Where have all the instantly recognizable film scores gone?
July 30, 2015 7:44 AM Subscribe
What is the most recent piece of instrumental music from a film score that the general public could immediately identify upon hearing, and why is it the theme from Jurassic Park? (many) Details inside!
Okay, the last part of my question is a tad facetious, but hear me out.
I've had an off again on again discussion with several folks about film scores, and discussing why it is that, as best as I can tell, there hasn't been a major motion picture released in 20 or more years that had as part of its score a 'theme' (if you will) that has become ingrained in the collective cultural conscience in the same way that films from years past have. I feel as though Jurassic Park may be the most recent one, and that came out in 1993. Why is that?
Think about films from the last 20 years that might be candidates here. I'm willing to listen to arguments for perhaps the Harry Potter films or the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Maybe Titanic,Gladiator, or 'Duel of the Fates' from The Phantom Menace, but I just don't think any of those occupy our consciences in the same way than nearly anything from the years prior.
I think you could potentially pick out dozens of films from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s, hum or play a few bars from its theme, and people would know it immediately. And sure, John Williams may be responsible for a large portion of such music, but your Batmans, Back to the Futures, Godfathers, etc. were created by a variety of other composers, so I don't think the 'Well it's just John Williams' syndrome applies here either.
So again, why is this the case? Why hasn't there been a piece from a film score in the last 20 years that's achieved the same status as Jaws, or Indiana Jones, or Batman, or so on? Obviously John Williams continues to write for and score films, as do Alan Silvestri, Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmer - but nothing's really caught fire.
To be clear, I'm not talking about a song from a film - so things like 'My Heart Will Go On', or 'Get Happy', or 'Let It Go' don't count.
Lastly, allow me to posit a potential answer just to give some additional food for thought: is it possible that the current state of film scores is because they don't 'sell' in the same way on digital storefronts (iTunes, say) and aren't as easily marketable as a single like 'Let It Go' is? In this day and age, is the attraction of getting a song out in front of a film as a way to market the movie and potentially make beau coups of money outside of ticket sales so enticing that a film's score takes a backseat, in a way, to generating a hit single? Again, I'm not arguing that there aren't good scores still being written or that they're not important, nor do I believe anyone is telling John Williams 'Hey, maybe don't create a super recognizable theme like you used to okay?', but the cynic in me feels like there may be some correlation here.
So, wrapping up, I'd be curious to hear the Hive Mind's thoughts on this subject. Is there a simpler answer I'm overlooking? Maybe enough time just hasn't passed yet? Some detail that might unequivocally refute my argument? Is it just that the concept of 'themes' is dead?
Okay, the last part of my question is a tad facetious, but hear me out.
I've had an off again on again discussion with several folks about film scores, and discussing why it is that, as best as I can tell, there hasn't been a major motion picture released in 20 or more years that had as part of its score a 'theme' (if you will) that has become ingrained in the collective cultural conscience in the same way that films from years past have. I feel as though Jurassic Park may be the most recent one, and that came out in 1993. Why is that?
Think about films from the last 20 years that might be candidates here. I'm willing to listen to arguments for perhaps the Harry Potter films or the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Maybe Titanic,Gladiator, or 'Duel of the Fates' from The Phantom Menace, but I just don't think any of those occupy our consciences in the same way than nearly anything from the years prior.
I think you could potentially pick out dozens of films from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s, hum or play a few bars from its theme, and people would know it immediately. And sure, John Williams may be responsible for a large portion of such music, but your Batmans, Back to the Futures, Godfathers, etc. were created by a variety of other composers, so I don't think the 'Well it's just John Williams' syndrome applies here either.
So again, why is this the case? Why hasn't there been a piece from a film score in the last 20 years that's achieved the same status as Jaws, or Indiana Jones, or Batman, or so on? Obviously John Williams continues to write for and score films, as do Alan Silvestri, Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmer - but nothing's really caught fire.
To be clear, I'm not talking about a song from a film - so things like 'My Heart Will Go On', or 'Get Happy', or 'Let It Go' don't count.
Lastly, allow me to posit a potential answer just to give some additional food for thought: is it possible that the current state of film scores is because they don't 'sell' in the same way on digital storefronts (iTunes, say) and aren't as easily marketable as a single like 'Let It Go' is? In this day and age, is the attraction of getting a song out in front of a film as a way to market the movie and potentially make beau coups of money outside of ticket sales so enticing that a film's score takes a backseat, in a way, to generating a hit single? Again, I'm not arguing that there aren't good scores still being written or that they're not important, nor do I believe anyone is telling John Williams 'Hey, maybe don't create a super recognizable theme like you used to okay?', but the cynic in me feels like there may be some correlation here.
So, wrapping up, I'd be curious to hear the Hive Mind's thoughts on this subject. Is there a simpler answer I'm overlooking? Maybe enough time just hasn't passed yet? Some detail that might unequivocally refute my argument? Is it just that the concept of 'themes' is dead?
Not really an answer, but a possible data point: the year of Jurrasic Park's release, the theme was used for the MLB All-Star Game. I never watched MLB, but just the use of the theme gave the game a weight that it wouldn't have otherwise had. I wonder if it's not so much that "why aren't there more scores like this" than a "hey, Jurrasic Park had an all time amazing score" and those don't come along every year.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:51 AM on July 30, 2015
posted by Ghidorah at 7:51 AM on July 30, 2015
Perhaps it is more a phenomenon related to how rare truly innovative films tend to be or at least how we perceive and receive them. There are a lot of movies now, more so than there were, and we're constantly bombarded by them to the point where perhaps they don't affect us emotionally as they did when they were still a developing art. I think there are WOW factors attached to movies like The Wizard of Oz, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Jaws etc. that we attach meaning to whereas movies like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings are just sort of there, good as they are, and don't offer us anything novel in terms of special effects, cinematography, direction, or music.
posted by Young Kullervo at 7:53 AM on July 30, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Young Kullervo at 7:53 AM on July 30, 2015 [3 favorites]
I checked to see how old you are because I'm wondering if part of this is your impression based upon age. I remember all those movies you said, too, and I'm also in my 30s. It may be that kids running around today do know the Avengers theme, or whatever the big blockbuster movies are that they're into, and we as adults just aren't paying much attention anymore.
I know that when I was in high school, I was familiar with all the scores mostly because marching bands used them for their halftime shows. But I recognize marching band alumni are a small segment of the population and others may have had different methods of learning and retaining this information.
posted by something something at 8:06 AM on July 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
I know that when I was in high school, I was familiar with all the scores mostly because marching bands used them for their halftime shows. But I recognize marching band alumni are a small segment of the population and others may have had different methods of learning and retaining this information.
posted by something something at 8:06 AM on July 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
The Womp - more of a sound than a theme, but it's from Inception and it seems to have become part of the soundtrack vernacular.
I think the genericization of movie scores is caused by the same thing that has driven screenplays to become little more than rehashes of familiar tropes: studio risk-aversion.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:15 AM on July 30, 2015
I think the genericization of movie scores is caused by the same thing that has driven screenplays to become little more than rehashes of familiar tropes: studio risk-aversion.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 8:15 AM on July 30, 2015
It may be that kids running around today do know the Avengers theme, or whatever the big blockbuster movies are that they're into, and we as adults just aren't paying much attention anymore.
They are definitely aware of video game themes. I have nieces and nephews in their teens, and their crowds will hum some suspenseful boss-level music the way I used to employ the Jaws theme, and they can straight-away recognize which Bioware game an instrumental background to a nine-second Vine comes from.
posted by northernish at 8:17 AM on July 30, 2015 [6 favorites]
They are definitely aware of video game themes. I have nieces and nephews in their teens, and their crowds will hum some suspenseful boss-level music the way I used to employ the Jaws theme, and they can straight-away recognize which Bioware game an instrumental background to a nine-second Vine comes from.
posted by northernish at 8:17 AM on July 30, 2015 [6 favorites]
Like something something, I was going to comment on the age you were when you saw those movies. The other more culture-wide factor is that fewer people catch 15 minutes of movies in rerun every few months to help glue the music into their consciousness. Culture in general seems a little less monolithic at this point, but that may also be my age.
I'd argue strongly for the Harry Potter series to be included; people who went to see the series got to hear the very simple-to-hum main theme at least 8 times. I can't bring to mind most of the older ones you mentioned. I'd also make a strong argument for some of the more cinematic TV shows and maybe even video games (Katamari Damacy anybody?), which have that value of repetition while being a damn sight more complex than most 80's and 90's tv I can think of offhand.
posted by tchemgrrl at 8:17 AM on July 30, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'd argue strongly for the Harry Potter series to be included; people who went to see the series got to hear the very simple-to-hum main theme at least 8 times. I can't bring to mind most of the older ones you mentioned. I'd also make a strong argument for some of the more cinematic TV shows and maybe even video games (Katamari Damacy anybody?), which have that value of repetition while being a damn sight more complex than most 80's and 90's tv I can think of offhand.
posted by tchemgrrl at 8:17 AM on July 30, 2015 [3 favorites]
Pirates of the Caribbean maybe?
posted by dinofuzz at 8:20 AM on July 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by dinofuzz at 8:20 AM on July 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
I'm going to put it down to a bunch of things:
* there definitely is a tendency towards more pop-song driven soundtracks (think of the score of the Fast and Furious franchise vs. the Bond franchise score)
* sequel-itis (if the first Avengers movie doesn't have a recognizable theme in its score, the next 4000 won't either)
* there are really only a handful of blockbuster film composers writing at any given time; as John Williams writes less, there are less John-Williamsy scores out there; as John Williams is less popular, there are less people copying John Williams (like, the Back to the Future theme couldn't be more John Williamsy if he'd written it himself); same goes for Hans Zimmer and his imitators
* at least for me, some of my favorite scores from the past decade are really recognizable but don't have singable themes - Clint Mansell's stuff, especially Moon, falls into this category. I can't sing you the theme to Moon (or Inception, mentioned above) the way I could sing the Godfather theme or Jaws or even Speed, but I do recognize it.
posted by mskyle at 8:20 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
* there definitely is a tendency towards more pop-song driven soundtracks (think of the score of the Fast and Furious franchise vs. the Bond franchise score)
* sequel-itis (if the first Avengers movie doesn't have a recognizable theme in its score, the next 4000 won't either)
* there are really only a handful of blockbuster film composers writing at any given time; as John Williams writes less, there are less John-Williamsy scores out there; as John Williams is less popular, there are less people copying John Williams (like, the Back to the Future theme couldn't be more John Williamsy if he'd written it himself); same goes for Hans Zimmer and his imitators
* at least for me, some of my favorite scores from the past decade are really recognizable but don't have singable themes - Clint Mansell's stuff, especially Moon, falls into this category. I can't sing you the theme to Moon (or Inception, mentioned above) the way I could sing the Godfather theme or Jaws or even Speed, but I do recognize it.
posted by mskyle at 8:20 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I believe that the Harry Potter movie theme is pretty darn recognized.
A lot of what you're talking about is the choice of directors to go with a non-composed soundtrack. Consider how popular the Pulp Fiction soundtrack was, and how little of it was original to the movie.
posted by aimedwander at 8:23 AM on July 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
A lot of what you're talking about is the choice of directors to go with a non-composed soundtrack. Consider how popular the Pulp Fiction soundtrack was, and how little of it was original to the movie.
posted by aimedwander at 8:23 AM on July 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
I suspect that film music has been written increasingly to accommodate technical advances in cinema sound.
The last 15 years have seen huge advances in lossless audio (in film, that's Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD), which means the you can bring the raw power of an orchestra to a cinema without compressing the sound -- as was necessary to varying degrees with lossy digital formats and tape.
Because of this, I reckon it was probably more the case in the past that climactic points in films would be signified by melodic power, where as with lossless sound now you can deliver a very visceral percussive and "subby" power to the audience in a way that perhaps you couldn't in the past (eg. the classic Hans Zimmer-style BRAAAAAAHHHHM!)
I think this technological change has shifted the sensibilities of film music writers to become less melodic, and more atmospheric in their approach to music.
That's my tuppence, anyway.
posted by TheAlarminglySwollenFinger at 8:23 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
The last 15 years have seen huge advances in lossless audio (in film, that's Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD), which means the you can bring the raw power of an orchestra to a cinema without compressing the sound -- as was necessary to varying degrees with lossy digital formats and tape.
Because of this, I reckon it was probably more the case in the past that climactic points in films would be signified by melodic power, where as with lossless sound now you can deliver a very visceral percussive and "subby" power to the audience in a way that perhaps you couldn't in the past (eg. the classic Hans Zimmer-style BRAAAAAAHHHHM!)
I think this technological change has shifted the sensibilities of film music writers to become less melodic, and more atmospheric in their approach to music.
That's my tuppence, anyway.
posted by TheAlarminglySwollenFinger at 8:23 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think you could potentially pick out dozens of films from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s, hum or play a few bars from its theme, and people would know it immediately.
I'd challenge this as a fact. I consider myself someone who is Into Movies and I can name maybe 2-3 themes from each decade that I'd consider to be instantly recognizable by the public at large.
Also, speaking of Clint Mansell, his/Kronos Quartet's "Lux Aeterna" from the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack might not be as recognizable as Jurassic Park et. al., but I think it fits.
posted by griphus at 8:24 AM on July 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
I'd challenge this as a fact. I consider myself someone who is Into Movies and I can name maybe 2-3 themes from each decade that I'd consider to be instantly recognizable by the public at large.
Also, speaking of Clint Mansell, his/Kronos Quartet's "Lux Aeterna" from the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack might not be as recognizable as Jurassic Park et. al., but I think it fits.
posted by griphus at 8:24 AM on July 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
The Inception theme by Mike Zarin/Hans Zimmerman is the only one I can think of in recent years.
Not exactly hummable, admittedly, but the sound still goes off in my head whenever I see the word 'inception'.
posted by jack_mo at 8:30 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Not exactly hummable, admittedly, but the sound still goes off in my head whenever I see the word 'inception'.
posted by jack_mo at 8:30 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: griphus, you're not wrong. My statement should have read more like there may be a dozen total films spanning the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, which is in my head what I meant, rather than reading as if there'd be 12 from the 60s, 12 from the 70s, etc.
One clarification I'd like to make, and it's a subtle one, is that I too may not be able to immediately hum you the full theme from Back to the future or Harry Potter, but were it played back to me, I think I'd be able to name the movie - which is the scenario that's at the crux of my question, for what it's worth.
Lots of interesting things here though - age I bet does have to do with it, in that the movies you recall from your arguably 'formative' years hold a more significant place; but technology also likely has an impact, as TheAlarminglySwollenFinger points out.
Good stuff so far!
posted by mrhaydel at 8:30 AM on July 30, 2015
One clarification I'd like to make, and it's a subtle one, is that I too may not be able to immediately hum you the full theme from Back to the future or Harry Potter, but were it played back to me, I think I'd be able to name the movie - which is the scenario that's at the crux of my question, for what it's worth.
Lots of interesting things here though - age I bet does have to do with it, in that the movies you recall from your arguably 'formative' years hold a more significant place; but technology also likely has an impact, as TheAlarminglySwollenFinger points out.
Good stuff so far!
posted by mrhaydel at 8:30 AM on July 30, 2015
Why hasn't there been a piece from a film score in the last 20 years that's achieved the same status as Jaws, or Indiana Jones, or Batman, or so on?
You know, I can't think of one either off the top of my head, but I can think of several from TV shows. Ask someone to hum the theme from Game of Thrones.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:33 AM on July 30, 2015 [9 favorites]
You know, I can't think of one either off the top of my head, but I can think of several from TV shows. Ask someone to hum the theme from Game of Thrones.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:33 AM on July 30, 2015 [9 favorites]
It may be that kids running around today do know the Avengers theme, or whatever the big blockbuster movies are that they're into, and we as adults just aren't paying much attention anymore.
Here's an anecdote from a working composer suggesting that the premise of the question is pretty accurate. (There's also some discussion in the thread about why that might be.)
posted by uncleozzy at 8:35 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Here's an anecdote from a working composer suggesting that the premise of the question is pretty accurate. (There's also some discussion in the thread about why that might be.)
posted by uncleozzy at 8:35 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Just off the top of my head, every one of the following is instantly recognizable to me:
Deep Blue Sea from 1999
Broken Arrow from 1996
Harry Potter theme from 2001 on
Man of Steel from 2013
Crimson Tide from 1995 (this one regularly gets stuck in my head out of nowhere)
If we started to talk about other media like video games or anime or TV, the list would never end.
posted by Sternmeyer at 8:38 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Deep Blue Sea from 1999
Broken Arrow from 1996
Harry Potter theme from 2001 on
Man of Steel from 2013
Crimson Tide from 1995 (this one regularly gets stuck in my head out of nowhere)
If we started to talk about other media like video games or anime or TV, the list would never end.
posted by Sternmeyer at 8:38 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
During one of the documentaries on The Two Towers DVD, Peter Jackson tells a story about the writing of the Rohan theme. Howard Shore, the composer, presented his initial idea for the theme to Jackson who, after hearing it, basically said that, while it was nice, it wasn't "hummable." A later version, the one that appeared in the film, was deemed sufficiently hummable.
What I took from this is that recognizable music has a strong melody line. This is true for most music, not just from the movies. Think of the great classical works that are best remembered and most often played: Beethoven's 5th and 9th, parts of Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Marriage of Figaro...all have clear, memorable melody lines.
It seems like a lot of movie music is perfectly adequate and works well for the movie that it is in. However, it may not be different enough from all the other music out there to stand on its own apart from it's movie.
For the older movies from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, we also have the benefit of looking back. As you note, most movie music from that era is no longer recognized or remembered. In another 20 or 30 years history will tell us what music from our own era will live on and be remembered for its own merits.
posted by lharmon at 8:51 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
What I took from this is that recognizable music has a strong melody line. This is true for most music, not just from the movies. Think of the great classical works that are best remembered and most often played: Beethoven's 5th and 9th, parts of Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Marriage of Figaro...all have clear, memorable melody lines.
It seems like a lot of movie music is perfectly adequate and works well for the movie that it is in. However, it may not be different enough from all the other music out there to stand on its own apart from it's movie.
For the older movies from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, we also have the benefit of looking back. As you note, most movie music from that era is no longer recognized or remembered. In another 20 or 30 years history will tell us what music from our own era will live on and be remembered for its own merits.
posted by lharmon at 8:51 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Oh, regarding TV: I don't think Elfman's theme to Batman would be nearly as recognizable if it hadn't been adapted into the theme from Batman: The Animated Series.
posted by griphus at 8:55 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 8:55 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think as someone else mentioned the stuff from your adolescence really stays with you forever (I remember a snarky comment on the blue about how coincidental it was that every movie critic's favorite era was when they happened to be in high school). I couldn't hum Back to the Future or the Michael Keaton Batman theme, as I was a very small child when those came out. I don't think anyone I know could hum that Batman theme (so to refute a specific point, if this phenomenon exists, it may absolutely be a John Williams thing).
Godfather theme is not a good comparison because the first two Godfather movies are considered the best movies ever made in almost every best movie list, so more people have probably seen them many times, over say, Pirates of the Caribbean.
I think a huge factor to this phenomenon, if it exists, is that there is no real monoculture any more. You couldn't avoid the Jurassic Park theme or Star Wars, or Jaws, if even in movie trailers, which you couldn't have avoided at the time as it was on TV. We've all heard Jaws in more parodies of Jaws than we have watching Jaws (speaking of parodies, or music used ironically, we can all recognize The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly theme as well as Gonna Fly Now from Rocky. The monoculture gave rise to such things since the writers of those cliched jokes knew everyone would get it, which in turn made them even more recognizable).
Someone just mentioned video game themes, which again will never be marketed to or played by everyone. So even if the best-selling game of all time were released tomorrow and had some super-John-Williams-mega-awesome theme, most people still wouldn't recognize it.
Finally, you mentioned this: My statement should have read more like there may be a dozen total films spanning the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Considering the Godfathers and Star Wars had one theme, that means there are only about 9 themes over the course of 1960-1999 which would be recognizable, which is an average of about 2 per decade. Harry Potter and LoTR would clear the bar of recognizable-ness just as easily as say the Michael Keaton Batman theme, meaning that 2000-2009 may have had just as many recognizable themes as say, the 80s.
posted by Luminiferous Ether at 8:57 AM on July 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
Godfather theme is not a good comparison because the first two Godfather movies are considered the best movies ever made in almost every best movie list, so more people have probably seen them many times, over say, Pirates of the Caribbean.
I think a huge factor to this phenomenon, if it exists, is that there is no real monoculture any more. You couldn't avoid the Jurassic Park theme or Star Wars, or Jaws, if even in movie trailers, which you couldn't have avoided at the time as it was on TV. We've all heard Jaws in more parodies of Jaws than we have watching Jaws (speaking of parodies, or music used ironically, we can all recognize The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly theme as well as Gonna Fly Now from Rocky. The monoculture gave rise to such things since the writers of those cliched jokes knew everyone would get it, which in turn made them even more recognizable).
Someone just mentioned video game themes, which again will never be marketed to or played by everyone. So even if the best-selling game of all time were released tomorrow and had some super-John-Williams-mega-awesome theme, most people still wouldn't recognize it.
Finally, you mentioned this: My statement should have read more like there may be a dozen total films spanning the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. Considering the Godfathers and Star Wars had one theme, that means there are only about 9 themes over the course of 1960-1999 which would be recognizable, which is an average of about 2 per decade. Harry Potter and LoTR would clear the bar of recognizable-ness just as easily as say the Michael Keaton Batman theme, meaning that 2000-2009 may have had just as many recognizable themes as say, the 80s.
posted by Luminiferous Ether at 8:57 AM on July 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
Maybe another factor is now it's mega corporations that own both film studios and recording artists (Sony, Time Warner, Disney...) Something I've noticed with a lot of the modern blockbusters is that the corporations seem to use them as an opportunity to debut a new pop hit, which I don't think used to happen as much unless it was a Bond film. Fifty Shades of Grey, Twilight, The Hunger Games, etc. etc. have all heavily promoted pop songs in their marketing and soundtracks. I wouldn't be surprised if the studios put pressure on modern composers to not draw attention away from Ellie Goulding or Taylor Swift or whoever.
That being said, I think there's still lots of recognizable scores and themes floating around more recent than Jurassic Park:
-Brokeback Mountain
-Requiem for a Dream
-Inception
-The Matrix
-Daft Punk's TRON score
-Harry Potter and LOTR, for sure
-American Beauty
-Many Pixar films have recognizable scores (Finding Nemo, Wall-E)
-Mad Max: Fury Road will likely qualify soon
And as television and video games become more cinematic, there has been a shift:
-Game of Thrones
-Downton Abbey
-Mad Men
-Final Fantasy
Also, it's possible the "Golden Era" of film scores has passed and now we're sort of in more of a "postmodern" period where composers are more free to experiment and don't feel pressured to create a traditional "musical" film score. They're still recognizable but not as hummable.
posted by castlebravo at 9:00 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
That being said, I think there's still lots of recognizable scores and themes floating around more recent than Jurassic Park:
-Brokeback Mountain
-Requiem for a Dream
-Inception
-The Matrix
-Daft Punk's TRON score
-Harry Potter and LOTR, for sure
-American Beauty
-Many Pixar films have recognizable scores (Finding Nemo, Wall-E)
-Mad Max: Fury Road will likely qualify soon
And as television and video games become more cinematic, there has been a shift:
-Game of Thrones
-Downton Abbey
-Mad Men
-Final Fantasy
Also, it's possible the "Golden Era" of film scores has passed and now we're sort of in more of a "postmodern" period where composers are more free to experiment and don't feel pressured to create a traditional "musical" film score. They're still recognizable but not as hummable.
posted by castlebravo at 9:00 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Yeah, you know, both Luminiferous Ether and castlebravo make great points and I think are headed in the right direction (which most other comments here seem to echo): the absence of a monoculture, and us being in a sort of 'postmodern' film score period, contribute to the perception (or least my perception) that you can't just walk up to anyone on the street and play them 5 seconds of some film from the [insert decade here], and have them know what film it came from.
A lot of what folks have cited that is more recent (man, the Broken Arrow theme is pretty great huh Sternmeyer? forgot about that one), is certainly excellent, and even if it doesn't 'work' on our minds in the same way that the theme from Jaws does, that isn't a terrible thing by any means, just an interesting one - thus my question.
And perhaps Luminifierous Ether's notion that maybe it really is just an average of ~2 movies per decade that break out and become part of the cultural musical lexicon is, in fact, it. Though I might still argue the numbers skew heavily towards late 70s to mid 80s, but that was also at sort of peak 'John Williams-ness', as others allude to.
I love these kinds of discussions, so thanks for indulging me. :-)
posted by mrhaydel at 9:17 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
A lot of what folks have cited that is more recent (man, the Broken Arrow theme is pretty great huh Sternmeyer? forgot about that one), is certainly excellent, and even if it doesn't 'work' on our minds in the same way that the theme from Jaws does, that isn't a terrible thing by any means, just an interesting one - thus my question.
And perhaps Luminifierous Ether's notion that maybe it really is just an average of ~2 movies per decade that break out and become part of the cultural musical lexicon is, in fact, it. Though I might still argue the numbers skew heavily towards late 70s to mid 80s, but that was also at sort of peak 'John Williams-ness', as others allude to.
I love these kinds of discussions, so thanks for indulging me. :-)
posted by mrhaydel at 9:17 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think this is a more golden age of TV than of film and that's why the recognizable scores are from TV. Even themes like Star Wars or E.T. needed reinforcement outside the theatre. Other than films where the music was an essential cue (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws) I think one reason musical motifs entered the culture is because there was so much media around those films, and the news clips played the themes as the intro or the background, the same way Mad Men was a few years ago.
I was really into soundtracks as a teen but I'd have trouble humming Delta Force or Aliens in part because there hasn't been the same pickup as playing the E.T. Theme for every cuddly alien story.
posted by warriorqueen at 9:19 AM on July 30, 2015
I was really into soundtracks as a teen but I'd have trouble humming Delta Force or Aliens in part because there hasn't been the same pickup as playing the E.T. Theme for every cuddly alien story.
posted by warriorqueen at 9:19 AM on July 30, 2015
I dunno, I think that there's a few things going on here.
a) Film scores have gotten a bit more diverse in recent years; not quite as "traditional", so to speak, where it's an orchestra and there are themes and music is expressly written for the movie and etc. There are still people writing scores like that, but sometimes they're pretty funky (my best example - the soundtrack to American Beauty, which I would certainly recognize some cuts from, but it's not necessarily a traditional orchestral score - but instead uses really funky "world music" instruments, and at one point even uses a car alarm as an instrument).
b) The production company may be instead trying to market whatever Big Pop Song they managed to score for the movie instead, and that ends up overshadowing the rest of the soundtrack. People may not remember any orchestral theme for Back To The Future, but they definitely know Huey Lewis' "Back In Time". And, we'd all recognize "Who you gonna call?" faster than we'd recognize this. And the marketing of that pop song makes sense from an accountants' viewpoint ("the kids are more likely to listen to pop than orchestral stuff") and an awards-grabbing standpoint ("the 'best song' Oscar is a sexier win than 'best score' any day").
c) That said, you can't tell me that people wouldn't be able to guess the theme based on the following "musical phonetic renderings":
"bah, dedada, dee-DEEE, dahhh, bah, dedada, de-dahhhh....."
"deeeeeeee, deeeeeeeee, ba-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-deeeeee daaaaaaaaaaah...."
Although, TV also can do this:
"DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, daaaaaaah...."
"rumpum, ba-da-dumpum, ba-da-dumpum, ba-da-dumpum, ba-da-DEEEEEE, DAHHHH, dee-dee-DEEEH, DAHHH, dee-dee-DAHHHHH...."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:45 AM on July 30, 2015
a) Film scores have gotten a bit more diverse in recent years; not quite as "traditional", so to speak, where it's an orchestra and there are themes and music is expressly written for the movie and etc. There are still people writing scores like that, but sometimes they're pretty funky (my best example - the soundtrack to American Beauty, which I would certainly recognize some cuts from, but it's not necessarily a traditional orchestral score - but instead uses really funky "world music" instruments, and at one point even uses a car alarm as an instrument).
b) The production company may be instead trying to market whatever Big Pop Song they managed to score for the movie instead, and that ends up overshadowing the rest of the soundtrack. People may not remember any orchestral theme for Back To The Future, but they definitely know Huey Lewis' "Back In Time". And, we'd all recognize "Who you gonna call?" faster than we'd recognize this. And the marketing of that pop song makes sense from an accountants' viewpoint ("the kids are more likely to listen to pop than orchestral stuff") and an awards-grabbing standpoint ("the 'best song' Oscar is a sexier win than 'best score' any day").
c) That said, you can't tell me that people wouldn't be able to guess the theme based on the following "musical phonetic renderings":
"bah, dedada, dee-DEEE, dahhh, bah, dedada, de-dahhhh....."
"deeeeeeee, deeeeeeeee, ba-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-deeeeee daaaaaaaaaaah...."
Although, TV also can do this:
"DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, DEEE-da, daaaaaaah...."
"rumpum, ba-da-dumpum, ba-da-dumpum, ba-da-dumpum, ba-da-DEEEEEE, DAHHHH, dee-dee-DEEEH, DAHHH, dee-dee-DAHHHHH...."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:45 AM on July 30, 2015
>>My statement should have read more like there may be a dozen total films spanning the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.
>>Considering the Godfathers and Star Wars had one theme, that means there are only about 9 themes over the course of 1960-1999 which would be recognizable, which is an average of about 2 per decade.
I also thought at first that there just weren't that many recognizable scores from any decade, but once I spent more time thinking about it, I realized there are more than I first thought. I bet if we all collectively brainstormed we'd quickly produce a longer list for each decade. Yes, it's a lot of John Williams, but plenty of others too.
1970s: Godfather, Jaws, Rocky, Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman
1980s: Chariots of Fire, Indiana Jones, ET, Terminator, Back to the Future, Batman
1990s: The Last of the Mohicans, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Phantom Menace
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 9:52 AM on July 30, 2015
>>Considering the Godfathers and Star Wars had one theme, that means there are only about 9 themes over the course of 1960-1999 which would be recognizable, which is an average of about 2 per decade.
I also thought at first that there just weren't that many recognizable scores from any decade, but once I spent more time thinking about it, I realized there are more than I first thought. I bet if we all collectively brainstormed we'd quickly produce a longer list for each decade. Yes, it's a lot of John Williams, but plenty of others too.
1970s: Godfather, Jaws, Rocky, Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman
1980s: Chariots of Fire, Indiana Jones, ET, Terminator, Back to the Future, Batman
1990s: The Last of the Mohicans, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Phantom Menace
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 9:52 AM on July 30, 2015
Some themes I think of as reasonably distinct:
Pirates of the Caribbean theme
The Matrix
Kill Bill
Transformers
Amélie
The Social Network
Little Miss Sunshine
posted by a fiendish thingy at 9:54 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Pirates of the Caribbean theme
The Matrix
Kill Bill
Transformers
Amélie
The Social Network
Little Miss Sunshine
posted by a fiendish thingy at 9:54 AM on July 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think there's a certain amount of "you're getting older" woven into this.
The music of my teen years sounds much, much better to me than the popular music of today -- apart from a few outliers. This happens to all of us, it's neither a surprise nor a bad thing, to a degree. And it's not about me being more "sophisticated" or there having been a "golden age" of musicianship. It literally is, "These kids today! The music was waaaay better back in 1982."
The same thing is true of movie scores. Your memory is hazy, your emotional tableau is different. The scores you experienced when you were younger, at the right time, sound better and more memorable to you than the more recent ones.
When John Williams was at his peak, there were older people going, "This isn't as good as Max Steiner."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:56 AM on July 30, 2015
The music of my teen years sounds much, much better to me than the popular music of today -- apart from a few outliers. This happens to all of us, it's neither a surprise nor a bad thing, to a degree. And it's not about me being more "sophisticated" or there having been a "golden age" of musicianship. It literally is, "These kids today! The music was waaaay better back in 1982."
The same thing is true of movie scores. Your memory is hazy, your emotional tableau is different. The scores you experienced when you were younger, at the right time, sound better and more memorable to you than the more recent ones.
When John Williams was at his peak, there were older people going, "This isn't as good as Max Steiner."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:56 AM on July 30, 2015
You know, I'd make the argument that part of this is because there are more movies being produced with big scores, and we don't as a rule all go see all of them, and we see enough other media that it takes more to make something stand out. I would absolutely recognize the Titanic pennywhistle, Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter, sure. But I've seen Jurassic Park and still have no recall about the music. On the other hand, I can tell you that there are at least a dozen video games that I can hum you music from, because I spent a lot more hours with those games than I've ever spent with a given movie. Nobuo Uematsu's work is right up there with John Williams, for me. But I don't think it has to do with the caliber of composers, I think it really has to do with picking out the really special stuff when you're hearing tons of great work all over the place, whether it's big orchestral scores or not. I have listened to the Tron: Legacy soundtrack a thousand times, but it was Different, so it stood out. I used to fall asleep to the LOTR scores, but I was in love with those movies. They had meaning outside of just the music being great. And what has meaning for me now is not just the backing tracks of great films, even though I am exactly the sort of person who does listen to such things recreationally.
I'd argue that the reason that the theme to Star Wars is great is not just that it's a great composition, it's that it's intended to be listened to when you're sitting in a chair in a darkened room so excited that you're almost quivering BECAUSE STAR WARS. And Star Wars made so many people feel that way that the music became universal. I would argue that for, say, Steven Universe fans, the phrase "we... are the Crystal Gems" evokes a very, very similar response to the Star Wars theme. It's just that the Steven Universe theme song has words, so we can sing along... which, arguably, some people are also compelled to do with Star Wars. People getting excited about more types of media with more varied styles of music is a good thing, but it does make it a little harder to find things that are going to be such universal experiences as Star Wars or Back to the Future.
posted by Sequence at 10:18 AM on July 30, 2015
I'd argue that the reason that the theme to Star Wars is great is not just that it's a great composition, it's that it's intended to be listened to when you're sitting in a chair in a darkened room so excited that you're almost quivering BECAUSE STAR WARS. And Star Wars made so many people feel that way that the music became universal. I would argue that for, say, Steven Universe fans, the phrase "we... are the Crystal Gems" evokes a very, very similar response to the Star Wars theme. It's just that the Steven Universe theme song has words, so we can sing along... which, arguably, some people are also compelled to do with Star Wars. People getting excited about more types of media with more varied styles of music is a good thing, but it does make it a little harder to find things that are going to be such universal experiences as Star Wars or Back to the Future.
posted by Sequence at 10:18 AM on July 30, 2015
How about the Pacific Rim score? Maybe it wasn't as big a movie as I thought but I think that one is pretty recognizable.
Bonus: Pacfic Rim x Space Jam
posted by mhum at 10:39 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Bonus: Pacfic Rim x Space Jam
posted by mhum at 10:39 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
I believe that the Harry Potter movie theme is pretty darn recognized.
Only if you're a fan of the movies, I think. I've seen most of the movies on tv, but I wouldn't have a clue what the theme sounds like.
Honestly, I think the last truly, near-universally-recognizable score would have to be Star Wars, and, even then, it's probably just the opening overture that people would recognize. Most of the rest of the score is pretty-much by-the-book John Williams (which is why it's so easy to confuse all of his movie scores for each other.) The cantina tune in Star Wars might qualify as recognizable, too.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:55 AM on July 30, 2015
Only if you're a fan of the movies, I think. I've seen most of the movies on tv, but I wouldn't have a clue what the theme sounds like.
Honestly, I think the last truly, near-universally-recognizable score would have to be Star Wars, and, even then, it's probably just the opening overture that people would recognize. Most of the rest of the score is pretty-much by-the-book John Williams (which is why it's so easy to confuse all of his movie scores for each other.) The cantina tune in Star Wars might qualify as recognizable, too.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:55 AM on July 30, 2015
mrhaydel, the premise of your question assumes that no one can recall and recognize movie themes better than you can. Rethink that premise. The examples given by the other posters show that plenty of post-Jurassic Park movie themes have become famous. They're just not famous to you.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:40 AM on July 30, 2015
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:40 AM on July 30, 2015
This is a great question. Here's my hal'porth.
The great, sweeping, iconic movie themes of the mid-late 1970s into the 1980s are a product of their era, when moves were huge and sweeping and iconic. Back when there was one big movie that defined a Summer and everyone saw it and could sing its theme.
These themes themselves though, were referencing a previous era of movie music. The great Williams scores and others of the 1970-90s all find their roots in the film scores in the 1940s and 50s. Korngold, Rozsa, Waxman et al are the fathers of this sound world. Have a quick listen to the score of The Sea Hawk to see what I mean - particularly the second 'romantic' subject - that's your blueprint for a dozen future love themes.
But then, this music is further referencing a previous era of post-Romantic european art music (Korngold and his contemporaries all fled Nazi Europe). They are all the natural heirs of Richard Strauss, Bruchner, even Wagner. Have a listen to this extract from 'Til Eulenspiegel' - the DNA from this filters right through to something like the Harry Potter score loud and clear to my ears.
All of these composers are using very similar concepts (like leitmotif) and orchestral forces to acheive similar aims - to create a soundworld through sheer force of... fabulousness! This is music to make you stop and take notice, and they're not shy of using a catchy tune to make that happen.
But then...
It's not simply a case of 'back in the olden days they wrote X kind of scores but now they write Y instead'. Movie scores are highly cyclical. Interspersed between the nostalgic movie soundtracks we yearn for are those which have rejected comfortably sumptuous Romantic soundworlds. This isn't a just a modern phenomenon. Here are a few older examples:
Forbidden Planet (1956) - one of the first completely electronic film scores and surely an inspiration for Inception, Gravity, not to mention Solaris.
Taxi Driver (1976) - Bernard Hermann was one of the many European émigré composers of the 1940s who ended up in Hollywood. Unlike many of his contemporaries his music developed considerably beyond the post-Romantic idiom to form his own personal soundworld. His last score combines a devastatingly stark string orchestra with New York jazz.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) - Minimalism is often considered the invention of American composers such as Glass, Reich and Adams but some would argue it is thanks to Michael Nyman that the genre entered mainstream music through his collaboration with filmmaker Peter Greenaway.
In summary, the melodies you are referencing are nostalgic memories of a long-gone era of musical expression. We love them because they sound resonant and inspiring. They have fallen out of favour for now but, if history is to teach us anything, they'll be back in a decade or so, so hold tight!
posted by dogsbody at 1:07 PM on July 30, 2015 [6 favorites]
The great, sweeping, iconic movie themes of the mid-late 1970s into the 1980s are a product of their era, when moves were huge and sweeping and iconic. Back when there was one big movie that defined a Summer and everyone saw it and could sing its theme.
These themes themselves though, were referencing a previous era of movie music. The great Williams scores and others of the 1970-90s all find their roots in the film scores in the 1940s and 50s. Korngold, Rozsa, Waxman et al are the fathers of this sound world. Have a quick listen to the score of The Sea Hawk to see what I mean - particularly the second 'romantic' subject - that's your blueprint for a dozen future love themes.
But then, this music is further referencing a previous era of post-Romantic european art music (Korngold and his contemporaries all fled Nazi Europe). They are all the natural heirs of Richard Strauss, Bruchner, even Wagner. Have a listen to this extract from 'Til Eulenspiegel' - the DNA from this filters right through to something like the Harry Potter score loud and clear to my ears.
All of these composers are using very similar concepts (like leitmotif) and orchestral forces to acheive similar aims - to create a soundworld through sheer force of... fabulousness! This is music to make you stop and take notice, and they're not shy of using a catchy tune to make that happen.
But then...
It's not simply a case of 'back in the olden days they wrote X kind of scores but now they write Y instead'. Movie scores are highly cyclical. Interspersed between the nostalgic movie soundtracks we yearn for are those which have rejected comfortably sumptuous Romantic soundworlds. This isn't a just a modern phenomenon. Here are a few older examples:
Forbidden Planet (1956) - one of the first completely electronic film scores and surely an inspiration for Inception, Gravity, not to mention Solaris.
Taxi Driver (1976) - Bernard Hermann was one of the many European émigré composers of the 1940s who ended up in Hollywood. Unlike many of his contemporaries his music developed considerably beyond the post-Romantic idiom to form his own personal soundworld. His last score combines a devastatingly stark string orchestra with New York jazz.
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) - Minimalism is often considered the invention of American composers such as Glass, Reich and Adams but some would argue it is thanks to Michael Nyman that the genre entered mainstream music through his collaboration with filmmaker Peter Greenaway.
In summary, the melodies you are referencing are nostalgic memories of a long-gone era of musical expression. We love them because they sound resonant and inspiring. They have fallen out of favour for now but, if history is to teach us anything, they'll be back in a decade or so, so hold tight!
posted by dogsbody at 1:07 PM on July 30, 2015 [6 favorites]
I would make an argument in favor of the premise: there were more recognizable themes in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
60s: The Great Escape, Lawrence of Arabia, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World, Pink Panther, Psycho, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, Bond films, Dr. Zhivago. (Maybe include Mission Impossible which jumped from TV to unforgettable to cinema).
Single songs identified with movies (and incorporated into themes): Alfie, What's New Pussycat, Moon River (Breakfast at Tiffany's), Baby Elephant Walk (Hatari),Days of Wine and Roses (Mancini did a few of these), Born to Be Wild (Easy Rider), Cat Ballou, The Windmills of Your Mind (The Thomas Crown Affair).
(some of these may not come immediately to mind but are as instantly recognizable as a Beatles #1 song once you hear a few notes.)
70s: Jaws, Star Wars, Godfather, Halloween, Alien, Taxi Driver, Exorcist, Close Encounters, Rocky, The Sting, Patton, Shaft, The Way We Were, Love Story.
80s: Indiana Jones series, E.T., Ghostbusters, Aliens, Back to the Future, The Terminator, Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Batman, Chariots of Fire, Witness, Untouchables, Field of Dreams.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:36 PM on July 30, 2015
60s: The Great Escape, Lawrence of Arabia, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World, Pink Panther, Psycho, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, Bond films, Dr. Zhivago. (Maybe include Mission Impossible which jumped from TV to unforgettable to cinema).
Single songs identified with movies (and incorporated into themes): Alfie, What's New Pussycat, Moon River (Breakfast at Tiffany's), Baby Elephant Walk (Hatari),Days of Wine and Roses (Mancini did a few of these), Born to Be Wild (Easy Rider), Cat Ballou, The Windmills of Your Mind (The Thomas Crown Affair).
(some of these may not come immediately to mind but are as instantly recognizable as a Beatles #1 song once you hear a few notes.)
70s: Jaws, Star Wars, Godfather, Halloween, Alien, Taxi Driver, Exorcist, Close Encounters, Rocky, The Sting, Patton, Shaft, The Way We Were, Love Story.
80s: Indiana Jones series, E.T., Ghostbusters, Aliens, Back to the Future, The Terminator, Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Batman, Chariots of Fire, Witness, Untouchables, Field of Dreams.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:36 PM on July 30, 2015
Film score composition (and maybe pop music in general) doesn't emphasize melody as much as it used to. I think the use of iconic melodies in film scores peaked in the mid-late 1960's: Morricone's 'The Good The Bad and The Ugly', Barry's James Bond theme & 'Born Free', Mancini's 'Moon River', LeGrand's 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg', Jarre's 'Dr. Zhivago'... these are classic melodies that seem like they are virtually carved into stone.
Current film score composition trends are not as melodic, but they're usually very sophisticated and complex. The emphasis these days is more on creating a perfect sense of tone and mood than on carving out big melodic monoliths.
(yeah, see above;)
posted by ovvl at 4:44 PM on July 30, 2015
Current film score composition trends are not as melodic, but they're usually very sophisticated and complex. The emphasis these days is more on creating a perfect sense of tone and mood than on carving out big melodic monoliths.
(yeah, see above;)
posted by ovvl at 4:44 PM on July 30, 2015
Only if you're a fan of the movies, I think. I've seen most of the movies on tv, but I wouldn't have a clue what the theme sounds like.
Okay, this gave me a weird thought - I wonder if what also might be happening is that people are more likely to hear a riff without associating it with the movie, so they don't know it as "Oh, that's from HARRY POTTER" but they hear it and think "Oh, yeah, it's that riff that's all spooky but somehow cute too." You know? Jurassic Park's theme has gotten re-used elsewhere, too, and it almost sounds more like "sweet love story" than "rampaging dinosaurs", so people may not mentally associate it with Jurassic Park, so if you ask them if they've heard it they're all "uh, no," but then if you hum it, they say "oh, that song I've heard, yeah."
Sports and human-interest shows seem especially prone to this, particularly the Olympics coverage. I'm sure a bit of the Jurassic Park theme got used to underscore some feel-good "profile on the up-and-coming Shotputter from Zimbabwe" or something at some point.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:06 PM on July 30, 2015
Okay, this gave me a weird thought - I wonder if what also might be happening is that people are more likely to hear a riff without associating it with the movie, so they don't know it as "Oh, that's from HARRY POTTER" but they hear it and think "Oh, yeah, it's that riff that's all spooky but somehow cute too." You know? Jurassic Park's theme has gotten re-used elsewhere, too, and it almost sounds more like "sweet love story" than "rampaging dinosaurs", so people may not mentally associate it with Jurassic Park, so if you ask them if they've heard it they're all "uh, no," but then if you hum it, they say "oh, that song I've heard, yeah."
Sports and human-interest shows seem especially prone to this, particularly the Olympics coverage. I'm sure a bit of the Jurassic Park theme got used to underscore some feel-good "profile on the up-and-coming Shotputter from Zimbabwe" or something at some point.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:06 PM on July 30, 2015
So, I just spent the last half hour going through movie theme quizzes on youtube (thanks internet). I don't think this is a "getting older" phenomenon. Here are song's I could name the movie for, I was born after almost all these movies were made:
~~~ 1950s - 1960s ~~~
Sound of Music (1959) ~ Magnificent Seven (1960) ~ James Bond (1962)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) ~ The Pink Panther (1963) ~ Mission Impossible (1966)
~~~ 1970's ~~~
The God Father (1972) ~ Jaws (1975) ~ Rocky (1976) ~ Star Wars (1977)
Grease (1978) ~ Superman (1978) ~ Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
~~~ 1980's ~~~
Empire Strikes Back (1980) ~ Indian Jones (1981) ~ Chariots of Fire (1981)
E.T. (1982) ~ A Team (1983) ~ Ghostbusters (1983)(from the intro alone suckers!)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984) ~ Back to Future (1985) ~ Top Gun (1986) ~ Batman (1989)
~~~ 1990's ~~~
Nightmare before Christmas (1993) ~ Jurassic Park (1993)
American Beauty (1998)
I think American Beauty shouldn't really count since the main reason I remember it is because it was the first movie that really, like, spoke to me, man (yeah, young teens have crappy tastes). Meanwhile movies I've seen a million times from my teen years (Spiderman, Shawshank Redemption, The Rock, Army of Darkness, LOTR, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Braveheart, Harry Potter, Terminator, Green Mile, Forrest Gump, Pirates of the Caribbean, Titanic) I could not name or even recognize some. I recognized Inception/The Dark Night as being Christopher Nolan films but couldn't tell you the difference between them for the life of me.
So yeah, I whole-heartedly agree with the premise of this question.
I feel like the bigger role of pop-music based sound-tracks in marketing films being one of the biggest factors. I feel like I can think of a dozen pop or rock songs from movies over the past decade. The absence of a mono-culture plays a role as well in that these themes aren't as reinforced in marching bands or symphony-at-the-pops et cetera, but I still have seen some of these movies literally dozens of times.
By the way, the themes from the Rock and from The Black Hole are criminally under-rated, and I'm sad I haven't heard them enough to recognize them.
posted by midmarch snowman at 6:01 PM on July 30, 2015
~~~ 1950s - 1960s ~~~
Sound of Music (1959) ~ Magnificent Seven (1960) ~ James Bond (1962)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) ~ The Pink Panther (1963) ~ Mission Impossible (1966)
~~~ 1970's ~~~
The God Father (1972) ~ Jaws (1975) ~ Rocky (1976) ~ Star Wars (1977)
Grease (1978) ~ Superman (1978) ~ Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
~~~ 1980's ~~~
Empire Strikes Back (1980) ~ Indian Jones (1981) ~ Chariots of Fire (1981)
E.T. (1982) ~ A Team (1983) ~ Ghostbusters (1983)(from the intro alone suckers!)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984) ~ Back to Future (1985) ~ Top Gun (1986) ~ Batman (1989)
~~~ 1990's ~~~
Nightmare before Christmas (1993) ~ Jurassic Park (1993)
American Beauty (1998)
I think American Beauty shouldn't really count since the main reason I remember it is because it was the first movie that really, like, spoke to me, man (yeah, young teens have crappy tastes). Meanwhile movies I've seen a million times from my teen years (Spiderman, Shawshank Redemption, The Rock, Army of Darkness, LOTR, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, Braveheart, Harry Potter, Terminator, Green Mile, Forrest Gump, Pirates of the Caribbean, Titanic) I could not name or even recognize some. I recognized Inception/The Dark Night as being Christopher Nolan films but couldn't tell you the difference between them for the life of me.
So yeah, I whole-heartedly agree with the premise of this question.
I feel like the bigger role of pop-music based sound-tracks in marketing films being one of the biggest factors. I feel like I can think of a dozen pop or rock songs from movies over the past decade. The absence of a mono-culture plays a role as well in that these themes aren't as reinforced in marching bands or symphony-at-the-pops et cetera, but I still have seen some of these movies literally dozens of times.
By the way, the themes from the Rock and from The Black Hole are criminally under-rated, and I'm sad I haven't heard them enough to recognize them.
posted by midmarch snowman at 6:01 PM on July 30, 2015
Oh, and maybe by coincidence or maybe not, if you google the history of movie soundtracks, they all point to pop soundtracks as bankable albums starting with 1969's Easy Rider and peaking with Footloose and The Bodyguard, albums released at the end of the great instrumental themes era.
posted by midmarch snowman at 6:09 PM on July 30, 2015
posted by midmarch snowman at 6:09 PM on July 30, 2015
My theory is that dramatic scores in film and TV fell out of fashion in the 90s and 00's but are now seeing a bit of a resurgence. I think of dramas post 2000 featuring mostly diegetic music but now I notice a lot more scoring going on in general. I blame Dr Who - we have access to an orchestra and we're damn well gonna use it!
posted by Ness at 2:42 AM on July 31, 2015
posted by Ness at 2:42 AM on July 31, 2015
Response by poster: This is fantastic. Every single one of these answers is the best answer. I won't mark them all as best mind you, but just know that they're all the best.
Thanks again everyone - if nothing else, this discussion helped give color and context for any future discussions for me in this area. I appreciate it!
posted by mrhaydel at 9:48 AM on July 31, 2015
Thanks again everyone - if nothing else, this discussion helped give color and context for any future discussions for me in this area. I appreciate it!
posted by mrhaydel at 9:48 AM on July 31, 2015
Fore sweeping and--for a time--omnipresent, how about John Murphy's Adaggio in D Minor from the film Sunshine? Here's the list of other uses.
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:24 AM on July 31, 2015
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:24 AM on July 31, 2015
Why is that?
The world was smaller then, with less stuff in it. There were fewer things to do with your time, and if you chose to see a movie, there were fewer to choose from. Jaws was iconic because everyone had seen Jaws. So that's a lot of it right there.
But also, because of that, parody was easy. Throw Jaws under any suspenseful thing that turns out to be innocuous, and you've got a joke people will get. This joke has been used in every comedy and every swimming pool at one time or another. So then you have a generation that hasn't seen Jaws, but still recognizes the score from something else (especially because smaller world equals fewer channels on the TV), the same way someone might recognize Wagner from Bugs Bunny.
(I think There Will Be Blood could have been the new Jaws, if the world was still that small. And if anyone drank milkshakes anymore.)
posted by Sys Rq at 10:11 PM on September 14, 2015
The world was smaller then, with less stuff in it. There were fewer things to do with your time, and if you chose to see a movie, there were fewer to choose from. Jaws was iconic because everyone had seen Jaws. So that's a lot of it right there.
But also, because of that, parody was easy. Throw Jaws under any suspenseful thing that turns out to be innocuous, and you've got a joke people will get. This joke has been used in every comedy and every swimming pool at one time or another. So then you have a generation that hasn't seen Jaws, but still recognizes the score from something else (especially because smaller world equals fewer channels on the TV), the same way someone might recognize Wagner from Bugs Bunny.
(I think There Will Be Blood could have been the new Jaws, if the world was still that small. And if anyone drank milkshakes anymore.)
posted by Sys Rq at 10:11 PM on September 14, 2015
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posted by thelonius at 7:47 AM on July 30, 2015 [2 favorites]