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Posted: |
Oct 26, 2024 - 1:06 PM
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By: |
mortenbond
(Member)
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The 1983 Thunderball remake starring Sean Connery had a score by Michel Legrand. Rumor had it that James Horner was wanted for the job, but I personally corresponded with Horner and he told me he was not approached. He said he thought Bond was "John Barry`s gig", obviously not knowing the film was made outside of the Broccoli owned Eon Productions Ltd.
Silva Screen produced a complete soundtrack album in the 90s, long before the de luxe expansions of today. I bought it at HMV in London`s Oxford street in about 1990, and just recently gave it a listen again.
Legrand was an accomplished film music composer, and would of course not try to mimic Barry`s style. And of course he was not allowed to use the Monty Norman theme. The music varies from thriller jazz, a rousing tango, a waltz, some Jaws-like underwater action, suspense cues and even some steel band Bahama jazz. Quite a mix!
Bond fans have lamented the score for years, and I think it has been unfairly judged. The music has a lot of merit, and I suspect it is reviled mostly for not being Barry and because the film's reputation has somewhat diminished in recent years. Comparing it with the other Bond of 1983, Octopussy, it looks dated, less fun and production values are far below the Eon film.
The Lani Hall song is rather good. Never understood the criticism of it. It is just as good as All Time High in my opinion. Both are below middle Bond quality, but we later got worse with Madonna. I even like the French Chanson d`Amour song, that was only used as an instrumental in the film. In fact a lot of the score was unused in the final film, especially some jazz cues, that by 1983 must have seemed a bit dated, and I suspect the producers felt Legrand tried too hard to mimic a 60s spy vibe. My favorite cue is the thumping Nuclear hijack cue. A very good suspense melody in there.
All in all, there's a lot of fun in this underrated score. It is not perfect, perhaps not even very good. But it IS good! With people now reevaluating Eric Serra`s Goldeneye, there should be room for forgiveness when it comes to this solid score.
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I think the film has its values, especially the villains.
Barbara Carrera and Klaus Maria Brandauer are excellent !
it's just the film lacks class, the motorcycle chase sequence is below par.
Photography is not in the same league as EON
Sean Connery is not in shape
And sorry, i wouldn't go so far as saying the score is bad, it's just............distracting.
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Posted: |
Oct 26, 2024 - 1:49 PM
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By: |
TheAvenger
(Member)
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The film has its moments - Klaus Maria Brandauer is excellent as Largo, Barbara Carrera is a wonderful femme fatale and Connery is top notch of course. And of course the always excellent Max Von Sydow made a great Blofeld.
That said, for every good element, the film has just as many awful ones. The score is horrible, some of the effects are hideous even by 80s standards, the action consistently underwhelming (especially the underwater battle which is confused and badly choreographed and not a patch on Thunderball’s version) and don’t even get me on the river-mortis horse that jumps off the cliff or Rowan Atkinson’s proto-Bean role.
But you know, the producers had a huge challenge on their hands making this movie - firstly they were constrained by not being able to to deviate too much from the original story for legal reasons, and the challenge of making it Bond without being too Eon-Bond, so,etching I feel they succeeded with overall.
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Posted: |
Oct 26, 2024 - 2:06 PM
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By: |
rmd007
(Member)
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I think a lot of the issues with some Bond scores come from composers trying too hard to create something that doesn’t really sound like a Bond score. And honestly, it usually doesn’t work out. If the music doesn’t have that classic Bond vibe, it just feels off. It doesn’t have to be exactly like Barry, but it should capture that edgy, brassy, and melodic feel we expect from Bond music. When composers stray too far from that, it just doesn’t sit right.
As far as "Never Say Never Again music goes." It wasn’t just a flop because it didn’t feel Bond enough; the score was awkward and didn’t give the film the emotional punch it needed, whether you see it as a Bond movie or just an action flick. If you're bringing back the actor who made Bond what he is, the music needs to fit. If it sounds too different, it clashes with what people expect from the Bond experience.
"GoldenEye" had the same problem; it didn’t really feel like a Bond score until the Tank Chase scene. Other composers, like Kamen, Conti, Newman, and Hamlisch, managed to keep that Bond feel, even if Conti went a bit overboard at times. But David Arnold? He always got it right, in my opinion. Now saying that I deeply admire Legrand and I don't hate the music, but as many feel as I do, this may not have been a vehicle for him.
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It‘s not Barry, and that’s what mainly irked fans who were not familiar with Legrand‘s style.
I always loved it, and the song, too. The film entertains me a lot until the lackluster finale, but still - Connery makes it all work for me.
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that silva cd is really bad sounding - the tiger shark cue is not sounding good
and the album is not complete
and the album or film switched arround the title song
and even herp albert is credited with the trumpet solo - that solo at the end credits sound actually more like an instrumental version of the title song with the trumpet playing vocal line
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It‘s not Barry, and that’s what mainly irked fans who were not familiar with Legrand‘s style.
Actually, I never liked most of the score simply because I didn't like most of the score. It had nothing to do with John Barry.
I had zero issues with Michael Kamen, Bill Conti or George Martin. I felt Legrand was a much of a misfire as Marvin Hamlisch.
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If you asked me who the best composer was besides John Barry to write a 007 score, it's Michel Legrand.
It's just that the 007 score he wrote didn't work.
If you asked me which composer wrote the best 007 score besides the John Barry scores, I'd say George Martin.
I was really disappointed in both the film and the score of NSNA. I hold Legrand in such high esteem. As I said, I think him the best composer to tackle the subject besides John Barry.
Although I behold John Barry as the definitive sound of 007, my reluctant disdain for the Legrand score isn't because it's not John Barry, because I love the scores by Martin, Hamlisch, etc., but just that it didn't work for me.
One man's meat and all that, though.
Cheers
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If you asked me who the best composer was besides John Barry to write a 007 score, it's Michel Legrand.
It's just that the 007 score he wrote didn't work.
If you asked me which composer wrote the best 007 score besides the John Barry scores, I'd say George Martin.
I was really disappointed in both the film and the score of NSNA. I hold Legrand in such high esteem. As I said, I think him the best composer to tackle the subject besides John Barry.
Although I behold John Barry as the definitive sound of 007, my reluctant disdain for the Legrand score isn't because it's not John Barry, because I love the scores by Martin, Hamlisch, etc., but just that it didn't work for me.
One man's meat and all that, though.
Cheers
I agree, and maybe I should clarify and state that Legrand did not even try to emulate Barry, and the result is so obviously different it does not seem to fit with a Bond film.
Martin (also my second favourite Bond composer), Hamlish and Conti clearly attempted to do a Barry Bond score filtered through their own style, and that’s why they succeeded so much more with us fans.
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