finally HOWARD THE DUCK got released on DVD... in Germany at least. And maybe the only release it will ever get. Don't know how, but somehow a German label managed to get the rights and release it and even uncut (as many scenes with the Jennings Monster had been trimmed, and the us version has some cuts regarding sex with talking animals lol).
Two teasers, which are quite interesting and a duckamentary included (running 2 minutes, but fun) and pic gallery. Sound in 2.0 dolby
Picture is great.
I loved the movie and still do, though there are some really painful scenes in it. But the Dark Overlord is just call... love the diner scene.
HOWARD THE DUCK RC 2
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AndyDursin
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It's not the US Version that was cut, it's the UK version (the condom scene) and some other international versions.even uncut (as many scenes with the Jennings Monster had been trimmed, and the us version has some cuts regarding sex with talking animals lol).
I need to pick up this up! But I'm hoping it eventually comes out here so I may hold off.
I've always loved John Barry's score and there are actually a few hilarious scenes in there, plus some great F/X.
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Monterey Jack
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John Johnson
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Didn't Sylvester Levay do some additional music as well?AndyDursin wrote:It's not the US Version that was cut, it's the UK version (the condom scene) and some other international versions.even uncut (as many scenes with the Jennings Monster had been trimmed, and the us version has some cuts regarding sex with talking animals lol).
I need to pick up this up! But I'm hoping it eventually comes out here so I may hold off.
I've always loved John Barry's score and there are actually a few hilarious scenes in there, plus some great F/X.
London. Greatest City in the world.
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AndyDursin
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Levay did indeed, but I think he all he did was some bridging arrangements of Barry's themes with a bit more electronics...haven't seen it in a while though.
I wish I knew the whole deal behind that score. I recall seeing a trailer that only mentioned Thomas Dolby as doing all the music -- so I've always wondered if Barry wasn't brought in somewhat late and Levay came in and finished up what Barry couldn't do (or some fine tuning).
I wish I knew the whole deal behind that score. I recall seeing a trailer that only mentioned Thomas Dolby as doing all the music -- so I've always wondered if Barry wasn't brought in somewhat late and Levay came in and finished up what Barry couldn't do (or some fine tuning).
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Paul MacLean
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I always assumed Levay did the scene with the ultralight plane. It was synth-pop-type cue in the film, but the album cue called "Ultralight Flight" was very different -- classic Barry orchestral writing.AndyDursin wrote:Levay did indeed, but I think he all he did was some bridging arrangements of Barry's themes with a bit more electronics...haven't seen it in a while though.
I recall reading that Dobly was writing the actual score as well, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if Barry came in to save the day.I wish I knew the whole deal behind that score. I recall seeing a trailer that only mentioned Thomas Dolby as doing all the music -- so I've always wondered if Barry wasn't brought in somewhat late and Levay came in and finished up what Barry couldn't do (or some fine tuning).
A lot of 80s movies featured "scores" by pop and rock musicians, with often-disatrous results -- 1984, Dune, Birdy, The Princess Bride and of course Ken Russell's Gothic, scored by Thomas Dolby himself.
Its a pity Barry couldn't have re-scored those films too!
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AndyDursin
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Did a little detective work -- sure sounds like Dolby DID write an original score that was dumped completely.
Gosh, I can't imagine Varese might unearth it on a CD Club release?? THAT I would LOVE to hear...with Barry's original on a separate disc of course
This interview is from 1986...I didn't know "Cinemascore" (which "designed" the sound for RAW DEAL I believe) was a Quincy Jones joint!
Describe your recent project, working with LucasFilm on Howard the Duck.
TD: In the fall of 1985, I was approached by Quincy Jones' company Cinemascore to score a movie entitled Fever Pitch, directed by Richard Brooks and starring Ryan O'Neal. I was very pleased to get that opportunity and accepted. Unfortunately, the film turned out to be a damp squid, but it was worthwhile for me because it showed me what I could and couldn't do within the film medium, and introduced me into the very tightknit Hollywood music clique. Very soon after, I was asked to contribute one song to a Lucas movie called Howard the Duck, based on a '70s adult comic. I read the script and was frankly much more interested in doing the score — I've always enjoyed cartoon music and the concept of a large orchestra in a state of complete anarchy, and although this was not an animation, I saw the possibility of writing a ludicrous '80s cartoon score using the new Fairlight.
So Lucas said, "Okay, write four songs for the film and if we like them you can do the score too." There is a band in the movie, four gorgeous nubile girls who deserve much better than the hole of a club in Cleveland, Ohio where they perform. The band is played by actresses and led by Lea Thompson who was excellent as Michael J. Fox's mother in Back to the Future. The director, Willard Huyck, was keen that the girls themselves should sing the songs, and as it turned out they were actually excellent singers, though inexperienced. So in order to write songs within their limitations, and on account of their hectic shooting schedule, I decided to move to San Francisco for a while (where the movie was being shot), bringing in musicians I knew from the U.K. to play the instruments. I also called up Allee Willis, a very brilliant songwriter from Los Angeles, to help me write the songs.
As it turned out, my presence on the set meant that the director and crew started to view me as a kind of resident rocker, and I started to get involved in everything from set design to choreography to suggesting camera angles. The toughest part though was teaching the girls to look and move like a rock band; we found that the only way was for them to plug in their instruments and learn to play for real. They worked incredibly hard to get it looking authentic, and in the process they got pretty good!
Lucas has the best sound and visual special effects facility in the world, and one of the interesting aspects of this was that I was able to incorporate sound effects into the score --for example, using the sound of trashbin lids as the basis for an alleyway sequence. Usually the music composer doesn't even meet the sound effects people until the final mix, and a lot of crucial cues end up being a tussle between the two. The best thing about it for me, though, was that I saw the making of a movie from start to finish, which convinced me that making my own films is what 1 could and should be doing.
http://emusician.com/em_spotlight/dolby ... ght_oct07/
Gosh, I can't imagine Varese might unearth it on a CD Club release?? THAT I would LOVE to hear...with Barry's original on a separate disc of course
This interview is from 1986...I didn't know "Cinemascore" (which "designed" the sound for RAW DEAL I believe) was a Quincy Jones joint!
Describe your recent project, working with LucasFilm on Howard the Duck.
TD: In the fall of 1985, I was approached by Quincy Jones' company Cinemascore to score a movie entitled Fever Pitch, directed by Richard Brooks and starring Ryan O'Neal. I was very pleased to get that opportunity and accepted. Unfortunately, the film turned out to be a damp squid, but it was worthwhile for me because it showed me what I could and couldn't do within the film medium, and introduced me into the very tightknit Hollywood music clique. Very soon after, I was asked to contribute one song to a Lucas movie called Howard the Duck, based on a '70s adult comic. I read the script and was frankly much more interested in doing the score — I've always enjoyed cartoon music and the concept of a large orchestra in a state of complete anarchy, and although this was not an animation, I saw the possibility of writing a ludicrous '80s cartoon score using the new Fairlight.
So Lucas said, "Okay, write four songs for the film and if we like them you can do the score too." There is a band in the movie, four gorgeous nubile girls who deserve much better than the hole of a club in Cleveland, Ohio where they perform. The band is played by actresses and led by Lea Thompson who was excellent as Michael J. Fox's mother in Back to the Future. The director, Willard Huyck, was keen that the girls themselves should sing the songs, and as it turned out they were actually excellent singers, though inexperienced. So in order to write songs within their limitations, and on account of their hectic shooting schedule, I decided to move to San Francisco for a while (where the movie was being shot), bringing in musicians I knew from the U.K. to play the instruments. I also called up Allee Willis, a very brilliant songwriter from Los Angeles, to help me write the songs.
As it turned out, my presence on the set meant that the director and crew started to view me as a kind of resident rocker, and I started to get involved in everything from set design to choreography to suggesting camera angles. The toughest part though was teaching the girls to look and move like a rock band; we found that the only way was for them to plug in their instruments and learn to play for real. They worked incredibly hard to get it looking authentic, and in the process they got pretty good!
Lucas has the best sound and visual special effects facility in the world, and one of the interesting aspects of this was that I was able to incorporate sound effects into the score --for example, using the sound of trashbin lids as the basis for an alleyway sequence. Usually the music composer doesn't even meet the sound effects people until the final mix, and a lot of crucial cues end up being a tussle between the two. The best thing about it for me, though, was that I saw the making of a movie from start to finish, which convinced me that making my own films is what 1 could and should be doing.
http://emusician.com/em_spotlight/dolby ... ght_oct07/
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AndyDursin
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Just got the import from Germany after waiting for a month for the Ebay seller to ship it out.
Sadly the English track is in MONO -- what a disappointment! (The German track is in stereo). The transfer's terrific...but the sound, UGH, what a letdown!
Nice to see the trailers though, including that teaser with Lea Thompson talking to the camera.
And my memory from '86 is sound -- it says MUSIC BY THOMAS DOLBY just as I remembered it!
Sadly the English track is in MONO -- what a disappointment! (The German track is in stereo). The transfer's terrific...but the sound, UGH, what a letdown!
Nice to see the trailers though, including that teaser with Lea Thompson talking to the camera.
And my memory from '86 is sound -- it says MUSIC BY THOMAS DOLBY just as I remembered it!
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Paul MacLean
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AndyDursin
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Yes! That's the one I remember too from '86, with only Dolby's name appearing on the music credits. The quality of the trailers is rough, but the quality of the transfer on the film is STUNNING. This is one of the best PAL R2 discs I've seen for a catalog title, just too bad they couldn't get the sound right.Paul MacLean wrote:Is that the one where she says "Right now I'd give anything to run my fingers thru his...feathers!"?AndyDursin wrote:Nice to see the trailers though, including that teaser with Lea Thompson talking to the camera.
apparently they had big problems with the sound. The German master was broken on several spots, so they had to cut in the sound from the English Master and I think even reconstruct sentences from other scenes into these from the German master... pretty weird how all this can happen.
Some reviewers said though the english sound is better than the german... didnt compare, so I cant tell...
Some reviewers said though the english sound is better than the german... didnt compare, so I cant tell...