Star Wars: The Last Jedi score

The opening note is different a bit for sure. But it's still fine, for me. There's one of the other opening notes for the OT that is easily the weakest, but I can't remember which one it is right now.

 

The timpani roll opening for the ROTJ main title is a classic.

If true, I'm glad they rerecorded the main title for TLJ because I think the TFA recording is definitely the weakest of the saga.

 

More like it was simply a "sounds great" and there was no need to record it again. The evolution of recording techniques was always getting better during the OT. By the time of the PT though actually recorded in analog the sounds themselves were digitally mastered.

The same conductor with the same orchestra in the same studio with the same set-up, the same director and everything else the same makes doing another recording rather pointless.

If nothing else the fact that RJ is the director would lead to him wanting a version that he is excited by and I would doubt the TFA one did that.

It's makes a big impression and the very opening note of TFA was off to me right away.

 

You excited for TLJ Brid?..

 

Not TPM, AOTC or ROTS excited if that is what you are asking.

It's more like above normal movie excitement but then I'm not really invested in that way. I hope more for after seeing the movie excitement like I got from R1 so that I went to see it a dozen times as opposed to TFA's few times.

 

Yeah I preferred R1 over TFA. By quite a margin in fact. I like the stuff with Rey on Jakku scavenging. The Forceback vision is good along with the Rey/Kylo sabre fight..Han's death.. BB8.. Apart from that it tended to feel quite ordinary and hasn't aged well.

Rogue One however was great from start to finish. The perfect bridge between the end of Sith and ANH. I hope Edwards is given the chance to helm another SW film in the future.

 

Any spoilers in the titles? Please just answer yes or no, without sharing any spoilery titles, thanks.

 

Eeth-my-Koth told me that there are spoilers. I won't look until after the film.

 

there is a MASSIVE spoiler in the track, "The Sacred Jedi Texts" so if you havent seen the movie and want to avoid spoilers, dont listen to that freakin track. The rest of the soundtrack seems spoiler free MINUS THE FINALE. There also was music in the film that wasnt on the soundtrack.

 

If you haven't seen the movie, DO NOT READ THE TAB BELOW. I haven't listened to the soundtrack much, but so far, these are my first impressions:

Spoiler

Rose's theme is nice and reminds me of "Fawkes the Phoenix". I wish there would have been a track for Rose's Theme, though, by that same name.

Another disappointment was that there wasn't really a new and interesting end song that indicated the finale like in the other films, which I thought was too bad, but maybe it was largely because of the strange and random ending.

"Canto Bight" actually might be my favorite song so far. It sounds a bit like Cantina Band, but it's a very fun song.

It was also nice to hear Luke and Leia's theme. I was pleased to see it referenced, and I bet a lot of other fans of the theme will be as well.

I liked the use of the Ach-to theme (or whatever you want to name the theme) in "The Spark" and "Ach-to Island".

Leia's theme in "The Supremacy" is appropriately cold and melancholy and tragic, and the piano version of her theme in the credits when they had the movie's dedication to Carrie Fisher was nicely done.

The return of Rey, Kylo, and Poe's themes are also great. I've only listened to the soundtrack about twice, and I still don't know the songs all that great but those are some of my first impressions. So far I think the music is pretty good.

 

There is a ton of score in this film, and it's great. I really hope Disney gets in gear and releases full score soundtrack editions for the entire saga.

The new theme (Rose's Theme, I'm guessing) reminds me a lot of the Back To The Future theme.

Spoiler

One of my favorite cues has to be the Emperor's Theme playing boldly as Snoke tortures Rey. That worked perfectly.

 

Really like the score as usual. But kinda wish there were more new themes..

I like that they used the seme TFA opening crawl music for TLJ!.

 

on the topic of themes:

Spoiler

There are new themes for the First Order Dreadnought and the Resistance Bombers in the opening sequence alone. There's (I think) a new recurring theme for Luke, Canto Bight has one for the Casino + my favorite the Fathiers. The First Order finally gets its own theme in the end credits. There's a catchy theme for the rebirth of the Rebellion. Rose's theme is probably the most memorable, if only because it pops up the most.
On top of those, the new themes for Rey, Kylo, the Resistance, the Falcon and Snoke reappear from TFA. From the OT, we get the force theme, the Rebel Fanfare, Leia's theme, Luke and Leia's Brother-Sister theme, the Emperor's theme out of left field, TIE Fighter Attack, and Yoda's theme.
The new music also has tons, and I mean tons, of references to the prequels.

This score is really jammed packed. Anyone who thinks it isn't up to par or memorable either haven't given it the time it deserves to be listened to and fully appreciated, or simply don't know what they're talking about.

 

Really? I’ve listened to it for several days now having not really picked anything up of note in the cinema. Jedi steps, Reyes theme and the classic themes are in there but in terms of a score its really pretty bland. Nothing as good as duel of the fates, the asteroid field or the endor suite.

To say people don’t know what they are talking about is a bit harsh. I’m into film scores and sound scapes in a big way and nothing hooked my ears at all. It’s kind of ploddy and is just meh. Take the finale. Listen to TLJ and then listen to Empire’s finale. I know there’s a different vibe and all, but until TLJ hits Luke’s/the force theme it’s going nowhere where as empire’s is there, then swells and swells and BOOM! Into the credits.

 

We've had over a decade for the PT and decades for the OT music to become nostalgic. A new theme doesn't become a classic overnight. You can't burn it to your memory in that amount of time. Since the movie just came out on Friday, it basically would be overnight. That's an unreasonable expectation.There are some catchy new tracks in this score. People said the same thing about TFA, yet we got new classics like Rey's theme. If you didn't like it that's fine, but I think there will be a lot of discussion and positive opinions about this soundtrack over the next year.
As for the finales, the end credits of Empire had the benefit of concert tracks being included. You had Yoda's theme, the Imperial March and Han+Leia's theme in full. There are no concert tracks in TLJ. That was a choice on the part of John Williams. It was probably to give us a new musical experience along with the other risks taken i the film.

 

I agree in part, but then disagree too.

FA

Reys theme: Instantly loved it.
Jedi steps: Instantly loved it

Rogue one:

You're father would be proud: Instantly loved it.
Guardians of the Whills : Instantly loved it.

I'm talking in the cinema 'instantly' too. 'Guardians' was within days.

To be fair, it is a tough ask as everything with that style of music has probably been done now, but I just don't think there is quite the level of energy in it as there used to be.

 

I have been listening to the score for days now, and yes, in terms of new music it's probably his weakest of the series.But I'm enjoying the hell out of it. I think it's because of the way Mr Williams has interwoven the old music with the new. The spark is classic John Williams though. To expect an 85 year old Mr Williams to knock out a score like The Empire strikes back, is like expecting Paul McCartney to release an album like St pepper again. It ain't going to happen. But what you do get is a classy score, Which is still Star wars through and through.I love it! And I hope he is well enough to score the next one.

 

I've listened to a few of the tracks from the TLJ. The music fits the movie - it is all over the place. For example, the Battle of Crait jumps from one theme or motif to another to another, and it is jarring to listen to.

 

It’s perhaps emblematic of trying to squeeze more life out of this saga. Perhaps it peaked at 3 movies.

 

Some standout for me and unsurprisingly all have versions of the Binary Sunset in it. I still love Rey's theme and the Resistance's theme grew on me, that's pretty much it.

 

I found the soundtrack unobtrusive and was never once distracted by it, and that's a very good thing. I will have to listen to it in isolation to get a good feel for it

 

You need to watch the movie and listen to the music, while watching it, then listen to the score at home or car or whatever, You really start to appreciate it. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. And like I said, I still believe it to be the weakest in all of john Williams star wars scores, but bloody hell , its still great! All the old and new cues mixed together sound great to me, not jarring at all.

 

I love it. LOVE it. So happy with the new themes, the continuation of the themes introduced in TFA and of course the masterful uses of the classic themes.

Luke and Leia!

 

I am really liking this score so far, HOWEVER.

Anyone else getting tired of the Force theme ending these movies? 5 movies in a row with Rogue One and Clone Wars have ended with the Force theme right before the credits. Sure it sounds cool and usually fits but some more variety would be nice.