James Horner - The Voyage Home

[MakeshiftPython]

EDIT: Took down the first draft video, so it's just the final edit now.

I’m not sure where this would be better posted, so I’m just gonna put it here until someone can direct me toward a better section or thread.

I was watching ALIENS with an isolated track that had James Horner’s original compositions which James Cameron rejected. During the drop ship sequence this bombastic piece of music starts playing and I can see why Cameron felt it didn’t fit. It’s too jovial and adventurous for what’s supposed to be a series of sci-fi/horror films. However, it definitely felt in line with what he was already doing in Trek prior, so I decided to sync up this unused cue for fun, just to see how it would fit. And here are the results.

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Personally I like Rosenman’s score for TVH, I think it fits well for the tone of the film. I’m not suggesting my toying around is the better alternative. I just like doing this with movies and seeing how they work.

 

[Tosk]

I personally feel like it starts to work once they hit warp four, but before that it's like the score is kind of fighting the feel of the footage. The editing pace and the scoring rhythm don't match...I'm not good enough with words to describe exactly what I mean.

Don't take that as an attack, I too enjoy the "playing around" with stuff like this regardless of how I feel about the result.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Those are fair points. Having the music sync up with the warp build up was really the easiest part and I was surprised to see work as well as it does. But having the rest of the music overlaid with what came before was trickier. Like Spock talking about his computations, as there’s a lot of dialogue that you don’t want to drown out with music. I could just kick in the cue with Kirk ordering to prepare for warp.

It’s funny how a lot of the film itself is music free. And that’s not just because Nimoy spotting with the composer was more conservative with music placement, there’s a lot of “comedy” music reminiscent of Gerald Fried that he ultimately decided was not needed in the Final Cut.

 

[The Wormhole]

That piece of music was done up for Aliens? It totally feels like it's from TWOK.

Horner's music sure was repetitive.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

That piece of music was done up for Aliens? It totally feels like it's from TWOK.

Horner's music sure was repetitive.

I'm pretty sure his Klingon theme from Star Trek III is in there, too.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Which is oddly fitting, given the bird of prey.

Anyway, I fiddled with it again and… I think this works better. Part of the reason I placed the music as I did with the first was because in ALIENS the music abruptly stops the moment the drop ship takes off, and I went with that mindset having the music stop on cue with the BOP going out of sight when slingshotting around the sun. But shifting the music ahead, I think it works overall better, especially with the build up. That familiar Klingon theme reuse thus kicks off when Kirk orders Sulu to go at warp.

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I think that’s it for me. If anyone else wants to try Horner tracks on TVH might as well post it here. I think it’s more fun doing that with non-Trek scores. I’ve thought of what I could take from a 1982 Jerry Goldsmith score and place it in TWOK, but nothing stood out the way this instance did with Horner. Of course, Goldsmith was far more versatile and wasn’t as prone to rehashing cues the way Horner did.

 

[publiusr]

That piece of music was done up for Aliens? It totally feels like it's from TWOK.

Horner's music sure was repetitive.

Used here too

The Return of the King (1980 film) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Mage]

That piece of music was done up for Aliens? It totally feels like it's from TWOK.

Horner's music sure was repetitive.

There are several segments of the music from Aliens that feel like they come almost straight out of TWOK. I mean, of course every composer has a signature to their music, but some parts feel like straight copies. I don't mind, it works for both movies.

 

[Tosk]

James Horner never did let go of his "danger horns" or his "suspense piano key mash".

 

[JamesRye]

I quite like the music for IV, it's funny though about composers re-using their own scores. Check out how the Robocop 2 score towards the end is the same as IV's music!

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[The Wormhole]

There are several segments of the music from Aliens that feel like they come almost straight out of TWOK. I mean, of course every composer has a signature to their music, but some parts feel like straight copies. I don't mind, it works for both movies.

I remember watching The Perfect Storm, during a sequence in which the fishing boat is constantly being rocked by waves I thought "I don't get it, are wave crashing against the boat, or is the Reliant attacking?"

 

[Tosk]

Check out how the Robocop 2 score towards the end is the same as IV's music!

Leonard Rosenman hacked his way through heaps of scores.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

If I remember right, Rosenman actually addressed that. If a movie like THE HOBBIT flops at the box office, he’ll want to eventual reuse cues from that movie because since it flopped few people heard that music, so maybe they’ll hear it for the first time in this new one.

 

[Tosk]

So he just pretended every movie he ever scored was a flop I guess.

I love this quote from him which simultaneously shits on Basil Poledouris' score for RoboCop while stroking himself for his Robo2 work.

"I thought the score for the first film was so absolutely dreadful. There was no sense of the orchestra, no sense of drama. It was just a dopey, lousy score and it just didn't work. I'm not a fan of Poledouris. The end credits, which is the best opportunity for any composer, was just pasted together. My end title is a real piece of music, and the middle part is something very different from most film scores."

For anyone who may not remember, Rosenman's score includes a bunch of voices chanting "Ro-bo-Ccopppppp!" Stirring stuff.

 

[MakeshiftPython]

Wow, never saw that quote, yikes.

Though I do have to admit that I do like his ROBOCOP 2 score.

 

[Tosk]

I like parts of it quite a bit. Other parts I don't mind. And the occasional part I do not like at all.

 

[mb22]

If I remember right, Rosenman actually addressed that. If a movie like THE HOBBIT flops at the box office, he’ll want to eventual reuse cues from that movie because since it flopped few people heard that music, so maybe they’ll hear it for the first time in this new one.

You mean the 1978 animated Lord of the Rings, not The Hobbit.

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[MakeshiftPython]

I stand corrected. Never saw those animated flicks

 

[Firebird]

Of course, Goldsmith was far more versatile and wasn’t as prone to rehashing cues the way Horner did.

I can really only think of The Wind and the Lion, which Goldsmith mined for the Klingon theme in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and some of the emotional/heroic cues in The Final Frontier. Goldsmith wasn't one to reuse themes or melodies, rather orchestrations.

 

[Lord Garth]

For the most part I think using the Aliens soundtrack for TVH works. It feels more in-line with TWOK and TSFS... but it definitely feels a lot different from the TVH I've known since I was a kid.

I can only see this music working in the 23rd Century scenes. When they're in the 20th Century, I can't imagine it fitting.