Rank The Opening Crawl Themes

Let me know what theme music is your favorite and why! You can also list each one from favorite to least favorite with a description next to each if you like.

 

Don't Episodes I-III use the same theme? And I'm basically judging based solely on the opening note lol so I'd have to go with I-III. But I'm not sure which to vote for since I thought they were the same. TFA's opening note felt a bit muted, probably due to a different recording studio & it not being the Lyndon Symphony Orchestra.

 

Barring the poor opening note of TFA, they're all great in their own ways. Empire has the best overall mix/performance, ANH is the most crisp, ROTJ is a bit more muddled than the others but it's great too. As mentioned before, the opening note of TFA sucks (there's no getting around it) but the rest is pretty good too (barring a couple of awkward cymbal crashes).

The prequel performance is well-polished and clean but lacks the edge that the OT (and even most of the TFA crawl) has.

Overall.
1. ESB
2. ANH
3. ROTJ
4. Prequels
5. TFA

 

I had no idea about TFA having a bad note. I wonder why they chose that recording? I agree they are all great in their own ways!

 

Yes it's the same recording done for TPM used on AOTC and ROTS.

So voting for any of those 3 is the same one.

That also is my favorite.

Interestingly from the first time I saw TFA I noted that it sounded a bit "off" from the get go. It didn't have the power or thrust of the others. I don't know what the issue is but compared to all the others it sounds like you are hearing it from the next room or something.

So that it was not JW conducting and not the LSO actually did change it up a bit. Of course adding in whatever studio and then the mixing is going to change it each time.

It's the first 14 seconds that does it for me for the PT opens.



As good as the others are the vibrant edge of the theme comes alive best there.

Here's some insaneness:

 

1. ROTJ-It's actually my alarm every morning. I love that opening blast and really wanted them to go closer to it with TFA

2. TFA

3. ANH

4. Prequels

5. TESB

 

All three prequels used the same opening crawl

Interestingly, each of the OT I believe opened in a different key. I'm no music expert, but I think TESB's opening few notes sound the best

And as for TFA, yeah, the first note is a bit muted for some reason. The first six JUMP OUT OF THE SCREEN AT YOU. TFA's just kind starts

Now, if we were rating the music that comes immediately AFTER each crawl.... well, that could be a poll of its own

As I-III all use the same, I'll combine them in the poll

 

I always thought that 1-3, 4-6 and 7 each had their own recorded themes. Almost like each trilogy would be similar. But 4-6 do very slightly sound different I hear now. Interesting. Ulitmately I like 1-3 the most as its the bold and epic sounding. but all are good too!

 

It is!

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/best-opening-cue-of-the-saga.50038543/

 

Nope, all the versions of the Opening Crawl theme are in the exact same key (and are, as far as I know, the same version -the differences are in the performance and the mixing more than in the actual writing)

Interestingly, that was NOT how the music was originally written. As you can hear in the bonus track of the ANH special edition soundtrack, the actual original version started a beat early, with a build up towards the (current) first chord. It would sound really different to what we are used to, since the music would have to start BEFORE the Star Wars title appears on screen, therefore ruining the "jump" effect of the first huge chord with the title.

 

This can be heard at 7:24 of the ANH alternate tracks.

 

1) Prequels
2) The Force Awakens
3) A New Hope
4) Return of the Jedi
5) The Empire Strikes Back

 

1. Empire
2. Star Wars
3. Jedi
4. PT
5. Force Awakens

 

The prequels - really crisp and bright
A New Hope
Return of the Jedi
The Empire Strikes Back
The Force Awakens - subdued opening note. I hope they make a new recording for VIII

 

I'm assuming you mean the overall sound/mixing/performance quality of the opening theme. If so, then I will say ROTS. IMO the prequels do have different qualities-In TPM there's too much reverb, in AOTC the main trumpets aren't strong enough. But ROTS seems to solve both of these issues with a stronger, clearer more balanced sound, and not too distant-sounding that's usually caused by excessive reverb.

The ANH mix, although quite improved in the surround remix on blu-ray, is way out of balance. Of course this is due mainly to the restrictions on budget and technology at the time it was recorded (as many things were in that era), where reverb effects weren't really captured effectively, the EQ is abit high in the mid range, and the individual instrument channels are too centralized and don't have much expansion in the mix for each group. (i.e. strings are ONLY in the far left, trumpets ONLY in the right-center, etc.) Again this was due to how it was recorded, but it could use some smoothing over IMO.

ESB, although a vast improvement in sound quality to ANH in my opinion were not much different from each other as far as I remember.

TFA was good from a balance standpoint, but the reason it's not on the top of my list is cos it was kind of... almost...TOO clean. Still good, strong and clear with a nice blend between the PT and OT feel, but again-just a bit TOO perfect sounding, if you get what I mean.



As far as the pan-down (or up), I would say my favorite there is actually TFA. Or ROTS. Or ESB!

 

I am going with Prequels since they are bright and clear. My ranking:

1. PT
2. ANH
3. TFA
4. ROTJ
5. TESB

 

1. Prequels (clearest of the bunch, John Williams perfection)
2. ANH (the original, dated sounding but nostalgic)
3. ROTJ (perfect blend between the clarity of the prequel renditions with the sound of the originals)
4. ESB (lacks the oomph of ANH and the clarity of ROTJ)
.
.
.
.
.
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5. TFA (not a big fan of this one at all, they need to fix how they record it for Episode VIII)