MovieChat Forums > Oblivion (2013) Discussion > The score was overbearing

The score was overbearing


They seem to use too much dramatic music in this film. Every scene almost seems to have a lot of weight on the music except the action scenes (for some strange reason). Even when it's just Jack flying around in the ship there is dramatic music. It makes the whole move seem over important. Maybe if this was a film where the universe was ending it would be important, but swimming around in a pool and making out for 15 seconds doesn't need music you would place at the climax of a film.

And it was really annoying.

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I have to disagree. I thought the score was very appropriate because it matched the very strong, clean, and impressive visuals. The setting was sweeping in that film. Anything less would have been too weak.

However, I do concede one point in the film where the music was not very good, imo. That is when the scavs show themselves at the shipwreck of the Odyssey and attack Jack and Julia. That synthesizer stuff in the background was rockin' the 80's a little too hard. I mean, I love that sort of thing when I'm actually watching 80's films: Ladyhawke, Biggles, Terminator, etc... However, it seemed really odd to hear it paired with a modern film. Odd as in "bad."

Loved the other scores though: Jack's dream with its soft piano, the scene in the pool was so awe-inspiring and had an otherworldly tinge to it with the inclusion of what sounded like humpback whale calls in the background, and while I do believe it was highly dramatic, I believe it was meant to be. That was the beauty shot. The reveal of not the plot but the planet and what glories (which we later learn are all an illusion) it can produce. I liked what they said on the commentary...that it was this reality and Vika's seduction of Jack with its alien-like beauty. And that last sweeping score at the end? Epic.

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A great score cannot be over bearing. It was perfect and complimented the visuals perfectly. More films need this as it adds so much power to the film.

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in a world of minority opinions, you may have found the most minority of them all. congrats lol. the score was absolutely sublime. it was perfect. i haven't stopped listening to it for six months. it absolutely elevated the film from very good to GREAT.

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i haven't stopped listening to it for six months. it absolutely elevated the film from very good to GREAT.


me too, my fav' has to be waking up

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I absolutely agree. The Waking Up track is literally "breath-taking," especially at the 3:00 mark when everything stops for that one second. I could never listen to it enough.

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I just got the Deluxe Edition, off iTunes, I love it, so much is miss on the music by the stuning visuals, it's so Clean.

"Lets make some LSD" Dr Walter Bishop

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The Waking Up track is literally "breath-taking," especially at the 3:00 mark when everything stops for that one second. I could never listen to it enough.


Other favourite are "tech 49" but from 04:20, "starwaves" from 02:25 and "I'm sending you away"

It reminds me of Hawaii as I listened to it almost nonstop on holiday there

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Hmm, how have I never heard "I'm Sending You Away"? Thanks for that one. Don't know which instrument they use to produce that deep, keening, droning sound used intermittently in that one and "Starwaves," but it's very compelling...

----
Half the trouble in life is caused by pretending there isn't any.

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@Iggs11 ...especially at the 3:00 mark when everything stops for that one second.
Cue titles. Didn't know the name of the track until you said it but I like it too. Here's a YouTube video of it for anyone else who needs a reminder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsHKZCmps-w

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I liked it but was surprised not to see Philip Glass listed as composer.


"Hi Mrs. Cooper, it's Penny. I think I just broke your son."

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Really? Philip Glass? The soundtrack was a Hans Zimmer copycat (I can point to numerous chord changes and techniques to prove it); Philip Glass would not make something remotely like this.

http://www.maxloh.com

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I don't know Zimmer's style although I'm sure I must have heard a lot of his music. That tells me . . . . never mind.

I do love Glass' style and have a number of his pieces on cassette. The music did seem very close.

I'm not a musician but have read a lot about music composition. If you have time I would like to read about your chord change proof and how it's more Zimmer than Glass. Keep it simple and I'll watch my inbox for a response whenever you have the time to make your presentation.

PS--don't put up a bunch of staffs with notes and expect me to understand.

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If you (re)watch Dark Knight and Inception you might notice striking similarities, especially with the French horn leaps in "Time" (Inception) with one of the epic moments of Oblivion. Also, one of the recurring themes sounds pretty similar to a piece from Dark knight -- same first 3 chords and near-identical French Horn melody up to a certain point. I'm too lazy to find the exact time stamps though

http://www.maxloh.com/

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Why wouldn't other composers learn from or even mimic Zimmer?

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Annoying? It was the absolute BEST musical score of any movie I've ever seen!

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Love the soundtrack. I have been listening to all the different versions on YouTube non stop. The ending credits song by Suzanne Sundfor is awesome.

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I was thinking the same thing! The music/score is nice but that one piece (swimming pool make out scene) seemed overplayed and inappropriate for some scenes. I'm watching the movie again and yeah...ugh...it's really distracting. I guess I'm in the minority. :)

Love the drone sound effects though! This is my first imdb post. :)

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Nope. I posted before seeing your reply but I felt exactly the same way about that scene

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I agree. They even used OTT dramatic music when Jack and Vika are making out in the pool. I was like, WTF? I was expecting a slow romantic undertone but instead we got these epic chords that didn't fit the moment at all.

However, when the scenes needed it to be dramatic, the music was sublime.

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You where expecting slow romantic undertones for a scene where Vicka is clearly in love with Jack but the opposite is in question and they are literally swimming in the pool above the clouds?


Film Reverie: http://filmreverie.blogspot.com.au/
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That doesn't even make sense....

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IT is what is in the film.


Film Reverie: http://filmreverie.blogspot.com.au/
My film diary: http://letterboxd.com/filmreverie/

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So what?

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Obviously that it does make sense.


Film Reverie: http://filmreverie.blogspot.com.au/
My film diary: http://letterboxd.com/filmreverie/

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Obviously you don't know english very well.

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You suck at arguing and you make no sense.

He's saying that if Jack doesn't feel any romance then the music shouldn't be romantic, and since they're swimming in a pool above the clouds it's correct to sound epic.

For that, you said he doesn't make sense and doesn't understand English very well. Yours is totally an *beep* illogical response that makes no sense at all.
http://www.maxloh.com

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He's saying that if Jack doesn't feel any romance then the music shouldn't be romantic, and since they're swimming in a pool above the clouds it's correct to sound epic.
Thankyou for the translation. However, what he actually said was this:
You where expecting slow romantic undertones for a scene where Vicka is clearly in love with Jack but the opposite is in question and they are literally swimming in the pool above the clouds?
which is difficult to understand and even worded as a question...

Also, although it's clear that Vicka is trying to distract him and change the subject, at that point in the film we still don't know enough to question their relationship, which is why I was expecting romantic music but that doesn't mean it was necessary or even appropriate.

The same music is re-used repeatedly throughout the film so they didn't write anything special for particular scenes. I just felt that it didn't go well with this scene because it only felt appropriate when we could appreciate the epicness of their location but this only became apparent when the camera panned backwards at the very end of it.

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For anyone actually paying attention to the plot, a slow romantic theme would have been at odds with what was happening in the movie.

The scene with Vicka and Jack in the pool was a seduction, but not a romantic seduction. It was a manipulative one. Vicka was trying to keep Jack in line and not to let his mind wander into "dangerous territory."

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Absolutely, i'm not sure how some didn't understand this.

Film Reverie: http://filmreverie.blogspot.com.au/
My film diary: http://letterboxd.com/filmreverie/

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For anyone actually paying attention to the plot, a slow romantic theme would have been at odds with what was happening in the movie.

How condescending of you! We paid attention just as you did.

People were expecting romantic music because that was how the scene played out on-screen and at that point we didn't know any better (i.e. that Jack and Vika were infact never a "real" couple). However, that doesn't mean romantic music is what the scene required...

Regardless, the music didn't fit the scene and the explanation you offered doesn't explain why either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1h8glZfbbw

The music is loud and dramatic with too much bass for a simple pool kiss. It builds towards a crescendo as Jack takes his clothes off and they embrace underwater with a kiss. This might be exciting to watch if you're still a teenager... :P

The dramatic music was chosen because of their breath-taking location. Having sex in a pool is nothing special but this was a transparent swimming pool thousands of feet in the air, surrounded by thunderclouds!"

If the camerawork had matched the music this might have worked, but we only see the grandeur of their circumstances in the final few shots so the musical build up was wasted...

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Thank you for including that link for our convenience but you're just being a hater. "Too much bass"? Bass was necessary for that scene. Incidentally I watched it WITHOUT SOUND just to give you benefit of the doubt. Romantic music would have made sense before she pulled him into the pool, but after pulling him into the pool it should have some degree of seductive "action" to it. Since this is NOT A ROMANTIC COMEDY, and there's still the world being threatened and at stake (as illustrated by the stormy weather), fun seductive action HAS to be in the form of somewhat epic drama. Romantic music would NOT have fit at all especially given that the weather was stormy, color is blue, and wide shot at 1:36. I'd like to see you show a director some romantic music for a scene like 1:36 and see what he says. He'll say it's too romantic. For my credentials, please see the link below.

http://www.maxloh.com/

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Thank you for including that link for our convenience but you're just being a hater.
Rubbish. Pointing out that the music in a single scene felt off doesn't mean I hate the whole film. What a stupid thing to say...
Romantic music would NOT have fit at all especially given that the weather was stormy, color is blue, and wide shot at 1:36
We can agree to disagree. I'd have to hear the music before deciding if it worked or not but I suspect the real reason NOT to use romantic music was simply because the scene wasn't supposed to be romantic...

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"Pointing out that the music in a single scene felt off doesn't mean I hate the whole film."

All I did was call you a hater. Hater means someone who hates on something, anything, like the fact that they used epic music for that particular scene; it is a casually thrown around, non-insulting term, and I was NOT implying you hated the entire film; what a stupid thing to assume...

"I suspect the real reason NOT to use romantic music was simply because the scene wasn't supposed to be romantic..." Isn't that basically what everyone else and I were trying to tell you in the first place?

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All I did was call you a hater.
When used without qualification or explanation this means a derogative term reserved for those who "hate" on things simply because they get a (perverse?) kick out of doing so. Google it. I assumed nothing. It was your use of the term that caused any misunderstanding so I suggest you choose your words more carefully. Resorting to emotive language to label people is pretty low.

It's also completely inaccurate. I don't hate the scene. I just think the music didn't fit. It's a clever scene in other respects.

Isn't that basically what everyone else and I were trying to tell you in the first place?
Yes, you've been trying to convince me away from something that I never believed in the first place because you apparently fail at reading comprehension.

My gripe was that the music didn't fit because it was too dramatic. It had nothing to do with how romantic it should be. I mentioned that only because my expectation of romantic music probably contributed to my opinion. I was expecting romance and got something else instead.

However, as someone astutely pointed out, we later find out they're not in love at all so Vicka was actually appealing to Cage's desire for sex and romantic music would indeed have been inappropriate. That still doesn't mean the music they went with was appropriate. I've said as much several times but apparently I need to repeat myself...

Why you feel the need to take me to task over a disagreement about a single scene is perplexing. Perhaps it's the argumentative thread title (...which I don't agree with)?

This scene is about 2mins(?) long and only important in terms of what it bodes later on so it's really not such a big deal. People have differing opinions - deal with it!

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I loved the score reminded me of Tron Legacy.


Liberate tu temet ex inferis.
pro ego sum diabolus, pro ego sum nex.

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