MovieMusic.com Message Boards: The Untouchables

Message Boards

Movie Soundtracks

The Untouchables

Archive of old forum. No more postings.

Please visit our new forum, The MovieMusic Lobby, to post new topics.

Author	Topic: The Untouchables

scoreguy16 Standard Userer	I watched this film for the first time last night. I loved it, but I know I am probably going to get smacked... like really hard for saying this... but did anyone else think this score was somewhat innapropriate for the film? I actually really like the score, however when applied to the film, it seems really out of place. Maybe I am crazy, but that's just my thought... Clayton
posted 07-09-2007 08:15 PM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by scoreguy16: I know I am probably going to get smacked... Indeed. The score worked very well in the film.
posted 07-10-2007 11:34 AM PT (US)

PeterK FishChip	::::::SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!::::::::::::
posted 07-10-2007 11:42 AM PT (US)

Al Standard Userer	The score works wonders, although some of DePalma's placement of the cues seemed odd -- an overuse of the death scene & family music in early parts of the film, I think.
posted 07-10-2007 12:12 PM PT (US)

johnmullin Standard Userer	I agree with the original poster... I like certain cues from this score, but you gotta admit that a lot of Al Capone music is f#@%ing ridiculous. I watched this with my wife a few weeks ago, and she couldn't believe it. The cue when Malone dies as well the heroic theme that's played during the fight at the Canadian border are both good, but the main titles cues and all the Capone music date the film horribly.
posted 07-10-2007 04:24 PM PT (US)

scoreguy16 Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by johnmullin: I agree with the original poster... I like certain cues from this score, but you gotta admit that a lot of Al Capone music is f#@%ing ridiculous. I watched this with my wife a few weeks ago, and she couldn't believe it. The cue when Malone dies as well the heroic theme that's played during the fight at the Canadian border are both good, but the main titles cues and all the Capone music date the film horribly. Exactly. I love the themes to this movie, however some of it, when placed against the film, just seems wrong. And throughout 90% of the film, I was going "I wonder what would happen if they remade this movie." Mostly because Kevin Costner bugged me in some parts which is odd because I ussualy like him. Clayton
posted 07-10-2007 05:39 PM PT (US)

Al Standard Userer	I don't understand what's wrong with a score "dating" a film. It's bound to happen isn't it? Should a composer try to strip away style and veer away from experimenting in an effort to sound timeless? I think that'd be terrible. Al Capone's theme is a somewhat tacky melody, sure, but it fits with his public image and also makes a nice contrast to the dissonance that suddenly bursts through when Capone takes a bat to one of his men. It's not as if Morricone didn't know what he was doing.
posted 07-10-2007 06:46 PM PT (US)

johnmullin Standard Userer	Yeah, I think I understand what you mean... whether the composer is consciously trying to write a "period" score or not, music is always going to somewhat reflect the time in which it was written and recorded, so why fight it? I often don't have a problem with this, but in the case of THE UNTOUCHABLES, so much of the movie feels timeless _except_ the music that I sort of cringe whenever the some of the aforementioned music comes up. I guess I just wish they had considered how the score might age a little more. You're right, however, that avoiding certain choices like that can inhibit the creative process, which is of course a bad thing. Particularlly when you consider Morricone's history of integrating unusal sounds and ideas into his music so successfully prior to that. I don't have a problem with the baseball bat scene that you're talking about actually, but I'll stand by my opinion that the music when we're first introduced to Capone's apartment is a bit cheesy, as is the main title cue and the music heard when Ness is chasing Frank Nitty on the couthhouse roof. I doubt it sounded as out of place in 1987 as it does now (at least to me), but there we are.
posted 07-10-2007 07:55 PM PT (US)

wilbur gray Non-Standard Userer	I still have no problems with any of the cues and their placement in this movie,but the fact that they are so noticeable in the film is a credit to DePalma and the sound editors.Too many people in the film industry today take the term underscore too literally,either drowning out the music or chopping it short.Films in the 80's weren't afraid to let 'er rip with the orchestra to establish mood and character.That said,Morricone's theme for Capone perfectly suits the pseudo-cultured decadence of the gangster.Lastly,how exactly can a score for a period movie become any more dated than it was first intended?
posted 07-10-2007 08:18 PM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Standard Userer	It's interesting that Morricone's De Palma scores get so many negative reactions. Case in point: The organ cue from Mission to Mars it works wonders in the film, creating one of the most tense suspense moments I've seen in recent movies, yet nearly everyone seems to hate it.
posted 07-11-2007 11:13 AM PT (US)

scoreguy16 Standard Userer	I've never seen (or heard) Mission To Mars but I keep seeing people talk about it. Is it any good? Incidently, I have no problem with scores showing age, take Rain Man for instance. The synth work in there is very dated, but it's not distracting. The music in The Untouchables seems inappropriate though. Not in all scenes, just in some. It made me sit and wonder things like "what if they had remade this film now..." Clayton
posted 07-11-2007 01:12 PM PT (US)

Old Infopop Software by UBB