MIGHTY JOE YOUNG vs. KING KONG remakes

Anakin McFly · **Posted:** Tue Mar 10, 2009 4:08 am

Musically speaking, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG is an absolutely gorgeous album. From this great chorus intro, to the violently beautiful Poachers sequence, the etherial The Trees, the whole big maelstrom finale (Hollywood Boulevard, Freeway Crossing, The Carnival and The Burning Ferris Wheel) to the magnificent final Windsong with african chorus...
And the powerful link between the ending theme to Project X and the main theme of MJY was such a clever idea of a thematic junction that adds a special meaning to both scores !
It's just a perfect album that covers all the emotions of a powerful story : the mystery, the violence, the tenderness, the wildness, the adventure, the serenity...
James Horner was just the perfect composer for this, helped by incredibly strong orchestrations by JAC Redford and usual solo musicians contribution (Tony Hinningan and Ian Underwood to name the most well known).

You just can't beat this, even if you're Howard Shore, James Newton howard or John Barry.

Jon · **Posted:** Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:07 am

Mighty Joe Young is one of my all-time favourites by James Horner. The Wind Song has a wonderful melody, and the best listening of this score was in the open nature, camping at an old ruin.

I love it.

Lokutus · **Posted:** Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:35 am

I have never been too big fan of Windsong, but the action scoring is just incredible. Quite bad the album is getting difficult to find. Horner was in top form at that time.

Nick · **Joined:** Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:18 pm **Posts:** 221

I recall on Tony Hinnigan's website various tidbits of information about the performances of several scores, including this one. Hinnigan found it VERY difficult to perform the score's main theme, because of the key it's played in on his quena flute.

Horner wasn't aware of that and asked him how he could have such a hard time playing such a simple little melody?

:mrgreen:

Larry Deutchman · **Joined:** Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:53 am **Posts:** 219

I'm going to have to disagree here, folks. I loved Peter Jackson's version of King Kong - excellent action adventure with spectacular effects and way more emotion, better storytelling, acting and characters than the original (and I'm inclined to despise remakes). I saw it multiple times on the big screen. Some of what made it work was the fact that Naomi Watts took it so seriously. She never acts like she's in a monster movie - she keeps it focused on the human drama.

Anyway, I happen to love Howard's score to the remake. I'd love to get my hands on the complete work, though the CD is quite comprehensive. It's a beautiful score balancing emotion and spectacle. And I'm not a Howard fan. This is the first of his scores I've ever wanted to listen to outside the confines of the movie.

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bruce marshall · **Joined:** Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:16 pm **Posts:** 775

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MIGHTY JOE YOUNG vs. KING KONG remakes

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