MovieChat Forums > Mercury Rising (1998) Discussion > John Barry - Mercury Rising score

John Barry - Mercury Rising score


melacholist & melodramatic score,
I guess Mercury Rising is among the best score I ever heard

reply

hey man, watched the film and wanted to download the score but ahve no idea where i can get it from , any suggestions - cheers

reply

Maazon my friend.
http://www.amazon.com/Mercury-Rising-Original-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B0000060ER/sr=8-3/qid=1159073101/ref=pd_bbs_3/104-5377636-8332709?ie=UTF8&s=music
IMHO though I thought the score was pretty crap, I liked some of the flute interludes on the main theme, but it all fell apart for me

Insert witty quote

reply

I thought this was a sure sign that John Barry had finished with films, and was an early sign of his retirement. This was a flat, uninspired score which doesn't show a tenth of what John Barry is capable of.

reply

Hmm... That seems to make sense. One of the greatest film composers of all time unprofessionally just wanders through a composition because he's can't be bothered.

I thought the score was brilliant. It highlighted the relationships at work in the film plus it was independently beautiful.

reply

Very true. The music travels through unique harmonies that are quite catchy and the harmonic background itself strengthens the two main melodies (subtle cue, action cue). Not a huge fan of Barry, but he did well on this score.

reply

I really liked the score on this,i've listened to an awful of Bond soundtracks though his work is so much more than Bond.
Barry really makes this movie something special,it doesnt seem to get mentioned amongst Willis movies but its a wonderful bodyguard/espionage movie.

Barry really captures the mind of th child in the melody even if its used over and over

reply

I remember when this came out, I was impressed with the score which is rare for me as i usually dont really pay too much attention to other films soundtracks unless theyre particularly good....usually just white noise.

The Jackal, another action-thriller which came out a year before and also starred Bruce Willis has another one of those great thrilling scores that I particularly liked...weird.

reply

Beautiful score very touching.

reply

A lot of his score wasn't used in the fim though. Apparently the filmmakers hired Carter Burwell to redo some of the action and suspense scenes,Barry being not especially bothered in emphisising those elements. Burwell's music fits quite well with Barry's score really.

reply


I guessed it was John Barry in the first 5 notes! His scores are so easy to recognize. Brilliant composer!

As a huge fan of film scores I have begun to recognize a recycling of scores in many films. I also heard a very similar score of Barry's in The Scarlett Letter with his use of flutes. If you've seen both films you will know what I mean.

Why is it that composers do this? Do they think the audience will not know. Is it a laziness on their part or just having composer's block, lacking creativity?... Anyone else notice this happen often with scores?


... End of line.

reply

And in "Dances with Wolves", too.

reply

You'll need to hear more scores; it's pure cheese.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

reply

[deleted]

I was thinking yesterday after watching this again for the umpteenth time that the score was integrated with the film better than most. It set the tone and worked with the action, IMO.

Cheers,

Richard

reply

I agree, it's beautiful, but this theme has already been used in "Dances with Wolves". Check "Mercury Rising" at 1:05 hrs.

reply