Star Wars: The Last Jedi score

I am so mad that the awesome use of the Emperor's theme with Snoke and Rey is not on the CD!!

 

This is a good score, but definitely the weakest Star Wars score so far.
I like the new themes (I especially enjoy the stormy melody introduced in "Ahch-To Island") and there's a whole bunch of captivating cues, but there's also a lot of filler; pieces that just describe what's going on in a pretty uninspiring way, with plain theme medleys and lazy retreads of old cues/concert arrangements.
"The Battle of Crait", for example, lacks a clear through-line, like the ones heard in the battles of Endor, Hoth and Naboo. It never really takes off for me. "The Spark" and "The Last Jedi" are more rewarding and quite inventive. I love those. Especially the climax of the latter. That is to die for!

As for the use of Ary Barroso's mambo in "Canto Bight"... Way too much Earth. I'm definitely not a fan of source music in Star Wars.

As I said, a good score! I do enjoy listening to it (I do so almost every day). It's become very clear to me, though, that JW is past his prime.
Three smilies out of five

 

Past his prime?? Them's fighting words...

 

I get the feeling that John Williams just wasn't very inspired by the film (which also didn't really allow for great musical possibilities in the first place, with largely the same cast as TFA and no big story developments such as a love story or an extended lightsaber duel)

 

It was cool to hear the Emperor's theme again but I have no idea why it was used. It should be reserved for Palpatine only, in my opinion.

 

Seems to me it's the same kind of thing as with AOTC using the Imperial March at the end. In the PT it was being used first as Anakin's theme then developed into Vader's theme.

It really shouldn't have been used in AOTC but it fit while Sidious' theme should not have been used here but it fit since it was Snoke using the Dark Side to that degree.

As I said earlier RJ simply gave JW an edit of TLJ with a temp track of his own music (probably mostly Star Wars music) and went from there. So the interaction with the director was the least that he's ever had for SW.

My guess is that Lucas used very little of JW's music in his temp scores overall and instead used classical music. Then of course they did actual spotting sessions over several days and then further collaborated during the recording sessions.

This time it's like "Here's the temp track John. It's all up to you now." So hardly the most inspiring process. For TFA he had a lot of themes to create and JJ is really into music so I suspect he actually collaborated while maybe RJ was intimidated because he only works with his cousin on his other scores.

 

Anakin and Vader are the same character though and when it was used in the PT, it was meant as a foreboding/foreshadowing sense of thing. A theme for Snoke would have been a better fit, but considering the events that follow, I guess he never needed one.

 

?
Snoke has a theme. Listen to “Snoke” from the TFA soundtrack and “Revisiting Snoke” from TLJ.

 

Anyone know the difference between the standard OST and the deluxe OST?

 

A trading card.

 

There is no deluxe OST. If you buy the regular OST from Target you get 2 “collectible cards” which are just square stills from the movie. There is also a For Your Consideration album on the Disney Awards website that has some additional music that’s not on the OST, but some of the music from the OST is not on the FYC. The forums on jwfan.com have a complete breakdown of all the differences.

 

I love the use of the Emperor's theme there, as it also represents the darkest of the dark side of the Force and that's the implication there of what Snoke was doing. Mentally assaulting Rey as she failed in fighting him off. Pretty evil darkness, so I think the Emperor's theme (could also be a Sith theme) works well there.

Also, it's off topic, but I also love the use of the Imperial March at the end of AOTC. Again, the theme is Vader's sure, but it also represents the Empire itself many times throughout TESB and ROTJ, so it works well as the "Dawn of the Empire" moment in AOTC.

None of the biggest themes in Star Wars are one person, one situation, one note. They can be and are used for multiple things that run in similar veins. No one would argue that the Force theme cannot be used for Rey because it's Ben Kenobi's theme.

 

I am so addicted to this score, which is odd considering I didn't like the movie lol

 

I love scores to films I don't like... especially John Williams. Home Alone 2 is a good example. Non-JW I love the Titanic score by James Horner but hate the film.

 

Also is it just me or are there no concert arrangements on The Last Jedi soundtrack?

 

John Williams always creates incredible music has always elevates scenes throughout the saga. That being said, I feel as though he was going through the motions on TLJ soundtrack. Out of all the new music, none of it stood out to me. However, his multiple rendition of the Force theme in particular was excellent and certainly made each scene it was in all the more engaging.

 

I ordered the OST on the weekend which was hugely discounted. Hopefully it arrives today so I can go over it

 

The Rebellion is Reborn is the only concert arrangement on the album.

 

Definitely not just you. I wish we had gotten a concert version of the Finn & Rose theme.

 

I will check it out...

 

My favorite part of the score

 

Yes that gave me the feels the first time in theaters!

 

This is a GREAT Score like John Williams knows how to make it ...

 

Agreed.

I really, really loved the score for this film. The classic score above, plus the ones where Luke goes out to face Kylo on Crait, Rey’s theme while training and when the Ressistance bombers are approaching the Dreadnought are all phenomenal.

 

concert arrangement?