The Score of Skyfall

JWESTBROOK

I hate it when forums become a quoted mess.

doubleoego

I'd cream my pants the day I am to hear Harry Gregson-Williams will score a Bond movie.

Virage

All DA did in QOS was complement the arty style Marc Forster injected into the movie a traditional bond soundtrack wouldn't of fit. An example would be putting Tim Burton's Batman theme into Chris Nolen's Batman would sound good, but wouldn't work.

I would like to see the return of the 007 Theme.

HMBFF

IMO David Arnold is an average Bond composer: he isn't great but he isn't bad either. I've enjoyed his scores, mostly QOS ('Field Trip' is absolutely delicious and 'Crawl, End Crawl' is the best end credits music track of any Bond film). But I totaly agree that we need fresh blood in Bond music. Someone who can bring a good combinaton between action, sophistication and tradition. Someone with 40% of Clint Mansell, 30% of Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, 20 % of John Barry and 10 % of David Holmes.

PanchitoPistoles

UPDATE: As of today David Arnold still doesn't know whether he will write the score of Bond 23 or not.

Source: http://twitter.com/#!/DavidGArnold/status/123159050312617984

I wish MI6-HQ stopped writing at the end of every Bond 23 article like it was a fact that "Five-time 007 composer David Arnold will score James Bond's 23rd official on-screen adventure."...

It's interesting to note that it was exactly 4 years ago, when David Arnold confirmed that he'll score QOS: http://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=5450&catid=106&t=mi6&s=news

gt007

Nice find, @PanchitoPistoles.

I think the rest of Arnold's conversation with that fan is also interesting:

Fan: well if you do hows about putting some bond into it, like tnd's back seat driver, or twine's come in 007 your time is up
D. Arnold: do you mean bond theme??
Fan: yes, I named them 2 ques cos I think they are 2 of the best you have written for bond
D. Arnold: they were big fun sequences too.....lot of humour in them.so far with CR and QOS they're quite serious...different action. but...never say never!!!

I guess that if he gets to do BOND 23, he'll use the Bond theme more. Which was more or less expected, but it's always nice to hear it from an official source.

PanchitoPistoles

I'm wondering why he still doesn't know whether he will work on Bod 23 or not. It's either because he doesn't know whether he will find time to do it (because his 2012 Olympic Games commitments) or EON/Mendes is thinking about hiring someone else. I can't think of any other reason.

Samuel001

I wonder what MI6 can dig up? A very interesting matter to say the least...

PanchitoPistoles

I hope the composer will be revealed at the press conference next month.

Samuel001

PanchitoPistoles said:
I hope the composer will be revealed at the press conference next month.

It seems very insignificant but I can see this happening if it's anyone other than Arnold.

I guess at the moment EON are seeing if Arnold will be able to fit it in and just in case finding a 'back-up' that may well do the score.

haserot

the reason as to no official word from Arnold yet - and I am just guessing on this one, is...

1 - he's going to have a lot on his plate, considering the scoring the Olympics.. so right now, he is playing it by ear... at the same time, EON knows this, and they are sitting back waiting for what his decision will be..

2 - or, in like how Marc Forster used MK12 for the opening titles, maybe Mendes wants to use someone else - someone he is more familiar with.. that is not uncommon for directors to do..

but we are still a year away from release (that sounds so nice to hear :-) ).. in a couple months we'll probably know where we'll stand with who is scoring the film.

MrDJWest

Sam Mendes has worked with composer Thomas Newman multiple times and his Road to perdition score is one of my favourite movie scores, so it would be interesting to hear his take on the Bond sound.
I love David Arnolds work and would welcome his return, but if he didnt it would be cool to hear a new composer for a film.

brunoman

If by chance David Arnold won't be back for Bond 23, then I think Henry Jackman would be a good choice to compose the next movie. His score for X-Men First Class is epic in my opinion.

thelordflasheart

gt007 said:
Nice find, @PanchitoPistoles.

I think the rest of Arnold's conversation with that fan is also interesting:

Fan: well if you do hows about putting some bond into it, like tnd's back seat driver, or twine's come in 007 your time is up
D. Arnold: do you mean bond theme??
Fan: yes, I named them 2 ques cos I think they are 2 of the best you have written for bond
D. Arnold: they were big fun sequences too.....lot of humour in them.so far with CR and QOS they're quite serious...different action. but...never say never!!!

I guess that if he gets to do BOND 23, he'll use the Bond theme more. Which was more or less expected, but it's always nice to hear it from an official source.

I recently rewatched TND for the first time since it came out and one of the weak points for me was that Arnold felt the need to use the Bond theme 4 seperate times (!) in the first, what, 40 minutes of the movie? That's the sign of a really non-confident person trying way too hard to assure everyone that they're watching a Bond film. Once you overuse something then at best it loses its impact and becomes less special; at worst it becomes annoying. Could you imagine if in TND Brosnan made a point of ordering a martini - shaken, not stirred - in 4 different scenes in the beginning of TND? I have no problem hearing the Bond theme in a Bond film but use it once, and the scene you use it in better live up to the music behind it... ;-)

tqb

thelordflasheart said:

gt007 said:
Nice find, @PanchitoPistoles.

I think the rest of Arnold's conversation with that fan is also interesting:

Fan: well if you do hows about putting some bond into it, like tnd's back seat driver, or twine's come in 007 your time is up
D. Arnold: do you mean bond theme??
Fan: yes, I named them 2 ques cos I think they are 2 of the best you have written for bond
D. Arnold: they were big fun sequences too.....lot of humour in them.so far with CR and QOS they're quite serious...different action. but...never say never!!!

I guess that if he gets to do BOND 23, he'll use the Bond theme more. Which was more or less expected, but it's always nice to hear it from an official source.

I recently rewatched TND for the first time since it came out and one of the weak points for me was that Arnold felt the need to use the Bond theme 4 seperate times (!) in the first, what, 40 minutes of the movie? That's the sign of a really non-confident person trying way too hard to assure everyone that they're watching a Bond film. Once you overuse something then at best it loses its impact and becomes less special; at worst it becomes annoying. Could you imagine if in TND Brosnan made a point of ordering a martini - shaken, not stirred - in 4 different scenes in the beginning of TND? I have no problem hearing the Bond theme in a Bond film but use it once, and the scene you use it in better live up to the music behind it... ;-)

They used the Bond theme a lot in TND because of the lack of it in GE

Shark

HMBFF said:
IMO David Arnold is an average Bond composer: he isn't great but he isn't bad either. I've enjoyed his scores, mostly QOS ('Field Trip' is absolutely delicious and 'Crawl, End Crawl' is the best end credits music track of any Bond film).

Crawl, End Crawl was composed by Four Tet (AKA Kieran Hebden), not David Arnold.

JamesPage

The golden rule with Bond is never assume you're coming back, and never say you're doing it unless you've actually signed pen to paper. Many of the current regulars have said this. And they don't break the rule. Except Dame Judi ;)

karatemanchan37

My vote goes to Thomas Newman.

nethegauner

I want Arnold back for "Skyfall", uhm . . . Bond 23, I mean. It his him whom my vote goes to. Period.

Now, wait a second---voting has started already . . ?

;-)

ZorinIndustries

EDITED

nethegauner

ZorinIndustries said:
David Arnold is doing the score for the next Bond film. Why the suggestion he is not?

OK---now You got me confused. Where does that come from? Didn't he, Arnold, say himself on Twitter that he did not know if he were to score Bond 23?

shadowonthesun

ZorinIndustries said:
Why the suggestion he is not?

Because he's unpopular. And if there is even the remotest chance that he will not score the film, people will take it.

Samuel001

Shark said:

HMBFF said:
IMO David Arnold is an average Bond composer: he isn't great but he isn't bad either. I've enjoyed his scores, mostly QOS ('Field Trip' is absolutely delicious and 'Crawl, End Crawl' is the best end credits music track of any Bond film).

Crawl, End Crawl was composed by Four Tet (AKA Kieran Hebden), not David Arnold.

According to the Quantum Of Solace end credits it was "written by David Arnold".

shadowonthesun said:

ZorinIndustries said:
Why the suggestion he is not?

Because he's unpopular. And if there is even the remotest chance that he will not score the film, people will take it.

No. It's because on Twitter Arnold has commented he doesn't know if he's scoring Bond 23 yet. Though of course many would like someone else.

PanchitoPistoles

JamesPage said:
The golden rule with Bond is never assume you're coming back, and never say you're doing it unless you've actually signed pen to paper. Many of the current regulars have said this. And they don't break the rule. Except Dame Judi ;)

Why is it written at the end of every Bond 23 article that Arnold will return like it was a fact, if even Arnold himself is not sure yet whether he will score Bond 23?

ZorinIndustries said:
David Arnold is doing the score for the next Bond film.

How can you be so sure if Arnold wrote this just 2 days ago:

http://twitter.com/#!/DavidGArnold/status/123159050312617984

Samuel001

Maybe Arnold can't say anything until next month? A random clause in a new contract? Just a random guess on my part.

EDIT: I love this picture Arnold has recently tweeted:

:-))

JWESTBROOK

Samuel001 said:
Maybe Arnold can't say anything until next month? A random clause in a new contract? Just a random guess on my part

I don't think the contract would have him lie though. Just have him not say anything at all.

Dummo7

I am a John Barry junkie but in his absence I have been listening to CR and QOS scores and becoming hooked. They have complexities that emerge through repeated listening. DA is welcome to continue and grow as far as I am concerned.

haserot

I for one don't mind Arnold - he has grown as a Bond composer and you can hear it.. much like how Barry had grown from From Russia With Love through The Living Daylights.... his fault, to many, is that he doesn't use a lot of the melodies from the title theme itself, like Barry did.. i've noticed that Barry recycled a lot of the melodies with the theme into the score - or vice versa - he recycled a lot of the melodies in the score, in the title theme.... I believe there were only 2 scores written by Arnold, where he also wrote/composed the title theme - those being The World Is Not Enough and Casino Royale.. in both those songs, you hear a lot more of the same melody through out both the title song and the score - thus having a better connection.. With Tomorrow Never Dies, he helped write and compose "Surrender" which is the melody you hear more through the film than Sheryl Crow's song.. and to my knowledge, he had no association with Die Another Day, nor Another Way To Die...

bottom line, we were spoiled with Barry - it's not often that an Academy Award winning composer scores multiple films in your franchise.... Arnold is a fine composer - and I don't wish him to leave the franchise unless it's on his terms... but should he go - then I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be excited to see who would be next in line.

shadowonthesun

Samuel001 said:
According to the Quantum Of Solace end credits it was "written by David Arnold".

Oh, but "Crawl, End Crawl" is a decent track, so Arnold obviously didn't have anything to do with it. Or at least people will tell you, despite not having researched it.

DarthDimi

I can't say I'm an Arnold hater. His music has grown onto me. However, I can't say I'm very enthusiastic about the man either. He keeps letting me down in several tracks throughout all of his Bond scores. In fact, I mostly prefer his non-Bond scores. His Bond scores to me are like a pizza from which I need to remove stuff before it has an overall good taste. Barry used to serve me meals where all ingredients tasted excellent, meals that were well seasoned and where each bite I took gave me an ecstatic feeling of joy. Arnold's scores are more like a pick-and-choose thing. Sure, there's good stuff in them but there's also a lot of things I don't like to be found in them.

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