Junkie XL's GVK score may have been bad, but one thing stands out

sonictiger

We can all admit that Tom Holkenborg's score for Godzilla Vs. Kong was pretty disappointing, but there's one moment that stands out from the rest.  At the 10 minute 40 second mark of the final track in score (Hong Kong), we truly get to see the potential that was wasted by the otherwise not great score we saw in the majority of the film.  As in that final bit there's simply a work of art in there.  It's an emotional piece (reminiscent of Stranger Things and Marvel mashed together) that may feel out of line from the more "epic" approach that the film had been aiming for.  While Bear Mcreary's Godzilla: King of The Monsters score is the best overall score in the MonsterVerse, the last bit of Junkie's Hong Kong is better than all of it.  I know everyone may not agree with me on that, but my opinion is this one segment is MASTER quality.

That's all for now....share your thoughts in the comments if you want to!

sonictiger

This is my most unpopular opinion yet, I know.

Djdndnejwnwn

Many people liked the score, I’m a music nerd, who didn’t. This score is ok. It does have emotion, I’m not a fan of this style in this movie. This style worked great for the Godzilla Anime Trilogy, but Not so much for GvK in my opinion. 

Djdndnejwnwn

The soundtrack isn’t the worst, but isn’t the best. I prefer it to the american music they added to the Later Showa americanized versions and the J pop that was in the Godzilla anime.

BigGrayGolem

I know it was probably a matter of cost, but a Godzilla film without the traditional Ifukube theme really takes something away. Imagine a James Bond film without the theme; there's something missing. Junkie's score ended up sounding like one of those 1990 bargain bin video games that were based on a franchise, but couldn't pay for the rights to use the actual franchise music, so they imitated it with a synth.

Djdndnejwnwn

BigGrayGolem

I don’t think that the problem was that it didn’t have the original theme, but it tried to cheaply imitate it. The synth isn’t the problem either, for example, even though many don’t like the Godzilla Anime, it has an absolutely amazing score, made with a synth.

7amey

Every film of the Monsterverse have wildly different scores. GvK's is probably the weakest, but it's not too bad on it's own. I don't understand, though, why Holkenborg abandoned the classic theme. Maybe he thinks he's innovative, I don't know.

Djdndnejwnwn

7amey

It’s not that he abandoned the OG Theme. It’s that he tried to imitate the chords and randomly placed them.

7amey

SarcasticGoji

Here is Holkenborg's history with Godzilla:

“I’m such a Godzilla freak. I have all the Japanese versions of the movies. At a certain point, just for s**ts and giggles, I wrote something for Godzilla. About two years ago, I met the director because he showed interest in me as a composer. I asked him, ‘Do you know I’m the biggest Godzilla fan on the planet, and, years ago, I wrote some stuff.’ He was like, ‘You’re kidding me?’ So we started communicating, I tweaked what I did, played it for him, and he was totally in love.”

I have no idea why they tried to imitate the original theme while they had the rights to it.

G. H. (Gman)

I think the truly baffling thing is they shelled out the rights for Godzilla's theme in not only King of the Monsters, but Ready Player One as well. But not Godzilla vs. Kong?

I'm on the fence over whether or not Ifukube's theme should be in every Godzilla movie, but after Ready Player One, it's a little odd that it wasn't used in GvK.

Kattozilla

on the topic of synths, what about Cozzilla's theme? The main title actually sounds epic

It would probably sound better as an alien/space theme, buuut who am i to judge

Die-hard Spino Fan

The soundtrack is... meh. It’s meh. 

sonictiger

The soundtrack is meh but y'all are missing the point of the whole thing.  Look at what I wrote closely and TRY AGAIN

Djdndnejwnwn

I did, and again, I said it didn’t completely work for me, it’s one of the better scores, but not my favorite 

sonictiger

I meant LISTEN TO THAT LAST PART and know what I'm talking about.

I actually am very confused why Junkie didn't use THE REAL Godzilla theme

Djdndnejwnwn

i did, 10:40 mark

sonictiger

So.....get my point now?

Djdndnejwnwn

Not really, It’s not my favorite. It suffers from the problems of the rest of the score. The entire score is decent, but not really what I want.

sonictiger

Honestly, I agree but even though it does feel out of place for this frankly mediocre score it works.

Djdndnejwnwn

not for me.. it’s not the style even, it’s just the score itself feels cheaply and sloppily done for me

sonictiger

That's true for the rest of the score.

Die-hard Spino Fan

KOTM's score is way better than Gvk's. No if's and's or but's about it.

sonictiger

THAT IS TRUE, I wasn't saying that at all.

Kattozilla

yeah, it is pretty great.

sonictiger

Godzilla's KOTM theme is the best part of THAT score.

Djdndnejwnwn

sonictiger

KOTMs Score was amazing especially Godzilla’s Theme. Bear Mcreary did a good job remastering the OG goji theme

Djdndnejwnwn

the theme that you said is the best part is the march section of the theme