Cool News
Samples From John Ottman's SUPERMAN RETURNS Score Now On-line!!
The folks over at soundtrack.net have posted their exclusive “First Listen” of John Ottman’s SUPERMAN RETURNS score.
You can CLICK HERE to hear the mighty Ottman go retro…but not retro.
I’ve seen some Talkbackers questioning whether Ottman is up to following in John Williams’ enormous footsteps. It’s difficult to know for certain based on these limited sound snippets, but I think the music featured here pretty damn impressive.
If nothing else, it certainly seems to capture the passion and spirit of vintage Williams, which…in itself…is no small accomplishment. I, for one, really MISS vintage Williams.
Of course, as far as I’m concerned, almost anything should be an improvement over Ken Thorne’s adaptations for SUPERMANs II & III – which always struck me as as being arranged for, and performed by, a Middle School band (and recorded by technology from the 1940s).
Ottman’s SUPERMAN RETURNS score will be released on June 27, 2006. Can’t wait to hear the whole thing!
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I made a similar comment the other day; and I have to agree that whatever orchestra Ottman is using (does anyone know?), it sounds remarkably close to the London Symphony Orchestra circa 1978!
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And after years and two different online handles...what an empty, meaningless honor it is!
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May 31, 2006 10:02:56 PM CDT
Superman2 obviously had a much smaller piece orchestra
by iamjack'suserid
...to deal with. It wasn't entirely Thorne's fault; in fact, there was potential in his cues. I'd love for them to go back and have Williams recompose the music and reconduct with a much larger orchestra for the new edit of Superman II due out this year. Even now I don't think Ottman's orchestra has what Williams had with the LSO back in '78.
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All the tracks sound fantastic, my favorite has to be "Saving The World" and "Reprise". Can't wait to see the film.
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I was 5 years old in 1978,,,that was the first time I ever had to stand in line to see amovie(SUPERMAN)When I seen the first teaser trailer for Superman returns(just the "S" logo),but heard the John Williams theme, a tear came to my eye..They Have to use that opening theme...It IS Superman..It would be like the Star Wars movies opening without the Classic music..That music is as much part of Supes as is the Cape And Red Boots.
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...they should have just played the Benny Hill theme song in a continuous loop. That would have been fun. Seriously, can't wait for this flick!!
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And that's all I have to say about that.
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That other guy's insipid noodlings stick out like a sore thumb.
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The main theme seems to lack that urgency that the original had.
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Sounds good. I was sold after "Bank Job" and "You're not One of Them". I hope the rest of the album reveals itself as the years best surprise the way "The Incredibles" arguably did.
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Because they could say "ni!" instead.
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Yeek!
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is that like Miss Universe?
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Bitch didn't put out or anything.
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ok i know its superman and all, but no new theme? wtf
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I listened to these clips - ALL of them - and I found myself "conducting" my orchestra in much the same was I would while listening to Rhapsody in Blue by G. Gershwin. As a musician, I can tell by the usage of motifs and phrasing that he is NOT trying to be J. Williams (who, by the by, I have great respect for, but he's starting to get a bit repetative ... "War of The Worlds" was a 'little' better, but not up to par with his works circa 1977-1983). Instead Ottman has made a good effort to "borrow", which is what a good musician will do - admit it ... you can determine which influences a particular composer has when piecing together his score. It has been said "you can only write what you know" - I think it's true, and especially in this case ... I hear a lot of Mahler (hence, the use of the Mahler's Hammer), and I also hear a lot of Gustav Holst. I found only ONE weak spot, but ... I'll have to wait until I see it on context to truly judge it. See ya at the theatres.
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I don't recall the so-called "Personal Theme" in any of the films, and from the text, I'm inclined to believe that it's a common motif throughout the film - so, I am under the impression and ... pardon my arrogance ... assumption that there IS indeed a new theme here, and it pertains to Superman directly.
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And he still does it better than those who are paying homage to his work. However, from what I have heard of this soundtrack, it is good. They should have just used Williams, since he seems to have caught a second wind recently and is writing like a champ.
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Never does. And I don't think that the orchestra had much to do with Supe II and III (and IV)'s musical crappiness. It was probably more to do with the dull, disinterested bloke that composed 'em.
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Otman's score seems pretty rousing from an overall standpoint, he's better at this type of stuff than many of his peers, but, up to William's level for his work on the original score? not even close. Superman is arguably his best work, so I didn't expect Ottman to come close. It's serviceable...but after hearing the opening theme then Ottman's stuff, it's clearly obvious who's hit it out of the park and who didn't.
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So does the 'The People You Care For' sound like Danny Elfman. Especially with the piano. 'Rough Flight' reminds me of something from Harry Potter. This isn't a bad thing I'm just saying what it sounds like to me. The rest is pretty original sounding. Most tracks have this awe wonderment to them. 'Saving the World' sounds like it's gonna kick ass. It takes the main Superman theme and makes it something new. Using choir singers. Can't wait to hear that entire track. 'Reprise / Fly Away' samething. Just beautiful. I love the way WB & Singer establish that no matter what. William's theme will forever be Superman's theme. They don't even try to reimagine a new theme. You can't top William's Superman fanfare. No way no how. Very cool. 'Memories' tries to create some new type of theme for Superman. So far it's doing nothing for me. The rest of the ST seems very dramatic and somber. Overall I like what I heard tonight. It's great to see a modern movie where the soundtrack is so important and put in front. At least I hope that's the case. Let's see how all this music is used in the movie.
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what Hanz Zimmer could have done with Superman. I don't like Danny Elfman doing Spiderman. Hes the Tarantino of the Composer world. Fuck.
http://www.myspace.com/themoog71 -
While Ottman manages to keep the bombast of Williams score intact, I hear some very Xmen like cues in there. Heavy Brass and warbling violins when there should be crashing cymbals and blaring trumpets. And for the record I hated X3's score with the exception of the Dark Phoenix/Jean Grey theme. I really missed the main march. But that aside, I don't agree with not having the march appear in the film. Serving only as bookends is not enough. I remember after T3 when Marco Pastrami's god awful midi version of the Terminator Theme came on, I was beyond disgusted, not only did I sit through a 103 minute Terminator film without it's creator but I have to listen to a hackneyed signature music piece!? When that hero arrives on screen for things like "General! Would you care to step outside?" You need to have at least a tease of that fucking march so we know...it's really Superman. ....Superman thank god...I mean...GET HIM!
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There's nothing special about any of his scores (I certainly can't remember any of them), and his Superman score is just standing on the shoulders of Williams nearly 30 year old work. When I heard the choir crap, I thought it sounded like Elfman (as someone already pointed out).
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...goddamn, if this isn't more proof that this film is going to KICK ASS.
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I think a lot of "adapted" film/tv music is like that. DS9's title music was altered in... Season 4 I think. Faster, more percussion, more militaristic. It was amateurish though - it lost all sense of proportion or rhythm. The original version was better (if a little dull). Anyhoo, Superman! Woo!
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for stealing from other composers, but when you see people trying to copy him, you realise how good he actually is.
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Jun 01, 2006 4:33:57 AM CDT
HI-DEF new trailer 3 is up on yahoo movies to download
by mister mcclane
And you can save it and watch it a super amount of times.
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what is it? a weird transformers riff, or something ive never heard of?
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is supposed to be John Cusack from the famous scene in "Say Anything."
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The guy is alive and kicking. Use him.
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Where's that fun Lex Luthor theme from the original movie? I used to love that stuff.
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March of the Villains. Loved that.
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Imagine, if you will, that you were a musician in the London Symphony Orchestra in the mid-to-late 1970's. Especially First Chair Trumpet or Violin. That, my friend, would have given me a king-hell tentpole. I found the latest CD release of the Star Wars soundtrack to be lacking the musician listings of the LSO recording session, like the one I had on LP as a kid did. Anyone know a link to a listing of these musicians?
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Is just waaaay too campy. I doesn't play into Spacey's Lex. Not to mention Otis isn't in the movie. I hear Lex does have his own theme in one of the tracks, we just didn't hear it in the samples.
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...someone kicked Ottman's ass and told him to make sure he used Williams' classic themes. I'd hate to see a repeat Beltrami's arrogance in T3 where he only refferred to the classic theme once in the end credits.
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Spidey pics!
http://www.xfm.net/posts/395 -
good job AICN!
i cant believe that you scooped this! wow, you guys are awesome! -
PLEASE mix that somewhere into the end credits!!!
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I don't quite get Harry's new animated GIF on the main page. Yeah I know it's from Say Anything...but aside from that...WTF?
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ABSOLUTELY FUCKING AWESOME MUSIC.
Nice they acknowledged there was no way on the planet anyone was going to come up with a new superman theme better than Williams one. Wish I was 10 years old going to see this. -
But Boromir is the new Hitcher
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The Superman theme is as much a part of Superman lore now as the S and the red cape. To begin the movie with anything BUT Williams' theme would be a travesty. I hope Singer even does the credits flying in and off screen thing.
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Sounds like a re-mix of the original Police Academy theme.
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...those weren't bad at all. This might just work.
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...on the overall familiarity of everything we've seen (and now heard) from this film so far. It's really not enticing in the least. And I'm betting they use WIlliams' theme at the very end of the film, softly under the big reveal that the kid is actually Supes'. It'll be just like the five notes they played softly when baby Kal El hoisted the truck up above his head, followed by the twinkly three-note retort.
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In the vein of Captain Caveman, Augie Doggie, Spike and Tyke, Pink Panther, etc., now comes Supes with a tiny version of himself. Watch as Supey Jr. has random misadventures, trying to live up to dear old dad's name. Coming to Kids WB this Fall!
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seems like dvd quality stuff..does'nt have the majesty williams could have brought..WHY NOT USE WILLIAMS??WHY????????
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Okay, Hightower ... Or is it Captain Reed? ... NOTHING reminded me of Police Academy - I'm baffled at how you came to that connection, but we all hear different things so I'm not saying it's outside the realm of possibility.
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Yea...I'm in to the hype big time. The Supes site is money baby.
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God forbid we actually get hyped for a movie directed by a man who's directed nothing but quality work, who I might add has said that doing a Superman movie was a dream job of his. It's such a shame that we're all so hyped over a movie where almost every single thing we've seen about it has been of high quality.
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with my Superman March. Hell yea...I'm into the hype baby. I haven't felt this hyped since ID4!
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John Williams 10 John Ottman 0
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I admit that the Usual Suspects was a top notch film and maybe even the second X-men movie, if you subtract the
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that's it -- just a "yawn". Loud horns and emotive music is not gonna make Brian Routh Superman. I'm sorry. He's just NOT built for it, and no amount of choirs or strings or drums or anything else is going to make him into something he's not. Like I've said before. He'd have made a nice SuperBOY, but he's just NOT SuperMAN.
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...If Ottman didn't deliver at least medium usage of the familiar themes, then the score is going to fall VERY short on the ears of a lot of people. There are going to be folks not very happy with this. If we get money shots and no Superman March to tag with them, then this films glory has already gone 40% out the window.
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capture the essence of the moment/character in a simple, yet completely appropriate melody that you would find yourself humming the moment you left the theatre while simultaenously giving that melody an epic scale that gave the films a level of depth, texture, emotion and grandeur that were worthy of the high quality movies he wrote for... SW, Indy, Jurassic Park, Schindler's, Close Encounters, Superman etc. And he would also have themes weaving in and out referencing the moment/character that it belonged to thereby giving the movie goer subliminal audio cues to give the event on screen more depth. It wouldn't be completely fair to judge Ottman's work without hearing it in full and in context of the movie but so far the clips seem pretty "generic." Nothing overtly bad but also nothing particularly great and it might as easily work as the score for the next Uwe Ball flick. Ok, that was harsh. I'm sure it'll do it's part to raise tension, convey sadness etc just fine. I just don't expect to remember any of it after the credits roll.
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Shame really...Superman will always be linked to John Williams' scores. It's like someone tinkering with the classic coke taste, hoping the new formula is palatable to the masses.I admit there are some nice fizz present in Ottman's score, but his overall interpretation still falls flat. Blame John Williams.
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But all you guys will be caring about during the movie is bitching about the CG. You won't even give the soundtrack a second thought.
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I mean judging just from these snippets but that aside. I must again note just how sad these boards are ( I know I know "why do keep coming back"?) But really i am fully aware that some come here specifically to incite others with crys of "MEH" and such or general displeasure with any given topic but can people really be that depressed with everything that comes across their path? I mean nothings good enough. I can't imagine that I'm that far out of touch to like these things. For the record I just got back from X-Men and damn well liked it, better than 1st, up their with 2nd. I'll just concider myself lucky that I actually like things in life. I know there will be those who have a response to this just so they have the last word to which I say in advance "MEH". Beware the power of...Hey look cows!
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...dont like Ottman. Shut up. His X2 score was immense, and if anyone bothered to listen to 'Hide and Seek' score, they would know that too was very good. Even the Fantastic 4 theme was the best thing in the whole film! Another composer who is unfairly forgotten is Don Davis. Yes he did a great job on The Matrix films, BUT, if you listen to his score for Valentine you'll see the guy is great! Spend more time listening to scores people.
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At one point in 'Little secrets/Power of the Sun' it sounds like it's about to go into 'This Land' from the lion king. Listen to them both to see what I mean: http://www.lionking.org/sounds/MIDI/ThisLand-2.mid
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