NO TIME TO DIE (2021) - Discuss Hans Zimmer's Score

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  • GadgetMan wrote: »
    If the cues from SF didn't reappear in SP, Newman would have used more of the travelogue theme that appears in Crows Klinik, Secret Room & Safe house in different renditions to suit action scenes as well, as heard at the beginning of Safe House...then more of Madeleine's theme as well...since these were the new themes he created and his SP score would have been fondly remembered.

    Agreed, those are some of the best tracks on the score and uncoincidentally the most “Newman” sounding. I especially enjoyed the quieter themes that come back in Secret Room and when Bond and Madeleine part ways after the safe house. If we had more of that and less of Skyfall it would’ve made a world of difference, but Mendes fell in love with the temp score and the rest was history.
  • Posts: 501
    Hinx's subtle theme is probably my favourite thing of Spectre's score. That juxtaposition of the big menacing henchman and the subtle and delicate theme is something that just works. That and maybe the Vaticane portion.

    The only returning theme that is justified, IMHO, is Judi Dench's M's theme when she unexpectedly reappears.
  • MakeshiftPythonMakeshiftPython “Baja?!”
    Posts: 8,000
    I think reusing music cues that have a consistent theme works fine. M, Moneypenny, Q getting their little reprises. The cue for Skyfall lodge brought when Blofeld’s presence is near works as they represent Bond’s past.

    It’s stuff like “Someone Usually Dies” being reused for the Nine Eyes vote that makes no sense.

    I really wish Mendes didn’t fall in love with the temp score because that robbed us a whole new score just when Newman got more confident and playful.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    One thing about the Spectre score that rankles a little is actually his slight overuse of the Bond theme- I know lots of people complain that he doesn't use it enough, but in the first half of the film especially it feels like it gets a little reference almost every time Bond appears.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    edited September 2021 Posts: 4,247
    Yeah. Newman uses the Bond theme in different variations to end tracks like Vauxhall Bridge, L' Americain, Safe House & Detonation. But funny how Mendes didn't allow him use it in Tempus Fugit when it mattered more. Not that the scene was that great, but it was obviously a Bondian moment. David Arnold wouldn't have missed that, because even if the look of the Tsunami surf in DAD wasn't that great, Arnold blasted the Bond theme even more, probably because he knew the music would help the scene a bit. Imagine that scene scored with Tempus Fugit, Granborough road or Welcome to Scotland. It just shows how a good score can help elevate a film.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    I guess, I don't really feel the absence of the Bond theme in that bit. The only part of Spectre which I think could use it is the plane chase, but even then only in a couple of places.
  • Posts: 12,506
    Gonna order my copy on Friday!!! :-bd
  • Posts: 250
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    Yeah. Newman uses the Bond theme in different variations to end tracks like Vauxhall Bridge, L' Americain, Safe House & Detonation. But funny how Mendes didn't allow him use it in Tempus Fugit when it mattered more. Not that the scene was that great, but it was obviously a Bondian moment. David Arnold wouldn't have missed that, because even if the look of the Tsunami surf in DAD wasn't that great, Arnold blasted the Bond theme even more, probably because he knew the music would help the scene a bit. Imagine that scene scored with Tempus Fugit, Granborough road or Welcome to Scotland. It just shows how a good score can help elevate a film.

    The issue for me is he never really, as far as I can recall, uses the "swing" bit of the theme - he instead opts for the "morse code" fanfare for the Bondian moments like the bike going off the bridge in Skyfall or the helicopter sequence in Spectre
  • I pre-ordered my CD last year from Decca records... has anyone who also did that had any update on the CD actually shipping? Hopefully I'll get an update by Thursday - but it'd be very annoying to have pre-ordered for so long and then get it later than if I'd just gone to HMV! (First world problems I know)
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited September 2021 Posts: 14,861
    FourDot wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    Yeah. Newman uses the Bond theme in different variations to end tracks like Vauxhall Bridge, L' Americain, Safe House & Detonation. But funny how Mendes didn't allow him use it in Tempus Fugit when it mattered more. Not that the scene was that great, but it was obviously a Bondian moment. David Arnold wouldn't have missed that, because even if the look of the Tsunami surf in DAD wasn't that great, Arnold blasted the Bond theme even more, probably because he knew the music would help the scene a bit. Imagine that scene scored with Tempus Fugit, Granborough road or Welcome to Scotland. It just shows how a good score can help elevate a film.

    The issue for me is he never really, as far as I can recall, uses the "swing" bit of the theme - he instead opts for the "morse code" fanfare for the Bondian moments like the bike going off the bridge in Skyfall or the helicopter sequence in Spectre

    The swing bit is referenced as he walks over the digger into the train, for one- there may be others. I can't think of Arnold using it in Quantum though.
  • DoctorKaufmannDoctorKaufmann Can shoot you from Stuttgart and still make it look like suicide.
    Posts: 1,261
    seanmason wrote: »
    I pre-ordered my CD last year from Decca records... has anyone who also did that had any update on the CD actually shipping? Hopefully I'll get an update by Thursday - but it'd be very annoying to have pre-ordered for so long and then get it later than if I'd just gone to HMV! (First world problems I know)

    Amazon send me a message that I shall receive the CD by October 1st. In Germany, that is.
  • seanmason wrote: »
    I pre-ordered my CD last year from Decca records... has anyone who also did that had any update on the CD actually shipping? Hopefully I'll get an update by Thursday - but it'd be very annoying to have pre-ordered for so long and then get it later than if I'd just gone to HMV! (First world problems I know)

    Amazon send me a message that I shall receive the CD by October 1st. In Germany, that is.

    Yeah, we might be having the odd distribution problem here...
  • tqbtqb
    Posts: 1,022
    Could someone DM me the link? :)
  • edited September 2021 Posts: 820
    Still haven't heard the full score, but just saw the film.

    Can't do a full review, but some initial thoughts:
    • Wow. Just wow. Exactly what I dreamed of. (Distinctly) Hans Zimmer's take on (unmistakably) classic John Barry.
    • I don't think we've ever had a Bond score that moves so effortlessly between a ruthlessly contemporary/modern film sound and a retro, almost pastiche John Barry 1960s vibe. I've honestly dreamed of a Bond score like this, and now we have one.
    • There is so much cool ambient harmony stuff that just fits the film like a glove. I cannot wait to get my hands on some of those tracks.
    • I refuse to believe Hans and Steve Mazzarro came up with this in only a couple months. Way too much interesting stuff going on. I wonder what the real behind-the-scenes drama was there, and if they were secretly working on it before Dan Romer left the project.
    • The Bond theme is absolutely everywhere on this one. The vamp honestly feels like it underscores half the film. Always interesting and different, though. I never got tired of it.
    • Noticed Johnny Marr's guitar work a lot in the Matera scenes and "Back to MI6" -- but not really anywhere else. Didn't seem like a truly guitar-featuring score like Inception sort of was. Bit of an unexpected result given how much that was publicized.
    • The integration of NTTD's title theme in the score is magnificent. It serves as the film's romantic theme, and boy oh boy, does it ever work in a few of those moments.
  • Posts: 2,400
    My two main thoughts BEFORE hearing the score in isolation and only in the film itself are that this is the franchise's greatest score, and that, similar to All Time High, this is a Bond theme I'm not particularly fond of that is used GORGEOUSLY in the score.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    My two main thoughts BEFORE hearing the score in isolation and only in the film itself are that this is the franchise's greatest score,

    C’mon, it’s not that.
  • edited September 2021 Posts: 820
    mtm wrote: »
    My two main thoughts BEFORE hearing the score in isolation and only in the film itself are that this is the franchise's greatest score,

    C’mon, it’s not that.

    Feels weird saying this having only heard it in the film, but I will say: it works spectacularly well in said film.

    Greatest score in the series? Likely not. For me, I'm not sure that Goldfinger, OHMSS, YOLT and Casino Royale can ever be truly dethroned.

    But Zimmer's effort is a damn, damn good one and -- strangely -- almost specifically the precise one I've been hoping to hear for many years.

    I'm also shocked how humble of a work it is by Zimmer. It's definitively a Zimmer sound and score at times, but the way he completely gives himself over to the musical language and legacy of Bond was so comforting and inspiring. As he said at the premiere last night, "my heart was in this," and you can truly hear it. My heart was in it too.
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,586
    AgentM72 wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    My two main thoughts BEFORE hearing the score in isolation and only in the film itself are that this is the franchise's greatest score,

    C’mon, it’s not that.

    Feels weird saying this having only heard it in the film, but I will say: it works spectacularly well in said film.

    Greatest score in the series? Likely not. For me, I'm not sure that Goldfinger, OHMSS, YOLT and Casino Royale can ever be truly dethroned.

    But Zimmer's effort is a damn, damn good one and -- strangely -- almost specifically the precise one I've been hoping to hear for many years.

    I'm also shocked how humble of a work it is by Zimmer. It's definitively a Zimmer sound and score at times, but the way he completely gives himself over to the musical language and legacy of Bond was so comforting and inspiring. As he said at the premiere last night, "my heart was in this," and you can truly hear it. My heart was in it too.
    How much music in the film doesn’t feature on the OST, would you say?
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    AgentM72 wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    My two main thoughts BEFORE hearing the score in isolation and only in the film itself are that this is the franchise's greatest score,

    C’mon, it’s not that.

    Feels weird saying this having only heard it in the film, but I will say: it works spectacularly well in said film.

    Greatest score in the series? Likely not. For me, I'm not sure that Goldfinger, OHMSS, YOLT and Casino Royale can ever be truly dethroned.

    But Zimmer's effort is a damn, damn good one and -- strangely -- almost specifically the precise one I've been hoping to hear for many years.

    I'm also shocked how humble of a work it is by Zimmer. It's definitively a Zimmer sound and score at times, but the way he completely gives himself over to the musical language and legacy of Bond was so comforting and inspiring. As he said at the premiere last night, "my heart was in this," and you can truly hear it. My heart was in it too.

    Yeah, I didn’t massively enjoy listening to it as a separate score but I did definitely get the feeling it would work really well in the film.
  • edited September 2021 Posts: 820
    jake24 wrote: »
    AgentM72 wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    My two main thoughts BEFORE hearing the score in isolation and only in the film itself are that this is the franchise's greatest score,

    C’mon, it’s not that.

    Feels weird saying this having only heard it in the film, but I will say: it works spectacularly well in said film.

    Greatest score in the series? Likely not. For me, I'm not sure that Goldfinger, OHMSS, YOLT and Casino Royale can ever be truly dethroned.

    But Zimmer's effort is a damn, damn good one and -- strangely -- almost specifically the precise one I've been hoping to hear for many years.

    I'm also shocked how humble of a work it is by Zimmer. It's definitively a Zimmer sound and score at times, but the way he completely gives himself over to the musical language and legacy of Bond was so comforting and inspiring. As he said at the premiere last night, "my heart was in this," and you can truly hear it. My heart was in it too.
    How much music in the film doesn’t feature on the OST, would you say?

    As I still haven't heard the full score on its own, I can't say! Ha.

    Might have a better idea on Friday after I've purchased and listened to the whole thing.

    I will say (musical spoilers ahead, but no plot spoilers):
    • With my general knowledge of the tracks from reading other users' reviews of the full score, there don't appear to be any major portions of the film that aren't represented on the soundtrack.
    • There's a haunting musical accompaniment to the opening scene at the wintery house in Norway that I assume isn't on the soundtrack. It would be before "Matera" if it was. It's a musical sequence that's pure Zimmer, pure tension. People will want this one. (That scene is brilliant, btw -- Fukunaga comes out of the gate strong with his direction.)
    • There's a "real song"/source cue used in the wintery attack as well, to great atmospheric effect. And another one at the Cuban party that I didn't catch enough of to identify.
    • There must be more because I think the credits included references to them using at least 7 or 8 songs total.
    • One action/fight sequence that's fairly iconic in the trailers goes unscored as far as I can remember, and it's stronger for it. Great choice. Very classic Bond and appropriate for the setting.
    • The entire finale on Safin's base seemed much longer than the collective times on some of those album tracks, so I assume there is more music in that sequence that will be unreleased.
    • "Final Ascent" is not the final music in the film.
    • In general, Zimmer just seems to master "ambient spy harmonies" and uses them to back a lot of scenes in the film, much of which I assume just isn't on the soundtrack album in the neatly organized tracks they ultimately sold. So I'm guessing we've probably got at least an addition 40 minutes of that type of thing that we won't hear isolated yet.

    (Biggest spoiler, look away!) But this is the kind of stuff I nerd out about. The Bond vamp is everywhere in the score, but there's a particular piece of the Bond theme I love that Zimmer uses as a recurring motif in action moments. It's the "swing" section, and he gives it a low brass growl treatment that is both definitively Zimmer and yet also sounds like it could be straight out of Goldfinger. I've been waiting, literally, years as a Bond music fan for a composer to give that bit of the Bond theme that sort of treatment. And whooboy does it ever work. In fact, it's nearly identical to the way it's treated starting at 2:10 in Trailer 2:


  • Note: I just edited that post above to include one last bit that I nerded out about huge but required some more explanation. Hope it helps you hype. :)
  • I was incredibly fortunate to be at the Royal Albert Hall last night. Playing it safe here...
    The film is quite spectacular and there are many surprises in store. When you know the plot, the musical cues and nods to the Bond scores of old make a lot more sense. There is a musical moment at the end of the film which will stir even the most cynical heart. I've been thinking about it all day and can't wait to discuss with everyone when they've seen it!
  • Posts: 3,164
    For those wondering the credits are:

    Music by Hans Zimmer
    Score Producer: Steve Mazzaro
  • BondAficionadoBondAficionado Former IMDBer
    Posts: 1,884
    Feel bad for saying this but I thought the score was decent. It didn't sound anything like Arnold, which was what I was hearing from people beforehand. Also, Zimmer is sampling far too much from OHMSS. The placement was jarring at times. For instance, was there really a proper reason to play the OHMSS theme while M and Bond were having a chat? I guess what's missing from the score is originality. Although having said that I did appreciate the surprisingly frequent use of the JB theme. Use of the NTTD title song was good too. The action cues were a bit of a letdown though compared to previous films in the sense that they weren't particularly memorable. Perhaps I need to hear the tracks in isolation to be able to fully appreciate them as I've only heard it together with the film? It's the reason I'm still buying the soundtrack when it's released tomorrow.
  • goldenswissroyalegoldenswissroyale Switzerland
    Posts: 4,378
    Does someone know how much of the Score was written by Mazzaro? What exactly is he doing as score producer?
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 14,861
    David Arnold is in conversation with Mark Kermode about NTTD's score this Sunday evening on Scala Radio:

    https://planetradio.co.uk/scala-radio/shows/the-music-of-james-bond-with-david-arnold-and-mark-kermode/

    pwfmaxgsw50rbilkffrf.jpg
  • BondStuBondStu Moonraker 6
    Posts: 373
    I ADORED Hans Zimmer's score for this. ADORED it. I love the way he
    wove in elements of the Billie Eilish song, ESPECIALLY in a scene where Bond and Madeline kiss
    .
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,586
    antovolk wrote: »
    For those wondering the credits are:

    Music by Hans Zimmer
    Score Producer: Steve Mazzaro
    @antovolk how much of the score would you say isn’t featured on the OST?
  • edited September 2021 Posts: 252
    BondStu wrote: »
    I ADORED Hans Zimmer's score for this. ADORED it. I love the way he
    wove in elements of the Billie Eilish song, ESPECIALLY in a scene where Bond and Madeline kiss
    .

    Oh yes this is really beautiful. The Track is called "Home" on the OST

    @jake24

    The Beginning in Norway is missing. But there is maybe more
    The Matera Chase is a little bit different on the OST, that Bridge-Clip Music isn't featured on the OST.
    Also missing is the following part, but it's also missing in the movie i think. Tomorrow i see the movie again


  • DCisaredDCisared Liverpool
    Posts: 1,329
    Is it meant to be out today? Can't see it on Spotify
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