 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
And it's by Henry Mancini! What you say? He's dead! Okay, it's not the best summer score of 2011 but listening to Lifeforce is like listening to a classical piece of music. It's tuneful, beautifully orchestrated, and has some truly amazing stylistic breadth. What really amazes me is how fluid the writing is. There are some long cues and they all sound like a piece, not disjointed fragments that aren't related to one another. If I'd never heard this score, I would not have known how truly amazing Mancini was at music outside the jazz orchestra realm. I know he'd done other non-jazz cutesy scores so if anyone can suggest a couple, I'm game.
I know this is a score from 1985 and that's over 25 years ago, but I'm still amazed at the disparity between this score and what we got this summer, or last summer or the summer before...
What is also apparent in this score is the influence Mancini had on Williams. I do hear similarities in approach, especially in the synth writing. And some of the harmonic vocabulary too. I think Williams would be the first to agree that Mancini influenced him- or at least that they were both influenced by some of the same classical/jazz greats.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I agree! Great score!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Jul 20, 2011 - 10:32 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Ron Pulliam
(Member)
|
More like, devolved in the past 25 years.
Could not agree MORE with any statement made in this forum the past 15 years!
Just watched the BD of "Limitless" last night. Great movie, apart from the overly excessive street-travel montages that seem to have been inspired by the final sequence in "2001". The score, if one can call it that, was abysmal. Awful. And in those street-travel montages, the point seemed to be that the louder the music got, as the montages progressed beyond endurance, the less likely it would be that audiences wouldn't catch on that they were seeing nothing germane to the story. Yes, I got that the drug speeded things up for the protagonist and that he was thinking/doing things faster than he ever did...but they seriously did not manage to "visuallize" that (until that wonderful ending, that is). And thus, we were saddled with street montages and loud, louder, and louder-still electronic noises that, regrettably, represented the film's "underscore".
Oh! What Jerry Goldsmith might have done for this movie!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
what's remarkable is the modal style contrasted with more chromatic harmonies for the aliens. There is a definite English sound to the Main Theme. I'm thinking Vaughan Williams specifically or maybe a little Elgar. Really super great writing.
What I truly admire about Mancini is the clarity in his orchestrations. Everything is so clean and defined.
So, any other scores like this one from Mancini I should check out?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
what's remarkable is the modal style contrasted with more chromatic harmonies for the aliens. There is a definite English sound to the Main Theme. I'm thinking Vaughan Williams specifically or maybe a little Elgar. Really super great writing.
What I truly admire about Mancini is the clarity in his orchestrations. Everything is so clean and defined.
So, any other scores like this one from Mancini I should check out?
LIFEFORCE is a one of a kind score, but THE NIGHT VISITOR and NIGHT WING are very distinctive and not your "usual" Mancini. THE MOLLY MAGUIRES is also a great score.
Geez, I have Nightwing. I should have another listen to that!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I know he'd done other non-jazz cutesy scores so if anyone can suggest a couple, I'm game.
The Great Mouse Detective is from the same period as Lifeforce, with cutesy main and end titles. The body of the score is quite good too, especially the climatic piece.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
