Movie Soundtracks

[Apollo the Just]

Was debating whether to put this here or in the music forum, then decided this is my forum so HERE IT GOES. SUCK IT PANFAN

I've been in love with the How to Train Your Dragon (1&2) soundtracks for quite some time. I'm quite the fan of melodic as opposed to sound-effect-y soundtracks for much the same reason that I like listening to video game soundtracks. I like having themes and motifs to associate with the visual medium I'm consuming and I also just enjoy listening to music that reminds me of scenes or stuff that I really like. "Forbidden Friendship" is one of my favorite musical pieces ever, and I am in love with how the theme resurfaces in other songs in that movie's OST. Same with the other motifs. That movie's soundtrack is incredible and the sequel's was fantastic and. I love them so much. Jdmdndkskdjsksk

So I just saw Kubo and the Two Strings and that is another soundtrack I absolutely adore. Just bought it and have listened to it twice since yesterday. Again, it's a more melodic soundtrack with motifs and tunes that stick with you. But also I just love the instrumentation, as someone who used to play taiko and loves the shamisen as an instrument. There are a couple songs that are just Kubo playing shamisen (with some intense orchestral accompaniment ofc) and they're all so good, but my favorite track is definitely "Kubo Goes to Town." What a gorgeous blend of melody and ambience, I'm in love. I could listen to that song forever.

Also, the movie does something really cool with its musical themes-- there are 2 main motifs that recur throughout the soundtrack. One of them is associated with Monkey, and it is the basis for the song "Monkey Tells Her Story" that Kubo plays, and the other is Kubo's motif that the song "The Leafy Galleon" showcases. They're simple tunes that are really artfully woven into a lot of songs in the OST, and then in a couple songs the two motifs are combined into a single melody and it's so nice and lovely and grEAT AND THAT IS MY S***.

So anyway, I love soundtracks that I can then download and listen to. Ones composed with an attentive listener in mind. Whose music and melodies add to the movie rather than merely supplement it. What are some of your favorite movie soundtracks?

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I never saw those so I can't comment on them. Here are a couple of mine though:

The Last Samurai
Back to the Future

[ScottyMcGee]

[QUOTE="I REALLY HATE POKEMON!, post: 1605939, member: 18119"]
Back to the Future[/QUOTE]

Do you mean the album with songs from Hewey Lewis and the News or the actual score by Alan Silvestri?

I like Alan Silvestri but overall he's relatively subpar compared to many other composers. His score for Forrest Gump was Oscar-nominated though, but I've never listened to the whole thing. He typically is assigned many B-movie-ish action flicks like The Mummy Returns, Van Helsing, Judge Dredd. A lot of his work for action sequences sound. . .well. . .uninspired. A bit generic. If you listen to a lot of his work like I have, many of his tracks consist of repeating tunes without breaking into anything else. Someone like John Williams, for example, has a theme and then exercises with it, then makes little motifs for each action sequence more or less, and then goes on a tangent with another tune or something like that. Alan Silvestri rarely does that. A lot of the times there's some underlying bass that just keeps going and going. The score for Back to the Future Part II was pretty bland. Pretty much put me to sleep.

I can go on and on and on and on and on and on about movie soundtracks. Right now though I'm listening to Murray Gold's score for the modern Doctor Who show. Not a movie but still under the category of "film music". Murray Gold is the **** bomb. It's like everything he dishes out is so fresh and lively. His most famous piece to date is "I Am the Doctor", which was Eleven's theme.

Always wanted to listen to How to Train Your Dragon since I'm familiar with John Powell. I first heard him from the Bourne movies. I was surprised he did How to Train Your Dragon becuase before that he was always scoring action/spy movies (Knight & Day, Green Zone, The Italian Job - WHICH IS SO **** GOOD - Paycheck, Mr. and Mrs. Smith). Then I found out he actually did quite a number of animated films, such as Shrek, Robots, Antz and Chicken Run.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

^ All of it, really. All of the music and scenes fit together really well. Although I prefer music without lyrics most of the time, so Huey Lewis would rank lower between the two if I had to pick. Also I never watched Doctor Who so, again, I can't comment. I don't really watch a lot of stuff, haha. In fact, I didn't see a single movie you listed.

Oh, let me add Unbreakable to the list of good music.

[ScottyMcGee]

[QUOTE="I REALLY HATE POKEMON!, post: 1605943, member: 18119"]^ All of it, really. All of the music and scenes fit together really well.[/QUOTE]
The first Back to the Future score was indeed probably the best of the three movies. I really enjoyed the ending piece:

[MEDIA=youtube]5mWAolg48IA[/MEDIA]

[Apollo the Just]

Part of my reason for making this thread - I was talking IRL about this earlier - is that for me personally, my enjoyment of movie (and video game but that's an entirely different post) soundtracks and my enjoyment of the source movies are not mutually exclusive experiences. I don't consider them separately. If it doesn't have a good, melodic, memorable soundtrack that I like, there's pretty much no chance it will make my top 5 movies list. And if I don't like a movie I won't really care for its soundtrack. I might appreciate the songs objectively, but I won't go out of my way to listen to them. I associate my positive feelings toward a medium I enjoy with the music I remember listening to while consuming it. So movies like HTTYD, which feature important sequences with ONLY music accompanying its visuals, which incorporate musical themes as a part of their identity, will naturally appeal to me more.

And so the soundtrack is actually a huge part of why I loved Kubo so much? Not only does it feature a beautiful melodic soundtrack, but that soundtrack is actually A HUGE PART OF THE MOVIE. It's not just /me/ being unable to separate the songs from the source material; the songs are literally performed within the context of the source material. The songs are an integral part of the storytelling, which is why they are intentionally so memorable and pleasing to listen to. You're meant to hear them. And these songs which are performed within the movie in specific moments feature melodies that pop up in other background pieces as well, which informs how you perceive the story. It's so GOOD. IT'S SO GOOD!! IT'S NOT JUST BACKGROUND MUSIC IT'S PART OF THE STORY BEING TOLD!!!!! BLESS THIS MOVIE BLESS LAIKA BLESS THE SONG "STORY TIME" BLESS EVERYTHING

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In related news, I also love the Professor Layton movie. The puzzle is music. The song is really pretty. That movie is so good[DOUBLEPOST=1471820958,1471820787][/DOUBLEPOST]Oh someone brought up Dr. Who music. Yo. I'm ABOUT that ****