So wich version of the celebration/ end title cue do you prefer? The " new" one or the original version. I do like the new version until it comes to the point of transition into the End Title. The original cue is just so much more "noble"(cant find the appropriate word, right now) with the grand choir at the end of the celebration music turning into the usual end title. What do you think?
I like the second one better. Has a very kumbaya-hands-across-the-galaxy kind of feeling. The transition is indeed awkward though into the end credits. He seemed to complain about how the transition was presented on the soundtrack and yet I don't know what he had in mind when he wrote it given that they are in different keys. The piece was poorly edited into the film as well with all the shots of the other planets having the beat without the melodic component.
Also intriguing that Williams seemed to suggest that it was Lucas who insisted on it having the source music kind of connection to the material with a very exact beat running through the scene which I took to mean that Williams was aware that a lot of fans were wanting something more orchestral and Williams was prepared to do the re-write in that manner if not under that constraint. If that's the case, I'd be curious to know what he would have come up with.
For both music and the film, I very much prefer the Special Edition track. While it doesn't share any thematic material with the rest of the scores, it feels like an emotional summation/conclusion of the series, more-so than the Ewok-centric original.
Just re: the film, I hate the "Celebrate the love" lyric at the end of the movie, and am glad that's gone.
For both music and the film, I very much prefer the Special Edition track. While it doesn't share any thematic material with the rest of the scores, it feels like an emotional summation/conclusion of the series, more-so than the Ewok-centric original.
This is exactly why I do not like the SE version. On its own, it isn't bad, but as part of a Star Wars score, it simply does not fit. I have the same opinion of "Jedi Rocks".
When I heard JW was composing new music for the SEs, I expected something more "triumphant"(?) sounding like The Throne Room.
Give me the original, please. It's a little goofy, but it's about the Ewoks winning their planet back.
I like the SE music as far as it goes. But I hate the "ding dong the witch is dead" cast to the whole end sequence of the SE. There's nothing that says that this scene shouldn't be taken literally, so why is the GALAXY celebrating the death of the Emperor? What happened to all the troops keeping order on (for example) Coruscant five minutes ago?
I always wondered why I thought that the end of the William's piece should be different. Then one day I was listening to Silvestri's Quick and the Dead. Ahhhhh, THAT'S how that tune should end.
Now the other question is: Ewok Celebration - Film or album version? I can't make that call. I love them both.
Had the "new" ending material eventually become thematically related to what appeared in the prequels it would have been a wonderful linking of the PT and the OT. Alas, it was not to be.
Had the "new" ending material eventually become thematically related to what appeared in the prequels it would have been a wonderful linking of the PT and the OT. Alas, it was not to be.
Actually it is. You hear it when Anakin roars his pod to life for the first time in TPM, just as we wipe to night with Qui-Gon and Anakin. Whether Mr. Williams did this intentionally is anyone's guess.
I never really understood the idea of it being thematically related because both the original and the re-write are essentially source cues. They both are intended to accompany the Ewoks dancing and celebrating. Thus, the jungle type of percussion and so forth in both versions. I tend to think there should be a separation between the orchestral score and source music so as not to call attention to itself in a way that suggests the Ewoks had access to John Williams score a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Although one time that JW did that kind of thing is Jane Eyre which was surprising to me. The character Jane Eyre starts playing the main theme on piano. A rare mis-step IMO though not a huge deal I suppose.
A more orchestral interpretation, which Williams suggested in an interview he would have been willing to do, would have probably been connected thematically to the rest of the score.
Give me the original, please. It's a little goofy, but it's about the Ewoks winning their planet back.
...I don't think the Ewoks ever lost their planet to begin with. The Empire certainly didn't pay them any attention since their villages weren't attacked and the Ewoks weren't being used as slave labor. I would go so far as to say that if Luke and the gang weren't captured, the Ewoks wouldn't even care about the battle.
With that said, I... I'm going with the special edition version. *head desk*
Goofy it may be, but the original brought the whole goofy trilogy to a satisfying end. Such a pity that some maniac went back and vandalised it. I miss Sebastian Shaw too.
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