posted
Best theme, IMHO, is the TMP one (Director's Edition, but I think it's the same as the original one?). Just watching an almost blank screen, apart from a faint starfield whizzing by, and hearing that symphony over your surround system is just.. wow.
Another good moment was "The Siege of AR-588", with Vic Fontaine and silent, slow-motion battle. Very nice touch.
posted
Well, apparently unlike everyone else, I still dislike "Faith of the Heart" as much as I did when they introduced it.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I think Enterprise has the best title sequence (visually) yet. Voyager's is maybe second best. Which is, you know, kind of odd, all things considered. But Voyager was just more of the same, really, only improved. That is, in the sense that TOS had titles which were the Enterprise flying past. And then, a crazy technological leap 25 years later: The Enterprise flying past things! Voyager simply added neater things.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I'm in the camp that's never liked "Faith of the Heart", or indeed any vocals for Trek. I'm still glad Gene decided against actual lyrics for TOS.
That said, a title theme doesn't need vocals to be compelling enough to listen to every time. I have watched and re-watched the entire series of Babylon 5 many times, and have yet to fast-forward through the main titles. Same goes for Dune (the movie, not the gawdawful miniseries). I can't even imagine fast-forwarding through the opening titles of Star Wars.
The TOS theme isn't anything special, but it's short enough that I don't feel I have to zip through it. Every other series has been the victim of my fast forward button on every reviewing. And about half the movies. The opening titles I like best are the ones from James Horner and Clif Eidelman. The rest I just skip through. Well, sometimes I sit through the one from Generations, but not often.
The one thing that would save Enterprise's title theme is for it to not sound like every other TV show.
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Except maybe for the first season of B5 credits, I think all the B5 credits beat the Trek series credits hands down... the movies however might be intermixed there.
I never liked Faith of the Heart, but the Calling was excellent--- I was disappointed with that one.
-------------------- Later, J _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ The Last Person to post in the late Voyager Forum. Bashing both Voyager, Enterprise, and "The Bun" in one glorious post.
posted
I dunno how many of you saw TMP when it first came out, but I recall being blown away by the when I saw the film opening weekend in 1979, roaring at me in then-high-tech Dolby Stereo. I actaully found myself humming it when I left the theater.
I never liked the TNG arrangement of it, tho. Bleh.
As to "Faith of the Heart", it never bothered me.
As to the DS9 theme, in it's original form you could play it over the titles for a western and it would seem right at home. I think that was intentional...a fort out on the frontier.
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
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posted
B5 always had a killer opener and voiceover. It grabbed you right away.
Voyager's opener was really powerful, but I'm surprised they never changed it over the years. You'd think that with the ship continually moving, it would be the perfect opportunity to do something somewhat fresh with the opener every season or every other season. Lord knows they never did anything fresh with the show itself.
I always liked Faith of the Heart, too, and I think it went well with the more "closer to home" kind of modern feeling they were trying to give the show. The visuals are good and it really does capture the premise of the show.
Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
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posted
Trek never had a house composer of Franke's caliber, IMO. With the exception of Chattaway's score for Call to Arms and Jones' Best Of Both Worlds piece, most of TNG/DS9/VOY's music was pretty forgettable. By contrast, the themes from Chrysalis and Sleeping in Light never fail to send a chill down my spine...
quote:Originally posted by Cartman: Trek never had a house composer of Franke's caliber, IMO. With the exception of Chattaway's score for Call to Arms and Jones' Best Of Both Worlds piece, most of TNG/DS9/VOY's music was pretty forgettable. By contrast, the themes from Chrysalis and Sleeping in Light never fail to send a chill down my spine...
That's gotta be partly the decision of the higher-ups that they didn't want dramatic music in the show. See this Trek Music page interview with Ron Jones, question #12. A salient quote: "After I was assassinated I noticed that the scores sounded less melodic and more pad-like. Ricky Berman always considered music an intrusion, a necessary evil."
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Yup. Jones was fired shortly after his "out of the ordinary" BOBW scores.
And if you listen to Chattaway's first score, for "Tin Man", it is surprisingly melodic, with themes and everything. It has a lovely flute piece for Tin Man itself, and some great brassy stuff for when the first Romulan ship appears.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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"I've known for a long time that Berman is probably the worst thing to ever happen to Trek, and this just adds more fuel."
So you're saying that changing the theme is a bad decision. Which means you think he made a good decision when he picked it in the first place. So, obviously, you don't completely disagree with him.
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posted
I was actually referring to his entire "music is a necessary evil" philosophy. I wonder how much better the last few movies would have been if the productions had been headed by someone who appreciated film scores for what they contribute, and knew how to recognize good from bad...
--Jonah
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
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posted
Er, it's pretty obvious that his TV music philosophy doesn't apply to the movies, considering how extremely thematic they've been. Even Generations.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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