Was anyone else disappointed by the film’s score? None of the music really grabbed me like it did in the previous films.
I thought it was solid enough and better than the average movie score, certainly. The use of old themes was noticeable and appropriate. But nothing struck me as a new classic as was developed for SW77 (and, hell, even TPM and Clones had some incredible new pieces). On the other hand, I’m admittedly not someone who pays much attention to soundtracks. I only bothered to learn (many of) whose theme is whose in the SW films earlier this year.
It was hard to grasp on to the film’s score while watching it, but I chalk that mainly up to there being so much new (music and other stuff) that it was a lot to take in.
I’ve since listened to the soundtrack in its entirety a couple times, and it is fantastic. There’s nothing bombastic or “epic” like in the prequels, and nothing that’s immediately unforgettable, which is I think why people are mixed on the score so far, but I think once people start to orient themselves with it, everyone’ll appreciate it.
It’s really great and very swashbuckling, more so than even the original Star Wars score ever was (check out “Scherzo for X-Wings” if you want to hear the main theme as if it were in an Errol Flynn picture). I honestly wasn’t expecting that but it works very well and makes the film a lot of fun.
One thing that I’m mixed on was the fact that they used “Burning Homestead” when Rey grabs the lightsaber. Not sure if I’m okay with it because why did they feel the need to use a 38 year old piece instead of a new one and because I recognized it immediately and found it a little distracting. On the other hand, it was epic as f and made me pretty emotional, honestly. So I probably don’t mind it.