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Okay, so you wanna know how much extra music there is in GAME OF DEATH?
Well, here you go. Strictly nerd territory, you understand:
A lot of the extra music is variations on the Game Of Death and Gathering Speed themes, but there is still a lot that isn't.
The key thematic material is:
The “Game Of Death” theme
The “Gathering Speed” theme
Will This Be The Song...
The Dr. Land theme – not on album
The “Boat Trip To Macau” suspense theme – not on album
The “Billy Gets Shot” slow-mo suspense theme – not on album
And several of the unreleased cues are not particular based on any of those.
Will This Be The Song appears in the film in vocal, piano and orchestral versions. The piano version is not on the album, but the album also has a 'jazzy-ish' version that isn't in the film.
The total length of Gathering Speed runs to nearly 8 minutes in the film, but some of the repetition was evidently edited out to create the album version.
I know this is an awful film and many people don't like the score, finding the main theme a bit 'dated' by the percussion track. However, I really like this score. And I sense a certain Conti/Rocky inspiration to the main theme and the Gathering Speed theme.
And if anyone ever entertains doing the complete score on CD, please please consider me for writing the notes. (Shameless plug.)
Cheers
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When I was 16 and hunting for the GAME OF DEATH LP, here's what a record dealer told me.
"Game Of Death? That's very rare! Whenever I get one, it goes quickly. You see, it's not just the John Barry collectors who are after it, but the Bruce Lee collectors too."
Cheers
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I so don't care!
But, its the thought that counts
bruce
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Do the original 'Game Of Death' tapes exist?
Has anyone ever looked for them?
A good score. I always enjoy it.
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The film (save for Colleen Camp and the footage salvaged from Lee's original conception) is a joke, but Barry's score is fantastic. I'd also love a complete version.
FYI, when I did the album for SILVA (Must be 20 years ago now), all the film company could find was the album master.
They couldn't find anything else.
:-(
Ford A. Thaxton
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full marks for the working out , top man ,
been a barry and lee fan for many years from the early years, in fact
i think raymond chow and GH was buying bond music and boy did they get it,
they say that MR BARRY asked for big bucks and they came up with it,
i think the movie is so bad, its fun to watch,
i was at the opening in the westend and remember after the great titles and then sinking in my seat at the scene of the stick on picture on the mirror in the make up room,
it made the godfrey ho look like david lean
and i think it took more money in japan than enter the dragon,
which makes the mind boggle
a full score would be a must and well over due
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Posted: |
Aug 10, 2012 - 1:02 PM
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By: |
Lantz
(Member)
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Okay, so you wanna know how much extra music there is in GAME OF DEATH?
Well, here you go. Strictly nerd territory, you understand:
A lot of the extra music is variations on the Game Of Death and Gathering Speed themes, but there is still a lot that isn't.
The key thematic material is:
The “Game Of Death” theme
The “Gathering Speed” theme
Will This Be The Song...
The Dr. Land theme – not on album
The “Boat Trip To Macau” suspense theme – not on album
The “Billy Gets Shot” slow-mo suspense theme – not on album
And several of the unreleased cues are not particular based on any of those.
Will This Be The Song appears in the film in vocal, piano and orchestral versions. The piano version is not on the album, but the album also has a 'jazzy-ish' version that isn't in the film.
The total length of Gathering Speed runs to nearly 8 minutes in the film, but some of the repetition was evidently edited out to create the album version.
I know this is an awful film and many people don't like the score, finding the main theme a bit 'dated' by the percussion track. However, I really like this score. And I sense a certain Conti/Rocky inspiration to the main theme and the Gathering Speed theme.
And if anyone ever entertains doing the complete score on CD, please please consider me for writing the notes. (Shameless plug.)
Cheers
Thanks, Stephen, for forwarding me here! I definitely came to the right place.
Well, if Thaxton in his post above says the film company couldn't locate more music, I guess we will have to be happy with the Silva Release, which sound quality-wise is excellent in my opinion. A great CD.
Personally, the score means a lot to me since is was this music that got me hooked on film music and music in general. Today, I work professionally with music, and I guess it all began with that cheesy, not too highly regarded music for Game Of Death. :-) And that Barry allegedly wasn't too keen on scoring it does not come across to me personally, since I think he came up with a lot of good material.
Stephen, you mention the 'percussion' sound. It is very prominent throughout the score, but am curious, what exactly is it? I noticed that Barry uses the same type of percussion for his music for Star Crash, another 'crappy' film from the same time period and one of Barry's lesser known works. In fact, I enjoy that sound. To me, it sound like waterdrops, and together with the rainy night time action sequences in the film, it reinforces the element of "water". Weird, huh? I've actually tried to imitate that percussion sound for one of my own music productions.
To be perfectly honest, I don't think his score is that well suited for an action flick like Game Of Death, as Barry musically draws on more dramatic, romantic melodic material - so for a kungfu flick, the music is unusually romantic. For example, in the title track, the brassy main theme evokes dark drama rather than action, suspense and excitement, but one of my favourite sections of the title track is the high string melody that functions as a secondary theme, but it sounds very out of place for kungfu, no doubt. And played over the opening credits in the film, everything looks like a tv series more or less, with the photos of the lead actors presented graphically on top of a moving backdrop - the 'Dallas' look!
But which theme is "Gathering Speed"?
Does anyone know where I would be able to obtain the score for Game of Death (actual sheet music)?
/Lantz
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Concorde/Golden Harvest, who were the production companies for 'Game Of Death' were also involved in Enter The Dragon.
The 'Enter The Dragon' tapes seem to have survived but 'Game Of Death' gets dumped.
Odd!
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But Peter, although Golden Harvest msy have been involved, Enter was really a Warner Bros pic. That probably explains.
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But Peter, although Golden Harvest msy have been involved, Enter was really a Warner Bros pic. That probably explains.
the album to GAME OF DEATH that was released, really is the meat of the score.
What is really sad is that they lost some of the master tapes of NIGHT GAMES, which had some really good stuff that I really wanted to include.
Oh well, such is life.
Ford A. Thaxton
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the album to GAME OF DEATH that was released, really is the meat of the score.
What is really sad is that they lost some of the master tapes of NIGHT GAMES, which had some really good stuff that I really wanted to include.
Oh well, such is life.
Ford A. Thaxton
I do agree the album captures the meat of it, but as per my original post there is quite a lot of unreleased music including some thematic material not represented. So, it would certainly warrant an expansion (to me) if it was available. However, I understand it's not and the album is a great program as it is.
I also agree about Night Games. There's some really interesting stuff in that score. Shame the same can't be said of the film.
Anyway, my original post at the top of this threat included an image showing all the unreleased music. I took that image down, but I will re-add it so you can all see it again.
Cheers
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), sad to hear that there was no more available.