I could never understand why Barry didn't include that 20 seconds of Hand glider music with "Bond Lured to the Pyramid."
James
I love this film. It's so over the top wonderful. Great Barry score too.
Hello, gang! Well, here I am late to the party as usual. This is a fun thread; just read the whole damn thing. But I digress. Late to the party and late to Moonraker, which I just saw for the first time. I was in high school (or college for you blokes across the pond) when my 007 cinema watching days pretty much came to an end after enjoying Live And Let Die (twice). Yeah, at the time I was one of them burgeoning Sean Connery or bust kinds. Can't say why. Eh, I digress again.
Anyway, couldn't help but feel this loco entry from 40 years ago was some kind of Abbott & Costello Meet James Bond thing, like it was time to go nuclear on the franchise. Weird! But entertaining in its intentionally overblown way.
This was also my first taste of its score. It may as well have been 1979. It may as well be the best score of 2022. Because all it took were a few notes and...Good God I miss John Barry.
This 20 sec clip just furthers my opinion the score is a Barry masterpiece. And Barry liked to marry short cues together so it is odd that he didn't include it. The choral work alone in Moonraker is stunning. I am so disappointed that plans to release it got scuttled.
Can anyone remind me, apart from the pre-credit sequence, when does Barry use the Bond theme at full-tilt in Moonraker.
During the Venice boat chase. And that's it.
Thanks. I think you’re right.
That kind of says it all for me - a Bond score where the Bond theme features twice. One of the (many, many, many) things I hated about the Daniel Craig movies was how little the Bond theme was deployed. But I don’t really count those as proper Bond movies whereas Moonraker most definitely is and yet hardly uses the theme. Imagine how people would have reacted to an Indiana Jones movie where Williams only used the Indy theme twice, briefly.
Can anyone remind me, apart from the pre-credit sequence, when does Barry use the Bond theme at full-tilt in Moonraker.
During the Venice boat chase. And that's it.
Thanks. I think you’re right.
That kind of says it all for me - a Bond score where the Bond theme features twice. One of the (many, many, many) things I hated about the Daniel Craig movies was how little the Bond theme was deployed. But I don’t really count those as proper Bond movies whereas Moonraker most definitely is and yet hardly uses the theme. Imagine how people would have reacted to an Indiana Jones movie where Williams only used the Indy theme twice, briefly.
Where else in the film would you have put it that made sense for the narrative? It appears even less in Diamonds Are Forever.
I could never understand why Barry didn't include that 20 seconds of Hand glider music with "Bond Lured to the Pyramid."
James
I love this film. It's so over the top wonderful. Great Barry score too.
Hello, gang! Well, here I am late to the party as usual. This is a fun thread; just read the whole damn thing. But I digress. Late to the party and late to Moonraker, which I just saw for the first time. I was in high school (or college for you blokes across the pond) when my 007 cinema watching days pretty much came to an end after enjoying Live And Let Die (twice). Yeah, at the time I was one of them burgeoning Sean Connery or bust kinds. Can't say why. Eh, I digress again.
Anyway, couldn't help but feel this loco entry from 40 years ago was some kind of Abbott & Costello Meet James Bond thing, like it was time to go nuclear on the franchise. Weird! But entertaining in its intentionally overblown way.
This was also my first taste of its score. It may as well have been 1979. It may as well be the best score of 2022. Because all it took were a few notes and...Good God I miss John Barry.
This 20 sec clip just furthers my opinion the score is a Barry masterpiece. And Barry liked to marry short cues together so it is odd that he didn't include it. The choral work alone in Moonraker is stunning. I am so disappointed that plans to release it got scuttled.
Can anyone remind me, apart from the pre-credit sequence, when does Barry use the Bond theme at full-tilt in Moonraker.
During the Venice boat chase. And that's it.
In fact at "full-tilt" only on those two ocasions, but the Bond theme is used in short sections a bit more: 1) Gun Barrel (of course). 2) Freefall 3) Bond Arrives At The Glass Factory 4) Bond Sees Goodhead at the Glass Museum 5) Gondola Chase 6) Section as of 1:05 of Flight Into Space (this one very subtle).
It may seem that it is not much used, but it is in fact more than in other films of the series. In A View To a Kill, for example it is used at "full-tilt" only once - for the car chase): 1) Gun Barrel 2) May Day Jumps (car chase) 3) Zorin and May Day search for Bond (when she realizes he was the man at the Eiffel Tower [very subtle]) 4) Golden Gate Fight (at the begining, very subtle)
IMO the impression that it is not much used on Moonraker comes from the the fact that the tracks where it is used are absent from the album (what I always believed was intentional of Barry to not credit/pay royalties to Monty Norman on the album sales of Moonraker).
In fact Barry seems to have opted to use the theme less than on the early films since Diamonds Are Forever. For Octopussy, A View To A Kill and The Living Daylights he preferred to adopt a secondary action theme for each film in the same style he had done with On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
The non-Barry scores of this era were the ones that used the theme much more (Live And Let Die uses it a lot - understandable as it was the first non-Barry score after Dr. No and a new Bond was being introduced, Spy Who Loved Me uses it as its main action theme, For Your Eyes Only uses it several times, Licence To Kill uses it as its main action theme and of course the Arnold scores for Brosnan rely a lot on the theme).
Can anyone remind me, apart from the pre-credit sequence, when does Barry use the Bond theme at full-tilt in Moonraker.
During the Venice boat chase. And that's it.
In fact at "full-tilt" only on those two ocasions, but the Bond theme is used in short sections a bit more: 1) Gun Barrel (of course). 2) Freefall 3) Bond Arrives At The Glass Factory 4) Bond Sees Goodhead at the Glass Museum 5) Gondola Chase 6) Section as of 1:05 of Flight Into Space (this one very subtle).
It may seem that it is not much used, but it is in fact more than in other films of the series. In A View To a Kill, for example it is used at "full-tilt" only once - for the car chase): 1) Gun Barrel 2) May Day Jumps (car chase) 3) Zorin and May Day search for Bond (when she realizes he was the man at the Eiffel Tower [very subtle]) 4) Golden Gate Fight (at the begining, very subtle)
IMO the impression that it is not much used on Moonraker comes from the the fact that the tracks where it is used are absent from the album (what I always believed was intentional of Barry to not credit/pay royalties to Monty Norman on the album sales of Moonraker).
In fact Barry seems to have opted to use the theme less than on the early films since Diamonds Are Forever. For Octopussy, A View To A Kill and The Living Daylights he preferred to adopt a secondary action theme for each film in the same style he had done with On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
The non-Barry scores of this era were the ones that used the theme much more (Live And Let Die uses it a lot - understandable as it was the first non-Barry score after Dr. No and a new Bond was being introduced, Spy Who Loved Me uses it as its main action theme, For Your Eyes Only uses it several times, Licence To Kill uses it as its main action theme and of course the Arnold scores for Brosnan rely a lot on the theme).
And honestly, I'm happy that Barry moved away from leaning on the Bond theme as much in later scores. When I return to these scores, it's not to hear the Bond theme, it's to listen to all thematic material that is new to each score (so much is new in DAF and MR). I mean, come on... we all know the Bond theme. Do we need to hear it on a repeating loop during every single Bond movie? I love the new music Barry composed for the subsequent Bond scores.
Can anyone remind me, apart from the pre-credit sequence, when does Barry use the Bond theme at full-tilt in Moonraker.
During the Venice boat chase. And that's it.
In fact at "full-tilt" only on those two ocasions, but the Bond theme is used in short sections a bit more: 1) Gun Barrel (of course). 2) Freefall 3) Bond Arrives At The Glass Factory 4) Bond Sees Goodhead at the Glass Museum 5) Gondola Chase 6) Section as of 1:05 of Flight Into Space (this one very subtle).
It may seem that it is not much used, but it is in fact more than in other films of the series. In A View To a Kill, for example it is used at "full-tilt" only once - for the car chase): 1) Gun Barrel 2) May Day Jumps (car chase) 3) Zorin and May Day search for Bond (when she realizes he was the man at the Eiffel Tower [very subtle]) 4) Golden Gate Fight (at the begining, very subtle)
IMO the impression that it is not much used on Moonraker comes from the the fact that the tracks where it is used are absent from the album (what I always believed was intentional of Barry to not credit/pay royalties to Monty Norman on the album sales of Moonraker).
In fact Barry seems to have opted to use the theme less than on the early films since Diamonds Are Forever. For Octopussy, A View To A Kill and The Living Daylights he preferred to adopt a secondary action theme for each film in the same style he had done with On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
The non-Barry scores of this era were the ones that used the theme much more (Live And Let Die uses it a lot - understandable as it was the first non-Barry score after Dr. No and a new Bond was being introduced, Spy Who Loved Me uses it as its main action theme, For Your Eyes Only uses it several times, Licence To Kill uses it as its main action theme and of course the Arnold scores for Brosnan rely a lot on the theme).
And honestly, I'm happy that Barry moved away from leaning on the Bond theme as much in later scores. When I return to these scores, it's not to hear the Bond theme, it's to listen to all thematic material that is new to each score (so much is new in DAF and MR). I mean, come on... we all know the Bond theme. Do we need to hear it on a repeating loop during every single Bond movie? I love the new music Barry composed for the subsequent Bond scores.
Yes, although I think it would have been cool for album for him to record a full version of the theme in the style of that particular score. But that would mean royalty sharing among other things...
Yes, although I think it would have been cool for album for him to record a full version of the theme in the style of that particular score. But that would mean royalty sharing among other things... '
Isn't that what his '007 Theme' was for? For the variety, and not have to use the theme they fought over for so long? Barry didn't waste any time putting his own stamp on it, he wrote that for FRWL.
Can anyone remind me, apart from the pre-credit sequence, when does Barry use the Bond theme at full-tilt in Moonraker.
During the Venice boat chase. And that's it.
Thanks. I think you’re right.
That kind of says it all for me - a Bond score where the Bond theme features twice. One of the (many, many, many) things I hated about the Daniel Craig movies was how little the Bond theme was deployed. But I don’t really count those as proper Bond movies whereas Moonraker most definitely is and yet hardly uses the theme. Imagine how people would have reacted to an Indiana Jones movie where Williams only used the Indy theme twice, briefly.
Where else in the film would you have put it that made sense for the narrative? It appears even less in Diamonds Are Forever.
How about the speed boat chase down the Amazon? That would have made a well-staged action set piece even better, rather than being slowed down completely the way it was actually scored.
How about the speed boat chase down the Amazon? That would have made a well-staged action set piece even better, rather than being slowed down completely the way it was actually scored.
Everybody seems to think the speed boat chase, also known as the slow boat chase, is some hard boiled fast action sequence. It isn't. The 'beat' of that scene is way too slow for faster music.
Plus, it's played for laughs.
The only thing that would have made the scene even more ridiculous than it is, is music that treats it like something it is not — fast, and hard boiled.
Imagine how people would have reacted to an Indiana Jones movie where Williams only used the Indy theme twice, briefly.
Interesting the mention to Indiana Jones. "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" used the theme much less than the first two movies (in fact only twice in more complete fashion - at the end of the young Indi sequence and for the End Credits) and Steven Spielberg even mentions in his LP notes that "What I think is different in many ways about this score is that only fragments of the familiar Indiana Jones Theme are used. We felt the movies had grown up to the point that we didn't have to lean on your thrill button every time something heroic occurs as we had done in the previous two motion pictures." Maybe Barry, after scoring 5 James Bond movies that used the theme a lot, had a similar feeling about it.
How about the speed boat chase down the Amazon? That would have made a well-staged action set piece even better, rather than being slowed down completely the way it was actually scored.
Everybody seems to think the speed boat chase, also known as the slow boat chase, is some hard boiled fast action sequence. It isn't. The 'beat' of that scene is way too slow for faster music.
Plus, it's played for laughs.
The only thing that would have made the scene even more ridiculous than it is, is music that treats it like something it is not — fast, and hard boiled.
Just my opinion.
Cheers
Agreed. That scene is not exactly a fast-paced chase. I always thought the music was perfect for that scene as it is.
So much in the film MOONRAKER uses the element of mystery and wonder. Barry responded to that with the right kind of music.
One of the greatest aspects of his Bond scores is that they play a seriousness and romantic lyricism to counter the action, giving it weight instead of mickeymousing it.
How about the speed boat chase down the Amazon? That would have made a well-staged action set piece even better, rather than being slowed down completely the way it was actually scored.
Everybody seems to think the speed boat chase, also known as the slow boat chase, is some hard boiled fast action sequence. It isn't. The 'beat' of that scene is way too slow for faster music.
Plus, it's played for laughs.
The only thing that would have made the scene even more ridiculous than it is, is music that treats it like something it is not — fast, and hard boiled.
Just my opinion.
Cheers
It’s not played for laughs any more than the car chase in Spy Who Loved Me and look how fast that scene looks. I appreciate that the boat scene in Moonraker is not shot or edited with such kinetic energy as the Lotus scene but can you imagine if Barry had scored the latter in similar style to the Amazon scene?
It’s not played for laughs any more than the car chase in Spy Who Loved Me and look how fast that scene looks. I appreciate that the boat scene in Moonraker is not shot or edited with such kinetic energy as the Lotus scene but can you imagine if Barry had scored the latter in similar style to the Amazon scene?
Does anyone know how or why the "007" song was chosen as the song to be played for that boat chase? Apart from this movie being a bit more campy than the others and having a lot of musical jokes throughout, my only other guess is there are a lot of huge action showcases throughout the film: Skydiving, Centrifuge Chamber, Hunting / Dog Chase, Cable Car Fight, Python Fight, Voyage to Space, Lazer (sic) Battle. Perhaps the boat chase was just too much action to create yet another new cue?
