If you aren’t checking out Trace Beaulieu’s and Frank Conniff’s The Mads Are Back project, why in [redacted] not?!
About a month ago, they got their hooks into this 1959 dog called The T-Bird Gang. It has genuine jazz stars of the day like Shelly Manne and Charlie Mariano providing the soundtrack. At least 1/5th of the movie riffs correctly mention how much better the music is than the actual movie.
Speaking of jazz, I’ve owned the soundtracks to both Tucker and Mike’s Murder because I’m a fan of Joe Jackson. But I’ve never seen either movie. Someone else will have to tell me if they’re worth watching. Same goes for The Strangler’s Wife. I adore those Bostonian weirdos Cul De Sac and the music they provided, but I just had the feeling from the preview of the movie that I’d never get through it. [shrug]
The Star Wars prequels are some of the worst major blockbusters ever released, but Phantom Menace has an incredible score courtesy of John Williams. The other two prequels have just a few new themes and mostly reuse music from TPM, even in the scene right before Order 66 is given.
Starcrash is a lot of fun to listen to, even outside of the film. Kitschy as hell, but that’s part of the charm, isn’t it?
Looks like Barry Gray composed for Invaders from the Deep (or rather, the show that provided the footage for the film). Not sure about Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars.
Game of Death’s main theme really does seem like it should be in a much better movie, doesn’t it? It reappears in “The BIG Motorcycle Fight” after some good buildup, too.
I’m gonna stick up for Episodes II and III; it’s true that they track in cues from The Phantom Menace (and it’s occasionally super distracting while watching them), but there’s also a lot of really good original material showcased on the soundtrack albums, especially Revenge of the Sith.
I think it’s pretty likely the Mysteron music is his, since that movie comes from Captain Scarlet, which he scored. I still find myself singing the Captain Scarlet theme at times.
He also did some of the music that ended up in Cosmic Princess, since that’s cut together from Space 1999 episodes.
Maybe not an awful movie (I thought it was fine though a lot of folks don’t), but I was shocked to see this in the credits for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker:
Okay, so the (bangin’) song tells me he’s indestructible, which explains why the montage features Captain Scarlet in all these seemingly fatal situations. But if I can be perfectly honest, the nonstop series of images depicting this guy in all these various death traps almost makes him come across as a hilariously incompetent hero who is constantly bumbling his way toward certain doom.
I just walked around my half deserted office blasting the Black Hole theme on headphones. Great experience, highly recommended. Loved that film as a child, haven’t seen it as an adult.
The theme tune to the ‘58 Blob is hard to beat. I’ve never found the film even half as ahem absorbing.
First heard it on this semi-official bootleg of a Lux Interior fronted radio show from the early 80’s which is well worth tracking down
@SandyFrank I’d argue that “Thunderbirds March” is the most recognizable piece of music Barry Gray ever composed. The other Supermarionation scores and original Space: 1999 theme are certainly recognized in Gerry Andersen circles, but the “Thunderbirds March” has that little something extra that causes people who’ve never seen the series to recognize it.
One of my favorite “Movie’s bad / music’s great!” albums is Christopher Young’s score for The Core (2003).
Agreed, I suspect that his Thunderbirds work is the most iconic. It’s probably the best known series as well.
And thanks for posting The Core. I knew Christopher Young (whose work I love) had to have done at least one bad film. Jerry Goldsmith and Ennio Morricone have done several, as is to be expected for prolific composers.
Was just posting about Seance on a Wet Afternoon in another thread, and upon reviewing the credits it appears your fellow did the score for this as well!
I found the movie The Brothers Bloom highly forgettable (despite its great cast), but the score by Nathan Johnson and the Cinematic Underground is FANTASTIC. In particular, I listen to the track “The Perfect Con” when I’m feeling beaten down because I find it so comforting and uplifting. It’s a piece of music that’s very important to me, though I doubt I’ll ever watch the movie it comes from again.
Arion Ober was the composer (or conductor, depending on where you look) for everyone’s favorite film to not watch at dinner: The Incredible Melting Man. Have I lost it completely or is the score… not that bad? I mean it’s not terrific, but compared to Albert Glasser…
It’s been mentioned in another thread, but the dire film Inchon has a terrific score by Jerry Goldsmith:
And - speaking of Jerry Goldsmith - I’ve been listening to his blockbuster score to Total Recall, and parts of it sound unnervingly like “Torgo’s Theme” from Manos!
