soundtrack for Trek XII - Michael Giacchino

[Ian Keldon]

Maybe he thought it was too bombastic, after the subdued "sonic wallpaper" in the last few Trek movies?

The Trek movie scores actually started to break out of the "wallpaper" mode that the last few series were stuck in.

McCarthy actually surprised me with a deft and evocative score for Generations. Not quite the quality of, say TMP or WoK, but well done. I was particularly impressed by the sections dealing with the crash of the Enterprise and the "two to beam up" last scene. And of course you can't possibly go wrong with a strong full-symphony rendition of Courage as in the launch scenes for Enterprise-B.

First Contact was a bit of a letdown after that, but still managed some really nice moments, esp later in the film such as the Enterprise persuing the Phoenix as it powers up for warp drive, and the Vulcan "landing scene" music brings me to tears every time.

Insurrection was a bland, I admit, though Nemesis picked up a bit.

 

[beamMe]

It was brassy, monotonous and repetitive. The composer has one significant theme (the main one) and he shoehorns it in time after time after time.

That's why it's the main theme.

It may have been somewhat repetitive - it works better in the movie than listening to it on CD (for which it wasn't intended) - bit it certainly wasn't monotonous.
As for brassy... where is the problem - that's how it's composed and arranged, and it sounds good.

 

[Ian Keldon]

It was brassy, monotonous and repetitive. The composer has one significant theme (the main one) and he shoehorns it in time after time after time.

That's why it's the main theme.

It may have been somewhat repetitive - it works better in the movie than listening to it on CD (for which it wasn't intended) - bit it certainly wasn't monotonous.

The same music arranged more or less the same way and played at essentially the same tempo and emphasis is the essence of monotony. Whole sections of his scoring were basically "cut n paste" of that danged main theme.

Compare that to Goldsmith on TMP. Yes, he did reuse the theme melody several times, but he did it in vastly different arrangements and tempos as suited the particular scenes including March (title theme), Love Theme (Kirk Approaches Enterprise), a Triumphant version (Enterprise Departs Dock), a Homecoming theme (last Bridge scene), and a different Triumph/"glory" variation (very last Enterprise scene).

As for brassy... where is the problem - that's how it's composed and arranged, and it sounds good.

His particular arrangement of the brass is harsh to the ear, esp on the 4th or 5th time hearing the same basic passage. Brass has it's place to be sure, but he overuses it, and under utilizes the rest of the orchestra (esp the strings). Again, compare him with Goldsmith or Horner, who have a more balanced orchestra and know how to use it.

 

[Tom Servo]

Not looking forward to more of his music. Incorporating the TOS theme, however truncated, was the ONLY highlight of an otherwise limited and inappropriate score.

"Inappropriate"? In what way?

It was brassy, monotonous and repetitive. The composer has one significant theme (the main one) and he shoehorns it in time after time after time.

I got sick of hearing the same "TAAA-DA-DA-DA-DAAAA" over every significant scene.

Get a REAL composer in who knows how to write more than one theme. A Goldsmith type would be great, or even a Horner would be a vast improvement. Someone who knows how to write more than one significant piece of music and tailor it to the mood of the moement.

You may not like his score at all, but to say get a REAL composer...you mean like an Oscar winning one...like say...Michael Giacchino.

 

[tighr]

You may not like his score at all, but to say get a REAL composer...you mean like an Oscar winning one...like say...Michael Giacchino.

He's a one note kind of guy though. Granted, most composers have a "sound" that they're recognized for, but every time I hear one of Giacchino's scores, its the EXACT SAME song. LOST = Star Trek = Super 8 = Fringe. UP was good and different, and it was memorable so deserved an Oscar.

But you can't tell me that you're listening to the scene where the shuttles are fleeing the Kelvin after Jim Kirk is born and say that doesn't sound like it belongs in LOST. The other day I played Super 8 on my HTPC and thought I was playing Star Trek on accident. Thank God LOST didn't have a theme song.

That being said, he's a better composer than I am, so take my criticism with a grain of salt.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

That being said, he's a better composer than I am, so take my criticism with a grain of salt.

Of course.

 

[Broccoli]

I dunno. His soundtrack for The Incredibles sounds different than Mission Impossible, which sounded different than Up which sounded different from Super 8 which sounded different fromStar Trek. I'd say he has variety.

I wonder if people who found the score repetitious are remembering it from the movie or the soundtrack? The soundtrack had cues that really repeated that main theme, but the overall score (on the extended soundtrack) it wasn't nearly as much as people think.

 

[DonIago]

I'm remembering it from the movie, as I found it repetitious enough there that I wasn't inclined to purchase the soundtrack.

 

[Ian Keldon]

It was noticeable to me both in the actual film and even more so on the soundtrack.

 

[KirkusOveractus]

Sadly, I find Goldsmith and Horner to be even more repetitive at times than Giacchino. Heck, even John Williams suffers from it!

In fact, I liked Giacchino's build up of the TOS main theme throughout the movie. You would hear little parts of it as the people we knew started to come together and situations arose that were reminiscent of TOS.

That all comes together on the end credits, with the TOS theme in full glory!

As opposed to Goldsmith, who had a "Klingon Theme", "Credits Theme", etc. I can even listen to Horner's compositions for TWOK and TSFS, then hear similar patterns in something like his score for Titanic.

Giacchino was able to get some variety for his scores to the two Mission: Impossible movies he did (including some of the classic M:I cues), so I'm looking forward to the score to the next Trek, as much as I enjoy the 2009 soundtrack.

As a side note, I read an interview with Giacchino for M:I - Ghost Protocol, where he said that he's put in the original theme as close to the original sound, because if he went to a movie named Mission: Impossible, that's what he'd expect to hear. So I think for the next Trek you will hear the TOS theme.

 

[beamMe]

As opposed to Goldsmith, who had a "Klingon Theme", "Credits Theme", etc. I can even listen to Horner's compositions for TWOK and TSFS, then hear similar patterns in something like his score for Titanic.

Watch Aliens to hear Horner's Klingon theme in full glory

 

[Crazy Eddie]

As opposed to Goldsmith, who had a "Klingon Theme", "Credits Theme", etc. I can even listen to Horner's compositions for TWOK and TSFS, then hear similar patterns in something like his score for Titanic.

Watch Aliens to hear Horner's Klingon theme in full glory

I thought that was the Surprise Attack suite?

More to the point: watch "Enemy at the Gates" and then "Avatar" back to back; lots of creepy similarities.

Not looking forward to more of his music. Incorporating the TOS theme, however truncated, was the ONLY highlight of an otherwise limited and inappropriate score.

"Inappropriate"? In what way?

It was brassy, monotonous and repetitive. The composer has one significant theme (the main one) and he shoehorns it in time after time after time.

I got sick of hearing the same "TAAA-DA-DA-DA-DAAAA" over every significant scene.

That's what Jerry Goldsmith did for TMP. It's one of the reasons I liked the TMP soundtrack, and it's one of the reasons I like this one.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

You may not like his score at all, but to say get a REAL composer...you mean like an Oscar winning one...like say...Michael Giacchino.

He's a one note kind of guy though. Granted, most composers have a "sound" that they're recognized for, but every time I hear one of Giacchino's scores, its the EXACT SAME song. LOST = Star Trek = Super 8 = Fringe.

Have you ever heard the Medal of Honor soundtrack? Some of his better work IMO.

But you can't tell me that you're listening to the scene where the shuttles are fleeing the Kelvin after Jim Kirk is born and say that doesn't sound like it belongs in LOST.

I'm listening to the scene where the shuttles are fleeing the Kelvin and it doesn't sound like it belongs in LOST.

 

[Therin of Andor]

...or even a Horner would be a vast improvement. Someone who knows how to write more than one significant piece of music and tailor it to the mood of the moement.

Hehehe. Horner, whose soundtracks for ST II, ST II, "Cocoon", "Cocoon: The Return", "Battle Beyond the Stars", "Aliens", "*batteries not included", "Brainstorm", etc, are often accused of being almost interchangeable?

 

[tighr]

But you can't tell me that you're listening to the scene where the shuttles are fleeing the Kelvin after Jim Kirk is born and say that doesn't sound like it belongs in LOST.

I'm listening to the scene where the shuttles are fleeing the Kelvin and it doesn't sound like it belongs in LOST.

The scene I meant is the one where they are naming James T Kirk, and then Lt Kirk flies the Kelvin into the Narada. It's track #3 on the soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zjl-7yQ4Jk

It's the same kind of sappy swoon that Giacchino used every time Jack kissed Kate or Kate kissed Sawyer or Juliet kissed Jack or Sawyer kissed Juliet or who knows what was going on in that love-parallelogram.

 

[Ian Keldon]

"Inappropriate"? In what way?

It was brassy, monotonous and repetitive. The composer has one significant theme (the main one) and he shoehorns it in time after time after time.

I got sick of hearing the same "TAAA-DA-DA-DA-DAAAA" over every significant scene.

That's what Jerry Goldsmith did for TMP. It's one of the reasons I liked the TMP soundtrack, and it's one of the reasons I like this one.

NO, he did not. Not the way Giacchino does, with the same arrangement and orchestration EVERY damn time he uses it.

Goldsmith reused his melody, yes, but in vastly different orchestrations and arrangements depending on the mood of the scene. His theme was played as straight march (main titles), a love theme (Kirk borading Enterprise, a "homecoming" theme (final bridge scene) and two different takes on a "glory" theme (Leaving drydock and The Adventure Continues).

 

[Ian Keldon]

...or even a Horner would be a vast improvement. Someone who knows how to write more than one significant piece of music and tailor it to the mood of the moement.

Hehehe. Horner, whose soundtracks for ST II, ST II, "Cocoon", "Cocoon: The Return", "Battle Beyond the Stars", "Aliens", "*batteries not included", "Brainstorm", etc, are often accused of being almost interchangeable?

Yes, Horner repeats himself between movies, but NOT endlessly within the SAME movie, as Giacchino does.

For WoK, Horner developed a new main theme in several different arrangements for Kirk, Spock, the Enterprise, etc. He developed a separate theme for Khan. He also did several mood pieces, such as the Genesis music, the "countdown" music, etc that all tied into the main theme to one degree or another. He continued to develop and expand on those themes in SFS, and did so with arrangements that were musically interesting and approrpriate to the scenes.

All Giacchino does is blare "TAAA-DA-DA-DA-DAHHHH" at the listener time after time after time, played essentially the same way regardless of what the scene calls for. It's ham-fisted, and gets old VERY fast.

The only portions he did at least somewhat well on were his renditions of Courage's theme, the "These are the Voyages..." portion moreso than the main Courage theme, which he cut the entire middle portion out of.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

But you can't tell me that you're listening to the scene where the shuttles are fleeing the Kelvin after Jim Kirk is born and say that doesn't sound like it belongs in LOST.

I'm listening to the scene where the shuttles are fleeing the Kelvin and it doesn't sound like it belongs in LOST.

The scene I meant is the one where they are naming James T Kirk, and then Lt Kirk flies the Kelvin into the Narada. It's track #3 on the soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zjl-7yQ4Jk

It's the same kind of sappy swoon that Giacchino used every time Jack kissed Kate or Kate kissed Sawyer or Juliet kissed Jack or Sawyer kissed Juliet or who knows what was going on in that love-parallelogram.

Really? If anything it sounded like that really eerie track from Medal of Honor: Frontlines, didn't remind me of LOST at all.

It was brassy, monotonous and repetitive. The composer has one significant theme (the main one) and he shoehorns it in time after time after time.

I got sick of hearing the same "TAAA-DA-DA-DA-DAAAA" over every significant scene.

That's what Jerry Goldsmith did for TMP. It's one of the reasons I liked the TMP soundtrack, and it's one of the reasons I like this one.

NO, he did not. Not the way Giacchino does, with the same arrangement and orchestration EVERY damn time he uses it.

Goldsmith reused his melody, yes, but in vastly different orchestrations...

Switching from french horns to violins is "vastly different" to you? Okay, whatever.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Personal taste as musical criticism. Fascinating.

 

[Franklin]

Personal taste as musical criticism. Fascinating.

Makes me glad I'm almost tone deaf. Honestly, I didn't realize people paid that much attention to scoring in a movie.

That said, it did seem repetitive, but no more than Goldsmith's in TMP.

Also, I think when a producer hires one of these composers to score his movie, he knows the sound he's going after. So, maybe these guys aren't so much repetitive in their compositions as consistent? Known quantities. A brand. Predictable. Reliable. The "Giacchino sound," the "Horner sound," the "Elfman sound," just like the Beach Boys or the Beatles or Benny Goodman each had a sound.