MovieChat Forums > Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) Discussion > A celebration of lip syncing

A celebration of lip syncing


I'll pass

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So was that just for the trailer or do they do their own singing at all in the movie?

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I doubt Rami Malek can sing like Mercury. Hell I doubt many people can sing like Mercury, so for that reason I have no problem with lip syncing.

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I'm ok with lip synching in these types of films. I want to hear what the big deal was all about, they have recordings for that. I don't want to hear someone doing an impersonation of the singer. Sure, they are impersonating him in the non singing parts but that is a little different.

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Didn't love that trailer, no sir. But... I rarely like movies like this. I think the Doors is the only one I cared for, and even that didn't feel very authentic.

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THIS ^

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The Runaways is great, highly recommended. They even covered all the songs and Dakota sang.... the movie versions are better than the originals!

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Agreed. The Runaways is one of my favorite movies. Very entertaining!

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I showed it to my roommate a few years back, he didn't seem too interested at first, and then he ended up watching it three more times that same week!

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The Runaways did work, it was gritty. A lot of these films aren't though.

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did you really expect someone covering Freddie ? ha ha ha

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It was possible... but not with the actor they went with. Someone like Mika could have pulled off the vocals but would have required more makeup to pull off the look... though honestly Malek's bug eyes kept me from ever really being able to suspend disbelief in him being Freddie... Only distant shots where he was strutting were ever believable.

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Who on earth would try to get a stand-in for Freddy Mercury, an impossible task, they did a great job! It takes balls to pull an audience into your song like they were able to do, very few can do that! So grateful to be able to listen to an artist that can actually sing and how!!!

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In some instances -- it's quite necessary -- Mercury is one of those people it would have been a horrible film if Mercury's singing was attempted and failed.

Mercury's voice and vocal range are not only signature to the band, but unique only to him. (in no small part due to his extra teeth. He cited it in many interviews as a reason he would never get them fixed -- it would have changed his signature vocal style. Same reason Barbara Streisand never got her nose fixed, despite studio people and former managers urging her to do so. She and Mercury knew their meal ticket also hinged on their 'oddities' that, if 'fixed', would have broken their careers.)

I, too, prefer it when singers are portrayed where the actor can actually do the singing. However...in some instances, when the performer has such a signature sound that any attempt to mimic it would have a 90% chance of failure, it would detract from the whole film. This was a smart choice by both Malik and the director. If he had failed, Mercury's voice is so distinct that, had he failed, no one would be talking about how great the film was, but only how Malik blew the vocals.

Malik absolutely nailed Mercury's showmanship, and his lip syncing was on point, I wasn't the least bit bothered by it -- because I was captivated by his performance, and not distracted by the vocals not being perfect (as they likely would have been had the songs not been lip synched.) Also -- Mercury's voice was partially due to his physical differences with having extra teeth -- you just could not mimic that.

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All good points.

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One of the best voices in our lifetime!!!

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I found it to be pretty seamless. It wasn't as jarring as it is in some music biopics. Would much rather have it done this way than have Malek sing with his normal voice and not do Mercury justice.

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Agreed. Who on planet earth these days can sing like Mercury could? They had one option; lip sync.

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As long as they do it an artful way, I have no problem with it. I heard an interview where Malek said they somehow got his voice in there occasionally to help make it look more natural and real. I'm not in any hurry to see the film, but It seems to have been done with integrity and fondness. The other members are still around, so I'm sure they had some final say on how the whole thing portrays them.

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I have Hashimoto's disease (autoimmune) and when the end came I cried and related to the mortality of it! AIDS patients today live a long and adventurous life.

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I hope you are managing this malady, all the best. I may have said this to you before but - Junebug is one of my favorite movies !

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Absolutely!!

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It was mainly Mercury mixed in with some Malek and a guy called Marc Martel to fill in the depth for the music to work in surround sound in theatres.

This guy from The Queen Extravaganza:

Bohemian Rhapsody: (band) https://youtu.be/egtJi967tgM

We Are The Champions: (solo) https://youtu.be/hNmnieRTNOk

Rami talking about it on Ellen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wRhLaH6wkY

Basically:

http://www.noise11.com/news/bohemian-rhapsody-biopic-sounds-like-freddie-but-its-marc-martel-20181104

Malek is singing over Freddie’s vocals but to make it sound authentic Marc Martel was recruited to even out the soundtrack.

They hired me to do some of the singing in the movie and give the audience an immersive experience and not be able to tell where the singing is coming from. It is to make the audience believe they are really watching Freddie Mercury sing. I got to go to Abbey Road for a few weeks and do some recording there. It was the first time for me to see behind the curtain in the music industry. It was really fascinating fun and a very memorable experience.

The magic of Hollywood then went to work piecing the new Martel vocals with Freddie’s for Rami Malek to sing over to make it look authentic. Queen offered all of their original songs to the movie, he says. The movie uses a mixture of Freddie’s tracks, me and Rami done in a way that you can’t tell.

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He was a double winner singer, a huge mouth which afforded him what most people can't do, sing!!! He was one of a kind, the notes and bravado were incredible! Can you say "Willie Nelson" awful voice. Mama Cass! Breaks glass!

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I liked the movie, however the lip syncing at their final performance on Wembley was really, really poor. Out of sync, like a really bad playback band from the 90s.

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