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[jigglet]

You know the laugh track - it was pervasive in sitcoms for a long while but has died off for the most part.

I remember while watching Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull when it first came out and having to listen to bombastic John Williams beats pretty much non-stop for 2 hours, it got me thinking...is this kind of the same thing?

When I go back to Spielberg / Williams movies now after all these years, all I notice now is an orchestra that just never shuts up. There are very few moments where the acting and atmosphere are allowed to shine, or where the music is allowed to be more subtle. All I hear are the fucking trumpets and all the other shit. Sometimes it feels like Williams is trying to justify his high price tag by making sure he adds "value" as much as possible. It still happens today with many other big name composers, but when I go back to my old favs from the Spielberg golden era I noticed it was more prevalent.

Now when I watch the latest Star Wars, for example, all I can hear now is John Fucking Williams. I can't stop focusing on it now.


For reference, this is the specific moment I just hit my breaking point:




It has nothing to do with how bad the movie or this scene itself was, I just realised at this point I couldn't stand this "laugh track" anymore, even in movies I really like. Is anyone else kind of over this style of overbearing music in movies?

 

[AJUMP23]

Doesn't bother me....but the amount of bad CG in that clip bothers me a lot.

 

[INC]

Watch rocky 4, its basically a musical

 

[Mossybrew]

A score that is overpowering and draws attention to itself by trying too hard is one of my movie pet peeves, so I hear you OP. I don't know who does Christopher Nolan's scores but his movies can be pretty bad at this, like Inception and The Dark Knight Rises.

 

[INC]

A score that is overpowering and draws attention to itself by trying too had is one of my movie pet peeves, so I hear you OP. I don't know who does Christopher Nolan's scores but his movies can be pretty bad at this, like Inception and The Dark Knight Rises.

Zimmerman

Tenet is the the biggest culprit of this, to the point the dialogue is almost unaudible

Nolan has no idea how to mix down the audio of his films

 

[Stitch]

The soundtrack in Tenet was so fucking bad. There's a part where the music gets louder and louder, like there's an action scene going on, but they're just casually walking through a door.

And the soundtrack in Dunkirk just didn't fucking stop and got louder and louder & it was was just Tom Hardy flying around like a moron..
I think they gave Hans meth or something and he went insane.

 

[teezzy]

I loathe Hollywood

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Watch rocky 4, its basically a musical

And it's all the better for it. Brillant film.

Edit: Except for the robot. That thing can go to hell.

 

[INC]

The soundtrack in Tenet was so fucking bad. There's a part where the music gets louder and louder, like there's an action scene going on, but they're just casually walking through a door.

And the soundtrack in Dunkirk just didn't fucking stop and got louder and louder & it was was just Tom Hardy flying around like a moron..
I think they gave Hans meth or something and he went insane.

Not Hans choice on the audio mix down, thats the director

 

[Hatemachine]

And it's all the better for it. Brillant film.

Edit: Except for the robot. That thing can go to hell.

You'll be happy to know that Stallone is putting together Rocky 4 Director's cut with the robot and some of the other cheese edited out.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

People are hating on Spielberg / Williams now? That collaboration is one of the greatest of film history. Spielberg had his films elevated by Williams.

 

[poppabk]

You'll be happy to know that Stallone is putting together Rocky 4 Director's cut with the robot and some of the other cheese edited out.

20 second film incoming.

 

[Spaceman292]

Laugh tracks are annoying because they're usually playing over a joke that isn't funny.

If exciting music is playing and the thing happening on screen is actually exciting, then what's the problem?

 

[Wheeljack539]

Watch rocky 4, its basically a musical

It doubles as both the greatest musical and the greatest music video ever.

 

[INC]

It doubles as both the greatest musical and the greatest music video ever.

 

[Ailynn]

Predator, Ghostbusters, or Back to the Future just wouldn't be the same without their amazing musical scores.

 

[AJUMP23]

Watch rocky 4, its basically a musical

All great montages.

 

[INC]

You could always watch no country for old men

That hasn't a soundtrack, only the wind

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Predator, Ghostbusters, or Back to the Future just wouldn't be the same without their amazing musical scores.

Last of the Mohicans and Braveheart too. Mohicans especially. That main theme is AMAZING.

 

[Virt McPolygon]

Absolutely. It's corny as fuck and honestly distracting.

 

[EverydayBeast]

I appreciate laugh tracks being conscious of laugh tracks became a thing recentky

BTW OP:

 

[T8SC]

Now when I watch the latest Star Wars, for example, all I can hear now is John Fucking Williams.

It's to drown out the sound of John Boyega's cries for help.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

Predator, Ghostbusters, or Back to the Future just wouldn't be the same without their amazing musical scores.

I can't remember Predator (but it's a long time since I saw it), but definitely agree with Ghostbusters and Back to the Future.

 

[Ailynn]

I can't remember Predator (but it's a long time since I saw it), but definitely agree with Ghostbusters and Back to the Future.

You should watch it again! It still holds up as an amazing action film, and I think Alan Silvestri's musical score is one of the most important parts of the movie.

 

[godhandiscen]

And it's all the better for it. Brillant film.

Edit: Except for the robot. That thing can go to hell.

The robot was cool. In retrospect it is a warning tale of the financial hardships Rocky will experience in the future.

 

[Kimahri]

So this is where we are now? Instead of wanting soundtracks that have character and an identity of it's own, we actually want the spinless and forgettable background noise of the marvel movies?

Hell no. Give me Williams any day of the week. Just imagine Star Wars and Jurassic Park without his "fucking trumpets".

Music in movies should take you on a journey, it should talk to you. It's a dying art, sadly.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I'd argue the last great score was lotr trilogy. Nothing sticks out since. Inception maybe? That's just bwomp bwomp bass though.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

I'd argue the last great score was lotr trilogy. Nothing sticks out since. Inception maybe? That's just bwomp bwomp bass though.

LotR sure was a great score. Inception's is iconic, but it's really only like 1 or 2 songs that are memorable.
Not sure what happened with the Hobbit. Howard Shore did the soundtrack there too, but it lacked the thematic consistency of LotR. Why the hell was the Ringwraith theme used for Azog? I do like the Laketown theme though

 

[Happosai]

There's been a theorem recently in cinema (like the last 19-years) to just recycle older soundtracks but written much more minimalistic. It sucks. Every part of practical cinema was important and the soundtrack was designed to creatively move things that a director alone cannot. Some scores were drawn out like Jerry Goldsmith did for Alien. Others could do wonders with synthesizers like Harold Faltermier with Axel F, Brad Fiedel with Terminator, and Vangelis with Bladerunner. Those movies wouldn't not be half of what they were/are if you gut their soundtrack.

 

[jigglet]

Those movies wouldn't not be half of what they were/are if you gut their soundtrack.

I never said to gut the soundtracks.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

I kind of agree with your point. It’s not that you don’t mind it in certain parts in the film. It’s that it’s there all the time.

Now that you’re aware of it, go back and watch lord of the rings. I’d say there’s probably 2-3 min tops out of the 14 hour director’s cut where music isn’t playing. Jackson just refused to let anyone have a quiet moment- with or without dialogue.

It usually makes a difference though when:

a) the music is good.
B) the scene is good and fits the music.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

I'd argue the last great score was lotr trilogy. Nothing sticks out since. Inception maybe? That's just bwomp bwomp bass though.

Avengers, Star Trek, and Man of Steel.

Also, Pirates of the Caribbean I think came out after LOTR.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

I'd argue the last great score was lotr trilogy. Nothing sticks out since. Inception maybe? That's just bwomp bwomp bass though.

Now that I think about it, Harry Potter came out after LOTR. Probably JW last good score.

 

[TTOOLL]

And it's all the better for it. Brillant film.

Edit: Except for the robot. That thing can go to hell.

That robot is THE dumbest thing I've seen in movies. I love Rocky though, especially IV, soundtrack is amazing.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Now that I think about it, Harry Potter came out after LOTR. Probably JW last good score.

I think the first Pirates came out around the same time but yeah that was a good one. The main theme of Avengers is pretty good. I'm not really a Potter fan at all so I can't speak to that. I think I've seen like two of them.

 

[Punished Miku]

You should watch Conan the Barbarian. Arnold has like 10 lines of dialogue, and the rest is just Basil Poledouris' score.

Perfection.

He also did the score for Robocop, and it's amazing.

 

[jigglet]

I kind of agree with your point. It’s not that you don’t mind it in certain parts in the film. It’s that it’s there all the time.

Now that you’re aware of it, go back and watch lord of the rings. I’d say there’s probably 2-3 min tops out of the 14 hour director’s cut where music isn’t playing. Jackson just refused to let anyone have a quiet moment- with or without dialogue.

It usually makes a difference though when:

a) the music is good.
B) the scene is good and fits the music.

yeah I’ve gone back and it’s insufferable. The acting was so good but I couldn’t stop being distracted by the music

 

[AJUMP23]

You should watch it again! It still holds up as an amazing action film, and I think Alan Silvestri's musical score is one of the most important parts of the movie.

You also get to see Arnie covered in Mud, Carl Wethers being a tough dude, and Jesse ventura die.

 

[Goro Majima]

"Rey's Theme" was the last great score piece but almost the entire rest of the sequel trilogy score was terrible or forgetful. John Williams did not bring his A-game.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

You also get to see Arnie covered in Mud, Carl Wethers being a tough dude, and Jesse ventura die.

Jessie The Bod is like the first one to die and almost every line that comes out of his mouth is instantly quotable.

 

[epicnemesis]

Fuck this thread right in this threads ear.

Movie scores are artfully placed over a scene to elevate emotion and weight. Laugh tracks are there to hide bad jokes.

Laugh Tracks are the MSG of sitcoms, a movie’s score is that spritz of a special ingredient that brings out something magical in a dish.

 

[jigglet]

Laugh tracks are there to hide bad jokes.

So pretty much every sitcom pre early 2000's was bad?

 

[epicnemesis]

So pretty much every sitcom pre early 2000's was bad?

No, but the writing has gotten progressively lazier and lazier throughout the years relying on the laugh track crutch until you finally get the Big Bang theory.

 

[ManaByte]

Watch rocky 4, its basically a musical

An AWESOME musical.

 

[Excess]

Williams' style was a revival of symphonic scores in film that existed in the earlier half of the 20th century. In the late 1950's and into the 60's, the favorability of these large orchestrated scores were slowly replaced by character-driven scores that emphasized the inner-feelings of each character without dialogue: A few whiffs from the trumpet and a light plucking of the guitar strings. The most famous of this style of composers was Ennio Morricone. It wasn't until Stanley Kubrick's 2001 that Lucas was inspired to use a more romantic symphonic style to score his "space opera", the style that had gone out of favor in the 60's. And as we all know, Star Wars completely changed that.

So except for the brief usage of 80's synth scores during that corresponding decade, symphonic styles like Williams' have been the predominant form of scoring major blockbusters. Sure, you have your Scorsese-outliers using popular music, a style that has influenced filmmakers such as Tarantino, but symphonic style is one of the most widely used and accepted narrative techniques in a film for the past 40 years.

Personally, my favorite score he did was Jurassic Park. The absolute awe, spectacle and fear of it hits me right in the feels about seeing dinosaurs as a kid.

 

[jigglet]

Williams' style was a revival of symphonic scores in film that existed in the earlier half of the 20th century. In the late 1950's and into the 60's, the favorability of these large orchestrated scores were slowly replaced by character-driven scores that emphasized the inner-feelings of each character without dialogue: A few whiffs from the trumpet and a light plucking of the guitar strings. The most famous of this style of composers was Ennio Morricone. It wasn't until Stanley Kubrick's 2001 that Lucas was inspired to use a more romantic symphonic style to score his "space opera", the style that had gone out of favor in the 60's. And as we all know, Star Wars completely changed that.

So except for the brief usage of 80's synth scores during that corresponding decade, symphonic styles like Williams' have been the predominant form of scoring major blockbusters. Sure, you have your Scorsese-outliers using popular music, a style that has influenced filmmakers such as Tarantino, but symphonic style is one of the most widely used and accepted narrative techniques in a film for the past 40 years.

Personally, my favorite score he did was Jurassic Park. The absolute awe, spectacle and fear of it hits me right in the feels about seeing dinosaurs as a kid.

I really, honestly have no issue with it. My complaint is that it's just so dominant, almost to the point where it's present in about 90% of the movie. I just think it's too much.

There are many movies that have big bombastic scores that I love...e.g. Back to the Future, Terminator 2. But many of them just overdo it (J Williams mostly). I love his music don't get me wrong, I mean how can anyone say anything bad about the Indy or Star Wars themes. It's the abundance of it that puts me off. It never shuts up. As I mentioned in the OP...it's like he's trying too hard to justify his big pay cheque. I don't think it's needed.

 

[Clear]

Fuck this thread right in this threads ear.

Movie scores are artfully placed over a scene to elevate emotion and weight. Laugh tracks are there to hide bad jokes.

Laugh Tracks are the MSG of sitcoms, a movie’s score is that spritz of a special ingredient that brings out something magical in a dish.

Above all else, music has its own intrinsic value. It can set an emotional tone either in sympathy or dissonance with the visual and in so doing alter the meaning and perception of the whole. Music is beautiful in its own right.

A laugh track is just noise used to condition the audience. In isolation its worthless.

 

[jigglet]

Above all else, music has its own intrinsic value. It can set an emotional tone either in sympathy or dissonance with the visual and in so doing alter the meaning and perception of the whole. Music is beautiful in its own right.

A laugh track is just noise used to condition the audience. In isolation its worthless.

Well you've misunderstood my point. You're thinking I'm equating a laugh track to any and all music in a movie. I mean it would be absurd to say music has no place at all in any movie. That's not the point I was trying to make. I love the Star Wars theme. I love the Indy theme. I just don't need an orchestra going full blast for 90% of the movie.

Just to repeat: I am not advocating for the complete scrubbing of music from movies.

 

[Soodanim]

I tend to mentally block out nearly all orchestral pieces from any films I see unless it's a recurring theme tune, like how the Harry Potter theme song becomes recognisable. Fuck knows what any of the other music in those films sounds like, and I've seen them all enough times.

Same goes for any other movie. I've already forgotten what the OP music sounds like, and that goes for 99% of what hits my ears.

But as soon as I read "music" and "80s" I though of Beverly Hills Cop. Memorable. Fits the movie. Fun. I've listened to that music outside of the movie. Same with The Heat Is On, which the movie opens with.

I've said the same thing in the past with game music. I just automatically block out orchestral pieces in games, my brain just doesn't care about any of it.

 

[Pagusas]

I personally feel Jurassic Park hit the perfect balance of perfect soundtrack mixed with quiet moments