aunelson

[aunelson]

Movie Review Series Analysis

My final piece to this series will be an analysis on what made the soundtracks to the movies fit so well. If you haven't seen my previous posts here are the links:

Interstellar: https://www.tumblr.com/aunelson/711294031513157632/movie-reviews-series-1?source=share

Kung Fu Panda 2: https://www.tumblr.com/aunelson/711295969691566080/movie-reviews-series-2?source=share

How to Train Your Dragon: https://www.tumblr.com/aunelson/711298055811514368/movie-reviews-series-3?source=share

The first thing I noticed was that I liked all of the soundtracks equally, but for different reasons. In Interstellar, the music is constantly tense and it feels like something big is happening all of the time. In Kung Fu Panda 2, the music waltzes between being serious, and ominous to being fun and lighthearted, to being sad. In How to Train Your Dragon, the music seems to always flip between Thrilling and dangerous, to being victorious and celebratory. All of these approaches differ greatly, but they each found success.

One way in which all three share a similar philosophy is the themes incorporated into the music. All three films have subtle combinations of notes that signify a character or place that your brain takes note of subconsciously. Unless you are actively trying to spot those themes, they are difficult to notice, but deep down your brain is taking note and it has an effect that makes people enjoy the music even more. For example, in How to Train Your Dragon there are themes for Hiccup, Toothless (Hiccup's dragon), Berk, and more.

The real beauty in these themes comes when they are mixed together. Sticking with the example of HTTYD, in the song, "Test Drive", the themes for Hiccup and Toothless are merged expertly, showing the newly formed bond created between those two characters in that scene.

That concludes this series of movie reviews, thank you for reading!

[aunelson]

Movie Reviews Series #3

My third movie was How to Train Your Dragon (HTTYD). HTTYD was released in 2010 and was directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois.

The story takes place in a fantasy world where dragons and Vikings are at constant war with each other. Our protagonist Hiccup lives on the island of Berk. All of the occupants are big, muscly people who thrive off of killing and capturing dragons, with the exception of Hiccup. Hiccup's father is the chief of the village and is insistent on sailing out to find the dragon nest so he can exterminate the dragons once and for all. There are many dragons but one is feared the most: the nightfury. This is because, unlike the others, the nightfury only flies at night, never misses, and doesn't even take food. One night Hiccup gets lucky and shoots down the nightfury. The next day he finds it and tries to kill it, but can't bring himself to do it. What transpires next is a story of how Hiccup gains the friendship of the dragon, and trains it, since the dragon was injured when he was shot down.

The movie is great and teaches some good lessons, especially to a younger audience. For example, we are taught that just because you don't fit in, doesn't mean that you are wrong. Maybe people just haven't seen your perspective yet. The visuals in the movie were great as well and the scenes where people are flying up above the clouds or right across the water are masterfully done.

The soundtrack for this movie was composed by John Powell. Once again, he did a wonderful job on this soundtrack. One of my favorite songs was "Test drive" because it made me want more than anything in the world to fly on a dragon. The songs fit very well with the movie, causing tension when needed and also soothing when it fits.

I give the movie an 8 out of 10 for its stunning visuals and great lessons. My rating for the soundtrack is 10 out of 10 for those bone-chilling moments when the brass section roars to life.

[aunelson]

Movie Reviews Series #2

The second movie that I reviewed was Kung Fu Panda 2. You might ask, "why number 2?" and to that I say, "I actually like Kung Fu Panda 2 better than the first." I know that saying a sequel is better is rare, and a lot of people think that's not possible, but KFP2 knocked it out of the park. For one thing, KFP1 didn't give the antagonist much of a reason to fight the protagonist. Rather the antagonist was angry at the protagonist's master. However, in KFP2 the antagonist Shen has caused the protagonist Po direct emotional damage. That was a huge leap in making the movie feel more significant for Po.

The movie was released in 2011 and directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson. The plot is somewhat simple in that Shen wants to rule China and he created the first-ever cannon that is referred to as "the weapon". A fortune teller says that he will be defeated by a warrior of black and white, so he destroys all of the villages of pandas. Po, however, makes an escape as his mom put him in a cart and then distracted Shen's army to lead them away. Po and his friends go to Gongmen city, where they try again and again to defeat the weapon. They fail each time as Po gets flashbacks of Shen's attack on his village and freezes. Po eventually learns about "Inner peace" and unlocks the secret to defeating the weapon.

The soundtrack was composed by Hans Zimmer and John Powell. These two did a fantastic job, and I enjoyed each song on the soundtrack. With this soundtrack, I noticed a lot of sudden mood changes like in the song, "Po finds inner peace" where Po is struggling internally as he remembers the joy of his old life with his parents mixed with his trauma during the attack on his village. The music had a tendency to be soothing and soft using strings and woodwind instruments, and then suddenly drums and brass instruments fall on you like a lightning bolt. On the first viewing, it is completely unexpected and a beautiful choice.

Overall, I would rate the movie an 8.5 out of 10 for great action, while still being fun. My rating for the soundtrack is a 10 out of 10 for the soundtrack fitting like a glove. My favorite piece is "Zen ball master" as it is a 7-minute, 21-second rollercoaster of emotion and fun.

[aunelson]

Movie reviews series #1

As part of an English assignment, I will be posting a series of movie and soundtrack reviews, and then analyzing the combination of each movie and how well its soundtrack fits.

The first movie I watched was the 2014 Sci-Fi Thriller, "Interstellar". Firstly, I loved the movie! Christopher Nolan directed the movie, and he did a great job! WARNING: MOVIE SPOILERS AHEAD. The story takes place on Earth as it is on the brink of an apocalypse. The world has a food crisis, and schools are only training kids to be farmers. All sorts of propaganda are spread about the moon landings being faked and brainwashing people into believing that there is no chance for society to live amongst the stars. Our main character, Cooper used to be a pilot for NASA but now lives on a farm with his dad and children. Due to some strange gravitational anomalies, he and his daughter Murph find coordinates spelled out in dust piles on Murph's bedroom floor that give coordinates to a mysterious destination. Cooper and Murph travel to those coordinates to discover NASA working in a secret facility. There, Cooper agrees to pilot a mission that will travel through a wormhole to another solar system to look for habitable planets. That is just the beginning of the story and there are so many cool details and moments, that I couldn't bring myself to write a "short summary" in less than 5 pages, so I'll leave it at that. Now, on to the soundtrack.

The soundtrack was composed by Hans Zimmer, one of the greatest composers of our generation. I listened to the whole soundtrack a couple times, and it was amazing how well the emotion of each piece was displayed. There are songs with a lot of pace that just got my heart pumping immediately, but there were also songs that were more drawn out and created a somber mood. The song "Mountains" has one of my favorite details about the soundtrack that most people don't know. That is, when this song is playing, the characters are on a planet that experiences time dilation. It is explained that every hour spent on that planet is 7 years on Earth. In the song "Mountains" there is a prominent ticking sound every 1.25 seconds. Each tick is then equivalent to one day on Earth. It's details like this that truly separate average soundtracks and great ones.

Overall, the soundtrack was incorporated expertly into the movie. There are a few times when music is playing and then it suddenly cuts out when the camera switches to a view in outer space. Moments like that were very interesting and created a memorable effect. I can still visualize the movie when listening to the songs to this day. I would give the movie a 9 out of 10 as it is definitely one of my favorites of all time. The soundtrack gets a 10 out of 10 though, because listening to it, I cannot find a single note out of place. Overall, the combination of the two is perfect for me.