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Goldeneye Score by Eric Serra: Severely Underrated?

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  • 00Beast00Beast
    Posts: 4,762
    YES! Highly under-rated! The GoldenEye soundtrack is one of the reasons why I am such a huge fan of Bond and have the 1995 release as my favorite of the 22! It's so dark, brooding, and sinister, and it fits exactly perfectly with the movie. Every track works to its scene's advantage, especially the opening pre-title sequence. The soundtrack almost makes the PTS as good as it is! And the tank chase, man oh man, the soundtrack certainly adds extra supsense and excitement to an already classic scene!
  • oo7oo7
    Posts: 1,068
    I was actually rather annoyed that in Goldeneye reloaded they looked towards the games music instead of the actual score.
  • 00Beast00Beast
    Posts: 4,762
    oo7 wrote:
    I was actually rather annoyed that in Goldeneye reloaded they looked towards the games music instead of the actual score.

    Yes, I agree with you, that really hacked me off. There was no reason for that at all!
  • 001001
    Posts: 1,575
    I don't think it's underrated at all.
    It's very average.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    "The Goldeneye Overture"
    "We Share The Same Passions"
    "The Severnaya Suite" (recycled in 'Thats What Keeps You Alone')
    "Run, Shoot, and Jump"

    these 4 tracks are the only noteworthy songs to come off this soundtrack...

    the rest i feel is just a jumbled mess of failure - and such tracks like "Ladies First" and "A Pleasent Drive in St. Petersburg" are downright unlistenable - thank god the producers opted to swap that score in that Tank/St. Petersburg scene.. thats arguably the film's trademark scene, and Serra's score would've completely undermined it....
  • imranbecksimranbecks Singapore
    Posts: 972
    Any insights as to why they used Eric Serra in the first place back then when they were producing Goldeneye? Wasn't there a better composer around back then? At the time, there were the likes of Jerry Goldsmith and Hans Zimmer, and not forgetting David Arnold whom they later used after GE onwards. Why did they go with Eric Serra?
  • RisicoRisico
    Posts: 97
    imranbecks wrote:
    Any insights as to why they used Eric Serra in the first place back then when they were producing Goldeneye? Wasn't there a better composer around back then? At the time, there were the likes of Jerry Goldsmith and Hans Zimmer, and not forgetting David Arnold whom they later used after GE onwards. Why did they go with Eric Serra?

    Thinking back to 1995, it was probably on the strength of his score for Leon (aka The Professional), with Jean Reno and Natalie Portman.
  • imranbecksimranbecks Singapore
    Posts: 972
    Hmmm... Sadly, it proved to be forgettable for GE..
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    imranbecks wrote:
    Hmmm... Sadly, it proved to be forgettable for GE..

    Not for me. I find it quite memorable, it seems a lot of fans do too - albeit in a positive or negative way.
  • nobodydoesitbetternobodydoesitbetter
    Posts: 1,021
    imranbecks wrote:
    Hmmm... Sadly, it proved to be forgettable for GE..

    Its definately an unforgettable score....for all the wrong reasons......

  • nobodydoesitbetternobodydoesitbetter
    edited October 2012 Posts: 1,021
    Its hard to imagine that Serra wrote this piece to accompany the tank chase. What was he thinking?...Luckily someone made a quick phonecall and got John Altman (i believe) to rescore this scene...

  • FromCanadaWithLoveFromCanadaWithLove Canada
    Posts: 612
    Barry's scores are timeless. As are Arnold's (to a point). Serra's, on the other hand, is very dated.

    And @nobodydoesitbetter, that's a really tragic score. It's a good thing it was left out. It feels like it should be part of an old Sega Genesis game.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,350
    Some of the score is top notch but much (like the track above) leaves a lot to be desired. Serra was way off target.
  • nobodydoesitbetternobodydoesitbetter
    Posts: 1,021
    AS anyone heard the rejected score by composer Michael J Lewis?..I did read somewhere that he had written some music for GE but it was rejected. Don't know if this is true or not.
  • SirHenryLeeChaChingSirHenryLeeChaChing
    edited October 2012 Posts: 3,494
    nobodydoesitbetter wrote:
    AS anyone heard the rejected score by composer Michael J Lewis?..I did read somewhere that he had written some music for GE but it was rejected. Don't know if this is true or not.

    I never heard this one, but I'll wager it was as least as good as what Serra delivered. WHAT WAS HE THINKING???????????????????
  • DRush76DRush76
    Posts: 533
    In my opinion, the movie's score and theme song sucked.
  • oo7oo7
    edited October 2012 Posts: 1,068
    http://youtubedoubler.com/5mnG
    try that
    mute the left one
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    nobodydoesitbetter wrote:
    Its hard to imagine that Serra wrote this piece to accompany the tank chase. What was he thinking?...Luckily someone made a quick phonecall and got John Altman (i believe) to rescore this scene...


    Jesus Christ I think that might be even worse than Ladies First and the end titles!

    It sounds like a 15 year old in his bedroom has knocked it up on a Bontempi organ.

    Poor old EON must have wished they could have got somebody else in but they must have spent all the money on Serra and it was too costly to rescore the whole film so they spent what they could afford on the main the set piece of the film and had to leave the DB5 chase and the end credits.

    Do EON not have recourse to the courts for breach of contract because if I turned in such shoddy work I wouldnt be paid simple as that.

    Then again you reap what you sow. In 1995 John Barry was still scoring films so after a 6 year hiatus (8 for John) they should've just paid him whatever he wanted to ensure Bond came back in style.

    Then again Leon is a superb score so who could have known that in between scoring that and GE Serra had gone stone deaf and replaced all his instruments with some pans and a wooden spoon.

  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited October 2012 Posts: 11,189
    TheWizardOfIce wrote:
    nobodydoesitbetter wrote:
    Its hard to imagine that Serra wrote this piece to accompany the tank chase. What was he thinking?...Luckily someone made a quick phonecall and got John Altman (i believe) to rescore this scene...


    Jesus Christ I think that might be even worse than Ladies First and the end titles!
    It sounds like a 15 year old in his bedroom has knocked it up on a Bontempi organ.

    It is by far. It's the only track I don't like and the one I immediately skip when it comes on.

    I'd rather listen to Ladies First several times than that mess!
  • JWESTBROOKJWESTBROOK
    Posts: 5,745
    What on earth is that chorus? Sounds like someone with throat cancer falling down stairs.
  • BritishChap007BritishChap007
    edited October 2012 Posts: 555
    I tend to dislike the Goldeneye score because it lacks that Bond touch; largely because it is devoid of any Barry influences. But it is certainly more inspired than TND and DAD and I appreciate it for what it attempted to accomplish.

    Meanwhile, Rare's take on Eric Serra's Goldeneye sound in the 64 game is one of the most legendary, Bond-esque collections of music, in my mind.
  • nobodydoesitbetternobodydoesitbetter
    Posts: 1,021
    oo7 wrote:
    http://youtubedoubler.com/5mnG
    try that
    mute the left one

    Its still awful...even more so with the images on screen.

  • petergreenhill5petergreenhill5
    Posts: 824
    I really like 'The Experience Of Love'. A gorgeous, moody song by Serra and a great way to end the movie. No, it wasn't Bondish in the classic sense but was an honest attempt to move in a new direction. Have another listen, you may like it.



  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    PeterGreenhill wrote:
    I really like 'The Experience Of Love'. A gorgeous, moody song by Serra and a great way to end the movie. No, it wasn't Bondish in the classic sense but was an honest attempt to move in a new direction. Have another listen, you may like it.



    Shocking. Positively shocking.

    The funniest thing I've read on here since Baltimore stated that Genesis would do a better job than Adele.
  • GetafixGetafix
    edited October 2012 Posts: 11,425
    Probably the worst score in the entire history of the series.

    So bad it makes you really appreciate David Arnold.

    Watching GE is perhaps the only time I can ever remember sitting through a film and actually thinking, 'my God, this music is indescribably awful and ruins almost every scene'.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited October 2012 Posts: 11,189
    What's wrong with this?:



    I find it very soothing to listen to.

    Or this?



    or this?



    They suit the scene's they're attached to just fine.
  • GetafixGetafix
    Posts: 11,425
    I sat through GE in the cinema cringeing throughout. Normally I don't really notice the music in a film unless its particularly good. In this case it was the opposite. Awful music that distracts and detracts throughout. Truly awful.

    Most of it is painful to listen to but that bad car chase with Onatop is the total pits.
  • GMSkarkaGMSkarka
    Posts: 21
    Serra's score -- especially tracks like "Ladies' First" -- was like something out of a wacky French caper film, not Bond.
  • SirHenryLeeChaChingSirHenryLeeChaChing
    Posts: 3,494
    That "We Share The Same Passions' sounds like elevator muzak. All the romantic stuff here does. None of Serra's music identifies GE as a Bond film short of when the Bond theme plays, it's all a trite and atonal mess of ill fitting notes and chords. There's a big difference writing music for a Bond film as opposed to a Besson film, something he obviously didn't get.
  • brinkeguthriebrinkeguthrie Piz Gloria
    Posts: 1,400
    The worst ever. Tho only thing that worked was the teaser trailer which wasn't on the original album.
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