Marco is my favorite composer. Here are 5 samples of his work -- I implore you to listen. If you are already a Beltrami fan, enjoy! If you are not a Beltrami fan, I urge you to consider these pieces, which are admittedly only a fraction of incredible works from Marco's impressive career. In sifting through the cues available in youtube format, I thought these 5 showed Beltrami's considerable range and talent across a wide variety of genres. I strongly suspect you won't be disappointed if you listen to these cues.
REALLY??? That is incredible. I love that score, I never even mention it when talking about Beltrami b/c I assume people wouldn't be into it. I'm so happy someone else likes it too. You could say it's one of Beltrami's more obscure earlier works. I love the overabundance of electronics, the beauty of the slower tracks, the urgency and fast tempo, and the tremendous use of female vocals.
And Keanu's not as bad an actor as they say, either.
Gotta love the track titles...
"Keanu-vision" "Hot Tomei-to" "Queen of Spaders"
I'm wondering, if you like The Watcher, did you like Crow: Salvation or Joy Ride? I tend to find those three similar for some reason. Maybe because they were all composed around the same time.
He's hit and miss with me. When he hits though, he hits it out of the park. 3:10 To Yuma, The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada, The Hurt Locker, and I, Robot are all superb. But then there are some others I really don't like. He tends to drift into generic non-thematic scoring, and that's when I lose interest. Nothing stands out to me in scores like Live Free Or Die Hard and Terminator 3.
He's hit and miss with me. When he hits though, he hits it out of the park. 3:10 To Yuma, The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada, The Hurt Locker, and I, Robot are all superb. But then there are some others I really don't like. He tends to drift into generic non-thematic scoring, and that's when I lose interest. Nothing stands out to me in scores like Live Free Or Die Hard and Terminator 3.
Well I totally see your point Koray. The latter two titles you mentioned are not thematic except...with DIE HARD it's more about homage to motifs and rhythms Kamen inspired and I actually do think with T3 it's got a great John Connor theme but it is used so sparsely, only some at the beginning and some at the end of the whole score. On album, it's best in "JC's Theme" and "End Credits". Truthfully, like anyone, he does his share of turkeys, but in my opinion he always gives 200% to each and every score.
I think in a lot of cases it's the director. When Marco has full control (or some sort of free reign), his scores tend to be very personal, unique, and fascinating, like YUMA, 3 BURIALS, HURT LOCKER, I ROBOT, IN THE ELECTRIC MIST, and any of his collaborations with Guillermo del Toro (please let there be more, Mr. Elfman!) and John Moore. There are times when the director didn't know what he wanted, or just wasn't a good director, or the studio meddled, and that seems to be usually when his projects are weaker. Better than most out there though, in my heartfelt opinion, and I think he still gives 200% each time. JONAH HEX I think is a good example here where he tried as hard as he could given the totally f***ed up situation he was in the whole time. However, I've also heard that Beltrami isn't very proud of his scores for THE INVISIBLE or CURSED or REPO MEN (don't quote me on that), but I think they are phenomenal. It's funny how a composer can really dislike the final product and yet a fan can be ravenous over it...because the composer and film score listener are listening to the work from completely different perspectives.
And that, kids, is what's known as rambling. R-A-M-B-L-I-N-G.
I'd be interested in hearing his score for Jonah Hex proper. When I heard he was taking over scoring duties after Powell left, I thought he was a good choice because all his western scores so far have been amazing.
I'd be interested in hearing his score for Jonah Hex proper. When I heard he was taking over scoring duties after Powell left, I thought he was a good choice because all his western scores so far have been amazing.
You're totally right, and I did hear on another JONAH HEX thread that someone (Lokutus?) said they emailed Marco and he said there would be a score release to coincide with the DVD release. This is not confirmed I don't think.
I thought Beltrami would be perfect for HEX also. Western? Check. Horror? Been there, done that, Dimension Films paid for this house! Fantasy/Comic? Hell(boy), yeah!
You're totally right, and I did hear on another JONAH HEX thread that someone (Lokutus?) said they emailed Marco and he said there would be a score release to coincide with the DVD release. This is not confirmed I don't think.
I asked him some time before the film was released (like 2 or 3 weeks ago) and he replied that the score album is coming but didn't know who was going to release it at that time. Also didn't mention it was coming so late - but it can be expected when probably sessions finished only a few weeks before the film was out, there probably wasn't enough time to master it and deliver it to record company in time to release it with the premiere of the film. The news about it being released with the DVD release was mentioned by someone else in one of recent MB threats
btw, speaking about favorites.... what the ****? Is really no love for I AM DINA around here? and am I the only one who considers it not only my favorite MB score but one of my favorite scores of all (probably sharing nr 1 with Triumph of the Spirit and ST: TMP)?
If you haven't seen the movie or hear the score here is a few vids
(also featuring source music composed by Marco based on the gestures of the players)
(cca from 1:15 onwards and another of favorites moments from 6:20)
4:50 fantastic but short and unreleased percussive moment
and one of the most beautiful pieces Marco has ever written Organ Grinder - right in the beginning of this vid!
and of course the ending sequence that has everything. From full orchestral threatment of Dina's theme to another fascinating unreleased murder cue
I Am Dina is one of my top 3 least favorite Beltrami scores. ***This does not mean in any way I think it's a bad score, or even an average score. I think it's an incredible piece of work but, like John Williams, it just doesn't draw me to it, you know? I strongly suspect I don't spin it very often because I'm so undeniably obsessed with all his other music it's the "less great" Beltrami. The only score of his I didn't really care for was Deep Water, a film for Danish director Ole Bornedal, who worked with Beltrami on NIGHTWATCH and of course DINA. I will visit Dina from time to time, but usually only to hear the magnificent tracks "Organ Grinder" (you know it Lokutus! Cool points!!!), "Goodbye Lorch", "Dina Delivers", and of course the Jorane/Beltrami combo "Dina's Lullaby." I love the Jorane contributions to this score so much I became a fan of hers and have heard a few of her discs.
Lokutus since you like I AM DINA so much, have you heard Beltrami's IN THE ELECTRIC MIST? I'll assume you haven't for the sake of discussion...there is a cue called "Dina Kills Again" and opens with pure DINA music. Very strange! I can't for the life of me imagine why Beltrami would use clear thematic material in another movie. It was definitely not self-plagiarism or coincidence, he's got such a fantastic scoring sense of humor I'm sure there's a funny story behind it.
Truly, truly geekily happy of me to see this Marco support...I really didn't think anyone would respond to me posting his music (let alone actually listen to it) because I get the impression there are not many Beltrami fans out there. I am obsessed with his music, and he is by leaps and bounds my favorite composer working today. Glad to hear others' opinions.
Is there an extended version of Hellboy around? I noticed the 2 CD lettering at the top of the artwork. Hellboy is my one Beltrami score to date, and I like it immensely.
I Am Dina is one of my top 3 least favorite Beltrami scores.
So... Deep Water is obviously number 2, what is number 3? I must admit that I like Deep Water a lot too but there are two problems with the film and the score. Obviously the orchestra was SO BAD they couldn't play the music properly, keep the right tempo and there are so many other issues with the performance... The other problem is that the promo edition covers probably only about 40-50% of music in the film, which looks quite good and is a fine piece of filmmaking until it fells apart as Bornedal's films always do. Check these unreleased cues http://lokutusost.ufouni.cz/filmmusic/beltrami/deep_water/UR_Night_Walk.mp3 http://lokutusost.ufouni.cz/filmmusic/beltrami/deep_water/UR_Killing-Escape.mp3 Don't you like it?
Regarding IN THE ELECTRIC MIST - I heard it and have no idea about origin of I am Dina cue in it. It might have been added to director's cut of the film released in Europe, which is probably 20-30 minutes longer than the original version (don't know exactly as when I was watching the US cut, I couldn't understand a word Tommy Lee Jones was saying and fell asleep) In the Electric Mist is a great score
But the topic of least favorite scores is interesting too. If I had to pick three it would be probably Resident Evil, The Incorporated and.... hmm... difficult to decide Probably First 20 million is always the hardest...
Is there an extended version of Hellboy around? I noticed the 2 CD lettering at the top of the artwork. Hellboy is my one Beltrami score to date, and I like it immensely.
There is a boot and an isolated score on director's cut edition of the film - also featuring Marco's commentary and a few more moments not included on the boot (as he didn't record some of the extended scenes and there are only mock-ups included in the director's cut in at least one added scene).
The only score of his I have found remotely interesting is XXX - The Next Level, because it sounded like a mixture of a James Bond score and Mission Impossible.
I like Beltrami in general, but one of his tunes that stands out for me is Judy Greer's transformation scene in Cursed. It features a low tone, brooding rhythm that's playful, dangerous, and catchy. Even though there's no album for it, I can't get that tune out of my head.
I'd still like to hear how he would approach a romantic comedy.
