Tweet Bad or Average Films with Great Scores or Soundtracks?

As I say bad or average that is certainly arbitrary. But films that may have been panned by critics when released. One may think a film is bad while another thinks it's great. So as not to put any films down, I'm saying films not viewed favorably by the media, critics, your next door neighbor etc. when they were released or since then.

*Ryan's Daughter (1970)
*Black Beauty (1971)
*Raise the Titanic(1980)

mods, I meant to put this in TALKING ABOUT TALKIES

[Christopher Jacobs]

mods, I meant to put this in TALKING ABOUT TALKIES

"So let it be written, so let it be done!" No longer in the "Talkie News" forum.

But back to the topic, although it's one of my "guilty pleasures," I know many people are not enamoured of J. Lee. Thompson's MACKENNA'S GOLD (1969), yet it's got a wonderful score by Quincy Jones that sounds far more like the lush Hollywood scores of Dmitri Tiomkin (who was one of the film's producers) than like Jones' usual jazz-oriented scores.

A Countess from Hong Kong

A Countess from Hong Kong

I wouldn't call this a bad film; average perhaps, but I've always enjoyed it, especially the hilarious Patrick Cargill, who steals the show. This film isn't nearly as bad as it's often made out to be IMO. And I agree, Charlie's score for this is great.

Any bad or average film that have a John Williams as composer.

Any bad or average film that have a John Williams as composer.

John Williams' scores make my teeth hurt. I don't appreciate being brainwashed. (Of course that could just be Lucas and Spielberg over-indulging him).

Not an old film, but I love the score to The Legend of Bagger Vance by Rachel Portman, though the film is merely average. I saw it only once, in the theater, but it's a favorite score. Maybe I'll watch it again and see if my opinion improves.

Unfortunately, a quick check on Amazon indicates that it's out of print, and new copies are selling for $94. (Well, whether they're actually selling is unclear, but that's the asking price anyway.) And it's not available as a digital download (legally, at least). The entire thing is on YouTube though:

Main Titles (track 2 on the CD because track 1 is a Fats Waller tune):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jat7sPZyhE&feature=relmfu

And here's a compilation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WULPWcVmJeQ&feature=related

Any bad or average film that have a John Williams as composer.

John Williams' scores make my teeth hurt. I don't appreciate being brainwashed. (Of course that could just be Lucas and Spielberg over-indulging him).

Didn't he do that lifeless score for "Saving Private Ryan"?

Yes, he did.
I object to the relentless use of a few themes over and over and over to the point to where I have an earworm for weeks.

I always thought Stewart Copeland's soundtrack to RUMBLE FISH was far better than the film.

[Mike Gebert]

David Mansfield's score for Heaven's Gate is beautiful, maybe the only thing in that mess of a movie that came out just right (lots of things came out fascinating but flawed).



That's Mansfield as the skating fiddler, and T-Bone Burnett is the musician who counts it off for the band.

Any bad or average film that have a John Williams as composer.

John Williams' scores make my teeth hurt. I don't appreciate being brainwashed. (Of course that could just be Lucas and Spielberg over-indulging him).

I'm inclined to agree that Williams is over rated. As popular as he is, I would question his real talent for original composition.
He steals phrases from the classics and also other film composers of the Golden Era such as Korngold and Steiner. Unless people pay attention to older films, they do not notice this. For my book, Randy Newman is better. But don't get me started on Danny Elfman. He's probably worse to my ear.

If I may reach back a bit further. The scores composed and conducted by Winston Sharples for Van Beuren's animated RAINBOW PARADE cartoon series were examples of music that was better than most of the cartoons they were made for.
Several of those tracks were added to a number of the Max Fleischer OUT OF THE INKWELL films that were sold to television in 1950 by Stuart Productions. The application of these tracks seemed to suit these silent films better than in their original use.

I like Randy Newman, but his theme from Ragtime sounds just like "If You Could See Her Through My Eyes" from Cabaret.

As for Williams, he and most other film composers are influenced the most by Stravinsky. I like his stuff a lot though, but I can understand someone not.

A Countess from Hong Kong

I wouldn't call this a bad film; average perhaps, but I've always enjoyed it, especially the hilarious Patrick Cargill, who steals the show. This film isn't nearly as bad as it's often made out to be IMO. And I agree, Charlie's score for this is great.

I probably should have expanded upon my original post, but I agree with your assessment. All I can add is that Marlon Brando's miscasting really brought the film down. It's too bad that Chaplin couldn't have gotten someone like Cary Grant or Rock Hudson.

RYAN'S DAUGHTER is not a "bad" film.