Avatar and Avatar Sequels film scores

While waiting for the film last night, they were playing the soundtrack in the theater. The music was beautiful; I really need to go buy it to take a full listen once more. But from the sound of it, James Horner doesn't fail.

Anyone else already have it/have heard it?

 

Saw the film last night. I definitely need to pick up the OST.

 

It's a score that's got several great moments but lacks the cohesiveness to really make it a great score. A major drawback is the ending: it reaches a stunning climax in the epic track "War", but lacks any denouement and instead jumps directly into the truly awful song. So if you program the song out, as any sane person would do, the score just kind of ends without any resolution. The album as a whole would have benefited immensely from dropping the song, leaving room for another score track to provide some closure to the thing instead of leaving the listener hanging.

 

The music sounded good when I saw the movie yesterday, so I picked up the soundtrack at the store right before going home. Haven't listened to it yet, though.

 

The score was good, as is usual with Horner, but lacked something special to make it a great score. Also, I couldn't get past the fact that the 4 note death motif for Avatar was ripped almost verbatim from Enemy at the Gates. I kept expecting Ed Harris to show up in a Nazi uniform and snipe someone.

 

Enemy at the Gates and nearly every single other James Horner score. Why does he do it? It doesn't even mesh at all with his turn toward New Age, popular sounding music. Which score originated it, Wrath of Khan?

 

So I wasn't the only one who had this image flashing across their mind.

Horner is doing everything he can to make a cliche out of himself, rather than a signature.

 

Bah. Yes, this score features his omnipresent danger motif, and a theme from Glory, and a theme from The Four Feathers. But y'know what? Despite his autorepetition he still knows how to fit music to image better than just about anyone else in the business. There were one or two moments in the film where his music was distracting to people familiar with his other music, but on the whole it worked very well.

 

I like a lot of the quieter-awe moments in the score but the preperation to the battle and the fight scenes are anti-climatic.

 

Yeah, I noticed right away in the first night scene where the hero was being hunted by the dog-things, the cue was almost identical to one in Braveheart (where they are storming the magistrate's fort). Some sort of reed-pipes playing, w/ drums. It pulled me out.

And the love song/theme was terrible. I mean, come on, the first two notes are identical to the theme from Titanic! Every time I heard the love song start, i wanted to follow up by singing "where-E-VER you are..."

That said, watching Avatar (3-D) was one of the few moments in my life where in the theater, I was transported back to being a 10 year old, watching a movie for a first time. There truly was something magical about the experience I had that kept me in the moment throughout the movie. For the most part, I didn't even notice or hear the score, it was all just part of the whole experience, and that transformation makes me give the score an A+

 

Identical to Titanic? Wow, well... it's just two notes. They aren't even harmonized the same way.

 

The Avatar OST is pretty good as far as I'm concerned. Perfect for the a film like Avatar. There is one track that is absolutely killer... "Becoming One Of The People-Becoming One With Neytiri" is brilliant.

As for the love theme being similar to the one for Titanic...there's no way. They're completely different. Though I did feel like I was in a Batman film some of the time when listening to the music...particularly with the track "You Don't Dream In Cryo".

 

The OST is amazing! I got it for $10.00 at a CD store by my house and it's definatly payed off.

 

I'm sure than when the DVD comes out, we'll be getting "complete scores", which is really just the music as you hear it in the film. The soundtrack is still amazing.

 

I just got the Glory, and I can already draw parallels between the two after one listen.

About the style and possible repitition of themes and bits and pieces: it's common for a composer who writes a lot of scores to have a central theme and then have different versions in different keys, or with something else different here and there. I agree that Avatar copies some of Horner's earlier scores, but other composers do it as well.

 

Well I got the score from a friend on iTunes and listened to it yesterday a few times through. I liked it enough to go out today and buy the CD. It's not revolutionary or the best thing Horner has ever done, but I find it a nice and enjoyable score from him that compliments the film very well. I've enjoyed listening to it so far.

 

I haven't seen the film and don't plan to (I'm not all that interested). In general, I like Horner's scores, but he's never really produced anything stunning IMHO. The music is gorgeous and fits the "exotic" vibe I get when I hear people talking about the film, but I find that it doesn't really do anything for me. It reminds me a lot of parts of Troy... perhaps a little too much. Horner just seems to be recycling old ideas, tweaking them here and there. It's decent music, but nothing spectacular.

 

Honestly I don't understand listening to scores for films one has not seen. But listening to the score for a film you have no desire to see makes even less sense to me. Part of the joy of scores for me are the links and images from the film itself that the score brings back. There are always exceptions of great scores to bad films, but in general for me the score is boosted by a film I enjoyed.

 

Hmm, no, I'm not like that, sorry. I can easily enjoy music as it is. Yes, I may make better connections with it if I've seen and love the film the score was written for (like LotR and Star Wars), but most of the time it doesn't greatly impact my enjoyment of a particular score. If the music turns my ear, then I'll listen to it, possibly even love it. I have scores for films I like, I have scores for films I don't like, I have scores for films I've never seen. Good scores speak past where they came from; they surpass their root material and become something else that can connect with a lot of things aside from the film that caused it to be created. I grew up listening to classical music, which creates tons of different links and images to many different things, and I give any kind of music the same treatment. It's just part of the way I enjoy all music.

Simple version: if I like it, I listen. If I don't like it, I won't.

 

I really like the Avatar OST myself, lots of really nice tracks, including 'Climbing Mount Iknimaya' and 'Jake's First Flight'; 'War' is another great one as well, but it do seem like the score lacks a proper final track.

 

I love Horner's music, especially this track from The Perfect Storm.

 

Nexumaster the score only lacks a final track on the OST CD. I have a full complete version of the Avatar score and the track Eyes Open is the finale of the film. I find it works much better with this finale.

 

And how did u manage that?

 

A little bird dropped it on my porch.

 

Birds only drop doodoo on my porch