Danny Elfman’s Justice League Score

Started by Silver Nemesis, Sat, 30 Sep 2017, 17:51

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Quote from: The Dark Knight on Wed, 17 Mar  2021, 13:03
Agreed. When he resumed scoring it was never going to be the frozen in time experience from 2017.

The Zimmer Superman theme apparently gets a good workout, which I think is the most important component, and the Zimmer Wonder Woman theme is retained, with a twist. Aquaman, Cyborg and Flash are blank canvasses musically so Junkie can really do whatever he wants there.

Zimmer wasn't around as a collaborator. Starting over with ZSJL lets him provide an undisputed Junkie XL performance free from anyone else, excluding some essential carryover material. As said, the score seems to be a huge hit, so this is fast becoming a victory lap for Junkie and his career.
I say good on him. When it comes to BVS, I don't think Junkie has gotten the credit he deserves. People seem to want to stop giving credit after they say the word "Zimmer". And I love Zimmer, don't get me wrong.

But basically, everything to do with Batman in BVS is due to Junkie. Zimmer made a point of not wanting to revisit the character. Because we've already heard Zimmer's Batman themes. It's logical to think that other tracks on the BVS score came from Junkie too. But it's like he's never getting credit for that because reasons.

ZSJL is his biggest opportunity and I'm glad he's getting acclaim. Long overdue, rly.

Pointless trivia. But I just realized that the film was scored by Tom Holkenborg. For whatever reason, he didn't want to use "Junkie XL" for this score. Whatever, it's his call, I support him either way. Just thought it was interesting. So, if you're looking for the JL score, don't be thrown off by seeing Tom Holkenborg rather than the Junkie XL stage name.

(I'll probably always think of him as Junkie XL tho)

I've gone through the score and these stand out so far:

A Hunter Gathers
The Provenance of Something Gathered
We Do This Together
Superman Rising, Pt 1 / A Book of Hours
Flight Is Our Nature
And the Lion-Earth Did Roar, Pt 1
Superman Rising, Pt 2 / Immovable
An Eternal Reoccurrence to Change
The Crew At Warpower
Batman, A Duty To Fight / To See
Batman, A Invocation To Heal / To Be Seen

If you're daunted by the track list, I recommend starting with these first.

'The Provenance of Something Gathered' is the best simple, straightforward incarnation of the new Batman theme from the film itself, when Batman jumps down to meet Gordon on the rooftop. It has the more hopeful thing going on that Tom wanted but still dark enough for my tastes. After that, the suite 'Batman, A Invocation To Heal / To Be Seen' is my pick because the first half has a broodiness akin to the BvS Batman theme from 'Men Are Still Good'.

I prefer Zimmer's sound in direct comparison, but Tom has delivered something much more suitable from what we had.

Quote from: The Laughing Fish on Sat, 19 Sep  2020, 02:26
Holkenborg mentioned that the MOS and WW themes will be heard in the Snyder cut, while all of the other characters will have new themes. Surprisingly, that includes Batman. I guess the BvS score really was indicative of his character arc in the film.

My guess was correct:

Quote from: Tom Holkenborg
A question asked by many; why did you do a new batman theme? The book was closed on the tormented past in bvs. Here there is a new day! A new day? New music!

#RestoreTheSnyderVerse #JusticeLeagueSnyderCut #justiceleaguescore

https://www.twitter.com/Junkie_XL/status/1372721008801583109
QuoteJonathan Nolan: He [Batman] has this one rule, as the Joker says in The Dark Knight. But he does wind up breaking it. Does he break it in the third film?

Christopher Nolan: He breaks it in...

Jonathan Nolan: ...the first two.

Source: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uwV8rddtKRgC&pg=PR8&dq=But+he+does+wind+up+breaking+it.&hl=en&sa=X&ei

Quote from: The Dark Knight on Sat, 20 Mar  2021, 01:56
'The Provenance of Something Gathered' is the best simple, straightforward incarnation of the new Batman theme from the film itself, when Batman jumps down to meet Gordon on the rooftop.
'Things Fall Apart' and 'Long Division' are other uses of the new theme which I failed to mention. I'm getting a feel of the atmosphere and I'm liking it. I could see it working in a hypothetical solo film just fine.

The guitar work, as example is heard in 'We Do This Together' from 25 seconds to 40 seconds, is applied to Batman as well. I wouldn't call it a theme but a statement of intent. Something really different in terms of the character's musical history and reminds me of the Come Together trailer.