Batman is probably my favourite superhero. I love every film that came out. The Burton ones are my favourites. I love Nolan's trilogy, I love what Ben Affleck did with the character and I think Robert Pattinson is an amazing young Batman.
Same thing for the music. Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard, Michael Giacchino, Junkie XL. Every composer has done something unique. To me, Elliot Goldenthal did something unique. Something that no one did before/after him.
The scores for Batman Forever and Batman & Robin sound so different. So much different styles and ambiances, so much fun. It is also music that is full of depth, nuances and colours. In terms of score as the whole, I think Batman Forever is the best. But I can't express how much I love Batman & Robin's opening titles cue. It's a shame that it's still not officially released!!!
Batman Forever is a brilliant film score, full of wild and melodramatic touches. The main theme is not unique, though; as it's a reworking of Toto's Dune theme. But, otherwise, this remains one of my most fondly remembered 1990s movie scores.
I'm not sufficently familiar with Toto's Dune, but I highly doubt it. This is the first time I hear it mentioned and Goldenthal's theme doesn't really sound like something else i'm familiar with. Do you have a source? Has this ever been discussed before? Possible temp track if so?
I'm not sufficently familiar with Toto's Dune, but I highly doubt it. This is the first time I hear it mentioned and Goldenthal's theme doesn't really sound like something else i'm familiar with. Do you have a source? Has this ever been discussed before? Possible temp track if so?
It’s not remotely close except that it shares a i-vi chord progression. And that it has a rising and falling melodic arc… it’s like saying mailer’s 5th opening is exactly like Beethoven’s fifth because they both have 4 note introductory figures….
Yeah.. Goldenthal has taken inspiration from Bernard Herrmann and classical composers, but I almost can't think of any instances where he has drawn on other film scores (other than Herrmann, who seems to me to be Goldenthal's primary inspiration as far as other film composers go, and also Rota in The Butcher Boy that is).
I would have loved to hear a new Goldenthal score, I would be excited if he scored anything, but it would have been cool to see him on a big movie since it has been a while since he did that.
I’m a big Goldenthal fan but his Batman scores are not favorites of mine. I feel like they just shriek at me hysterically for most of their durations. Not my thing, but to each his own.
Goldenthal's Batman scores aren't among his best work, I agree (to me they feel a bit "empty" for a lack of a better word compared to his masterpieces), but compared to other superhero scores, Goldenthal's achievement can't be overstated.
Who else is writing such scores today? Gotham never sounded more colourfully neurotic, dangerous and sexy than here.
I'm not sufficently familiar with Toto's Dune, but I highly doubt it. This is the first time I hear it mentioned and Goldenthal's theme doesn't really sound like something else i'm familiar with. Do you have a source? Has this ever been discussed before? Possible temp track if so?
I imagine it was a temp track situation. Judge for yourself.
I'm not sufficently familiar with Toto's Dune, but I highly doubt it. This is the first time I hear it mentioned and Goldenthal's theme doesn't really sound like something else i'm familiar with. Do you have a source? Has this ever been discussed before? Possible temp track if so?
I imagine it was a temp track situation. Judge for yourself.
What a joke. No way. No.1 is doesn’t sound “the same”…and also when you listen to them next to each other it’s like a cartoon to a Rembrandt.
The Batman Forever score CD is the first album I ever bought. Needless to say, I have a fondness for Goldenthal’s work on the movies. Certainly over the top, but fun, colorful and bursting with personality. With so many anonymous film scores nowadays, that counts for a lot. I’m just sorry I missed out on the expansion.
And if only for the choral motif for Nora Fries, I’d gladly buy a release of Batman and Robin.
There's an old interview with Goldenthal, possibly in FSM, in which he talks about how he came up with his main theme in Batman Forever. He says he imagined himself as a kid playing on the floor with action figures and what tune he would be humming himself to accompany the play time.
His scores for these two movies are amazing. Hectic and frenetic at times, yes, but always with a stylistic base. Mirroring the kitch of Schumacher's intentions. I have the superb 50-minute score program that he prepared for BATMAN & ROBIN, and it's a scandal that this was never released to the public. Hopefully some day!
Also, one of the best concert experiences I've ever had was seeing and hearing his BATMAN music performed live at a steel mill in Krakow some 10 years ago. Sitting next to him was Hans Zimmer, who jumped up and applauded enthustiastically after the "Grand Gothic" suite ended.
We talked a bit about his scores for these movies in my two interviews with him. Lovely memories.
His scores for these two movies are amazing. Hectic and frenetic at times, yes, but always with a stylistic base. Mirroring the kitch of Schumacher's intentions. I have the superb 50-minute score program that he prepared for BATMAN & ROBIN, and it's a scandal that this was never released to the public. Hopefully some day!
Also, one of the best concert experiences I've ever had was seeing and hearing his BATMAN music performed live at a steel mill in Krakow some 10 years ago. Sitting next to him was Hans Zimmer, who jumped up and applauded enthustiastically after the "Grand Gothic" suite ended.
We talked a bit about his scores for these movies in my two interviews with him. Lovely memories.
There's an old interview with Goldenthal, possibly in FSM, in which he talks about how he came up with his main theme in Batman Forever. He says he imagined himself as a kid playing on the floor with action figures and what tune he would be humming himself to accompany the play time.
The Batman Forever score CD is the first album I ever bought. Needless to say, I have a fondness for Goldenthal’s work on the movies. Certainly over the top, but fun, colorful and bursting with personality. With so many anonymous film scores nowadays, that counts for a lot.
That's a great way of putting it!
Goldenthal's BATMAN music was probably the last "Batman" music I really liked, though his sequel does very much play like a reiteration of his original effort. To Elfman's credit, BATMAN RETURNS does not do that.
A fun aside: I'd never seen a Hammer horror movie before the 90s, but I was aware of James Bernard. I remember renting THE HAUNTED PALACE from a Blockbuster and for some reason thinking it was a Hammer movie and that Bernard was its composer. Nah, cool music, but then Ronald Stein's name appears during the opening titles! Not to mention before the AIP logo.
Anyway, in Percepto's release of Stein's score, I think in the liner notes (by Bruce Kimmel?) the similarity of Toto's DUNE theme to Stein's HAUNTED PALACE is mentioned. Possibly coincidence, but it's similar.
I have the superb 50-minute score program that he prepared for BATMAN & ROBIN, and it's a scandal that this was never released to the public. Hopefully some day!
It's a crime to music that Batman & Robin has never had a legit release. I wonder if things would be different had the soundtrack album actually had a suite from the movie instead of a medley of cues from Forever. I know Watertower is weird as far as having first priority of initial score releases (or that they used to; Lethal Weapon 4 was premiered by LLL). Funny enough, that track was the first time I heard Goldenthal's score outside the movie.
I'll keep my fingers crossed that his score to Batman & Robin can get the same treatment as David Arnold's to Godzilla via BSX: 2 CDs for the complete score and a third for the proposed album. Or even "just" the 50 minute version.
I'm not sufficently familiar with Toto's Dune, but I highly doubt it. This is the first time I hear it mentioned and Goldenthal's theme doesn't really sound like something else i'm familiar with. Do you have a source? Has this ever been discussed before? Possible temp track if so?
If something sounds like Toto's DUNE it must be Danny Elfman's overture to SCROOGED !!!
