# Movie rewatch ruined by the soundtrack **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2019, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382 "2019-11-13T21:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/1 "2019-11-13T21:18:23Z")
Recently I rewatched the movie _Gallipoli_. I remembered it as well done and heartbreaking. It still is but I didn’t remember the horrible synth music used throughout and particularly in the climax. Apparently those bits of music were from Jean Michel Jarre. Maybe you like that kind of music. I don’t. But I don’t think too many would argue it now feels right in an emotional period piece. I can’t help but think that most movies that will have the same issues were made in the 80s. 80s synth hasn’t aged well in movie scores. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/2 "2019-11-13T21:24:32Z")
After reading the title and before the mouse over I said, “Gallipoli”. That was some crap sounds. The soundtrack is what I remember first when I think about the movie. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/3 "2019-11-13T21:34:05Z")
Not a re-watch for me, but having recently watched _Witness_ for the first time, I found the synth-based soundtrack utterly out of place and distracting. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/4 "2019-11-13T22:41:07Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Not a re-watch for me, but having recently watched _Witness_ for the first time, I found the synth-based soundtrack utterly out of place and distracting. It’s bad in movies set in the 80s. I remember watching Absence of Malice last year and the awful synth track was very jarring. To me it’s so much worse in period pieces. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/5 "2019-11-13T23:00:19Z")
Many early 70s movies used sudden loud horns in the soundtrack to signify something shocking just happened on screen. This is really jarring and takes me right out of the movie. A prime example is _Planet of the Apes_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/6 "2019-11-13T23:15:17Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > It’s bad in movies set in the 80s. I remember watching Absence of Malice last year and the awful synth track was very jarring. > > To me it’s so much worse in period pieces. Yes. Vangelis was appropriate for Blade Runner, not so much The Bounty. But what popped into my head upon reading the thread title was For Your Eyes Only. Re-score it without the wakka-chicka and it’s a fine movie, but the disco guitars pull me out of the film. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/7 "2019-11-13T23:53:33Z")
Ladyhawk’s synth soundtrack is heinous. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/8 "2019-11-14T00:02:59Z")
Inappropriate synthesizer? Let’s see. There was _Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight_. Which was still not half as annoying as the soundtrack for _Ladyhawke_. Synthesizer in the 80s, funk in the 70s, jazz in the 60s. Soundtracks date a movie faster than the haircuts. Somehow, pseudo-classical music, played by a full orchestra, doesn’t age quite as badly. Whatever my complaints about Lucas and Spielberg, at least their movies sound good. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/9 "2019-11-14T00:17:27Z")
The Highlander soundtrack is sort of so awful it’s good, much like the movie, there can be only one! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/10 "2019-11-14T02:03:11Z")
> [@pool](#): > > The Highlander soundtrack is sort of so awful it’s good, much like the movie, there can be only one! I’m assuming you mean the instrumental, incidental stuff, and not the Queen songs, right? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/11 "2019-11-14T02:05:36Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Yes. Vangelis was appropriate for Blade Runner, not so much The Bounty. But what popped into my head upon reading the thread title was For Your Eyes Only. Re-score it without the wakka-chicka and it’s a fine movie, but the disco guitars pull me out of the film. Bounty has a fantastic score…it drips sweat ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/12 "2019-11-14T03:28:31Z")
Can soundtracks be replaced? Would it be worth doing it if they could be? ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/13 "2019-11-14T03:39:18Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m assuming you mean the instrumental, incidental stuff, and not the Queen songs, right? Yes ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/14 "2019-11-14T04:28:20Z")
I hate it when a different organist plays during silent movies. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/15 "2019-11-14T09:07:09Z")
The first two films mentioned in this thread — _Gallipoli_ and _Witness_ — are by the same director, Peter Weir, with music by the same composer, Maurice Jarre (father of Jean-Michel Jarre). I agree the synth sound is annoying, particularly in _Witness_, where its artificiality clashes with the bucolic Pennsylvania Amish landscapes (though perhaps unintentionally it does remind us that the Amish also live “in the present” — meaning, at the time, the 1980s). I do like some of the compositions themselves, like “Building the Barn” in _Witness_. I bought an LP around 1990 of Michel Jarre’s film compositions; it included this, but played by a real string orchestra. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/16 "2019-11-14T09:26:01Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Not a re-watch for me, but having recently watched _Witness_ for the first time, I found the synth-based soundtrack utterly out of place and distracting. That’s another Maurice Jarre score. [ETA: Just missed JKellyMap’s comment to this effect.] I just re-listened to 4-5 tracks from the soundtrack, and I’m OK with it. It certainly doesn’t call attention to itself. YMMV - apparently lots of folks’ does. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/17 "2019-11-14T09:45:08Z")
🙂 A funny little coincidence: Two nights ago, I caught the last part of the film _Glory_ on TV (it was Veteran’s Day), and commented to my wife that the music (at least in that scene) was overbearing. When I saw this threads’s title, I considered mentioning this. Just now I looked up Maurice Jarre’s biography — and guess who composed the music for _Glory_? Jarre’s adopted son Kevin. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/18 "2019-11-14T09:49:08Z")
Correction: Kevin Jarre wrote the _screenplay_ for _Glory_. The music was by the prolific and generally talented James Horner (though I stick by my complaint about that scene — the long, final battle). ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/19 "2019-11-14T12:47:21Z")
I love the soundtrack from **Ladyhawke**. Absolutely LOVE it. I wore that cassette tape out, and still play the CD while driving from time to time. \*\*Ladyhawke \*\*was one of my favorite '80s movies, and the soundtrack was a large part of my enjoyment. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382/20 "2019-11-14T14:09:01Z")
Two words: Giorgio Moroder [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-rewatch-ruined-by-the-soundtrack/843382.md?page=2)