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Author	Topic: S.W.A.T.

sean Standard Userer	Wow! I think this is easily Elliot Goldenthal's best score in a long time; saying it's like a mix between Sphere, The Good Thief, and Heat doesn't really make sense, since I wasn't reminded of any of those, overall, but of course you could minor comparisons. His variations of the S.W.A.T. theme are excellent and never get overused throughout. Comparing it to Metallica's S & M is fair, but I don't think they sound alike. I was thinking that the action would be really crazy like Goldenthal usually does, with horns especially, but the action was very organized, making a seemless mold of the orchestra, synth, drums, and electric guitars, which are very cool! My only complaint, musically, is the extreme amount of songs used in the film, they used way too many where Goldenthal could have easily scored over scenes. A highlight cue for me occurs near the end where the S.W.A.T. gang goes into the subway for a chase sequence, the first part of that sequence has some excellent action material. As for the film, it wasn't good, but it wasn't terrible like Bad Boys 2; I don't know about everyone else here, but I don't think guns are cool. It was entertaining and not very well made. I'd say see it just for the music.
posted 08-08-2003 03:18 PM PT (US)

Quill Standard Userer	Good info Sean...looking forward to this score! Not to harken back to the BB2 thread...but if you don't like guns, why are you wasting time on a film based on a group who makes their living with firearms?
posted 08-08-2003 05:05 PM PT (US)

Wickenstein Standard Userer	Movie was great. It's refreshing to see a good action movie that I was actually interested in. Ending needed work, but then again I haven't been satisfied with the way a movie ended since Two Towers. I thought the score was great too. I think that anyone who likes Heat will enjoy SWAT as well. I wouldn't say it was one of his best works, but it was a good effort. I certainly enjoyed it more than Frida and the Good Thief. The score uses a lot of trademark Goldenthal synths and motifs, specifically from Good Thief, In Dreams, Heat, Sphere, and Final Fantasy. It's like any other Goldenthal score where there are little snippets of his other works as well. My favorite cue was one I could just barely hear. During a sequence where a plane is trying to take off, Goldenthal wrote a cue that really reminded me of Batterdammerung (Batman Forever) and the Entrapment (Alien 3) with the swirling strings. I can't wait to hear it on the album (assuming its there).
posted 08-08-2003 06:29 PM PT (US)

sean Standard Userer	Quill, I think guns can be used to great effect in a film, like how John Woo uses them in a lot of his films: Very menacing and sinister in the hands of the bad guy(s) and heroically in the hands of the hero. Using it like a toy, for example most of Jerry Bruckheimer's movies, doesn't work for me. And S.W.A.T. did better than Bad Boys 2, but not quite how I like it; just my preference for their use in movies. I also thought it was really silly how they kept refering to the bad guy as a "frog" because he's French, constantly throughout the film; pretty cheap humour. Some parts of the film looked like they were by totally different directors, like the scene where the "gangs" try to free the bad guy by ambushing the S.W.A.T. convoy, which was hilarious! [Message edited by sean on 08-08-2003]
posted 08-08-2003 07:50 PM PT (US)

Wickenstein Standard Userer	I remember Sam Jackson saying in SWAT, "This ain't no John Woo movie," which was pretty funny taken out of context. I don't think they were calling the bad guy a frog because he was french. I believe it's just a term that they use for a prisoner.
posted 08-08-2003 09:16 PM PT (US)

Quill Standard Userer	Not bad...I was left a little underwhelmed though. Sean--good point about the gang shootout...it felt ridiculously out of place. What I heard of Goldenthal's score seemed excellent...I have a feeling this will be a score (much like LXG) that will sit much better outside of the film. Not a bad two-hour action diversion.
posted 08-09-2003 02:38 PM PT (US)

sean Standard Userer	I felt that when Colin Farrell and Samuel L. Jackson were running at the plane near the end of the film that they both should have rolled on the ground and came up shooting, than a close-up of Jackson looking into the camera: "John Woo eat your heart out!". Silly, but it crossed my mind during that action scene; it woulda made me laugh. lol Oh! The gang scene! My friend and I busrt out laughing in the theatre when the film got to that part. haha, we were probably the only ones in the theatre who thought it was funny. Wickenstein, trust me, they were refering to him as a "frog" because he was French, not because he was a prisoner. These kind of silly insults to the European bad guys (why do we always have to use Europeans for bad guys? I guess it's the "in thing" in Hollywood, at least for the past ten years it has been) we see so much in these action movies are very ferquent. [Message edited by sean on 08-09-2003]
posted 08-09-2003 03:16 PM PT (US)

TV's Frank Standard Userer	Anyone have the album yet? I will search for it at lunch soon enough.
posted 08-12-2003 10:29 AM PT (US)

Wickenstein Standard Userer	Yeah, I bought it today. It's an interesting work and it's pretty different from most of his other scores. Almost every track has some sort of drum beat or guitar in it. DeVorzon's SWAT theme is almost nowhere in the score portion of the album (unlike in the film). The only place it appears is briefly in the track SWAT Sticker. The track Crash Landing is probably the best. If you're looking for some "Sphere"-like action music with a hint of Batterdammerung, you'll find it there. Much of the score was as if Goldenthal used the opening grunge rock part of "Pickled Heads" from Titus to fashion it. Both Bullet Frenzy cues start out pretty awesome but then they sort of taper off. To be honest, many of the tracks like "Don't Shoot Me Baby" and "Three Chord in Two Minutes" are aren't very interesting on first listen. I'll probably end up changing my opinion about it in the next few weeks. It's surprising how little the SWAT theme is there. I remember hearing it played in the theaters where Bullet Frenzy should have been. I wonder if the appearance of the SWAT theme throughout the movie was a late post production decision. Of course, I remember some parts of the score that didn't make it to the album, but what else is new Specifically, I remember there being some military style percussion and some of the orchestration from "The Good Thief."
posted 08-12-2003 11:30 AM PT (US)

Carbonated Weasel Non-Standard Userer	Does anyone know the song that was playing in the part of the movie right after the cops go into the house with the spanish speeking women. then they were chasing the black guy
posted 08-22-2003 07:41 PM PT (US)

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