Sounds like he brings back some of the better thematic material from the first one here. I'm interested to hear the full score in the film when I go to IMAX this weekend.
Found JNH's score terribly redundant though. People have been complaining about sequel scores ignoring previous themes but this goes in the complete opposite direction. The new identities aren't especially effective either. A female vocal theme for Katniss seems appropriate but doesn't really add much.
'Horn of Plenty' is reprised around half a dozen times with little to no variation and a lot of the reprises from the first seem really contrived. They're in the penthouse so they play the music from the first when Katniss is in the Penthouse looking at the artificial forest. The train music from the first plays when Snow announces that the Tributes will be reaped from the living victors?
I agree with the poster above me: movie's great. Its a faithful adaptation of the book, extremely well acted and perfectly casted.
Score is another story all together. Its a real clunker. JNH seems to be totally stuck in droning synth territory for a good chunk of the movie's run time. The score as a whole sounded (badly) synthesized, even the action tracks. The action music seems to stick to string ostinatos that would bore even Zimmer and were backed by 90's Goldsmith-style chattering synths. The feel for the score to me is, in fact, not unlike 90's Goldsmith if Jerry pushed a button on a sequencer and fell asleep on top of a few keys of the keyboard. Heck, even the performances of the Tribute's Fanfare sounded uninspiringly keyboarded in when in the first movie they were bold (even if it is a totally generic fanfare). There's also a little fanfare in the movie that bugged me because it sounded like it was taken from the pages of Star Trek Nemesis and the track "Remus"...the little diddy that plays right before the Courage theme (totally unintentional I'm sure).
I was actually quite horrified to see the London Voices credited in the end credits because I heard nothing that resembled a real choir or human voice besides some soprano solos at the beginning. Everything had a Horner-esque synth choir sound to it. I have no idea how JNH could make the London Voices sound so bad but he did. If someone came along and told me some of the synth mockups got left in the movie, I'd simply respond "that explains it!"
The score comes in fits and starts and I expect it to be an unsatisfying album. I thought the first score really amplified the movie. This one stalled or flat out killed it in so many places that needed some raw emotional power or energy.
well i dont think JNH' music is underutilized in this. it fits with the movie, especially "the tour" sequence, using Rue's theme in the first half and new music for the second, and the rest of the tracks are also decent, the synth-percussion adds some loud sound to the theatre
There were a few minutes of the score where the strings were really digging in during some action that I found interesting but beyond that nothing memorable. The only other stuff that I couldn't help but notice was the "game show" sort of music that we heard in the first film anyway.
I thought the first forty five minutes of this film were just a rehash for people who had not seen the first one, and then there's just no ending at all. The result was what felt like an (overly long) two act film. I guess what probably should have been the third act is now going to be stretched out into two more films.
Lionsgate has a new logo now. Who composed it? The fanfare isn't half bad, but the recording is so cheap and synthetic that it sounds like something I'd expect on a direct to DVD film.
I'd be very surprised if "Lily's Theme" from Desplat's score for Deathly Hollows 2 was not a source of inspiration for the new vocalized Katniss theme. The score itself has some nice passages - some of them are indeed a Howard doing what he does best. But overall I think this one works better for the picture better than on album.
I disagree completely with those who say that the music is too much of a re-hash. Sure the themes were there in the first score but they weren't used terribly effectively in the film itself. Even the ones that were used well didn't have the oomph that they needed. I thought the music was very effective in Catching Fire with some beautiful new themes that really stood out, the strings theme and the love theme were two. The new action music was quite ferocious and worked as it should have.
Overall I was quite impressed by the music and can't wait to hear what he does for the second film. I even liked the first two songs in the end credits a lot more than I usually do.
Having seen the film on Friday, I must say what a pleasure to hear a score that is mostly acoustic and miles away from the "Remote Control Template." (Yes, that's a dig at Jablonsky's "been-there-done-that" score to THOR: THE DARK WORLD.) It's may not be in the league of CAPTAIN AMERICA, but still a welcome change from the usual pounding, pounding wall of noise.
Interestingly enough, the cd is currently on sale at amazon for $11.88, which is being offered with Autorip, giving you a free MP3 copy of the album in your cloud account with your purchase of the cd. Or you could buy the MP3 album by itself for $15.49.
Loved the film. The 'Horn of Plenty' theme is clearly the MAIN theme. It works very well and is a wonderful melody in it's own right. Trouble is, I believe JNH did not write it which bothers me. The great film composers of yore almost always wrote great central themes themselves. I've yet to find one of those from JNH although I appreciate his skill as a dramatist.
People on this board will complain if the same composer doesn't use the themes from the previous film in their sequel score. They will also complain if the same composer DOES use the themes from the previous film in their sequel score.
Thank all that is holy and good in the world that composers ignore places like this. Why can't people just enjoy what they get? Oh, that's right. It's because they couldn't complain about something if they got what they wanted, could they? BAH!
In the case of Catching Fire, JNH weaves old material in with new, keeps the main approach to the score symphonic and melodic, and writes both some virtuoso action pieces (Monkey Mutts is a prime example) and some gorgeous, gentler music (Just Friends, for example).
The score works as an example of how music SHOULD work in the film. It is complimentary and tells a story. It is not just soundscape.
Interestingly enough, the cd is currently on sale at amazon for $11.88, which is being offered with Autorip, giving you a free MP3 copy of the album in your cloud account with your purchase of the cd. Or you could buy the MP3 album by itself for $15.49.
I disagree completely with those who say that the music is too much of a re-hash. Sure the themes were there in the first score but they weren't used terribly effectively in the film itself. Even the ones that were used well didn't have the oomph that they needed. I thought the music was very effective in Catching Fire with some beautiful new themes that really stood out, the strings theme and the love theme were two. The new action music was quite ferocious and worked as it should have.
Overall I was quite impressed by the music and can't wait to hear what he does for the second film. I even liked the first two songs in the end credits a lot more than I usually do.
Just came back from the film, and enjoyed the movie and the score quite a lot. The music was mixed well for the most part, easily heard and very effective. With the majority of the movie being dramatic, holding off action until the last hour or so, the more emotional moments stood out above all and worked like gangbusters
The two big action pieces, the fog scene and the killer monkeys were pretty damn good, very much in the style of that 80's / 90's JNH sound. And there's some gorgeous stuff in the "Arena Crumbles" cue.
A more satisfying album /score than the original...
