Of course, you have to draw comparions to this and Batman, and dammit, Batman just whoops its ass big time. Sure, Batman is more of a serious film, but regardless. There's not really a SPIDERMAN!!! theme. There's almost one but barely. The other stuff is just basically background music. Pretty disappointing. I liked it, but I don't remember any of it the next day.

I thought the "Spider-Man" score was fan-frickin'-tastic. Sometimes it is hard to figure out what filmmusic people are going to like, but I guess it is par for the course with the "usual gang of idiots", i.e., Danny Elfman = lackluster, Anyone Else = same old generic B.S. / that people steam their pants over for an album ("Scorpion King"!?!)

"Spider-Man" is going to roll over George Lucas' bloated body.

Did you just call me an idiot because my opinion differs from yours?

I love Elfman. He used to be great. Now he's just on autopilot, it seems. Going the way of Horner. His scores for Pee Wee, Betelguese, Batman and Eddie Scissorhands are beautiful, so I'm FAR from an Elfman hater.

And I personally hope AOTC trounces Spidey at the box office. It already has in the score department.

IN my opinion.

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Originally posted by spitfire:

Opinion = talking out of one's ass?

"Spider-Man" is going to roll over George Lucas' bloated body.

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"...and with 2 wrong Spitfire sadly misses out on the trip the the Bahamas. We hope you have better luck next time."

As for Hasta's expectations, let me let you in on the obvious -- movies aren't made with "expectations" in mind. So whatever you "expect" has nothing to do with the actual quality of something. The fact that it doesn't live up to your expectations means the problem isn't with the film...

And Kevin, I wasn't calling you an idiot. I'm inferring to people who prefer cookie-cutter style filmmusic and in the same breath deem something that isn't generic, "crappy".

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Originally posted by SCimmerian:
spiderman will not beat star wars at the box office. no way in hell it will happen.forget it.

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Well.. somehow I don't see Episode 2 making $41 million opening day.... I just don't.

SPIDERMAN is gonna trounce POTTER at the box office this weekend (for "highest grossing weekend of all time").... and it might give it a run for the money in the long run too.

I loved the score. Every second of it. I found it far more than "serviceable," and much more colorful and interesting than "wallpaper." From the driving main titles to the brass notes in the first climb, from the guitar riff in the suit-drawing montage to the fabulously rousing bridge-swinging sequence. Damn, it was good. What were you people listening to?

I wrote this on another board, but I'll reiterate it here.

Most if not all of Elfman's more recent works have grown out of the score that immediately preceded it. It's really starting to bother me.

Just as a recent example, Spider-Man's "theme/motif" was directly related to the "love motif" from Planet Of The Apes (the bad one), which ITSELF was a direct descendant of the love THEME for Sleepy Hollow. My brother also claims he can hear some Family Man in Spidey's score, and to the extent that it's meandering and trying to find heart without really giving you something to take home and hug, I agree. It's just been a little while since I've heard The Family Man, so I can't really pull that out of my ass and claim it to be gospel.

It's one of those things, I just wish film composers could take 2 or 3 years off at a time, then return, the word "derivative" never having to be uttered again (long-haired freaky-people and James Horner need not apply). This is, of course, ridiculous, but don't you think you'd be a little bit "fresher" if you didn't have to write 90 minutes of music every couple of months that will either make or break the emotional impact of a major motion picture? And for what? So TimT can have another album for his sell/trade list?

I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud here.

$41 million is insane, but let's say it pulls in $80 million over the weekend... It's got word of mouth also, so I'm guessing it'll take in about, hmmm, $300 by the time it dies out.

I don't think it's good enough a film to make people who otherwise wouldn't see it get off their asses, and somehow don't think it'll have the fanbase of something like Harry Potter, which brought in the youngins and old fantasy geeks (Brian )...

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Originally posted by Hasta:

I don't think it's good enough a film to make people who otherwise wouldn't see it get off their asses, and somehow don't think it'll have the fanbase of something like [b]Harry Potter, which brought in the youngins and old fantasy geeks (Brian )...
[/B]

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I think Spiderman, has much of a bigger fan base than Harry Potter. Spidey fans has existed since the late 60s when it first came out with the last Amazing Fantasy book. I think what you'll get is pretty much "the fanbase of something like Harry Potter, which brought in the youngin and old fantasy geeks" and the comic fans who has been dying to see the movie.
Anyway, I went in, knowing what the reviews has to say about it, and saw the only Spiderman movie that tried to remain as closely to the pathos of the series. That, in my mind is a successful comic book film.

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Originally posted by MattStar:
(althought Superman does have the best score of any comic book movie).

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Oh yeah!! As good as Batman is it just can't compete with.......SUPERMAN!!!!! Da da da da da DAAAAAA!!!

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Originally posted by HadrianD:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=1 face=arial>quote:</font><HR size=1>Originally posted by Hasta:
[b]
In a related topic...(talking about the Batman comparison)
Granted it might not be as good as the original 1989 Batman, but seriously, can we actually believe that Tim Burton would still pull the same rabbit out of the hat if asked to remake Batman?
I believe that Raimi would have done the same thing over again if he could. IF not better.

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I think Burton definitely could pull another "rabbit" out of his hat. SLEEPY HOLLOW kicked ass for the most part. Danny Elfman's score, as well. The problem is that the studio execs don't let Burton make the films the way he wants to make them. When they do, they are always successful. And I thought that PLANET OF THE APES main titles were pretty damn cool despite the majority of the score sucking after that. SPIDERMAN'S score was serviceable, but not memorable. Elfman's presence screams, though, and it screams well in any comic book movie. I just wish any of the themes were as strong as the BATMAN themes or even PLANET OF THE APES main titles. I could hum these once I left the theatre.

The movie overall wasn't bad, but Macy Gray in the movie...RAIMI!!!!!!!!!!! And that blatent Dr. Pepper beauty shot plug. Do I have to see thios type of gagging advertisement in everything I do nowadays!!!

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Originally posted by HadrianD:
I think Spiderman, has much of a bigger fan base than Harry Potter. Spidey fans has existed since the late 60s when it first came out with the last Amazing Fantasy book. I think what you'll get is pretty much "the fanbase of something like Harry Potter, which brought in the youngin and old fantasy geeks" and the comic fans who has been dying to see the movie.

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Exactly. Of course, that same argument was made with LORD OF THE RINGS.... but I think SPIDER-MAN has a larger mass-appeal, anyways..... POTTER is gonna get trounced. Plain and simple. As of today, it looks like SPIDER-MAN is gonna make about $105 million this weekend (based on estimates), breaking every record in the book, and leaving POTTER in the dust.

Let me say this Spiderman runs rings around Harry Potter. Too bad Potter couldn't have been this fun. Elfman's score was decent. The Main title was pretty good but the rest sounded a little generic, although the music where he is swinging thru the city with Mary is pretty good.

My greatest concern about Spiderman was the visuals and on the big screen they looked alot better than early previews.

I thought it was fun, witty and well done. Probably the best superhero movie since Superman in overall quality.

It was well worth the money and time spent.

Now the big question is can it have staying power. Remember alot of movies opened big last year and looked like a sho-in for 220-250 million but faded fast, reaching only the 169-180 million. Remember X-Men started with a bang and faded fast as well.

It actually is a good measure when comparing say, Harry Pooter and Fellowship of the Ring. Fellowship opened on 25% fewer screens and ran 30-minutes longer...end result, the grosses are pretty close.

For the record--I thought Spiderman was a lot of fun...no, the score is not better that Batman but I feel the film is. A terrific balance of action, humor, and honest human emotion. (except for some of the sap at the end that is)

Box office is a fun way to rate films but people must realize that a film making 150 million is nothing compared to what the same gross would have been 20 years ago. A 100 million for a film is nothing these days.

Spiderman should have a larger following than Star Wars since it has been around longer. I wouldn't be suprised if Spiderman outgrosses ATOC but I really think Episode II should at least get 300 million in box office.

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Originally posted by Mark Olivarez:
Was week one just the Comic fans or does this movie have enough power to keep going? Will it pull an X-Men and Planet of the Apes and die after a strong weekend? Frankly I think this film can make 250 million cause it is entertaining and well done.

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Heh.. Umm... no. Week One was NOT just the Comic fans, as evidenced by round-the-clock sold out shows. Combine that with the fact that nothing "big" opens next week, and I doubt the drop-off will be too big; this movie has repeat-viewability.

It will make $250 million easy, probably by the beginning of June....

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[b]"Attack Of The Clones" will be trounced by "Spider-Man", including next March when "Clones" loses in the visual effects category at the Academy Awards

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As for Hasta's expectations, let me let you in on the obvious -- movies aren't made with "expectations" in mind. So whatever you "expect" has nothing to do with the actual quality of something. The fact that it doesn't live up to your expectations means the problem isn't with the films

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And Kevin, I wasn't calling you an idiot. I'm inferring to people who prefer cookie-cutter style filmmusic and in the same breath deem something that isn't generic, "crappy".

Ryan G

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[Message edited by JoeinAr on 05-06-2002]

Guess what? Spider-Man AND AOTC are going to be gigantic hits. Spider-Man will have made its budget back in the next day or so and it still has another weekend to go--it's going to make $200 million minimum. For all the nitpicking the movie works because it's faithful enough to the comic to please comic fans (NOT a huge demographic by itself), it's been around long enough to appeal to older people (ticket sales were split evenly among older and younger viewers) AND--crucially--the handling of the romance and the presence of Tobey Maguire makes this film appeal to women, which is a MAJOR issue (anybody remember Titanic?).

Buzz on Attack of the Clones, however, is beginning to build and it will probably have an opening weekend as big or bigger than Spider-Man. I do think the effects in AOTC will be far more substantive and dazzling than the ones in Spider-Man--I liked what I saw fine but I do agree with some of the criticisms of action going too fast and lacking "weight"--but it's kind of a non-issue on this movie. Most of the criticisms of Spider-Man I've heard are connected to the fact that Raimi really did stick very close to the material (all the "sequel fodder" at the end is right out of the comics). Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but for everybody who hates one aspect of the film there's someone else who loves it.

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Originally posted by spitfire:
"Attack Of The Clones" will be trounced by "Spider-Man", including next March when "Clones" loses in the visual effects category at the Academy Awards.

As for Hasta's expectations, let me let you in on the obvious -- movies aren't made with "expectations" in mind. So whatever you "expect" has nothing to do with the actual quality of something. The fact that it doesn't live up to your expectations means the problem isn't with the film...

And Kevin, I wasn't calling you an idiot. I'm inferring to people who prefer cookie-cutter style filmmusic and in the same breath deem something that isn't generic, "crappy".

Ryan G

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I beg to differ, Ryan. Almost EVERY movie is made with expectations in mind. The studios know that there are public expectations on just about every sequel, literary adaptation (comic book or not), mega-blockbuster or comeback film. I think that covers just about every film out there.

Most of the time, we try to talk ourselves out of those expectations, but on a film like Spider-Man, those who read the comics religiously had major expectations. Us score fans had expectations on the score. Tobey Maguire fans had expectations. Sam Raimi fans had expectations.

It would have been nice to finish the film off in class with Danny Elfman's score. Hell...even if it was a mix of pieces from the score it would have been infinitely better.

James

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Originally posted by JeffBond:
What would Mancini have done...hmmm...maybe something like...Condorman?

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Now that's what motion picture scores should be nowadays !!!

I haven't yet heard or seen SPIDERMAN, and actually, after reading this thread I do wait for the worst - if people like Kirk LOVE this score, it nowadays means only one thing for me (- no offense, Kirk my friend). It's just pity that I have REALLY enjoyed the Spiderman comics' "inner quality" - deep emotions, serious matters, the joys and pains of life - so I really dread going to see this film because I don't want to see anything like THE MUMMY RETURNS.

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Originally posted by Ken S:
I haven't yet heard or seen SPIDERMAN, and actually, after reading this thread I do wait for the worst - if people like Kirk LOVE this score, it nowadays means only one thing for me (- no offense, Kirk my friend).

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Ken,

That may be the most sarcastic thing I've ever heard from you. Bravo, and no offense taken.

And anyway, you're right. I doubt you'll be very fond of this score.