MovieChat Forums > The Expendables 2 (2012) Discussion > What happened to the classic action orch...

What happened to the classic action orchastrational scores of yesterday?

posted 12 years ago by LaPfieffer92
9 replies | jump to latest

as a film score buff, I really love the heavy duty heroic classic action film scores of alan silvestri (Predator), Michael kamen (Die Hard), John Williams (Indiana Jones) Jerry Goldsmith (Rambo) and im sure many others of this time. but these were classical film scores as in, its a big orchestra sound, violins, big trumpets and trombones, heroic themes, and it just seems a lot of work went into it and it had much more going on. they produced an atmosphere that film scores lack today. todays scores, and yes that even includes expendables, suffers from what I call "hans zimmer-itus", meaning that many action film scores sound like the same generic hum drum lameness with a heavy synthesizer and lots of repetitive drum noises and banging, sound effects, computerized sounding violin screeches, etc. they all sound like this, and expendables while it tries to be classic score, sounds rather cheap and zimmer-ish and too much banging and drums, sound effects thrown into the score. I prefer the more classical big orchestra music of the older action films. they seemed more raw and real and not digitally tampered with like todays scores sound. its been a very long time that ive heard a truly incredible film score, probably lord of the rings was the last one.

Realism, Remakes and Unnecessary Sequels are ruining movies!

[–] Zero_Wolf 12 years ago

Not sure why you use Hans' name to label the whole trend. His interpretation/rip-off of Gustav Holst's 'Mars' for Gladiator was absolutely masterful.

But anyway, I think they use cheap music, and cheap musical production to....save money.
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[–] dtb_1983 12 years ago

100% agree with the OP.

[–] LaPfieffer92 12 years ago

Glad some people see what im saying :) Theres defiantly been a down grade in quality film scores but then movies in general haven't been very good for a while either. sad that john Williams has retired.

Realism, Remakes and Unnecessary Sequels are ruining movies!

[–] YippieKaiYay 12 years ago

I definitely see what you're saying. I'm a huge fan of the classics from the likes of Williams, Silvestri, and Goldsmith. Back in the good old days, even subpar films had amazing, orchestral, hair-raising scores (Waterworld and Cutthroat Island come to mind). That's far less common these days.

That said, I'm also a fan of Hans Zimmer and most of his posse. It's hard to compare him to someone like John Williams because they just create different musical worlds. Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean are two of my favorite soundtrack trilogies (and yes, I still say trilogies) but it's really apples and oranges.

I think you nailed it on the head when you said that movies are just flat out getting worse these days. Goldsmith, Kamen, and Poledouris are no longer with us, and guys like Williams and Silvestri hardly work anymore. I would love to know if this is by choice (I know Williams especially is getting up there) or if there just isn't the demand for classic scores anymore.

Finally, just to tie this in to the board we're on, I'll say that I really like Brian Tyler. He seems to be a pretty solid blend of old school and new, and after the new Rambo and Alien vs. Predator, he stayed true to the classics while still giving us something new. So I think he was the perfect choice to score Expendables.

I'll stop ranting now, but good thread.

[–] Trumerica 12 years ago

I know exactly why as I grew up in the era when quality mattered. Back then in order to be a success, people had to give it their all and break the standard. Today, all you have to do is have a lot of hype and advertising and people will pay even if the reviews are horrible. Today you can take anyone off the street, put them on TV, and advertise them everywhere and they will be a star for no reason. Back then this honor was earned with talent. So producers do not feel they have to take the time and money to make a masterpiece anymore when they can make more money with CGI and silly humor that teens like.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Hendry_William_French 10 years ago

Very interesting! You make some good points.

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[–] Slavic 10 years ago

I'm glad that I'm not alone on this as well and totally share your sentiment. I also felt let down with the score for this movie. I think they could've hired Alan Silvestri at least since he's still in business. Or James Horner who was alive at that time, but no longer with us anymore.

[–] Hendry_William_French 10 years ago

Good point. All movie scores seem to sound the same nowadays while a lot of the classic films, especially the action ones as you say, still sound amazing.

I reckon you had some really talented composers in their prime writing those old pieces which, in effect, means they were a one off and came during a golden age. The music pieces all sound the same nowadays because no one can recapture the amazing scores of the past, thus they just follow a tried and tested formula of Hans Zimmer-type generic droning drum beats for every film. It works, so they don't change it.

A lot of those composers you mentioned have either long passed their peak (in effect, retired) or have sadly passed away. The talent isn't around to make memorable orchestral scores anymore.

How many a$$holes we got on this ship, anyhow?!