KVR Audio

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:22 pm

That's my assertion anyway. I just watched it again and, overall, I think that the movie is somewhat mediocre. Of course, part of that is that we never get the future right in movies so some things, e.g. CRTs, are quaint. Still, the soundtrack is so dramatic I think that it makes the movie.

It makes me wonder how much better mediocre sci-fi might be with the right music?

Sendy · Post by **Sendy** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:27 pm

I just watched the director's cut the other night as well. It was on TV a while ago and we taped it.

For me it's the cinematography as well. The synergy between the visuals and the music is beautiful. It's like a very long music video

Story? Yeah, whatever

lnikj · Post by **lnikj** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:30 pm

Tears in Rain

chk071 · Post by **chk071** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:40 pm

ghettosynth wrote:That's my assertion anyway. I just watched it again and, overall, I think that the movie is somewhat mediocre. Of course, part of that is that we never get the future right in movies so some things, e.g. CRTs, are quaint. Still, the soundtrack is so dramatic I think that it makes the movie.

It makes me wonder how much better mediocre sci-fi might be with the right music?

You're right. I found the film to be "nothing special". Of course, you have to put it in context with the time it has been made, and it surely was pretty good for the time, but i think there's more groundbreaking sci-fi films. To be totally honest, i even found the soundtrack to be not as awesome as i always heard and read it was. But then, i'm not a big fan of Vangelis anyway.

Turello · Post by **Turello** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:44 pm

@ghettosynth: Oh Man, You have said a sacrilegious..! You're an Heretic too!!!

Seriously: You have to consider that is an old enough film and that indeed, with the means at their disposal have made a great movie with a great script...
And It will seem absurd, but I liked it so much that the soundtrack is the last thing that I've noticed (perhaps subtely)... But I must also admit that I have many friends cinephiles who think like you... So, anyway I think It's a matter of taste...

valerian_777 · Post by **valerian_777** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:44 pm

lnikj wrote:Tears in Rain

This thread needs no more words then this.

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:47 pm

Sendy wrote:I just watched the director's cut the other night as well. It was on TV a while ago and we taped it.

For me it's the cinematography as well. The synergy between the visuals and the music is beautiful. It's like a very long music video Story? Yeah, whatever

Yes, to some extent, I agree. I think that there are definitely moments, but, I also think that excessive dark is to movies what excessive distortion is to guitars, it's sometimes very dramatic, but it can also be tedious and it hides a multitude of sins.

I have to be careful to remember when it was made. I can appreciate advances in film in older movies when I view them from a perspective of when they were made. So in that sense, it isn't that bad, but, as far as standing up today, or even compared to stories that I think were more carefully scripted from that time, I think one of the things that really sets it apart is the soundtrack.

The soundtrack is really quite enjoyable on its own, I'm listening to it now, probably too loudly, but I don't share walls with neighbors. I think that the youtube processing is sucking some of my bass, or it could be the vinyl. It's not rumbling as much as the movie did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x3UNHNo1LA

original flipper · Post by **original flipper** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 8:54 pm

Hi

I think that the movie is somewhat mediocre

Of course that is your opinion, but I would suggest you consider that you are watching the movie 30 years down the line and it is bound to loose some context over that period.

As far as the soundtrack is concerned, I like it, it is quite minimal at times, cold, and supports the dark atmosphere, narrative and subject matter well.

I am a fan of the movie, love sci-fi and can well imagine how another director might have come up with something quite different.

I can think of numerous movies which have 'suffered' as a result of a poor soundtrack.

I read something, somewhere which stated that some 90% of an average moviesrunning time has some kind of bbackground music going on - so yes, the soundtrack has a potentially massive impact on the end product.

Of course, part of that is that we never get the future right in movies

FWIW I think Blade runner stands up well and if it was released today would do well, because I really don't see much that dates it.

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:04 pm

chk071 wrote:
ghettosynth wrote:That's my assertion anyway. I just watched it again and, overall, I think that the movie is somewhat mediocre. Of course, part of that is that we never get the future right in movies so some things, e.g. CRTs, are quaint. Still, the soundtrack is so dramatic I think that it makes the movie.

It makes me wonder how much better mediocre sci-fi might be with the right music?
You're right. I found the film to be "nothing special". Of course, you have to put it in context with the time it has been made, and it surely was pretty good for the time, but i think there's more groundbreaking sci-fi films. To be totally honest, i even found the soundtrack to be not as awesome as i always heard and read it was. But then, i'm not a big fan of Vangelis anyway.

Those analog brass notes are just something else though. I was listening to the Star Trek Voyager theme, which is also "loaded with brass", and there was just no comparison in terms of "brass power."

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:16 pm

Turello wrote:@ghettosynth: Oh Man, You have said a sacrilegious..! You're an Heretic too!!!

Yes, I'm going to hell, I'm hoping that there's a bumping sound system and that I run into all the bad girls from high school that died young in alcohol related car wrecks. I was too nerdy to talk to them at the time, but now that I'm a DJ, well, you know where I'm going with this.

I'm totally on a soundtrack kick this afternoon. Currently listening to TrainSpotting. Any suggestions for what to cue up next?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SapClGprE2A

lnikj · Post by **lnikj** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:19 pm

American Beauty, Thief or any John Carpenter film

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:31 pm

ghettosynth wrote:That's my assertion anyway. I just watched it again and, overall, I think that the movie is somewhat mediocre. Of course, part of that is that we never get the future right in movies so some things, e.g. CRTs, are quaint. Still, the soundtrack is so dramatic I think that it makes the movie.

It makes me wonder how much better mediocre sci-fi might be with the right music?

Riiiiight... I totally disagree with you...

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:35 pm

It's an awesome film (for me one of the very best scifi films ever made) but what is interesting is Harrison Ford also starred in another film about the same time that although subject-wise was completely different has a lot of structural similarities and also has a great synth soundtrack that takes it to another level - Witness.

SODDI · Post by **SODDI** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:44 pm

I always thought that Vangelis score was pretty sappy.

The dark city-scape's visual design was always the most impressive part of the movie to me - Douglas Trumbull was that era's master SFX builder/shooter. (If you go to the American Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, you can stand in front of the Tyrell Corporation building. It's about 10 ft. tall and completely wired for lighting.)

And moreover, designer Syd Mead, who had been America's premiere visual futurist for decades.

The story was completely de-balled Philip K. Dick. Cheap drama and without Dick's sly humor and paranoid sedition.

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:46 pm

Robmobius wrote:
ghettosynth wrote:That's my assertion anyway. I just watched it again and, overall, I think that the movie is somewhat mediocre. Of course, part of that is that we never get the future right in movies so some things, e.g. CRTs, are quaint. Still, the soundtrack is so dramatic I think that it makes the movie.

It makes me wonder how much better mediocre sci-fi might be with the right music?
Riiiiight... I totally disagree with you...

Well, that's ok, we can't all be right all the time. Well, by we, of course, I'm not referring to myself, why would I, that's just unnatural.

Bladerunner would be forgettable without the soundtrack.