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Why has Williams changed the ending theme in the prequels?

Discussion in 'Star Wars And Film Music' started by Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn, Mar 27, 2002.

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  1. Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn

    Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 23, 1999
    At the end of every 'Clessic' Star Wars movie, Williams included the main themes for the movie, but also added in several reprises of the Main Theme, Rebel Theme, and others. Then, at the very end of the movie, he'd end it with a quintuple-forte [face_tee_hee]) phrase that let you know that it's the end of the movie and revs up the excitement.

    For TPM, he did not do this. Why?

    I feel it's important to have that ending bombast... think about it this way. Lucas has patterned his daga around the old Saturday morning serials he used to watch when he was young. They always had a "...and tune in next week for another exciting adventure!"

    That ending music was the "...and tune in next time" of Star Wars. Even RotJ had it, and that was supposedly the end of the series.

    Yet the prequels don't have it...

    Discuss.
     
  2. Well_Of_Souls

    Well_Of_Souls Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2001
    EDIT: Whoops, sorry about that.

    FINAL EDIT: Ok, what my point was before I removed the spoilers from my post was that the PT's lack of a grand, fanfarish finale acts as a kind of counterpoint to the OT.

    The PT is a tragedy and doesn't have a happy ending, whereas the OT does.
     
  3. Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn

    Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 23, 1999
    Good point...

    EDIT: Yehaa! Now I don't make sense.
    WOS
    said that the PT doesn't have a happy ending, and so Williams didn't make the ending happy. To which I replied, "Good Point."
     
  4. Strilo

    Strilo Manager Emeritus star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 6, 2001
    Well_of_Souls those are spoilers about the AOTC soundtrack and are not allowed. Please remove them immediately.
     
  5. Frank_TJ_Mackey

    Frank_TJ_Mackey Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 6, 2000
    the mood of the ending shouldn't be a factor.

    It's a series. Like the old serials. You know the conclusion of all the end credits were some of my fav. tracks from the entire saga. So epic and SO "star warsian".
    The star wars from my childhood. I'm not the kind of guy who lives in the past but GOD............
     
  6. Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn

    Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 23, 1999
    Frank makes a good point too.

    And I sorta agree. If Williams was gonna change the ending music, why not change the opening titles or not have the bombastic music cut in right after the end of the film at the very beginning of the credits and then taper off into themes? Why include that at all?
     
  7. dehrian

    dehrian Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Mar 18, 1999
    Most people have left the theater by the end of the end credits, and will never know the difference. Everyone hears the Main Title, and it just wouldn't be SW without that Main Title.
     
  8. AdamBertocci

    AdamBertocci Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Feb 3, 2002
    Heh, this time I'm not leaving the theater till the credits are over. I missed the Vader breathing at the end of TPM 'cause of that.
     
  9. Lord Bane

    Lord Bane Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 26, 1999
    Ever thing about the thematic elements present in the Finales? Hope in the OT vs Desperation in the PT?

    The Original Trilogy ended on notes of hope: destruction of the Death Star -> end stages of the Empire; reunited Rebel fleet -> hope to rescue Han; victory over the Empire, hope for a New Republic.

    The Prequel Trilogy does not have that hope at all. There is a desperation in the AotC soundtrack and a slowly crushed sense of playfulness in TPM that make the finales more melancholy, not nearly as upbeat. I'm quite happy Williams decided to change the endings to fit the eventual defeat of Episode 3.
     
  10. ymenard1138

    ymenard1138 Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Sep 24, 2000
    Well, the "Rebellion" hasn't yet been created, so I guess it's a good reason for not including the Rebel fanfare themes back again at the end of the credits. Of course it's easy to say that it's included at the end of the credits, but hey I'm not Johnny :)
     
  11. Rebel-3000

    Rebel-3000 Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2002
    In the Original Trilogy, the ending music was great, a mixture of all the themes from the movie wrapped into one... well, ANH and ASB anyway... in ROTJ it's still the same, but it has a LOT of Luke & Leia in it. I guess Williams wanted to include it there because hardly any of it made it into the movie. With TPM, the end theme was the biggest dissapointment. It was only Anakins theme followed by Duel of the Fates. How boring. Although both are great pieces, I was expecting a collage of music from the movie. Once again though, seeming hardly any of Anakin's Theme made it into the movie, I guess Williams wanted to put it at the end, and perhaps because the music in the end battle was so badly edited, or because it was never played in a complete sequence, Duel of the Fates was hacked onto the end credits in it's entirety... sort of...
    Once again, I'm dissapointed, as the AOTC ending credits are the same... with Across the Stars taking up the majority.
    I'm losing faith in JW.
     
  12. dehrian

    dehrian Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 1999
    Duel of the Fates was hacked onto the end credits in it's entirety... sort of...


    Actually, the film version of DOTF in the credits has never appeared on any TPM release, not even the UE. Both soundtracks have replaced the credits version of DOTF with the concert suite, while what JW actually wrote for the credits was a re-working of the piece. So what you hear on the CD is tacked on, but what he actually wrote for the film was not.
     
  13. RidingMyCarousel

    RidingMyCarousel Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 20, 2002
    In my opinion, the entire Star Wars saga has the Skywalker theme... well the Prequels have more of a "Darker" theme because of Anakin's demise, whereas the OT has the sense of hope because of Luke...

    therefore, change was necassary
     
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