Forum Topic

haydn
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 2:13 PMJerry Goldsmiths soundtrack is pitch perfect for the Scott's Alien movie.
Its all there, you can smell the alien in it, seriously scary too.
Why wasn't Prometheus's soundtrack approached in the same way, it would of set the atmosphere, the mood and kept it into the same universe as Alien.
Instead of which, after buying the blu-ray, I cannot shake off the theme tune of 'Jurassic Park'. It sounds too similar to me, too 'Speilsbergesque'
*Thread content moderated by Svanya.
33 Replies

Not_my_intention
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 2:19 PMare you saying that "Speilsbergesque" and "gay" are the same thing? thast depressing on your part, but i do agree that the soundtrack doesnt work. its not "bad" its just not right, its sounds to adventurous and it has the smell of discovery, its not dark and creepy like it should be.

haydn
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 2:29 PMYour'e right, but as a fan of the first Alien, that was seriously adult. I like Spielsberg anyway, but he's a million miles away from the Alien universe.

Major Noob
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 3:09 PMLet's not use the word gay to criticize.
Before seeing the movie, I had heard a lot about the soundtrack, little of it good. Personally, I was blown away hearing it for the first time. It's HUGE, and hugeness was what they were going for. And yes, it does have a pop adventure urgency to it, but I found that refreshing. And it's dark and hopeless when it needs to be. I agree that different music would have lent it a very different tone, but they were also distancing themselves from Alien. Think of Prometheus as a cross fade from Alien to a new franchise in the same universe, with all it's horrible possibilities.

joeyjoe
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 3:41 PM+1 major noob.
I think the score for prometheus works remarkably well with the image/narrative.
@haydn: it seems that the core of the problem you are having with the score stems from the fact you want both prometheus and its accompanying score to be aesthetically sympathetic with Alien. Essentially... trying to force a square peg into a round hole. If the sonic aesthetic of prometheus had matched the sonic aesthetic of Alien (and i agree goldsmith's score was perfect...but thats a lengthy discussion in and of itself) ), the score would have been antithetical to the point of the film (imo). Although some of the same elements/motifs etc are used, at the end of the day, prometheus is fundamentally a very different film than Alien; the score reflects this.

thegoodtimesguru
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 4:11 PMI thought the soundtrack really added to the sense of wonder and exploration themes well. Though at points when the main theme would start it felt like it didn't fit what was going on. Nonetheless over all I thought it was a good soundtrack. But to just throw in a Alien type soundtrack would have been terrible.

Don't touch it!
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 4:33 PMI agree with joeyjoe and thegoodtimesgur, it wasn't alien and wouldn't have benefited from the same score, although there is one track that was taken from alien, the main theme in fact, in the scene where weyland is briefing them.
John Williams is not gay btw

jenskarlsson
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 8:56 PMpersonally, i love Marc Streitenfelds prometheus score. i can see what people mean by it being a little star trek-like but i think its a lot better. then again jerry goldsmith also did some of the star trek music... but i think its fantastic. aside from that one theme , most of the score is very dark. it does have some nice lush stringy moments as well. i agree that jerry goldsmiths score was perfect for alien, but it wouldnt be at all appropriate for prometheus. i think both scores stand on their own quite well, and accompany the films quite well. as a bit of a musician myself, cannot fathom what should be done differently for the most part. i tend to prefer scores that are less traditional but even the parts that are such as the heroic theme that was composed by Harry Gregson Williams, i think is quite nice -especially in the opening of the film and during the star map scene. my favorite part is the first track "a planet" and the action reprise of that first theme which is used during the crash scene. i also really enjoy a lot of the quieter moments.

Svanya
AdminPraetorianOct-14-2012 7:38 PMI thought the soundtrack on it's own was great, however within the context of the movie it was too uplifting at odd times. It reminded me of Star Trek.
As for it not sounding like Alien, well that's because it isn't Alien... I wish people would stop comparing this movie to Alien. It isn't Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 or anything to do with them. It has it's own life...

FREEZE!
Co-AdminMemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 8:06 PMThe music was beautiful in my opinion, and completely worked
[url=http://www.madmax4-movie.com/]Visit the Mad Max: Fury Road Forums today![/url]
SubsumeYou
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 9:32 PM I love Prometheus soundtrack. This is a different story and it is appropriate, well, in my point of view, anyway.

boinkerX
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 9:38 PMThe track [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgfDnflqMGA]'Life'[/url] which kept popping up in the flick really sucked. It sounded like the movie was screaming AREN'T YOU WONDERFULLY MYSTICISED RIGHT NOW?
That track really brought the whole level of enjoyment down.

Bioscope
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 10:19 PMJust remember, you are all commenting on the additional contribution, harry Gregson-williams' "life" theme, in its variations. Marc Streitenfeld, on the other hand, made the apprehensive, cerebral, sometimes pastoral, and downright Goldenthalesque scarefest. I love that machinistic rhythm for the vehicular scenes and the Engineer motif with its male choir sublimation (Religious again) is fanatastic, and took a crapload of work to create. Not to mention that the orchestra played some score that Marc had written with the thought to flip the recording around, so that it plays backwards, but with style. Who does that now? And the Abbey Road recording still maintainds its reputation.
Brilliant!

zzplural
MemberOvomorphOct-14-2012 10:21 PMOpinions. Opinions. Opinions.
The Prometheus score and sound design in general are executed brilliantly IMO. Like all great music, you have to listen to it a few times before you understand it and really appreciate it.
I would distinguish it from 'nice' music, like the soundtrack to the movie [i]Drive[/i], which you can appreciate instantly for what it is — pop and snappy. The Prometheus score, by contrast, is [i]epic[/i] and full of meaning. You simply can't appreciate the subtleties on the first couple of hearings.
The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent

FREEZE!
Co-AdminMemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 1:16 AMalrighty NCC, I get to lead
[url=http://www.madmax4-movie.com/]Visit the Mad Max: Fury Road Forums today![/url]

Neurion
Veteran MemberMemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 1:35 AM@haydn
I agree with you to a point. For me, the PROMETHEUS score was pretty good, but did not create, entirely…the cinematic atmosphere that I personally was hoping for. I must however confess that I’m an avid ALIEN fan, ever since my first viewing back in ’79, when I was 12 years old. So perhaps my 33 year old love affair with the original and its Jerry Goldsmith masterpiece score (which included selected pieces from J.G.’s score for the film “Freud”) slightly prejudices my expectations. Having said that, I feel that the appreciation of music…is in the “ear of the listener.”
Personally, I would have preferred a more dark, eerie, haunting score, with a stronger sense of foreboding. And for that matter…same thing with the visuals. Keep in mind, I wasn’t expecting or even wanting an ALIEN remake. PROMETHEUS is a different film, but Ridley Scott did say that he intended to “scare the shit out of us,” in an interview. I don’t know about y’all, but I wasn’t scared…not in the slightest. I thought that the strings and brass in several scenes (especially the Ampule Room) were far too sappy, as Streitenfeld worked to create a atmosphere of exploration, discovery, and wonderment. It wasn’t to my liking. Didn’t ruin the film for me, but defiantly knocked it down a few notches.
~Neurion

geopap
MemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 3:45 AMThe soundtrack is good, if they used the old Alien OST written by Goldsmith, you would make complaints that RS copied himself and could not come up with a genuine idea. The soundtrack is good.
"... and the sea will grant each man new hope, as sleep brings dreams of home." Christopher Columbus.

Major Noob
MemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 6:38 AMFor me it WAS scary. From the very first note, but especially during the first scenes aboard the Prometheus, there was this breathless apprehension, a wrongness, like a freight train gaining speed and going somewhere unknown, it accompanied the visuals and Davids surreal dialog perfectly.I haven't experienced dread like that in the theatre in many a year. Or for that matter the feeling of actually being far, far from Earth with a team of strangers. I've been searching for the words to describe this for 4 months now. I am Major Noob, and I'm still searching.
Apex_Predator
MemberFacehuggerOct-15-2012 8:01 AMI actually think the intro theme in the opening scene was epic. It captures the deepness of space somehow imo of course. I liked it.
Want some candy?

Sundar
MemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 9:55 AM" The Prometheus score ", sounded like two German guy's making albino tiger's disappear under a rainbow circus tent with sidekick dancing bear's under a disco ball .

zzplural
MemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 10:36 AMKeep your Saturday nights out of this, Sundar.
The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent

Major Noob
MemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 11:20 AMIt sounded lonely. Majestic. Urgent. Hopeless. It conveyed the right tone for puny humans in search of God, which is a major plot point.

Sundar
MemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 11:38 AMIt sounded like watching a Die Hard marathon on TBS with Star War giff's .

dopelganger
MemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 2:33 PMAfter seeing Prometheus now 7 times, the score is perfect! It hits at the right times and I love how some of the score actually pulled in music from Alien. I could hear similar music but changed just enough to feel new. The sound track helped to bridge the Alien and Prometheus stories and gave me the feeling of both movies being in the same universe and that gave Prometheus that Alien feel. I think RS did a great job on the sound track not losing that feel from 30 years ago.
The true test for me was to listen to Alien, not watching (eyes closed) and I did the same with Prometheus. I could feel the tension at times during scenes and then feel the eerie and creepiness during the movie.
It takes me back to the 60’s when soundtracks done by John Williams and the music just made the scenes.
[url=http://postimage.org/][img]http://s8.postimage.org/hb990h6kl/bladerunner_banner.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=http://postimage.org/]free picture hosting[/url]

Major Noob
MemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 3:32 PM@dopelganger- YES the music is a surprising treat, like a layer of frosting. It combined with everything else in the most fantastic ways. Alien was a space horror film that was done when the word "franchise" didn't exist in film. It was about a bunch of misfits trapped with a monster. I doubt anyone foresaw the life it would take on. Prometheus has different aspirations, and it's the bold and heroic that sells, and why not?

VividVisionZZZ
MemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 8:58 PMI didn't have a problem with the soundtrack, best sci fi movie since Aliens! I did make a request to Sir Ridley Scott but I think it would gather more attention here:
I beg you to ask Trent Reznor to do Paradise or whatever the sequel name becomes. First,if it's possibly the most horrific place you can imagine, Trent is perfect! Even if it's not, he didn't win an Oscar for The Social Network for nothing. I also think he'd be honored to help produce the score, so once again, please consider this. Curious what others think?

jenskarlsson
MemberOvomorphOct-15-2012 9:35 PMi agree... trent reznor - when he is not writing pop music- is brilliant. he comes up with wonderful textures and music in general... then he tends to turn it into so/so songs. i really enjoy his instrumental work and i do think he go into composing for film full time if he wanted to.
Add A Reply