Scores To Marvel Films: Which do you like the most?

[Elevator Man]

Yeah, I know that it wasn't Elfman's decision for his own score to get re-used. A lot of his original score fits really nicely, and I wish a lot of it had been in the film. But other parts of it, like Young's score for the train sequence, are way better than what Elfman had written.

That I strongly disagree with. I think Elfman hit the ball out of the park with that cue. I remember being very impressed (and still am) with that particular cue, when I first heard it. And thinking to myself (as I did most of the album), "why did Raimi and TPTB rejected such an amazing cue like that ?" Which (I think) would've enhanced the already exhilerating and breathtaking action scene even more.

I just thought Young's cue, while decent, was just tension and suspense music. Which works. I thought Young was trying to keep up with the action and effects more than telling a story with the music. Elfman was writing a lot more than just suspense and tension music. He was actually doing more than scoring an action scene, imo. His version had a lot more emotion and heart in it even during the action. Plus his take on Spidey swinging back on the train after Ock knocked him off the train for a few seconds. Was more epic and breathtaking than what Young wrote for that part. I remember that left an impression on me after I head that particular part of the cue on the score album for the first time. That was one of those cues that I couldn't stop playing or rewinding (even in the middle of the cue as it was playing) I used to try and study the detail and orchestration or whatever in that cue (back in the summer and the rest of "2004"). I think that's one of (if not) the best action cue(s) Elfman's ever written, imo. Maybe even the best action cue in the Spidey franchise, so far.

But that's cool you like Young's better.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wEIa0FwKIk[/YT]

X2 Theme, set with cartoon opening. My favorite Marvel theme.

Really wish that video would have worked, love the X2 score and always loved the cartoon opening.

 

[Daredevil]

I also really loved Graeme Revell's score for Daredevil. His music is almost able to make up for the shaky direction, because he finds a unique sound and a well-developed mood for the entire score. But surprisingly, my favorite track from the entire score isn't any of the action cues or the Daredevil theme (which is awesome), but the scene where Matt takes Elektra onto the roof.

[YT]cIM2lc4oPwQ[/YT]

I laughed, not because of anything you said, but because you used the video from the score which was actually uploaded by me on my Youtube account XD

In any case, I agree that Daredevil's score is great and pretty underrated. Still can't top The Punisher 2004 though in terms of music though.

On another note, I am really glad that this thread has undergone so much discussion in the long amount of time that it has been since I made it.

 

[ddddeeee]

Thor - Patrick Doyle

 

[Daredevil]

I don't remember much from Thor actually. I should probably give it a listen later.

 

[Blight616]

Thor & 2004 Punisher.

 

[StarkTheProdigy]

Best scores would be X2 and Thor,
Best soundtrack would go to Iron Man 2 and Daredevil

 

[Alientraveller]

I voted for The Incredible Hulk, loved Craig Armstrong's work for that film. I also loved Thor by Patrick Doyle, each of the X-Men trilogy's music (including John Ottman, who composed fantastic stuff for F4).

 

[Raiden]

I like Elfman's Spider-man score. It's not as recognizable as the Superman and Batman scores, but when you hear it you know it's Spider-man. Unfortunately, Marvel (and other studios making Marvel movies) don't consider a signature theme music that identifies a superhero to be important, so we have lots of forgettable tunes.

 

[El Payaso]

I like Elfman's Spider-man score. It's not as recognizable as the Superman and Batman scores, but when you hear it you know it's Spider-man. Unfortunately, Marvel (and other studios making Marvel movies) don't consider a signature theme music that identifies a superhero to be important, so we have lots of forgettable tunes.

Spiderman's theme sounded more like a suite. It wasn't a theme but a mix of themes used during the movies.

 

[hugekent]

Thor's score topped X2's for mine.

 

[Daredevil]

I'm sorry that Thor isn't on the list, but when I made this poll it wasn't out yet (obviously)

 

[Spider-Man '92]

I've only seen Thor once, and while the music was majestic, I didn't latch on to any sort of theme. There might be one there that I'm not hearing, but in my opinion it should be able to catch my attention from the get-go.

 

[ddddeeee]

There are multiple themes in Thor. But Thor's theme itself plays constantly throughout the movie, once you realise what it is you'll hear it all the time throughout the movie. That's what happened with Spider-Man for me.

 

[kedrell]

Thor's score is definitely in the upper tier of marvel scores for me. Still say Punisher'04 has the best.

 

[DarknessOfDeath]

I was gonna vote for Thor but realized its not on the list lol. But what the hell, I choose Thor anyway.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

TIH's score, without a doubt, is the best one for me. But I also like Spider-Man

Same here

 

[Elevator Man]

Okay so all the Marvel films ( Thor, X-M:FC, CA:TFA) this summer have been out. What did some of you think of the scores and how'd you rank them with past Marvel scores?

 

[hugekent]

I rank the First Class score as the best overall. All three were fantastic though, both CA and Thor would be in my top 5.

 

[Vaportrail]

This has bugged me for the longest time. As much as I enjoy the Spider-Man films, I hate the score.

Well, not the entire score. The chorus. The holy-sounding "ooo" and "ahh" is just way too over-the-top. It's basically saying "He's so greeeeaaat" and "web-swinging is next to godlineeeeess".

Pretentious. I think it kinda became cool for a while after Star Wars Episode I came out... but I'm really hoping they'll be shaking things up for the reboot.

 

[ddddeeee]

I love that, I love the first two scores altogether. Gorgeous stuff, especially the swinging music.

 

[psylockolussus]

X3 duh!

 

[co2]

Still sticking with Punisher '04.

What would be cool is if Avnegers had a great theme.

 

[Elevator Man]

This has bugged me for the longest time. As much as I enjoy the Spider-Man films, I hate the score.

Well, not the entire score. The chorus. The holy-sounding "ooo" and "ahh" is just way too over-the-top. It's basically saying "He's so greeeeaaat" and "web-swinging is next to godlineeeeess".

Pretentious. I think it kinda became cool for a while after Star Wars Episode I came out... but I'm really hoping they'll be shaking things up for the reboot.

I think the chorus adds a lot to the web swinging scenes in Elfman's scores. It adds an extra "oomph" that the films would've lacked without it. The music when he swings down off the building and down toward the police cars and after Uncle Ben's killer in his prototype suit in S1 was very powerful. As well as after he saved MJ at the World Unity Festival. It sounds magical and adds a sense of wonder, imho. The scene plays to the crowds reaction and MJ's amazement of Spidey. I also loved the way the chorus was used when he saved Aunt May in S2. It was really heroic and backs up the theme well. And the scene when he swings away from Aunt May and girls are chasing after him. The chorus and music was really amazing right there. The music shows that Spidey finally earned Aunt May's respect and is embraced by the public (especially the teenage -twenty something girls). It also showed Spidey saved the day. I think Elfman's Spidey scores would lose something without the chorus.

BTW, Elfman always had a thing for the chorus in his scores since "Scrooged" I believe. So Williams "Dual of the Fates from" Star Wars Ep.1 has nothing to do with why Elfman used a chorus for his Spider-man scores. It's just apart of his style.

 

[Elevator Man]

Silvestri's CA:TFA score was good, but not great. It's not as amazing as some make it out to be. He just wrote a better GIJOE score than his actual score to GIJOE:ROC.

I'll admit he wrote a good theme that fits the character, but he couldn't really do much with it besides playing it "heroic", "triumphant", and "patriotic". A good theme is something that can do many things. He should be able to turn the theme on it's head , inside and out. he should've been able to do more with it. A good theme should be more than just catchy, imo.

The score also lacks themes. There should've been a love theme for Steve and Peggy. I know the romance in the film was underdevoloped but still. Red Skull didn't have a theme either. Which is a shame b/c I can picture him having a dark, menacing and haunting theme. How does Cap have a theme but his nemesis doesn't. That's like giving Luke Skywalker a theme but not Darth Vader. Imagine that. The Hydra also didn't have a theme. They deserved a theme too. Since that's what Cap's up against most of the movie. Hydra definitely deserves something along the lines of Williams' Imperial March. The Cosmic Cube didn't have a theme either. The cube definitely deserved a theme since it's the main focus in the upcoming Avengers movie. If Silvestri had given it a theme he could've used it for the Avengers (since he's rumored to be scoring it). The Cosmic Cube needs a theme along the lines of the Ark (from Williams' Raiders score) and the amulet (from Broughton's The Monster Squad score) theme. A lot of missed opportunities.

The score also doesn't sound like something from the 40s, imo. Sure it's old fashioned (meaning big orchestral score with hardly any synthesisers). But it's not something that sounds like it came from old serials, imo. The only cues that did sound like something that captured that time period were Silvestri's "Captain America March" and Menken's "Star Spangled Man".

Johnston also mentioned that CA:TFA was going to be in the vein of Raiders. Both the score and film didn't live up to it, imo. I know it's hard to write a score that could match up with Williams' Raiders. But still. I don't even think the Silvestri's score matches up with Horner's Rocketeer score or Edward Shearmur's Sky captain &TWOT score either.

For those that think that Silvestri's CA:TFA score stands up with Williams' Superman and Elfman's Batman score. How ? B/c he wrote a catchy theme which Silvestri didn't do much with besides being "heroic", "patriotic", and "triumphant". The score didn't feel like it was a character of it's own in the film like Williams' Superman and Elfman's Batman score did. I don't ever think the film wouldn't have been as effective without Silvestri's score. I think his score was serviceable at best.

Now I don't hate the score. I think the action writing is good eventhough it's in the same vein of his GIJOE and A-team action writing. It's probably up there with his Beowulf score ( which I also think could've been better). It's better than a lot his scores in the last few years. But it's nowhere near his best or great scores, imo. It's just good but could've been a lot better.