TROY Director's Cut Wrecks James Horner's Score

[AndyDursin]

Caught a few minutes of the "Director's Cut" the other night and instantly made me recall how ruined Horner's (really good) score was in this edit. Yes, there are a few solid additions to the DC, yet I feel the music is so compromised, I'd rather watch the theatrical cut.

And of course, the theatrical cut is only on Blu-Ray -- in Greece and Poland!

I feel this is, especially in light of films we've seen over the last decade, a pretty solid and underrated film. Interesting cast, some potent action scenes, and Horner's score is one of his best from the later-end of his career (the wailing ethnic voice cliche aside). The sweeping love theme he wrote is gorgeous.

I haven't bought the Intrada 2-CD set but if they do a sale I might bite...in the interim I'm using Google Translate to find a Polish website to order the theatrical cut from!

[Monterey Jack]

And of course, the theatrical cut is only on Blu-Ray -- in Greece and Poland!

Always a pet peeve of mine...when the Blu-Ray only offers an inferior director's cut version of the movie. Then again, I didn't think much of Troy anyways back in the day (think I gave it a B-minus), and hated Horner's score, which jackhammered his "Danger Motif' about five thousand times during the beach landing sequence. Still wish that Gabriel Yared's score would receive a CD release.

[AndyDursin]

It's one of those things -- I thought the movie was OK initially, probably a bit better than you, yet it looks a lot better now in light of where things have gone in terms of summer-time blockbusters. In general though, movies that used to be a "C" from 10-20 years ago are more like a "B" by today's standards for me lol.

and hated Horner's score, which jackhammered his "Danger Motif' about five thousand times during the beach landing sequence.

Some of the score definitely falls back on cliches -- like that scene -- no doubt. The fact he had 10 days to write two-plus hours of music likely had a lot to do with it. Still, a lot of it doesn't, and the stuff that works, works really well, including that love theme.

Still wish that Gabriel Yared's score would receive a CD release.

CD or no CD, that's one of those cases where I could understand why they replaced his score. His approach was way too melodramatic, like a movie out of the 1950s. As music it was fine, but in terms of dramatic context, the approach was totally out of touch.

[Monterey Jack]

CD or no CD, that's one of those cases where I could understand why they replaced his score. His approach was way too melodramatic, like a movie out of the 1950s. As music it was fine, but in terms of dramatic context, the approach was totally out of touch.

But...isn't that what we're always complaining about, that today's scores don't sound like music? Melodramatic or no, Yared's Troy was far better as music than the recycled mush of Horner's rushed effort, and it was written for a movie that -- flaws and all -- was at least an admirable throwback to the type of "roadshow" epics of the 50's and 60's, and deserved a score to match. Imagine Star Wars with one of those wonky electronic scores that most sci-fi movies had in the 70's...it would have totally deflated the kind of rousing, old-fashioned spirit Lucas was going for. If I want to listen to a Horner "epic" score from the same period that was far more coherent and satisfying seperated from the film, I'll throw in The Four Feathers.

[AndyDursin]

It's possible to write "good music" that's also not "good film music" at the same time, not when it doesn't fit what the film is trying to do.

On Troy, I do like Horner's score overall and feel they were right to toss what Yared composed. It was way too heavy and also indulgent. Dramatically it would have been like a sledgehammer over the character sequences and made the dramatics even more hysterical than they needed to be. I listened to his score a couple of times...it was ok but it's not exactly Miklos Rozsa in terms of quality. More over the overriding approach was wrong from the get go and it's totally understandable why they let it go.

I mean Williams wrote a big romantic score for Star Wars obviously but his music still had a contemporary orchestral approach that was distinctively Williams's. Yared's Troy just sounded like a score that was written for a movie 40 years prior. It was totally out of sync with what was on screen. I think Horner himself rightfully described it as if it was written for "a Hercules movie" from the 60s. Harsh? Sure. But also accurate.

[Paul MacLean]

If you compare the output of Horner and Yared, I don't think there's any question whose body of work is more significant and influential. Horner may have "recycled" material from time-to-time but that does not diminish his considerable -- and eclectic -- contributions to cinema.

The rejection of Yared's score was Wolfgang Petersen's call, after the film previewed disastrously. According to Horner, 100% of preview comment cards lambasted the music and said it ruined the film. Horner admitted he was amazed, as he had never seen preview audiences fixate so specifically on the music, with such unanimity.

In contrast, audiences had the complete opposite response to the score for Star Wars -- whose 2-LP set went platinum within months of its release.