MovieChat Forums > Ladyhawke (1985) Discussion > Shocked by the music!

Shocked by the music!

posted 14 years ago by Antonio_G
29 replies | jump to latest

Ladyhawke has always been a movie I wanted to see, as far back as 1985 when it hit the cinemas. Somehow I never went to see it. And I also never rented it on video...
But it was always on my "want to see" list... Until today...
The movie is actually playing in the background and I'm writing this.
I am completely turned off by the music!
How on earth do some people like this soundtrack?! It must be the WORST soundtrack ever made! It sounds like the McGyver Theme meets The Bold & The Beautiful Theme and its just unsuitable for a fantasy flick!
I'm not watching more of this movie... I cannot get past the music!

You... are... my... lucky lucky lucky star

[–] Allycat_4 14 years ago

Agreed. My husband and I watched it yesterday and we couldn't get past the music. It is so cheesy and out of place. They should remaster the movie and replace the 80s synth music with something more appropriate.
The movie itself is good, but it is difficult to appreciate what you are seeing with music like that. Maybe people didn't notice the music as much when it came out in 1985.

[–] Antonio_G 14 years ago

They should replace the score thats true.
But whats strange is that Synth music works on films like Blade Runner or Near Dark, but here it totally backfires.
It's almost like the composers are making fun of the movie. That kind of score would be more suited on a Television cartoon show rather than a motion picture.
Whoever decided on the soundtrack got it wrong. All the way.

You... are... my... lucky lucky lucky star

[–] Druff (1796) 3 years ago

It doesn't seem that strange to me that synth music would be a perfect fit for a futuristic sci-fi movie set 40 years in the future or a modern horror movie, but would seem glaringly out of place in a fairy tale set in the middle ages.

[–] alucard1-1 14 years ago

I came here for just this reason. I've been a fan of the film since I saw it when it was first released. I haven't actually seen it in years and had totally forgotten the music.

It's odd to me, as a fantasy film.. this techno-synth style is such a failure here, and Tangerine Dream did such an awesome job for Legend...

My roommate, who had never seen the movie before, was also put off by the soundtrack. It seemed to me, that the soundtrack would have been more "appropriate" for a television series... lol

Peace

[–] estcst-3 14 years ago

Calling Tangerine Dream "techno-synth" is like calling The Beatles a pop rock band.

[–] Johnny_Wrong 13 years ago

Tangerine Dream's score for Legend was terrible, which is appropriate, as it was recorded in about 10 minutes for a butchered cut of the film.

Jerry Goldsmith's original score is a masterpiece and if more people had seen the proper cut it would have a WAY higher rating thatn it has.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 2 years ago

Actually, Ridley Scott replaced the TD soundtrack with with Jerry Goldsmith’s vastly superior ORIGINAL score when he released the Director’s Cut of Legend. It was like a 300 percent improvement.

[–] Scape (526) 2 years ago

What the fuck was Ridley Scott & the producers thinking when they denied Jerry Goldsmith’s original Legend score. It’s crazy to me.
I mean, I get it, synth was in at the time but it was a “classic fairy tale” style movie that needed a classic fairy tale type score.

I still have yet to see the Goldsmith version of the film but do own the film score. Which of course is great.

Goldsmith also got screwed around with by Ridley Scott on Alien. So this was the last straw for Goldsmith working with Ridley.
I think Ridley is one of those directors who just doesn’t know much about music end of film production.

[–] SCDeville 14 years ago

I guess this sountrack is one of those things you have to consider into the context. I saw this movie back there in the 80's and it became one of my favourite ones from that era. Whenever i think about it it comes to my mind the scene where Navarre is riding his horse through the fields in a sunset with Alan Parson's sinths dominating it all. It was just amazing to see that. I became an APP fan from there and I cherish my collection of vynils of that band.
But I have to admit that if I hadn't seen it then, I would probably agree with you now. It's one of those things that did't pass the test of time. A typical product of the 80's that make people laugh now.
Some people think that they should make a new score for it. I don't agree. Ladyhawke is the movie AND the sountrack. Its like changing Mona Lisa's background to make it modern. You like it, or not, as a whole.

[–] yeti_chic 14 years ago

Nope, it''s not entirely about context. It's a matter of personal preference. I was in high school when this film was released. I followed the making of the film beforehand and looked forward to viewing it. Upon experiencing it I thought the theme (not incidental) music embarrassing, Broderick was miscast but loved everything else.

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[–] przgzr 13 years ago

I don't agree. Ladyhawke is the movie AND the sountrack. Its like changing Mona Lisa's background to make it modern. You like it, or not, as a whole.

Great answer. This discussion is so close to the discussions that appear on so many boards (including this one) - "Who would you cast in a remake?".

Some people don't understand that movie is art, or don't understand what art is at all. They would change everything that doesn't fit into modern standards, and in few months change it again because the fashion would have changed. They'd replace Julie Andrews by Lady Gaga in Sound of Music, Laurel&Hardy tune by some D.J. work and Eminem would make soundtrack for Rio Bravo. Also, they would visit old museums, castles and churches if instead of the portraits of local former bishops, kings and aristocrats someone hanged portraits of prince Harry, Berlusconi and Bush/Obama. And '2B or not 2B', and 'Kingdom 4 a horse' is the only understandable way Shakespeare should be written to them.

[–] SCDeville 13 years ago

Lol, couln't agree more.

[–] Burk48917 (11365) 2 years ago

Movies are also entertainment, and we constantly improve our consumption of entertainment. We remaster movies and music, we have better projectors in theaters, we remaster video games, we recolor classic comic books, we update special affects, we add 3D technology...and, since it was mentioned, we are constantly modernizing Shakespeare, often with critical acclaim. You can get the mona losa printed on a lunchbox with a quirky smile.

So yeah, as long as you can still watch the original, it's fine to update something.

[–] VWstarwars 14 years ago

The music on a whole is not bad. There are some quite beautiful themes in it. Just because people have a cliche mindset on what should be the score of a fantasy/medevil movie does not mean that you can't do a film using stuff styled more contemporary. Really I feel like a bunch of "Lord of the Rings" type dorks are just wanting something to fit their stereotype of what a score should be for this type of film. Also, people wanting to stereotype Matthew Broderick into "Ferris Bueller" for every movie that he did back then . . . Give me a break and quit trying to pigeon hole everything.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] theshadowfax21 14 years ago

Gosh I'm happy I wasn't the only one who noticed this! I just finished watching it today, 26 years too late. So perhaps it's just that I'm seeing the movie out of context and in the wrong century, but seriously, how ridiculous was that music?! When I think of fantasy tales I think of Lord of the Rings or even Stardust. Both of these movies had phenominal soundtracks which gripped you and made you even more part of the movie. And Ladyhawke was full of 80's synthesizer music. I have never before been that distracted by a movie soundtrack. Something more serious would suit this movie far better.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] MrAleisterCrowley 11 years ago

I agree completely -- and as a huge fan of new wave "synth" myself, I hate seeing arguments made for bad music in film. The soundtrack is an inexcusably bad soundtrack, and it distracts from the film, which is a bad-filmmaking problem, not a "nobody can make comments about the music in films made prior to the present" problem. It is annoying that some posters are defending this monstrosity of a soundtrack based on the fallacious argument that "everything ever done in a film is okay because that is how things were done in the [insert decade]." The PROBLEM is that regardless of decade, a director or producer is capable of making a disastrous mistake (soundtracks are crucial to film -- think of Star Wars with period-appropriate disco rather than the classical soundtrack it has and one has the correct idea). A bad (key) decision like choosing an ill-fitting soundtrack can destroy a film easily. Since this mistake could be corrected for DVD-viewing audiences it should be corrected.

"I love those redheads!" (Wooderson, Dazed and Confused, 1993)

[–] mrpinbert 9 years ago

Yeah I agree. Today I was watching the film and got 40 minutes in, I had to stop watching due to elements outside of my control. All the time the soundtrack took me out of the movie and me and my dad just started making jokes about it.

I would love a re-scored version, as I was very much enjoying other aspects of the movie and I keep thinking how much better it would be with a more fitting soundtrack. Ofcourse the original track should also remain available for people that do enjoy it.

Zardoz (1974) has spoken!
My top 100 http://www.imdb.com/list/ls079512886/

[–] Wednesday_Next 13 years ago

I agree. Moderately awful then, and utterly unlistenable now. What I'd love is a rescored version. Then the ones who loved the Alan Parsons can swim in the 80's synth cheese, and the rest of us who loved the cinematography, the production values, the performances and the script can actually enjoy those without feeling like someone's scratching on a blackboard.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] Fat_Lives_Matter 12 years ago

I caught this film for the first time yesterday and thought the soundtrack nearly killed the entire experience. It was possibly one of the worst soundtracks ever recorded for a fantasy film. What the hell were they thinking?! Imagine Star Wars or Lord of the Rings with a score like that. Just awful.

[–] brakerules 8 years ago

I caught this film for the first time yesterday and thought the soundtrack nearly killed the entire experience. It was possibly one of the worst soundtracks ever recorded for a fantasy film. What the hell were they thinking?! Imagine Star Wars or Lord of the Rings with a score like that. Just awful.

No .. Imagine Kingdom of Heaven with a score like this. Seeing Crusaders fight under the cheese sounds of 80's synthesizers!!