> I was startled to see this rated so low. Figured it would be a solid 3.5-4 from you! Consensus at the time, to my memory, was that Jablonsky injected melodic elements well into the action soundscape, though the absence of the original themes continued to be irritating. (And that's all my impression too, having listened a few years ago.)

The whole 'this could come from anything' feel of TF3, 4, and 5 doesn't do them any favors with me. How I feel about The Last Knight is somewhat how Christian feels about Transformers #1: if they came out 15 years earlier, I'd probably like it a lot more.

And I only gave Transformers ***, so 3.5-4 was, uh, unlikely.

> The speculation that his orchestrators may have had a hefty hand echoes similar statements from as far back as Elfman's early days, but as always, who knows. It's a slippery question!

Indeed. I'd hate to say 'it's his orchestrators doing all of it.' Probably more appropriate to say Tom took jobs with orchestral ambitions and brought in collaborators who could help him realize that.

And the role of an orchestrator is always a bit ambiguous. You never really know how these relationships work until someone asks either participant. Is it like Zimmer's use, where the brief is 'just make sure it can be played by real instruments'? Is it like Williams' use of Conrad Pope, where the brief is figuring out how big each instrumental section should be? Is it like Richard Addinsell's use, where he'd come up with the tune but be reliant on them for everything else?

> Oh god, is Balfe's MI up next? I have *opinions* about that!

NOPE. Plenty of 2017 left.