The title is pretty self-explanatory, the six Middle-Earth movie scores vs the six, pre-Disney Star Wars movies (No offense meant to Rogue One or TFA fans, I just want to keep it fair with six vs six). Which universe wins?
I'm assuming it's which franchises music is better. No offense to LOTR which has very good music but this is like brining a knife to a gunfight. Star Wars...easily. The best music from LOTR wasn't even in the films. The requiem for a dream rework they did for the TT trailer is the most memorable piece from any of the films. No music from any of the Hobbit films comes to mind but I've only seen those a few times.
Lord of the Rings Star Wars OT Star Wars PT Hobbits As a whole, the Lord of the Rings OT is more cohesive and intricately constructed. The development of the different themes and motifs across the 9 hour (or so) running time is truly mind-boggling. That being said, Williams' SW scores have better individual themes and are more entertaining as stand-alone listens. Shore's scores work wonders in the film but are a tough pill to swallow on their own. In terms of the Hobbits vs. the prequel trilogy, the prequels easily win. The Hobbit scores still have the intricate structure and feel of the previous scores but the vast majority of the themes feel perfunctory and uninspired. They feel more like a sequence of notes than a flowing melody, if that makes sense. Plus they're just boring. The prequels may lack any sense of overarching structure but they are consistently entertaining and feature far better individual themes. ...
I agree with what you say here, but more cohesive and better constructed doesn't necessarily mean better music (and I think there's an obsession amongst music fans, who tend to be too analytic, about the use of musical themes -"oh and this small motif is obviously derived from the last two notes of that other theme..."). I would say that, Williams' SW scores not only have better themes, but are also more entertaining, emotional and inspiring, and work much better as stand-alone listens for sure. Shore's scores have great moments but many other dull moments if you take them out of the movies. And as I said before, I think they are slightly overrated for their thematic intrincacy and construction. That being said, Shore did a great job creating different sonic textures and colors to portray different cultures of Middle Earth, creating a more exotic and varied soundscape -while Williams stayed grounded in the Western Classical music for his scores.
Middle-earth will always be my favorite music, but I like Star Wars as a series just a bit more. The Hobbit films have my favorite scores ever.
I love them both. The Middle Earth music is my favorite non-John Williams film score. However, if we're comparing the PT/OT soundtracks to the six Middle Earth scores, the Star Wars stuff wins hands down. John Williams is the Maestro and these six scores are some of his greatest work. It's no contest.
It's a bit like comparing apple pie with strawberry-rhubarb pie. I may prefer apple pie by a small margin, but if you want to offer me a nice slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie..... yes please! This diet is starting to go to my head....
