Quick Big Mi6 Music Score Ranking Game

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  • I did not actually have NSNA in my bottom 5, but neither did I rank it in that highest most #20th spot. The "jazzy eurovibes" as you so perfectly put it, @GoldenGun, and the cool renditions of the main theme are what rescued this one from the bottom for me, while the clunky jazz-action tracks are what prevented me from placing it any higher.
  • Last for me as well. Not a big surprise.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,378
    NSNA would probably win a few spots with a better soundtrack. I watched the movie a few months ago after a very long gap and I was shocked how much I disliked the score. For example the final confrontation between Bond and Largo under water is a bit boring in genereal but it is even much worse with that awful music. Or the track when Bond and Domino try to escape by horse: it feels completely out of place (for my ears).
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    Last spot for me, too.
  • BennyBenny In the shadowsAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 14,813
    Last spot for me too, no surprise there. It drags NSNA down considerably because of the sound track.
    The fact that so many have put it last only goes to show how bad it is regarded.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,449
    Last spot for me as well. Legrand wrote a decent enough score for Ice Station Zebra but clearly didn't understand Bond. I'm not saying he should have just copied Barry, but this score feels 15 years out-of-date and not at all suited for a film with action and tension. His score makes the film even worse than it already is. Right before and during the motorcycle chase his music pulls me out of the film. I keep asking myself when De Funes, Bourvil or Benny Hill is going to show up. Like most of this film, the music is just 'off'.
  • Posts: 928
    Nothing personal in my last place ranking of NSNA score. Legrand is a legendary composer, but his score would be more fitting for a loungy Jean-Paul Belmondo caper, and not a Bond film (even an unofficial one at that). That said, I have a soft spot for the single's B-side track, Une chanson d'amour.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    The score isn t really offensive or very bad. It s just bland and unimpressive.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    NSNA ranked last for me, as well. It has virtually nothing on offer for me and isn't really befitting the film itself.
  • edited June 2021 Posts: 6,844
    NSNA would probably win a few spots with a better soundtrack. I watched the movie a few months ago after a very long gap and I was shocked how much I disliked the score. For example the final confrontation between Bond and Largo under water is a bit boring in genereal but it is even much worse with that awful music. Or the track when Bond and Domino try to escape by horse: it feels completely out of place (for my ears).

    Well, it was actually out of place. Kershner didn’t like the original music Legrand had scored for that part so he used music that had been intended for elsewhere in the film (not that the switcherooed track was any good either, of course). Kershner actually said on the DVD commentary that the score lets the rest of the film down. NSNA being the first one out is no surprise really. The score's lows are awfully low.
    Nothing personal in my last place ranking of NSNA score. Legrand is a legendary composer, but his score would be more fitting for a loungy Jean-Paul Belmondo caper, and not a Bond film (even an unofficial one at that). That said, I have a soft spot for the single's B-side track, Une chanson d'amour.

    That is a lovely song. I didn't factor any songs, even non-title ones, into my ranking of the scores, but the instrumental part of "Une chanson d'amour" is similar to some of the better parts of NSNA's score.

  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,378
    Ha, didn't know that the Kershner disliked the score hinself. Thanks for background information @Some_Kind_Of_Hero
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    edited June 2021 Posts: 7,314
    Count me in with those who placed this at the bottom. If there was any Bond film that could've benefited from a better score it was certainly this one. Out of place is a great term to describe a lot of it.

    Still, it has its moments. The part where Bond and Domino dance has always captured my attention since first viewing. I don't outright hate the score, just wish it had been used for another film more fitting, as many of you have pointed out.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Anyone have a clue or inclination as to what's next? I have SP in the next spot.

    I'm not sure but we're certainly in alignment there. I could see it being CR '67, simply because it's "unofficial" and a lot of folks around here seem to rank that, NSNA, etc. in a similar way solely because they aren't official installments, but SP is in my next spot, as well.
  • edited June 2021 Posts: 6,844
    Spectre places toward the bottom for me, especially as a good deal of its climax is Skyfall's interminably droning "The Moors" track on loop. But Newman's poignant Madeleine theme does earn it points as far as I'm concerned.

    CR '67 does have some fun parts and some lovely parts, but the silliness is rather too much for me to enjoy the score as much as I do most other James Bond scores. Listening to CR '67, I at times feel like po-faced Tommy Lee Jones saying, "I cannot sanction your buffoonery."
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    I love The Moors track so much, it's the only thing that saved SP from being dead last for me - reusing a previously offered track that I really enjoyed. If not for that, it might've hit last, like many other categories of the film do for me.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,378
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Anyone have a clue or inclination as to what's next? I have SP in the next spot.

    I would also say SP deserves to be next. Uninspired and often simply a boring score. The first part of the PTS had great music, though.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,378
    Birdleson wrote: »
    SP has that one glorious moment where the music from the title track floods in, but it is never picked up again.

    I also like the melody of the title track used again after the train fight and I like it when the music kicks in right in the middle of that fight. Not sure if there is another part that stood out for me. :-?
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    I had CR '67 second from bottom, just below Dr No.
  • BennyBenny In the shadowsAdministrator, Moderator
    Posts: 14,813
    SP is next for me. Too similar to SF for me.
  • Creasy47 wrote: »
    I love The Moors track so much, it's the only thing that saved SP from being dead last for me - reusing a previously offered track that I really enjoyed. If not for that, it might've hit last, like many other categories of the film do for me.

    It has a neat sound, but it does go on (for me at least). I do like those big Thunderballesque brass screams that blare over the Thames chase.
    Birdleson wrote: »
    Anyone have a clue or inclination as to what's next? I have SP in the next spot.

    I would also say SP deserves to be next. Uninspired and often simply a boring score. The first part of the PTS had great music, though.

    "Los Muertos Vivos Estan" was a great way to open the film. One of Spectre's better cues.
    Birdleson wrote: »
    SP has that one glorious moment where the music from the title track floods in, but it is never picked up again.

    Another standout moment. A bit over-the-top as used in the film, but memorable and very nicely orchestrated.
    I had CR '67 second from bottom, just below Dr No.

    Dr. No is another I'm expecting will turn up soon. The James Bond theme aside (which, let's be honest, turns up in every film), Monty Norman's clunky 50s monster movie stock library cues are embarrassing next to, well, any other score in the series.
    Benny wrote: »
    SP is next for me. Too similar to SF for me.

    The repeating of too many cues from Skyfall—a good enough score in its own right—was the most disappointing aspect of Spectre. Each Bond film should have its own unique identity, and the individuality of the music is a big part of that.
  • Posts: 2,400
    Thank God.

    I know these things are (technically) subjective(?) but the NSNA score is an abomination. I mean, I don't think the non-EON films really even count in general and I'm conflicted about even including them in these rankings, but this is a case where this is a full head below any other "contestant". I said it earlier in the thread, but this is one of the worst scores in movie history.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 6,760
    After that trashing, let's go onwards and have a look at our least popular EON entry:

    SPECTRE
    Music composed by
    THOMAS NEWMAN

    91odCKz9IdL._SL1500_.jpg

    Nowhere near the embarrassment of NSNA but still a pretty poor showing for Newman's second turn, 12 members gave it a bottom 5 notation, including one last place.

    Taking the unofficial entries out of the equation for a moment, SP also received the most bottom 2's from the EON's, 7 in total.

    Its best finishes were two 10th places, one 11th place and also one 15th spot.

    The original music of SP received 70 points in total.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,449
    I don't think this should be the worst of the EONs, but then, the competition is pretty tough in this game. ;-) I've always appreciated this score more than SF's, and that's also part of the reason, I guess, why I like the film better than SF. It is an ambient score rather than a theme-heavy one, but there are times when soft strings deliver romantic cues and even the action feels a bit better orchestrated than the blows and punches from SF's score. Either way, this was to be expected, but I had this score just a little bit higher.
  • MonsieurMerciMonsieurMerci France
    Posts: 98
    Except the opening track featuring the Tambuco percussion ensemble of Mexico, SP's score is forgettable to me
  • I had the SP score at #11, it's repetitive and it's got the same cues as SF but that's always sat well with me. I understand why it ends up here but I think it suits the tone of the film in some places (like the anticlimactic finale), trying to inject some life into it, so I respect what they were trying to do there. Still, I wish they hadn't made the lazy decision to use the same cues as SF. Presumably that was Mendes's decision.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    A bit of an earlier exit than I had preferred (I had it 21st) but I'm not surprised. To me, there's enough quality original material here to elevate it above the bottom five. However, there's no question that the recycling of SF's music was absolutely unacceptable.
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    edited June 2021 Posts: 1,665
    I had the SP score at #11, it's repetitive and it's got the same cues as SF but that's always sat well with me. I understand why it ends up here but I think it suits the tone of the film in some places (like the anticlimactic finale), trying to inject some life into it, so I respect what they were trying to do there. Still, I wish they hadn't made the lazy decision to use the same cues as SF. Presumably that was Mendes's decision.

    I think I had it around number 10, and was surprised to find it there.

    It is, as you say, a very ambient score, but I think it suits the somewhat ghostly atmosphere of the movie quite well and it's grown on me quite a bit. I even enjoy listening to the soundtrack album. Some of the recycling works thematically, but obviously it'd be nice if it were all new. But nothing here is as egregious as terrible Dr No cues coming back for FRWL.

    I'm not shocked to see it rank this low, as the more intense critics of Spectre tend to hold every aspect of it as being the Worst Thing Ever. And if someone doesn't like ambient scores for their Bond films (which is quite understandable), that's also gonna hurt it, though I suspect Skyfall will do quite a bit better.

    I'll only be disappointed if Dr No doesn't show up within the next two. That's the only one that, to my ears anyway, is actually badly done even on a technical level. The haphazard editing of the Bond theme is shocking in places. And the less said about the hacky 1950s monster movie cues, the better. It's the only EON Bond score I actually dislike.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    No. 10 for me. Obviously one of its biggest fans, I think it s marvelous.

    Second to last for me was GE, which has some really nice tracks, but most of it is pretty boring.
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,372
    I'm also in alignment so far. SP's score is garbage, only escaping the final spot due to the lazy reuse of a track I quite enjoyed in SF.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,009
    I had Spectre at #19. I was initially left quite cold by Newman's sophomore and still have a couple of issues with it, but I like it well enough now after spending some time with it. The love theme for Madeleine is quite gorgeous and Los Muertos Vivos Estan is flat out cool. It does have some rather functional, uninteresting action scoring though, unfortunately; the plane chase, for example, would have been improved greatly with better music.

    My favourite musical moment in the film is the use of Vivaldi during the scene where Lucia returns home and ends with Bond dispatching her assassins.
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