I can't help but think that if Silvestri had done the score to Pirates (as it says he was originally planned to do in Clemmensen's review), then he might have actually produced a similar score to this Van Helsing one (much like if Michael Kamen's 'X-Men' would be the same if he had done 'The Avengers'). Obviously, the Gothic aspect would be toned down, and the score would have a more Pirate-y feel, but i still think the scores would have been similar - what does anyone else think?

Does anyone else find it odd that - in my opinion at least - a rather enjoyable film such as Pirates had a 2-star score, whilst a 2-star film such as Van Helsing got a 31/2 - 4 star score?

As is life.
FB

The Van Helsing score shows perfectly that a good, infact great! adventure score can be done with a leading orchestra. And still it appealed to so many people.

"Normal" people (I talked to) liked it very much, and fans of orchestral music can be cheery about it as well. Plus, it works 100 times better on film then any MV score.

I bet the PotC score would have been very great. No doubt it would have been "similar" to Van Helsing, as this score is "similar" to The Mummy Returns and that to Eraser or Judge Dredd ect. ect...

I hoope there are many big adventure flicks coming up for Silvestri.

BTW, I think Pirates was in no way a better film then Van Helsing. PotC only screamed "hey I'm the kind of film that people call sophisticated" and people followed. Van Helsing didn't and people didn't follow. Plusit had some miscasted actors.

You agree with you to a certain degree, so can't argue with you too much. I think MV scores do work well in certain films, or at least certain parts of certain films (mainly solely-action films, a la The Rock or Bad Boys) so i disagree with "Plus, it works 100 times better on film then any MV score." But hey, who knows. I thought PotC did its job as a film - i never got bored throughout it. And there's Johnny Depp. Always a winner.

FB

To be honest, I love Mancina's MV work. The "100 times" comment was sort of exaggerated, of course. It clearly depends on the film. Let's just say, MV music works worse in an adventure film then wellmade orchestral music.

Miscast actors... maybe. I really liked Johnny Depp's portrayal of Jack Sparrow. That was awesome. I'm not too big on Orlando Bloom, but I don't really complain about his part. Kiera Knightly... didn't bother me too much. What looks dumb is her role (and outfit) in King Arthur. Ugh. Now, I didn't like the African-American pirate girl whose ship Jack Sparrow took. She was horrible. She was definitely miscast!

Hmm....well to be honest with you one of my favorite cd's got only 1 star rateing while everyone I showed it to loved it. like you said, thats life but I do agree what you said about the toned down gothic part, but hay! I like gothic-like music ,but...I also find the pirate-like music cool. oh well.

hey let's hear your thoughts.
-Vlad

Wow. I loved the music to the teaser trailer for Pirates. That definitely had the piratey feel to it. If Silvestri had done Pirates, it may have sounded simillar to Van Helsing, as you suggest. Composers have their style of music which can usually be recognized from soundtrack to soundtrack. Now, does the teaser trailer music sound similar to van Helsing's? There's some detectable traces of similarity, but not very much. I wish he had done Pirates, and I think he did well on Van Helsing.

> Wow. I loved the music to the teaser trailer for Pirates. That definitely
> had the piratey feel to it. If Silvestri had done Pirates, it may have
> sounded simillar to Van Helsing, as you suggest. Composers have their
> style of music which can usually be recognized from soundtrack to
> soundtrack. Now, does the teaser trailer music sound similar to van
> Helsing's? There's some detectable traces of similarity, but not very
> much. I wish he had done Pirates, and I think he did well on Van Helsing.
I liked pirates but i reallly beleive van helsing was better.
though dead mans chest was substantially better. but still van helsing has that "movie cool" feel man. u cant argue with that man.
ur thoughts?