The reality is that if Don Black had come up with better lyrics for the Main Title Song and John Barry had deleted that ridiculous slide whistle sound effect during the car jump sequence, the music soundtrack for "TMWTGG"(1974) would be a masterpiece Bond film music score! It's those damned inadequate lyrics that keep that otherwise superb music score from being an absolute masterpiece! It is so unfortunate that Bond film fans allow their understandable dim view of the Main Title Song to color their judgement of the rest of the music score for "TMWTGG" which is actually a superb score - one of John Barry's best! When you think about it, it is absolutely mind-boggling that any film music composer could create 8 consecutive excellent film music scores in a row for the same series of films which is exactly what Barry achieved from "FRWL"(1963) through "Moonraker"(1979)!!!! Eight in a row!!!! Absolutely incredible and a real testament to John Barry's absolute musical genius!!
I don't think the lyrics can be blamed for the problems with this score. The problem is that there's little development of the main theme and most of the score is the main theme without a prominent secondary theme. It's hardly the most interesting or exciting of John Barry's Bond scores, with only FRWL being a lesser score because he didn't write the main theme and he was still new to film scoring. I find that his last three after Moonraker are amongst his strongest Bond scores. I don't know what you're getting at with "8 consecutive excellent film music scores in a row for the same series of films", since those 8 scores were not consecutive in the series, or you don't like the Octopussy score.
@bond-suits. It should have been obvious to you that I was referring to 8 consecutive excellent Bond film music scores BY JOHN BARRY - which is absolutely accurate!! "FRWL", "Goldfinger", "Thunderball", "YOLT", "OHMSS" "DAF", "TMWTGG" and "Moonraker" are all excellent music scores with "Thunderball", "YOLT" ,"OHMSS" and "DAF" being Barry's 4 irrefutable masterpiece Bond film music scores (and "Moonraker" if not a masterpiece score, is damn close to being exactly that). And to consider "FRWL" (1963) to be a lesser quality music score than that for "TMWTGG" is absolutely laughably ridiculous considering the fact that Barry's score for "FRWL" is and is considered by most Bond film and Barry fans as being outstanding, even though the Main Title Theme, "FRWL" was written by Lionel Bart (which is a superb, iconic, and memorable Bond Main Title Theme)! And the reality is, as I wrote in my posted comment, that Barry's incidental music score for "TMWTGG"(1974) is absolutely superb because he did a magnificent job of creating a uniquely different Orient sound for that film than the beautiful one he created for the masterpiece score he composed for "YOLT"(1967)! Also the jazz versions of "TMWTGG" music in that film not only perfectly fit the scenes in which they are heard, but are superbly played by the musicians on that film music score. Barry's "Goodnight Goodnight" is a magnificently beautiful, slow instrumental version of the the Main Title Song and the stalking music he created called "Return to Scaramanga's Fun House" for the dramatic scene in which Scaramanga is stalking Bond through the Fun House at the end the film is beautifully intense, dramatic and memorable! Too many Bond film fans wrongly color their judgement of the incidental music in "TMWTGG" based on the lyrically clunker Main Title Song instead of assessing the incidental music in that score on its own merits! The song , "TMWTGG" would have worked as a Main Title Song if Saltzman and Broccoli had not been so stubborn in insisting that the Main Title Song for that movie be a vocal song and had allowed Barry to simply utilize the instrumental part of that music for the Main Title Song! In fairness to lyricist Don Black, he was saddled with , from a musical standpoint, a lousy film title to have to create great lyrics for! By contrast, his lyrics for the song "DAF" are absolutely superb, partly because the words "diamonds are forever" are much more conducive to the creation of wonderful lyrics than the totally unwieldy words, "the man with the golden gun"! As far as "Octopussy"(1983) is concerned, except for the magnificently beautiful Main Title Song, "All Time High" sung beautifully by Rita Coolidge and the "Gobinda Attacks" piece of fight music (which Barry strangely has in that score three times - instead of creating a second excellent piece of fight music), the overall score for "Octopussy is unremarkable! And Barry's music score for "AVTAK"(1985) absolutely stinks - with the possible exception of the fight music heard during Bond's fight with Max Zorin atop the Golden Gate Bridge (which is also heard earlier in the film). The music score for "AVTAK" is completely forgettable including the absolutely overrated stinkeroo of a Main Title Song by Duran Duran!
@@michaelbarlow7777 To be honest, I have never heard anyone speak highly of the FRWL score in comparison to any of Barry's other Bond scores. His OHMSS and TLD scores are typically considered his best Bond scores. Why don't you think his last three Bond scores are as good as the others?
@bond-suits. I have heard or read many times that "FRWL"(1963) is an excellent score by John Barry which it definitely is. The music heard during the fight in the gypsy camp, for example, is excellent! The eerie music heard when Grant stalks Bond in the mosque is another memorable and highly effective piece of music in that film! And "FRWL" is the first Bond film in which the the gorgeously beautiful and iconic piece of music "007" is heard! As far as his music score for "The Living Daylights"(1987) is concerned, other than the magnificently beautiful End Credits song, "If There Was A Man" by Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders and John Barry's superbly beautiful instrumental versions of that song (e.g., "Into Vienna"), the score for "TLD" is completely forgettable. The piece of music heard during the fight between Bond and Necros on the cargo net in midair towards the end of the film is good but nothing special. Had Albert R. Broccoli allowed Barry to make "If There Was A Man" by Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders the Main Title Song for that Bond film - which it unquestionably should have been instead of the absolutely horrid Main Title Song by A-ha, that Chrissie Hynde song, in my opinion, would rival and arguably just edge out Shirley Bassey's magnificent song, "Diamonds Are Forever " as the greatest Bond Main Title Song of them all (even though many Bond film fans regard - with considerable justification - Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die " as the GOAT Bond Main Title Song)! Lee Pfeifer and Dave Worrall in there overall excellent book, "The Essential Bond"(1998) couldn't be more wrong in their absurd evaluation of the music score for that Bond film when they wrote, " The Living Daylights finds John Barry at his best, contributing a highly atmospheric and memorable score"! The reality is that by the time of "A View To A Kill"(1985), Barry understandably was running out of fresh ideas for music for the Bond films! As I accurately pointed out, he had already incredibly scored 8 consecutive excellent (including 4 irrefutable masterpiece) Bond film music scores ("FRWL", "Goldfinger", "Thunderball", "YOLT", "OHMSS", "DAF", "TMWTGG"- despite the somewhat clunker of a Main Title Song for that 1974 Bond film, and "Moonraker"). No music composer, no painter, no fiction writer no matter how talented and brilliant possesses a bottomless well of creative ideas! Eventually the creative well runs dry, and it was blatantly obvious that by the time of "AVTAK"(1985), Barry's genius at music composing vis-a-vis the Bond films had run dry! Only the magnificently beautiful End Credits song, "If There Was A Man" sung superbly by Chrissie Hynde and Barry's absolutely superb arrangement of the instrumental versions of that gorgeously beautiful song save "The Living Daylights" from being a totally forgettable music score!
They sadly don't make Bond movie's like this anymore........
Not an excelent flick per se, but still a decent entry.
@@joaomiguelgarrido8004 I'd have it over any of Craig's entry's anytime
@@peterfranks6243 I never bothered to see the films with Craig. I only care for Bronsan and back to Connery. The older ones have a certain substance.
@@RetroFan My sentiments exactly 💯
They don't or CAN'T make Bond movies anymore. Did you see the ending of "No Time To Die " ? BOND IS DEAD !
The reality is that if Don Black had come up with better lyrics for the Main Title Song and John Barry had deleted that ridiculous slide whistle sound effect during the car jump sequence, the music soundtrack for "TMWTGG"(1974) would be a masterpiece Bond film music score! It's those damned inadequate lyrics that keep that otherwise superb music score from being an absolute masterpiece! It is so unfortunate that Bond film fans allow their understandable dim view of the Main Title Song to color their judgement of the rest of the music score for "TMWTGG" which is actually a superb score - one of John Barry's best! When you think about it, it is absolutely mind-boggling that any film music composer could create 8 consecutive excellent film music scores in a row for the same series of films which is exactly what Barry achieved from "FRWL"(1963) through "Moonraker"(1979)!!!! Eight in a row!!!! Absolutely incredible and a real testament to John Barry's absolute musical genius!!
I don't think the lyrics can be blamed for the problems with this score. The problem is that there's little development of the main theme and most of the score is the main theme without a prominent secondary theme. It's hardly the most interesting or exciting of John Barry's Bond scores, with only FRWL being a lesser score because he didn't write the main theme and he was still new to film scoring. I find that his last three after Moonraker are amongst his strongest Bond scores. I don't know what you're getting at with "8 consecutive excellent film music scores in a row for the same series of films", since those 8 scores were not consecutive in the series, or you don't like the Octopussy score.
@bond-suits. It should have been obvious to you that I was referring to 8 consecutive excellent Bond film music scores BY JOHN BARRY - which is absolutely accurate!! "FRWL", "Goldfinger", "Thunderball", "YOLT", "OHMSS" "DAF", "TMWTGG" and "Moonraker" are all excellent music scores with "Thunderball", "YOLT" ,"OHMSS" and "DAF" being Barry's 4 irrefutable masterpiece Bond film music scores (and "Moonraker" if not a masterpiece score, is damn close to being exactly that). And to consider "FRWL" (1963) to be a lesser quality music score than that for "TMWTGG" is absolutely laughably ridiculous considering the fact that Barry's score for "FRWL" is and is considered by most Bond film and Barry fans as being outstanding, even though the Main Title Theme, "FRWL" was written by Lionel Bart (which is a superb, iconic, and memorable Bond Main Title Theme)! And the reality is, as I wrote in my posted comment, that Barry's incidental music score for "TMWTGG"(1974) is absolutely superb because he did a magnificent job of creating a uniquely different Orient sound for that film than the beautiful one he created for the masterpiece score he composed for "YOLT"(1967)! Also the jazz versions of "TMWTGG" music in that film not only perfectly fit the scenes in which they are heard, but are superbly played by the musicians on that film music score. Barry's "Goodnight Goodnight" is a magnificently beautiful, slow instrumental version of the the Main Title Song and the stalking music he created called "Return to Scaramanga's Fun House" for the dramatic scene in which Scaramanga is stalking Bond through the Fun House at the end the film is beautifully intense, dramatic and memorable! Too many Bond film fans wrongly color their judgement of the incidental music in "TMWTGG" based on the lyrically clunker Main Title Song instead of assessing the incidental music in that score on its own merits! The song , "TMWTGG" would have worked as a Main Title Song if Saltzman and Broccoli had not been so stubborn in insisting that the Main Title Song for that movie be a vocal song and had allowed Barry to simply utilize the instrumental part of that music for the Main Title Song! In fairness to lyricist Don Black, he was saddled with , from a musical standpoint, a lousy film title to have to create great lyrics for! By contrast, his lyrics for the song "DAF" are absolutely superb, partly because the words "diamonds are forever" are much more conducive to the creation of wonderful lyrics than the totally unwieldy words, "the man with the golden gun"! As far as "Octopussy"(1983) is concerned, except for the magnificently beautiful Main Title Song, "All Time High" sung beautifully by Rita Coolidge and the "Gobinda Attacks" piece of fight music (which Barry strangely has in that score three times - instead of creating a second excellent piece of fight music), the overall score for "Octopussy is unremarkable! And Barry's music score for "AVTAK"(1985) absolutely stinks - with the possible exception of the fight music heard during Bond's fight with Max Zorin atop the Golden Gate Bridge (which is also heard earlier in the film). The music score for "AVTAK" is completely forgettable including the absolutely overrated stinkeroo of a Main Title Song by Duran Duran!
@@michaelbarlow7777 To be honest, I have never heard anyone speak highly of the FRWL score in comparison to any of Barry's other Bond scores. His OHMSS and TLD scores are typically considered his best Bond scores. Why don't you think his last three Bond scores are as good as the others?
@bond-suits. I have heard or read many times that "FRWL"(1963) is an excellent score by John Barry which it definitely is. The music heard during the fight in the gypsy camp, for example, is excellent! The eerie music heard when Grant stalks Bond in the mosque is another memorable and highly effective piece of music in that film! And "FRWL" is the first Bond film in which the the gorgeously beautiful and iconic piece of music "007" is heard! As far as his music score for "The Living Daylights"(1987) is concerned, other than the magnificently beautiful End Credits song, "If There Was A Man" by Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders and John Barry's superbly beautiful instrumental versions of that song (e.g., "Into Vienna"), the score for "TLD" is completely forgettable. The piece of music heard during the fight between Bond and Necros on the cargo net in midair towards the end of the film is good but nothing special. Had Albert R. Broccoli allowed Barry to make "If There Was A Man" by Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders the Main Title Song for that Bond film - which it unquestionably should have been instead of the absolutely horrid Main Title Song by A-ha, that Chrissie Hynde song, in my opinion, would rival and arguably just edge out Shirley Bassey's magnificent song, "Diamonds Are Forever " as the greatest Bond Main Title Song of them all (even though many Bond film fans regard - with considerable justification - Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die " as the GOAT Bond Main Title Song)! Lee Pfeifer and Dave Worrall in there overall excellent book, "The Essential Bond"(1998) couldn't be more wrong in their absurd evaluation of the music score for that Bond film when they wrote, " The Living Daylights finds John Barry at his best, contributing a highly atmospheric and memorable score"! The reality is that by the time of "A View To A Kill"(1985), Barry understandably was running out of fresh ideas for music for the Bond films! As I accurately pointed out, he had already incredibly scored 8 consecutive excellent (including 4 irrefutable masterpiece) Bond film music scores ("FRWL", "Goldfinger", "Thunderball", "YOLT", "OHMSS", "DAF", "TMWTGG"- despite the somewhat clunker of a Main Title Song for that 1974 Bond film, and "Moonraker"). No music composer, no painter, no fiction writer no matter how talented and brilliant possesses a bottomless well of creative ideas! Eventually the creative well runs dry, and it was blatantly obvious that by the time of "AVTAK"(1985), Barry's genius at music composing vis-a-vis the Bond films had run dry! Only the magnificently beautiful End Credits song, "If There Was A Man" sung superbly by Chrissie Hynde and Barry's absolutely superb arrangement of the instrumental versions of that gorgeously beautiful song save "The Living Daylights" from being a totally forgettable music score!
Originally, this score was written and composed by John Barry in a deadline of two weeks. AMAZING.
Wonderful...xxx
4:29 14:02