In Context - Need for Speed by Nathan Furst

"Way" back in March of 2014, a rival to the Fast And Furious franchise made its debut.  NEED FOR SPEED, directed by Scott Waugh, was marketed to give us a slightly retro-street-race movie from what the Fast And Furious franchise has evolved into.   Boasting real cars, in-camera effects, and a host of drool-inducing automobiles, NEED FOR SPEED looked to bring the popular and historic game franchise to the big screen in a big way.  Brought on to score the film was previous collaborator, NATHAN FURST, who worked with Waugh on Act of Valor (2012).

Missing out on its theatrical release, I went the VOD (Video on demand) route and watched on my home theater.  I rented the HDX version of the film from Vudu.  Although, my setup is several years old now, I can honestly say that I have, on a number of occasions, had a superior audio/video experience watching a film on my own home theater than watching that same film in one of my local cinemas.  So I'm quite confident that my viewing of Need for Speed in this context delivered an adequate experience from which to base this review.

The visuals of this film are top-notch.  In fact, I was surprised at how crisp the video was.  I completely forgot I was watching a HD-streaming and not blu-ray.  Same goes for the sound.  During the race scenes, the sound of those engines were nothing short of thunderous.  The question is how Furst's score fit into all of that thunder.

In the first half of the film, the races tend to not have any music until about half-way through the segment.  Around that  point in the race, there is some sort of threatening event or issue that arises. It is there that Furst’s score is interjected into the mix to ramp up the tension.  As the film proceeds; however, we get additional and extended, race scenes and the score begins to enter into the mix much earlier.

That said, most of the time, the mix places the score underneath the killer sound effects of the amazing looking and sounding, Mustangs, Agera’s, Lamborghinis, McLarens, and Bugattis.  There were times that the score almost disappeared completely behind it all, which begs the question, "Why have score there at all?"  On the odd occasion, the score would ramp up in volume for a few seconds before getting buried beneath the dust of the sound effects again.

The NEED FOR SPEED score is really built around a main theme representing the protagonist, Toby Marshall.  It starts the film as a low-key, post-modern-rock piece.  It begins with a very spacious guitar over acoustic bass drum beat, placid electronics and strings, but develops, over the course of the film, to become a bold, heroic anthem, bolted out on brass and supported by full orchestra.  It’s really quite a compelling theme and not what one might expect for a film like this and it definitely helps to distinguish this potential franchise from the Fast and Furious.

One last bit of context here - there are several songs which are scattered throughout the film.  Each of these I I found absolutely out of place, distracting, and of pretty poor quality.  Furst’s score far out-classes them, but Interscope Records found them worth releasing on an EP.  NATHAN FURST's score also found a release from Varèse Sarabande on March 14, 2014 and remains widely available.

If you are looking for a slightly different experience from the Fast and Furious, then NEED FOR SPEED might be of interest to you.  If you love the look of real cars doing real racing and sound of muscle and exotic cars, then this film is definitely for you.  Hearing Furst's score in context, might bring a modicum of extra-appreciation to the score, but to really hear what the composer has done for this film, I recommend listening to the original score, instead.

In Context - The Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack

Over the last year, my expectations for Marvel's most daring comic-to-film endeavour to date, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, has been keenly on the rise.  It truly started with the news that director, James Gunn, had had composer TYLER BATES write music early enough to actually be used on stage during filming in order to hopefully enhance the actors performance that much more.  Later, the teaser trailer made it clear that this Marvel film was going to double-down on Marvel's propensity for making sure "fun" was a significant ingredient of the film's tone.  Then, just days ago, the deluxe soundtrack was released giving us both all of the songs from the Seventies and Eighties used strategically throughout the film as well as TYLER BATES' original score.  Being quite pleased with both, I went into GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY with as high of expectations as I dare to try these days.

So how does the soundtrack work in context?

First off, the context, itself. The film was simply the most fun I've had at a movie in some years.  While it doesn't topple something like DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES in terms of being top, overall film of the summer (or year thus far), it is clearly the most fun.  In a cinematic world that seems obsessed with darkness and seriousness in it's fantasy and sci-fi films, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is a completely refreshing experience.

Now, let's talk about the mix.  I saw this at a press screening at a Regal Cinema.  I sat about 1/3 the way up and on the left-side of the center section.  From that spot, the sound mix I found to be pretty flat and the volume level quite low.  As most know, there are quite a few 70s/80s era songs in the film.  Thankfully, they go beyond just songs for songs-sake and are an integral part of the storyline as well.  While the songs are occasionally relegated to the background in the mix, at some point, most of them are brought boldly to the forefront, eclipsing most all other sound.  TYLER BATES' score; however, rarely receives such treatment and languishes in the background to midground for most the film.

In context, Tyler's score is dynamic and equal to the comedic, sci-fi, thrill-ride that James Gunn has cooked up for audiences.  When it comes to "music you'll remember,"  you may, as I did, be whistling the Bate's main theme as you walk out of the theater.  There are numerous action-opportunities and so the heroic anthem gets a number of raucous performances.  What might surprise you are the more sentimental variations.  Perhaps the second most memorable music piece centers on Groot, who completely wins the crowd over by the movies end.  Groot brings as much heart to the film as Rocket Raccoon brings hilarity, and what appears to be Groot's theme is a magically moving piece of music.

In the end, both the songs and original score combined with Gunn's colorful attention to detail, makes GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY a sensory-rich experience.  (Perhaps a little too rich when it comes to the 3D employed).  While the included songs will likely continue to get the groot-share of the attention in mainstream circles,  TYLER BATES' original score should not be overlooked.  It is easily one of his most embraceable scores to date and, in context, helps to elevate this film to cosmic heights while keeping it firmly connected to the well-established realm of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Be on the lookout for my full review of the soundtrack in the days to come.

In Context - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Michael Giacchino)

In-Context is a new series where I will deliver my thoughts on how an well original score functions within its specific context:  feature film, television program, or video game!   Our first stop is Matt Reeves' DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES with an original score by MICHAEL GIACCHINO.  You can watch this series on our Youtube channel and/or read the text version here on our blog!  Either way, let us know what you thought of the Giacchino's score as it performed in-context or what you think of this new series.

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DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is the perfect sequel to the vastly under-rated RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2011) and has become the high-water-mark for 2014 movies so far.  For DAWN the directorial reins moved from Rupert Wyatt to Matt Reeves and soon thereafter, the scoring duties from PATRICK DOYLE to MICHAEL GIACCHINO.  The focus of this sequel clearly takes the audience from the perspective of the humans to that of this newly rising community of intelligent apes.  With one race trying to hold on to its civilization and another trying to build its own, is conflict inevitable?  Ten years after the events of RISE, Reeves and Giacchino reunite us with our favorite ape characters: Caesar, Maurice, Rocket, and Koba and also introduce us to a small band of surviving humans and explore the answer to this question.

So let's take a look at how Giacchino's original score worked in context.

I watched this film at the AMC Theater in Downtown Disney, Orlando.  This is truly one of the best movie theaters in the Orlando area and one of the few equipped with a Dolby Atmos. Unfortunately, I did not see DAWN on this screen.  I sat about 1/2 way back at the on the left side of the center section.  This was the very same screen where I had one of my worst movie-audio experiences of my life ... GODZILLA (2014).   I'm happy to report that this was not the case this time and the sound mix and volume was fantastic and matched the emotion and intensity of the images being shown to myself and the rest of this packed house.

In context, MICHAEL GIACCHINO's original score is one of the most effective of any summer movie release this year. One of the more intriguing elements are the nods to Jerry Goldsmith's impressionistic style for the original PLANET OF THE APES from 1968.  Giacchino even goes as far as to include some of the unique instrumentation found in Goldsmith's original.  Our prolific composer tends to lean more and more upon these impressionistic tendencies as the plot advances and the potential for large-scale conflict increases.  His use of such techniques are certainly not just for nostalgic purposes, but to create an atmosphere of unease which cocoon's the audience in with their sense of fear and dread.  There are a couple of moments where we get a dose of dissonant strings and chorus that, along with the imagery, cannot help be evoke thoughts of 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It's quite the rare thing to find this style score attached to a mainstream, summer, blockbuster film these days and due credit must be given to Reeves and Giacchino for daring to do so.

Now, MICHAEL GIACCHINO does not go as far experimentally as Goldsmith did and manages to keep his own, signature sound close at hand.  Aside from the chilling aspects of the score, the listener will likely take away two main musical ideas upon viewing the film.

First, is the harmonious, peaceful title theme, which hinges upon two, simple piano notes.  It is used all throughout the score, not only in this form, but at times, plucked on the harp or played by full orchestra.  It is a device used in quite a number of Giacchino's scores, but fans of the early seasons of LOST will be the group that most certainly recognizes it.  The overall effect of the theme, and in particular the abbreviated motif, is this sort of "fragile peace;" somehow telling the audience that everything is good ... for the moment.

The second takeaway is what could be called Koba's theme.  In stark contrast to the aforementioned peace-theme, Koba's theme is, at its core, a quick set of six notes.  It maintains the rising and falling shape of the two-note motif, but is usually delivered in militaristic fashion - often lead on brass and underscored strongly with various percussion.  As the plot develops, the theme grows and ultimately is played over the Apes community as the tragic, pieces fall into place and they mobilize for the inevitable conflict with the humans.

Overall, as had been said by many already, DAWN is easily one of the Summer's best films ... or even one of 2014's best.  MICHAEL GIACCHINO's score has a crucial part to play.  And while his most enjoyable music tends to be for original properties over reboots or inherited sequels, you will definitely want to hear his score in context ... probably more than once.

Be sure to lookout for more IN-CONTEXT episodes on our YOUTUBE channel and also for my full soundtrack review of DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES in the very near future.