Film Scores that ruined or hurt an otherwise good film.

So Wor-Gar and were talking about how important a film score is too a movie and how they help elevate films to greatness.

So I asked has there ever been a time that a film score helped ruin or hurt and otherwise good film..

We both had trouble coming up with some.

We both Agreed that the Film score to Ridley Scott's Legend was pretty poor. It was preformed by Tangerine Dream. It was latter released on with Jerry Goldsmiths original score but I actually thought the film was only improved a little bit... Just not a fan of that movie. So maybe not the best example.


For me I can think of two films that really hurt the movie and a better score would help increase my enjoyment.

Near Dark.. Again scored by Tangerine Dream (keep them away from movie scores please) a great little Vampire movie that has a score so dull and lifeless it make the film a bit of a bore at times.. A better score would have elevated it for sure.

He is a tad more controversial one


Rock IV - Where is Bill Conti when you need him.. The Synth Score is so blah and so corny. I could not believe when watching this film there was no Rocky theme. Instead I get a synth score or Hearts on Fire song instead of Bill Conti's epic music. I am mostly talking about the film score itself. The corny songs are a different matter all together.

Rocky IV is corny all on it own. Its got a ****ing robot that is in love with Paulie for goodness sake.. but the musical score hurts it even more.. Bill Conti's music would have given it a more series and grounded tone.

Neither of these are perfect but you get the idea.. The first one just has the bill Conti music over the soundtrack but you can end up hearing the synth latter and it sounds jumbled but you can really get a feel for the better drama in the first part of it.



Here is training montage with but its just the score laid none of the other sounds can be heard.






Conan the Destroyer had a much lesser score compared to the original.. Still a bad movie though.. So I am not sure the score hurt the movie.. but it did not help it.

Justice League. From the opening song the tone shifted from the epic Hans Zimmer themes of MoS and BvS to something... far less epic.

(Of course you may not agree JL was "otherwise good", but the soundtrack sure didn't help)

RoboCop 2.

If they had kept Basil Poledouris' iconic composing it would have *so* elevated the movie.

And it's been a while since I watched it but I feel like the score for Civil War was quite the downgrade from Cap First Avenger and Winter Soldier.

Khev said:

RoboCop 2.

If they had kept Basil Poledouris' iconic composing it would have *so* elevated the movie.

And it's been a while since I watched it but I feel like the score for Civil War was quite the downgrade from Cap First Avenger and Winter Soldier.

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Hmmmm I liked Civil War's music. I am not saying its as good as the others but i liked it.

Robo 2.. I like the last half hour with all the stop motion animation.. Basil's score would have helped but I dont know if the score it has hurts it.

Jurassic Park 3. JP and the Lost World were both scored by John Williams (with TLW score being arguably the superior of the two) and JP3 was not. I suppose it?s fitting then that the score and movie were both bland and unremarkable, bringing nothing to the series but perhaps a better score would have elevated it. For instance Jurassic World isn?t really that much better either but the score by Michael Giaccino really does enhance it.

And I?ve re-read the thread title and I played the game wrong haha. JP3 was not a good movie without the score

Prime Clone said:

Justice League. From the opening song the tone shifted from the epic Hans Zimmer themes of MoS and BvS to something... far less epic.

(Of course you may not agree JL was "otherwise good", but the soundtrack sure didn't help)

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Yeah.. I dont know if we can blame the score for hurting the film..


This is a hard one.. I think a good film is a good film... A great score can take a well made film and take it to greatness and take an average film and make it feel great..

But has a score ever ruined a movie... its a hard one.

Its why I could only come up with two films that I think the score hut the movies.. But one of them Rocky IV was not very good either way but I thought the score knocked it down a few levels for sure.

Bravomite said:

Jurassic Park 3. JP and the Lost World were both scored by John Williams (with TLW score being arguably the superior of the two) and JP3 was not. I suppose it’s fitting then that the score and movie were both bland and unremarkable, bringing nothing to the series but perhaps a better score would have elevated it. For instance Jurassic World isn’t really that much better either but the score by Michael Giaccino really does enhance it.

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Man this is a hard list to come up with as JP3 would have been helped by a better score like JP2 was (I love JP:TLW score) but again can we blame the score for ruining the movie.


this is tuff..



Here is one..


How about Young Guns with its goofy modern score with rock guitar and drums..

I always like the score in Young Guns 2 and thought it was the only thing the sequel did better then the original

Only problem with this is that the Score to Young guns did not ruin the film.. But it did lessen its impact IMO

Not a huge fan of the scores for T1 and especially T2. With the exception of the main theme and a couple pieces here and there, the music feels like it was inserted only to fill out the background, but it's so bland that it actually cheapens the scenes.

Being only a relatively recent Rocky fan I had yet to notice the music change in Rocky IV. Obviously I was very aware of the power ballads but not necessarily the score. I'll have to pay attention to it next time I watch.

Khev said:

RoboCop 2.

If they had kept Basil Poledouris' iconic composing it would have *so* elevated the movie.

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This. The late Leonard Rosenman did the score for Robocop 2 and I just hated his style - he made the movie sound like a TV show. Same story with his score for Star Trek IV The Voyage Home.

Blade3327 said:

Not a huge fan of the scores for T1 and especially T2. With the exception of the main theme and a couple pieces here and there, the music feels like it was inserted only to fill out the background, but it's so bland that it actually cheapens the scenes.

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I think T2 is a good example.. I am a fan of T1 score and though it uses many of the same themes and is the same composer I think the T2 soundtrack lacks the balls of the first one.

I dont think T2 ruined the film but it lessoned it.




I am beginning to think that a bad score on its own cant ruin a film. It can lessen its impact of a good or great movie or it can raise an good movie to greatness.



Maybe the thread should just be.. Movies that were not helped at all by their Scores

a-dev said:

This. The late Leonard Rosenman did the score for Robocop 2 and I just hated his style - he made the movie sound like a TV show. Same story with his score for Star Trek IV The Voyage Home.

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Oh my.. The Voyage Home is awful.. I might have to give Robo 2 another spin and focus more on the music.. Maybe that is a great example of a film score ruining the feel and quality of a movie.

a-dev said:

Being only a relatively recent Rocky fan I had yet to notice the music change in Rocky IV. Obviously I was very aware of the power ballads but not necessarily the score. I'll have to pay attention to it next time I watch.
.

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Just compare these two.

JAWS said:

I think T2 is a good example.. I am a fan of T1 score and though it uses many of the same themes and is the same composer I think the T2 soundtrack lacks the balls of the first one.

I dont think T2 ruined the film but it lessoned it.

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Agreed 100%.

On a somewhat related note, a more general complaint would be when a movie or show relies too heavily on music, inserting it into as many scenes as possible. Not only does it have a cheapening effect, but it's exhausting to the ears and gives the impression that the filmmakers don't have confidence in the scene's ability to carry the dramatic weight on its own. When a score tries to accentuate an emotion that simply isn't there, it's all the more noticeable and it happens so often these days.

Blade3327 said:

Not a huge fan of the scores for T1 and especially T2. With the exception of the main theme and a couple pieces here and there, the music feels like it was inserted only to fill out the background, but it's so bland that it actually cheapens the scenes.

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They work for those films I would say. And later attempts at full orchestral scoring always seemed jarringly wrong for Terminator.

a-dev said:

This. The late Leonard Rosenman did the score for Robocop 2 and I just hated his style - he made the movie sound like a TV show.

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Totally! And adding an actual chorus singing "Robocoooop"?? Good lord.

Here you go JAWS, and make sure you keep listening past the 1:06 mark for that awesome chorus, lol.

a-dev said:

They work for those films I would say. And later attempts at full orchestral scoring always seemed jarringly wrong for Terminator.

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My criticism lies more with what the instruments are playing than the instruments themselves. For instance, I recognize the synth sounds in T1 are primitive, but they add a unique charm to the action when playing something good. I think back on those scenes and remember them fondly, music and all.

It's the cliche'd sharp hits and longer melodies that sound uninspired. I guess in those moments, the retro synths emphasize the problem, but they'd be fine if they were playing something more interesting.

More harmonies, that might help. I remember much of T2's score consisting of single long notes. If there's another track playing simultaneously, it's too low to get a rich harmony with.

Khev said:

Totally! And adding an actual chorus singing "Robocoooop"?? Good lord.

Here you go JAWS, and make sure you keep listening past the 1:06 mark for that awesome chorus, lol.

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Ahhh Yes.. I remember parts of that score for sure now.. LOL to the chorus.. I never remember hearing that in the film


Yes.. I will allow RoboCop 2 score ruining the RoboCop movie

Khev said:

Totally! And adding an actual chorus singing "Robocoooop"?? Good lord.

Here you go JAWS, and make sure you keep listening past the 1:06 mark for that awesome chorus, lol.

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I really hate the operatic Robocop chorus. Thanks Khev.. I agree on Young Guns also. The music didn't fit the movie. Second movie score was much better. Friday the 13th part 3 was terrible too with it's disco theme. I like this topic

punisher1974 said:

I really hate the operatic Robocop chorus. Thanks Khev.. I agree on Young Guns also. The music didn't fit the movie. Second movie score was much better. Friday the 13th part 3 was terrible too with it's disco theme. I like this topic

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Ft13th part 3 had that weird disco theme but it only appeared in the beginning and end credits. But its goofy for sure.. I am use to it now though

I disliked the non Harry Manfredini music in Friday the 13th part 7 and the whole score of Part 8..Both by Fred Mullin. Part 8 is just bad but the score drains any life and fun out of that film.

X-men Days of Future Past. The score is bland and forgettable, it mostly sounds like a less inspired version of the winter soldier score. The film is one of if not the best FoX-men movies but the score doesn't do anything to enhance it. I think the emotional beats of the movie could have been so much more powerful with a better more defined score. By comparison, First Class has a really good and varied score by Henry Jackman which definitely adds further character to the movie.

What is most surprising about this is that DOFP's was scored by John Ottman who scored X2 (which I really like) and I'm pretty sure that it is the only other score in the series that had the benefit of re-using musical themes from that movie and perhaps x-men 1 (including the main x-men title sequence theme) which should have made it a win but all the new stuff is entirely forgettable background MCU score noise.

EDIT: I just did some reading on reliable wikipedia and it says that at 'Singer's request he [Ottman] tried to compose "something more 'modern'" that could be compared to other contemporary superhero scores, and not follow Henry Jackman's score for First Class'. It all makes sense now, raises fist at the sky and yells 'SIIIIIIINNNNNNGGEEEERRRR!'.