard.
23. Preparing to Come In (?M?) 1:17
Plays unaltered.
24. They’ll Be Coming (7M3) 2:04
Plays unaltered.
25. S.W.A.T. (8M1R) 1:38
Plays unaltered until 1:19 from where the cue fades abruptly into 8M1a.
26. Send in the Car (8M1a) 1:16
From 0:59 on the cue starts fading into an edit of cues that covers its own second half as well as the first half of the next cue “The Assault” (8M1b).
It was misplaced on the varese between 7M3 and 8M1R.
Edit breakdown:
0:00 – 0:30 from 8M1a
0:44 – 0:56 from 8M1a
0:07 – 0:30 from 8M1a
0:50 – end from 8M1b
27. The Assault (8M1b) 1:17
First half is replaced by material from the previous cue (see above). Only the last 27 seconds (from 0:50 to the end) are used.
28. Big Boom (8M2) 2:20
1:11 to 1:38 is faded out. The rest plays unaltered.
29. John & Al / Ellis Dies (9M1) 5:01
There are alternates for each half of the track: 9M1 alternate (1:56) and 9M2 (3:03).
The film dub runs 3:59 in total. It starts at 0:13, continues until 0:59 and then edits out the next 49 seconds (0:59 – 1:49) and cuts the last minute (3:59 – end). The film version omits the guitar in the first half while in the second half a great deal of the orchestra is left out and (except for a short string segment in the middle) only the pizzicato played strings remain.
Since the alternates are unreleased and only mentioned by Needs in his article it is also possible that they aren’t used at all and again certain parts of the orchestra were simply taken out of the cue(s) afterwards to fit the scene more appropriately.
30. Gruber’s Demands (?M?) 2:02
In the film the cue stops at 0:24, then starts again from 0:09 and edits out the middle section from 0:58 to 1:47. Presumably McTiernan wanted to leave the second half of the scene unscored. Therefore the ending was brought forward to end the track faster but in a proper way.
An alternate version can be heard right at the beginning of the slideshow on the DVD. It brilliantly underlines Gruber's dialog humorously by using asian chords and christmas bells as the terrorist organisation "Asian Dawn" and Christmas are mentioned. The alternate is basically the exact same cue with the only difference being a synth/bell overlay track. This indicates however that McTiernan and the editor might have not doctered that much and that several cues indeed exist in multiple versions.
31. In My Youth... (unused) (?M?) 0:48
This cue was supposedly meant to underscore the brief conversation between McClane and Powell, though there is no proof for this since no slate number could be found in any source.
32. FBI (?M?) 0:53
Plays unaltered.
The oriental riff in the beginning of the cue seems to be not accentuating a hint to Takagi’s fate as Nick Redman concludes in the varese liner notes, but rather supports Robinson’s dialog as he speaks of an organization called “Asian Dawn”.
33. Gruber’s Deception (?M?) 2:03
In a very clever move Kamen underlines the meeting between McClane and Gruber with a specific eerie string motive and frightening electronic effects (probably distorted christmas bells). The motive only appears in the two cues that accompany the confrontation between McClane and Gruber (this cue and 10M0) and is never heard again in the movie as are the synth effects. A brilliant approach!.
The film version omits the string motive (from 0:00 to 0:45) and fades out from 0:55 to 1:40.
Again it is not sure wherever the film version was recorded as such or if the actual recording was altered afterwards. The fact that the film version was reused in a deleted scene on the DVD suggests that it was in fact recorded. Another possibility is that it exists in that way on a music only track.
The varese liner notes inaccurately state that portions of 9M1 are used in the scene.
34. Bill Clay (10M0) 2:06
There is a “noise” at 0:36 which means either a mistake made by the orchestra or that the takes of the tracks weren’t edited properly into each other. Fact is that it can actually be heard in the movie. Therefore this version of the cue is the correct and only existing one.
It is interesting how the music editor tried to cover the sound by moving the cue a little bit backwards so that the “noise” would play at the same time as Rickman’s laughing at one point (“We spent a weekend at a combat ranch.”) and therefore be unheard. This is obvious since the track starts not directly on the cut to McClane’s toes but a little bit afterwards.
This particularly sound is edited out on the varese edition. The unaltered version of the cue with the “noise” included can be heard partially at the very end of the slideshow on the DVD.
The varese version also misplaces the cue between 6M5 and “Preparing to Come In”.
34 – B. Shoot the Glass no slate 2:15
Not an actual Track but a clever edit of existing material.
Edit breakdown:
0:00 – 0:23 from 12M2 and 0:00-0:27 from 4M4a play simultaneously
0:00 – 0:42 from 12M2
0:00 – 0:23 from 12M2 and 0:00-0:18 from 4M4a play simultaneously
0:01 – 0:32 from 4M4a, from 0:30 fades into 3:30 to end from 8M1R
35. Bathroom Stories (11M1) 2:36
Plays unaltered.
36. Ode to Joy (11M3) 2:09
The film actually uses two versions of this cue: Only the first 0:20 seconds from 11M3 (this one is on the varese) are used. The Film edit then replaces 0:20 to 0:43 with the same Beethoven’s Ninth excerpt used in Fire Alarm (4M3). From 0:43 on the alternate (11M3A, 2:12) is used until the end. 11M5 is mixed in from 2:07.
The alternate leaves out the synths at the beginning, segues slightly different into the full segment of the Ode to Joy and has differences in the performance of the orchestra and the use of the choir (heard prominently at 1:43).
37. Emptying the Vault (11M5) 0:58
Ends quickly after 0:43 and fades into the next cue from 0:40 on.
38. John’s Confession (?M?) 2:49
Unreleased, no further information.
39. Double-crossed (?M?) 1:17
From 0:23 to 0:33 it sounds like a rescore, overlay or insert was used. The cue is unreleased and therefore it’s unknown what versions might exist.
40. Holly Discovered (12M2) 1:15
Plays unaltered. 12M3 is mixed in from 1:12 already though.
41. Choppers (12M3) 1:50
The film edit is chopped, filled up or replaced with material from 12M3 and 12M4.
Edit breakdown:
0:00 – 1:26 from 12M3 - segment from 0:05 to 0:10 from 12M3 is mixed in 0:03 – 0:08
0:00 – 0:14 from 12M4
0:27 – 0:35 from 12M4 - a short segment from 12M3 (1:43 – 1:45) is mixed in 0:30 – 0:32
42. The Chains (12M4) 1:20
In the original version some rattling was used to accentuate Karl being hung by McClane on chains. The film version uses a “cleaner” rescore (running about 0:28) of the ending that replaces the original version from 0:48 to the end.
43. Helicopters (12M5) 2:25
The original cue was stretched out by using material from the same cue. On the varese it is faded out quickly and is crossfaded into 13M1.
Edit breakdown:
0:00 – 0:15 from 12M5
0:10 – 0:43 from 12M5, from 0:41 on segues into 0:46 to 0:50 from 12M5
1:00 – 1:08 from 12M5
1:01 – 1:08 from 12M5
1:01 – 1:49 from 12M5
1:01 – 1:48 from 12M5
1:32 – 1:40 from 12M5
1:49 – 1:52 from 12M5
44. John’s Big Jump (?M?)
Unreleased, no further information.
45. Bye, bye FBI / Enough Jokes (13M1) 4:05
Plays unaltered.
45 – B. The Big Fall no slate 1:36
Again edited out of existing material: “His Bag is Missing” (if it should be a track on its own) and “John Kills Marco”.
Edit breakdown:
The first 12 seconds are a simple repeat of the bell loop then cut to:
0:06 – 0:09 from “His Bag is Missing”
0:12 – 0:15 from “His Bag is Missing”
0:00 – 0:11 from “John Kills Marco”
0:12 – 0:29 from “John Kills Marco”
0:44 – 0:51 from “John Kills Marco”
0:46 – 0:51 from “John Kills Marco”
0:46 – 0:49 from “John Kills Marco”
0:51 – 0:59 from “John Kills Marco”
0:58 – 1:02 from “John Kills Marco”
1:32 – 1:35 from “John Kills Marco”
1:34 – 1:38 from “John Kills Marco”
1:40 – 1:43 from “John Kills Marco”
1:47 – end from “John Kills Marco”
46. We’ve got Each Other 1:58 (Composed by John Scott for MAN ON FIRE)
Plays unaltered.
47. Resolution 2:49 (Composed by James Horner for ALIENS)
Is used from 0:00 to 1:36.
48. End Credits Suite 5:06
Consists of:
0:00 – 1:12: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Performed by Vaughn Monroe
1:12 – end: Unidentified Performance of Ode to Joy by Ludwig van Beethoven (the use of Beethoven’s Ninth in the movie is unmentioned in the end credits!)
Known Recorded Source Music:
Winter Wonderland (Bernard, Smith) (unused) ?:??
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (Cahn, Styne) 1:57
0:24 to 1:14 of the cue is used in the scene where Powell is shopping at the gas station.
Roy Rogers Meets Beethoven’s Ninth (Beethoven, Kamen) (unused) 1:31
This cue might be intended as background music playing either briefly in the airplane at the beginning or right from the fade-in on the landing plane at the very start of the movie.
The length of the cue matches perfectly the time from the landing of the plane to the start of the “Main Title”. It even matches and accentuates the action on screen remarkably accurate.
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If ever a Kamen score needed a proper presentation, it is this one.
ATTENTION, EVERYONE!
SEND UP THE LA-LALAND SIGNAL!
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Thanks for the analysis, Mink. I don't have the Varese but hope that 'Die Hard' is re-released soon.
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A wink is as good as a nod to a blind man. 
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Wow, great piece. Well done. Hopefully if Die Hard does come out in a proper form then they will use your insights. Much better than my piece in MFTM magazine.
Still have fond memories of receiving those tapes from Kamen and playing them for the first time. Though I thought all the tracks on there had the slate numbers? I will trust your knowledge as I don't have the content of those raw session tapes any more or the article, which sadly did little justice to the music I was trying to discuss. I never did find out why the Die Hard logo or John talking to Al in the rest room were not on there. They must have been done after the main sessions. Perhaps Edward Shearmur would know as he was there.
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I wouldn't buy the Varese edition anytime soon, if I were you.
I stopped paying silly prices for CDs some time ago. I now either get a download or, if not available, make do without.
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Mink this is excellent. Your analysis should be put on the Wikipedia to be referenced by anyone working on a future rerelease.
At the time of the Varese release I would have been happy for anything, even an 8 Track Only edition. Upon further review, it looks like there is a much better presentation to be had and looked forward too. I've often wondered why I never listen to this disc as much as I should. Now I know.
Couple of Questions (one stupid):
What source are you comparing the Varese too? The Original Film or "something else."
What does the track numbering format of 1M1, 2M2, xMx, etc... actually mean and refer too. I've been living in ignorance for years.
Thanks again, your post will (happily) take me days to go through.
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Hmm. Maybe now is the time to sell my copy of the Varese. I could use the extra cash, especially if a new version is (maybe) around the corner...
I'll start it at the low, low bargain price of $179! Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
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