MCU: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Official Discussion - Part 4

[Flint Marko]

You're seeing something I don't. I've always thought the Avengers music was serviceable only.

Really not trying to be a ***** here, a stronger score would bump some of these movies up to iconic status. What would Star Wars be without John Williams' music? Still good but man he really elevated the material

No I understand, and like I said I do think there is room for improvement. But what we've seen so far has worked for me more often than not.

 

[chamber-music]

Zimmer is done with DC, Marvel should snatch him up

Zimmer said his done doing superhero movie scores.

 

[AlluAllu]

IMO MCU has good themes, but they don't use them enough for them to stick. Silvestri's Cap and Jackman's Winter Soldier are notable exceptions.

My favorite theme is probably "Can you dig it?" from Iron Man 3.

 

[MadVillainy]

Driving With the Top Down was crazy good. Love when that comes on my iPod when I'm driving.

The themes/music is fine...I dont really noticed a bad score in a movie. I dont think Ive ever heard one.

 

[SirStrangefolk]

I hope that some of the more recognizable themes return for Infinity War when the characters have their moments to shine.

 

[ernesth100]

Iron Mans main theme in IM1 was great too. Hopefully they come up with something like Rami's Spidey score for Spidey.

 

[HunBoy]

Edit.

 

[David H.]

Seems this video addresses the music issue:
http://youtu.be/7vfqkvwW2fs

 

[Rorschach2012]

Edit

 

[Iceman]

I never doubtet that



nope, not what I wanted to say at all


THAT I doubt.

I'll NEVER understand the fanboners some get with the unispired, one-note, so-called themes that Zimmer plagues movie goers with. This man should never work again on a major movie.
And then I read his name thrown in the same hat as Elfman and Williams and begin to doubt humanity.
I have no problem with you criticizing MCU scores (some are a bit bland, ut the Ant-Man theme alone blows everything Zimmer has ever done out of the water), but don't bring a knife (Zimmer) to a gun (music) fight

What did you think of the Inception music, out of interest? I mean I'm guessing you hated it from the above but couldn't help asking. t:

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

What did you think of the Inception music, out of interest? I mean I'm guessing you hated it from the above but couldn't help asking. t:

it worked for the movie, but it was nothing special

and with 'it worked' I mean it wasn't in the way of the narrative and sometimes only slightly annoying

of course, I'm not a composer, but I'm pretty sure I can push the same key on my keyboard for 2 1/2 hours multiple times. I wouldn't call it music, though

 

[Iceman]

it worked for the movie, but it was nothing special

and with 'it worked' I mean it wasn't in the way of the narrative and sometimes only slightly annoying

of course, I'm not a composer, but I'm pretty sure I can push the same key on my keyboard for 2 1/2 hours multiple times. I wouldn't call it music, though

Haha, was interesting to hear your opinion on it and I'm glad you didn't hate it as much I was expecting after the earlier post! (I love it btw but can understand criticisms of it)

 

[Rorschach2012]

Seems this video addresses the music issue:
http://youtu.be/7vfqkvwW2fs

Great video. The music in the MCU is definitely an issue that should be addressed. This made it to the front page of reddit and everyone in the comments section agrees that the music is bland

Something should change! These movies are so iconic but the music holds them back

 

[Flint Marko]

T-mins 3 hours and 45 minutes (at least in my time zone) until the Civil War blu-ray hits shelves.

 

[Supa]

One thing I think is worth noting about that Marvel Symphonic video that I don't think he touched on is part of the reason certain movie themes become so famous and recognizable is through repetition.

Take the Harry Potter theme for example. It's a great song, no doubt, but a huge part of why people can remember it is because it's repeated a lot throughout the movie. From putting the whole song over a scene to simply playing 1 or 2 seconds of it during key scenes. You'll hear it a lot. People remember the Spider-Man theme not because it's necessarily better than all the Marvel songs, but largely because the song played at the beginning of every episode of the cartoon and became famous.

He sort of referenced this when he replaced the music of one Thor scene with another, and you could make a case that not reusing music could be seen as playing it safe, but for the most part, I think this is a major element that he's forgetting. Repetition is a huge part of memory, and for the most part, we don't get a lot of repeated scores in Marvel.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Seems this video addresses the music issue:
http://youtu.be/7vfqkvwW2fs

so what this video does is comparing the main theme of successful film series (where all films in those series use the same theme prominently and often) with a couple of scenes from different movies where inconsequential parts of the scores were played. that's not a good comparison at all. at least it is not an honest or fair comparison. why not compare it to the main themes of those movies? but then again, the difference between the MCU and Star Wars/Harry Potter/James Bond is all MCU movies or movie series have a different theme, so while I heard the same Potter theme in 8 movies (and it is used a lot in those films), the same can't be said about the MCU. There is no main MCU theme, nothing made iconic purely by endless repetition over multiple installements. this is a huge difference this video fails to acknowledge and I guess this flaw in the video is by design.

 

[Rorschach2012]

The MCU is near perfect, I've seen all the movies countless times and watch them when I'm trying to go to sleep, but most agree that the blandness of the music is an issue.

At this rate, they'll never have a hummable tune like Star Wars, Bond or Potter.

Repetition isn't going to help anything. The music itself is bland and not memorable. They need new composers.

The Devo guy working on Thor is encouraging though

 

[TheVileOne]

Seems this video addresses the music issue:
http://youtu.be/7vfqkvwW2fs

My problem is that they are comparing scores from decades ago to ones that are a lot more recent.

The Avengers has a genuinely great score, and I think so does First Avenger for that matter.

 

[flickchick85]

I agree with those less-than-impressed by the MCU music. Some of the scores are serviceable or make for enjoyable listens but are hardly remarkable or memorable, imo. None of them hold a candle to the Williams Superman or even Zimmer's TDKT and MoS themes as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Iceman]

It is a bigger ask coming up with a tonne of different memorable scores for so many films as opposed to just one iconic film, but I would settle for a great main Avengers theme for now.

 

[Bayne]

I think there is some truth to the lackluster MCU music situation (and the lack of repetition is an important part of it), but I think it tends to be overstated a bit. Ant-man is the first truly great superhero theme ever that isn't about Batman or Superman. Guardians of the Galaxy had one of the best scores of the last few years. The Captain America music has also been very good, imo. Of course, on the other hand, I can't really understand the people who think the Avengers theme is something special. Catchy, yes, musically interesting or evocative, not really.

As far as Zimmer goes, his reputation is deserved. Sort of. The problem with Zimmer is he likes to experiment and reinvent himself, and sometimes it works fantastically and sometimes it bombs, with the result that about half his scores (PotC, Interstellar, MoS) are amazing and half (Nolan Bat trilogy, BvS) are terrible.

 

[Dark Raven]

Ant-Man and CA: TFA are the best MCU themes and ought to be reused as often as possible.

It's true about repetition and how this is part of what makes something iconic and well-remembered. When TV shows used to have theme tunes at the start of the episodes instead of the cold credits that occur these days, that would drum the theme tune into viewers' heads so that it would stick and would forever be associated with the show.

Only a few shows have that these days (like Hawaii Five-0). I suppose there are snippets of the themes in shows like the Flash or Supergirl at the beginning, but it's mostly saved until the end, which not everyone always sees. There were some shows like the CSI franchise that had popular songs (by the Who) at the start. Anytime you hear "Won't Get Fooled Again" now, you'll automatically think of CSI Miami and the scream coming just after one of Horatio Caine's one-liners.

Even in terms of stylistic traits, Horatio Caine putting on his sunglasses in between his one-liners at the start of every episode has become something iconic and memorable because it was repeated for every show.

I think the Marvel movies could really have an opening montage to go over some credits instead of having cold opens. It could use that to play the theme tune (much like these TV shows with an opening montage) and would then solidify that theme by having it precede the movie and build up anticipation. I don't see why we couldn't have them. The Bond movies have the theme tune and usually the gunbarrel (although most of the Craig era stuck them at the end). If we had the Silvestri Captain America theme at the start of the movie then it would help that stick.

The Raimi movies did this by having the Elfman theme at the start of every one of their movies playing over credits, and also paintings by Alex Ross. So that becomes a memorable sequence itself.

 

[Abudefduf]

Seems this video addresses the music issue:
http://youtu.be/7vfqkvwW2fs

The Winter Soldier does indeed have the best score out of all the MCU movies, and the Avengers main theme is pretty memorable too. The version playing over the Age of Ultron end credits sounded especially great, imho.
That said, the video's pretty much right about everything else. That part about temp music... wow. Laziness at its finest. I can't believe movie studios are allowed to get away with that.

 

[AnneFan]

I agree with those less-than-impressed by the MCU music. Some of the scores are serviceable or make for enjoyable listens but are hardly remarkable or memorable, imo. None of them hold a candle to the Williams Superman or even Zimmer's TDKT and MoS themes as far as I'm concerned.

Agreed.

 

[Dark Raven]

The Winter Soldier does indeed have the best score out of all the MCU movies, and the Avengers main theme is pretty memorable too. The version playing over the Age of Ultron end credits sounded especially great, imho.
That said, the video's pretty much right about everything else. That part about temp music... wow. Laziness at its finest. I can't believe movie studios are allowed to get away with that.

I think the Winter Soldier is rather unmemorable and generic. Certainly nowhere near as memorable as the First Avenger or Ant-Man.