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Discussion
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Autumn is here and for some of us winter has already begun and this is actually always the time of the big blockbusters in the cinema. But what would all these cinematic hits be without catchy soundtracks? What are your favorite soundtracks and what beautiful, perhaps exciting or funny memories do you associate with them?
„Dream Away“ was a song written by George Harrison for the movie „Time Bandits“. It was a first commercial success for “Hande made Films”, a film production company founded by George Harrison and Denis O’Brien in 1979. The movie’s quirky humor reflected George Harrison’s enthusiasm for the works of Monty Python, with whom he had previously worked. It was also George who wrote the song for the end credits.
I remember the song was the real highlight of the movie for me at the time. 😀
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There are and have been many first-class film composers and it would go beyond the scope of this topic to list them all. That’s why five of the most famous of this genre are represented. If your favorite composer is missing, let me know, I’m excited.
Once Upon a Time in the West is a 1968 epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone. It stars: Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson and Claudia Cardinale. Even if you might not get much out of the movie, the soundtrack remains unforgettable.
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Metropolis is a German monumental expressionist silent film by Fritz Lang from 1927. It is based on the novel “Metropolis” by Thea von Harbou from 1925. The setting is a futuristic city with a pronounced two-class society. This science fiction film was one of the most expensive films of the time and is considered one of the most important works in film history (at least that’s what Wikipedia says and I’m happy to agree). The film music was written by Gottfried Huppertz from Cologne in 1927.
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This composition was written by John Williams for the film The Empire Strikes Back in 1983.
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Battlestar Galactica was considered a blatant plagiarism of Star Wars and promptly ended up in court. But that didn’t affect the success of the movies. I’m not exactly sure who was responsible for the soundtrack. But I think the compositions are by John Williams, too.
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I loved Battlestar Galactica, Juergen! It was marketed as TV’s answer to Star Wars, and that’s the lens I viewed it through. It was like watching Star Wars on TV every week! Never mind that they only had about four different special effects that they recycled over and over in every episode. (When the Cylon ship suddenly curves sharply to the right, you know it’s about to get hit by a Viper and explode.)
The music on Galactica was composed by Stu Phillips, who did similar work for many other shows including Knight Rider (your favorite!) and the Monkees (the little bits of incidental music). He’s still going at age 94.
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Yeah David, I loved Battlestar Galactica too. As I already told you, I had the pleasure of watching Battlestar Galactica in a cinema hall. In order to better amortize the high production costs, a slightly shortened version of the pilot film was released in cinemas in several other countries (Canada, Japan, Europe) at the same time as the series started in the USA, which also had considerable success . Later, some episodes were edited into other films. The film premiered in Canada on July 7, 1978. The German premiere took place on October 26, 1978. Starring Lorne Green aka “Ben” Cartwright and womanizer Dirk Benedict.
The series was relaunched in 2003. With a new plot and new actors. I’ve seen a few episodes of it. It may not have the charm of the old series, but it is at least technically up to date and offers a much more complex plot. Have you seen the new series?
According to rumors, a new movie is also planned
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The Da Vinci Code is a 2006 American film adaptation of Dan Brown’s thriller of the same name. It was directed by Ron Howard. The well-known film score was written by Hans Zimmer.
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The movie Insterstellar was released in 2014 and the plot of the film still fascinates me to this day. The film is set in a dystopian future in which humanity has to leave Earth and search for a new home on another planet. Certainly not a completely new idea, but I was very impressed by the visual implementation and the attempt to put the film on a scientific basis. Kip Thorne, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physics, worked as a scientific advisor and executive producer. After I saw the exciting and not necessarily predictable ending of the film I thought: Too bad I won’t watch the film anymore now that I know the ending. But I was wrong. Every two to three years, when the memory has become a little dusty, I put the Blu-ray back into my player and am fascinated again and again. The wonderful soundtrack was arranged by Hans Zimmer.
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I may have been 14 years old when Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel “The Lost World” fell into my hands. I devoured it. The last descendants of the dinosaurs live high up on a hidden plateau in South America. I was so fascinated. Although the heroes in Jules Verne’s novel “The Journey to the Center of the Earth” had brief contact with primitive dinosaurs, it had never been described before in as much detail as in Doyle’s novel. As a young person, I was fascinated and excited long before the real hype about the rebirth of the dinosaurs began. When Jurassic Park came to the cinema in 1993 (based on a novel by Michael Crichton) I was completely over the moon. The unforgettable soundtrack once again is composed by John Willams.
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A movie is a fantastic show of illusions. Our eyes are shown 24 individual images per second and yet we see a moving image. Just one or two pictures less and the image would stumble. The film music creates expectations and feelings that are not present in the film, but only in ourselves. Even the sound effects that we hear in the film are not what they seem to be. The Houdinis of modern times are Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, Luc Besson and Steven Spielberg, to name just a few. Nothing we think to see is what it seems. We know this and yet we watch movies over and over again because we like it when a true master plays on the keyboard of our emotions. For a short time we immerse ourselves in worlds that are magic for our senses, like a fantastic dream, only ending after the credits roll.
An important part of this illusion are the film sound effect. They are essential. And there’s a lot of trickery going on. Anyone who has ever filmed knows this: the original sound is usually unusable. Too much noise: Wind, people talking somewhere, street- or machine noise. The world is loud. It is a remarkable phenomenon: even if you are in a remote place, you will find that the sounds of civilization are close behind you. So you have to help a little with sound effects in post-production. And that brings us to Jack Foley.
Jack Foley was born in 1891. He was the first well-known sound effects artist to develop many sound effects techniques for filmmaking. He is credited with developing a unique method of performing sound effects live and in sync with the picture during post-production of a film. Accordingly, people who work in this profession are called “foley artists”.
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I can’t believe that no one has mentioned Grease.
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Tom,
Yes, Grease was a real landmark of a movie. They just don’t seem to make them as good as this anymore! I felt so bad about Olivia Newton-John’s passing a year ago in August 2022. Good thing for recordings & movies for ALL of the stars we’ve lost over the years!
Thankfully we have Mona & Lisa now! They have so many great years ahead of them! It’s so nice to be able to witness the record of their success from the very beginning! — Bud J.
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Thanks to you both But & Juergen,
I am well.
Let me add this little gem.
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Here’s another pretty interesting contribution on the subject of movies and sound designs. A bit detailed, but quite fascinating.
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Actually, the many wonderful theme songs that animated movies have given us are missing from this topic. I don’t necessarily think of the countless Disney movies, but I’m especially thinking of films like “The last last Unicorn” ….
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…or even the theme song from „Watership down“ for example. Written by Mike Batt and performed by Art Garfunkel. I would like to include these two songs in this collection for the sake of completeness.
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Japanese anime films should not go unmentioned. Certainly often unusual for our film and viewing habits, they are very popular in Asia. And some of these films have also become something of a cult here.
“Your Name” received very positive reviews overall. According to box office receipts, “Your Name” was the world’s most successful anime film with more than 382 million US dollars to date. At the same time, “Your Name” is the third most successful domestically produced film in Japan. Many Japanese film composers have created great musical works. The soundtracks for video games such as “Final Fantasy” are particularly legendary.
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I’m not going to post the album links, but I’ve got a couple that ring loudly for me. The first one is (to me) very obvious and unless I missed it, nobody even mentioned it:
Rogers & Hammerstein’s “Sound Of Music” has to be one of the biggest movie soundtracks of all time.
Earnest Gold’s “Exodus” was also huge, the title song pulls at me from my much younger concert band days, a stirring and deep work of stellar symphonic proportions. Not that I was ever at that level of proficiency…In more modern scopes, Good Morning Vietnam is one of my favorites that covered the antics of Sgt Adrian Cronauer’s battle with “the establishment” as was fitting for the times of the Vietnam War. Some of the generation’s greatest rock and roll songs added flavor to a touching and poignant depiction of both affection and injustice within one of the most controversial times in modern military history. Not just for the US, but the whole world. Not unlike right now, but that’s a whole other thing.
But so much is put into the soundtracks of film that adds mood and feel to the big screen. I think it is often overlooked and taken for granted. I have a musician friend that writes and composes soundtracks for a living, and it is very interesting to hear him talk about what he does. The man is humble, but oh so brilliant. Plays a pretty mean guitar too.-
Daryl, Chris & David,
I just have to comment here on both West Side Story & The Sound of Music. (I had just spent a long time typing this up, & then in one accidental click I lost the whole thing, just before submitting it!) I agree with you wholeheartedly on these two movies, & though I have a lot of favorites (“Evita,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Music Man” & many more, those two movie musicals, “WSS” & “SOM” are my favorites!
In the ’80’s to 2010, I used to play trumpet in many Broadway Show–type musicals in Seattle, & we played those two shows. I had just lived in New York City (NYC) in the ’70’s, near where the movie musical was filmed, & did a lot of walking around NYC. I had a few Puerto Rican friends who were trumpeters too, & there was a big “Salsa” music scene in those days. Great stuff! All that great music from WSS really resonates with me, & I feel like I lived it! (Luckily, without the gang involvement!)
And I lived on the Upper West Side in NYC, just 6 blocks from John Lennon, & 8 blocks from where some WSS scenes were filmed! I used to walk by the Dakota Apartments a lot but didn’t hang around because I didn’t want to bother him! What a mistake that was! I really got the whole New York experience & loved that part of my life!
On my first European trip I visited Salzburg & Vienna Austria, along with 14 other countries. Then in 1983 to 1990, I played in the Pit Orchestra of Civic Light Opera, & besides “WSS,” we also did “The Sound of Music!” We all got to meet Johanna von Trapp, (the real 2nd from youngest von Trapp.) She gave a talk to the audience for the Premiere & Opening night, which was a great experience for everyone! We learned the real von Trapp story, & the book by her adopted mother Maria is a very interesting read! (Please also check out videos of the REAL von Trapp Family Singers!)
Thanks for posting these videos, as it brings up all those great memories for me! In one of the newer MLT videos, Mona mentioned that she wants to visit NYC. All I can say is, you will have a great time there! There are so many layers of history, musical & otherwise! (Just be careful, keep an eye out on your surroundings, & watch your wallet!) I can see Mona & Lisa jamming out some Beatle tunes on the “Strawberry Fields” site in Central Park!
Thanks guys! — Bud Jackson
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I don’t know if musicals qualify for this list, but Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, two masters, created something truly magical and timeless in West Side Story. I haven’t seen Spielberg’s take on it; this is from the first movie, in 1961.
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Musicals absolutely qualify, Chris! And you picked one of the best. I can listen to the soundtrack of West Side Story over and over, and I tear up every time.
Spielberg’s version is definitely worth seeing, and this is coming from someone who is generally skeptical of remakes. It preserves everything from the original that should be preserved, and most of the changes are just reversions to how it was done on Broadway. There are also a few new scenes that serve to flesh out some of the main characters without altering the story line.
Here’s a sample of how the two versions match up:
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Thanks David. I didn’t know about
Spielberg’s version until I went to look up the old one. But I read
a bit about it. Some say it’s Spielberg’s best film. Wikipedia says
it had terrible box office numbers, and doesn’t mention that it was
during the pandemic — who was going to see movies then?That clip you posted is well done too.
And now that I know the two movies are the same, I don’t have to see
the other one. (Just kidding.)Then I was thinking about all of Mona and Lisa’s songs that I’ve
been tearing up watching. Good thing they don’t do a lot of sad
ones, I’d be a mess. -
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