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Bond and Barry...an experiment

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Author	Topic: Bond and Barry...an experiment

Gae Standard Userer	After watching "Never Say Never Again" yesterday and thinking it was an OK movie cursed with a hideously un-Bond-like score by Michel Legrand, I decided to do a musical experiment with the opening sequence. The results are indeed eye-opening. Barry's music from "Goldfinger" not only fits the sequence perfectly but it adds a totally new dimension, not only to the scene, but to Connery's performance too. Amazing. It's like a totally different and more Bond-like film. The power of Music!! Maybe the whole film could be re-scored this way? Clips are 10 Mb and 13 Mb respectively. Never Say Never Again original opening Same scene with Barry's music Gae [Message edited by Gae on 12-03-2006]
posted 12-03-2006 04:11 PM PT (US)

Jeron Standard Userer	Hey Gae... cool experiment. There are some happy musical coincidences going on there w/ the Barry superimposed onto the NSNA picture, but most of it doesn't line up. I think hearing anything remotely reminiscent of the true Bond franchise in this clip simply makes for a more engaging experience. It's really not the power of music, it's the power of bad film making and horrible movie ideas in general. Some good music editing and some choice picks from previous Bond scores could actually push this up to 75-80% of working technically as a Bond film. But that's about as high as you'll get, considering Connery simply looks like he's been recalled from ancient, inactive duty. However, music in this case would help. That would then be the power of music demonstrating itself. How does one get their hands on the scene w/o the music? I'd like to try my hand at it... Jeron [Message edited by Jeron on 12-04-2006]
posted 12-04-2006 03:21 AM PT (US)

Gae Standard Userer	Hi Jeron. I guess the only way to get the visuals without the music is to go back to the original negatives and put on a new music track. In this case, I just muted the original track and overdubbed some of the original effects over the new edit with the music. At the end, when the sound comes back in, I faded in the original soundtrack. At this point, that horrible Cabaret Act theme tune has run its course....thank God. Of course, the track doesn't fit in to the scene perfectly because it was written for something different, but there are a few happy coincidences there and the music fits Connery's visuals well as we associate Connery with Barry like a hand and glove. The film definately would, as you said, be a big improvement with a proper Bond score. I seem to remember at the time that they weren't allowed to make any Bond references in the music because "Octopussy" was being filmed by Broccoli at the same time. The two films were competing against each other weren't they? Gae
posted 12-04-2006 04:32 AM PT (US)

Camillu Standard Userer	Interesting stuff. The scene where he swings along the cable is definitely better. It's mostly just about the Bond 'feel' though I guess.
posted 12-04-2006 06:05 AM PT (US)

Gae Standard Userer	Yes Camillu. As David Arnold said..."Without the Bond Music, it's just another action movie"...or words to that effect Gae
posted 12-04-2006 08:10 AM PT (US)

gkgyver Standard Userer	And he's right. Why didn't he consider that statement while writing Casino Royale?
posted 12-04-2006 09:54 AM PT (US)

Jeron Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by gkgyver: And he's right. Why didn't he consider that statement while writing Casino Royale? CR was a prequel score that over the course of the film evolved into and arrived at the sound we know as the "Bond sound"... his music worked perfectly for the film. Why the complaint?
posted 12-04-2006 11:32 AM PT (US)

Timmer Standard Userer	Try synching 'Golden Gate Fight' from A View To A Kill to the Tank chase sequence from Goldeneye. Believe me, it works superbly! Oh, and Hi Gae
posted 12-04-2006 11:38 AM PT (US)

gkgyver Standard Userer	quote: CR was a prequel score that over the course of the film evolved into and arrived at the sound we know as the "Bond sound"... his music worked perfectly for the film. Why the complaint? And what exactly is the difference between, say, African Rundown and Fall Of A House In Venice? According to your theory, there should be one. Or do you mean the last scene with Mr. White? That's the James Bond theme. "Bond music" doesn't automatically mean "Bond theme". Apart from strategically placed statements of the Bond theme, I can't see the music evolving in the film, sorry.
posted 12-04-2006 07:58 PM PT (US)

gkgyver Standard Userer	I've tried Golden Gate Fight with the tank chase, it really work! Too bad it ends too soon. After that I was in some kind of "temping" mood and tried "White Knight" with GoldenEye's pretitles. Now THAT was an eye-opener! Stop your CD player at 5:13 and sync it up with Bond pushing the button on the conveyer belt. It's really spooky.
posted 12-07-2006 09:33 AM PT (US)

Gae Standard Userer	It's amazing how many "happy coincidences" there are when you put music from one film to scenes of another. Maybe with the Bond films, the music is bound to fit because after all, Bond usually does the same kind of things in his movies really doesn't he? Gae
posted 12-07-2006 03:14 PM PT (US)

Richard Street Standard Userer	Someone already did this, and made a DVD of the entire film replacing almost all of Legrand's music with cues from every other Bond score. The only Legrand piece that survives is the tango. It includes a gunbarrel (from Thunderball, I believe), and a non-Bond Shirley Bassey number over the credits (also Thunderball's, cropped to remove the names). The pre-credits sequence (the opening training mission) is scored with David Arnold's pre-cred to Tomorrow Never Dies, the bomb switch with "Gumbold's Safe" from OHMSS and so on. It sort of works, but hearing title tunes like The Man With The Golden Gun distracts a little. Still, it's much more a Bond film than it was before.
posted 12-12-2006 11:10 AM PT (US)

Gae Standard Userer	Wow, really interesting Richard. Is there a copy of this available anywhere? The whole idea of the experiment was that basically, without the Bond Music, it ain't a Bond film. The Bond theme and bond-style music is an indelible part of the package and enjoyment of watching a Bond movie. Gae
posted 12-13-2006 05:37 AM PT (US)

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