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It's inept. Talent squandered before and behind the camera.
Harsh. It's great fun. Worth it for George Peppard and Robert Vaughan.
Look, I'm no snob. I even enjoyed Starcrash for what it was, and it's a lot more terrible than this. Though fun to hear how Barry's score makes it seem better.
But I've watched this twice in recent years (after having avoided it my whole life). And given the actual talent involved, I'm astonished at how poorly it goes. Some of the design is cool, some is embarrasing - and I don't mean primarily for anatomical reasons, but because the design of the main ship makes no damn sense. The space battles are among the worst ever filmed, with no relation between shots. The episodic sequences are both rushed and tedious, and they don't connect. Saxon's villain could be motivated, and his body replacements could be interesting, but he isn't and they aren't. It's poorly staged, badly lit, atrociously edited. Feels both too busy and thin as rice paper.
Even one of the more interesting and decently written scenes - Robert Vaughn's introduction as the most Sartre-an assassin in all cinema - is staged hideously badly, as if he is sitting in some cut-rate dark-ride diorama shooting the world's biggest derringer. And Richard Thomas seems almost wholly off - and he's an actor I've always admired for what he does well. His arguments with Nell are by far his best work in the film. Probably because he wasn't having to really interact with anyone else on screen.
For me, it's not cheesy fun or funny, it's just sad.
But I'm glad of the score, however infuriated I get with the needless rip-offs of Alexander Nevsky and STTMP. I'm delighted for this new edition (digitally especially!).
And I'm glad the movie is available for those who love it for nostalgia or cheese. Me, I'd rather watch Starcrash again, and that ain't never gonna happen.
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He should apologize for it. How are we to know? Horner has done classical composer works' lifts in damn near every score he's ever done, multiples times in some scores. They can't all be a shared joke. It was reasonable of us to assume he was doing what he's done a bazillion times before.
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I'm not necessarily infuriated with Horner. I completely get that it's often what the producers/directors require.
But I can still get infuriated with it, whoever is to blame. In a score that is mostly original if derivative*, it would also be ok to make it all that way. Such direct quotes (Nevsky) without useful context (after all, it's no Battle on the Ice) is a pretty lame joke. And every time I hear the Spock Walk bit I just want to go back and listen to Spock Walk. Can't be the goal of the composer to make me want to listen to another instead.
*Of course it's derivative, it should be, and that's what I love about it! I'm glad it's that way.
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John, so you know, I took you up on that, just listened to Destination Mood this morning!
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John, so you know, I took you up on that, just listened to Destination Mood this morning!
Damn. Is this the most overlooked classic score ever?
Also, Jamie didn't lift from Spock Walk (I don't think). He lifted from Klingon Battle.
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Fun score, Horner experimented and brought his experiences to future scores.
Only Debbie Downers can find fault with that.
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So we went from celebrating the release, loooong overdue to complaining about his borrowings again?
You don't get the one without the other!
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I can go on for paragraphs on the borrowings of Herrmann, Williams and Goldsmith. And how John Barry's later Bond scores were some of the laziest and repetitive writing from a legend I have ever encountered. The Living Daylights in particular is 4 themes stuck on repeat with a synth backing track.
But we all like what we like and none of it infuriates me. I always had fun picking out Horner's quotes and he actually got me interest in Russian classic music in the process, so win-win. This is a great fun early score that defined his style and voice early on. The only people who should be infuriated are the estates of the composers he borrowed from that never received compensation. Everyone else needs to take some edibles and relax. It's just music.
And, by the way, I love The Living Daylights. It works like crazy in the film.
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Just got mine from Chris' Soundtrack Corner. Best price for me, and service excellent as ever. Arrived today. Christmas present, so can't review.
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What did ya think?
