Drive, don't walk

[trinityvixen]

I watched two movies this weekend, both of which had incredibly synth soundtracks--one of which I liked, one of which I was indifferent to. The latter was the music in Near Dark, a preposterous yet almost tame vampire movie starring everyone James Cameron ever hired in the 1980s except for Michael Biehn (sadness!). It is so 80s in its sound, in its everything, really. It reads as dated. Hilariously, however, its blu-ray cover has been muchos Twlight-ified, which you realize makes exactly zero sense after seeing all of ten minutes of movie.

The synth soundtrack to the other movie, Drive, is stupendous. I cannot tell you why or how, but despite working the same buttons on the same machines and producing the same kind of music, the sound is so much better. It perfectly suits the movie, which is in no way especially 80s otherwise (save the rather Miami Vice-esque font used for the credits). The dreaminess of the score and the songs that are highlighted fits the incredibly dark mood of the film perfectly. If you listen to one song, get College's, "A Real Hero." It may not have the same resonance without the contrast between the high praise of the lyrics--And you have proved yourself to be/ A real human being and a real hero--and the increasingly brutal actions of the character played by Ryan Gosling. But goddamn, if you see Drive and don't want at least half the songs you hear, I'd be surprised.

(Frankly, everyone should see Drive. Especially in the theaters. As with There Will Be Blood, Drive is a movie that benefits from your paying attention. It's a bit squirm-inducing and there are long stretches of build-up, but the pay-off is intense and well worth the price of admission.)

Comments

[xannoside.livejournal.com]

I liked Drive until about halfway in, when they started adding slo-mo to further enhance the already slow-building scene transitions. I dunno why, exactly, but that managed to take me entirely out of a movie that I had been really enjoying up to that point (I thought the first 10 minutes in particular was brilliant). It really felt like they were adding extra transitiony bits in post-production.

The music was totally awesome though.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I liked Near Dark! Okay, I liked Adrian Pasdar. But I agree--the score is shit. It's by Tangerine Dream, who apparently did a lot of soundtracks in the eighties.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I had a different appreciation of the slow-mo. I thought it was actually really well used. I don't know if it's because my friend was wincing at all the violence that the slow-mo only delayed from happening, but it served to ratchet up tension, which is a great use of slow-mo.

And the soundtrack IS amazing. I like the score, too, but the music chosen was so antithetical and so perfect at the same time as to be really stand out.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Young Pasdar is quite adorable, though he's aged so well, I like him better older, myself. I was completely distracted by the supporting players, trying to work out where I'd seen them before.

The music is less useful to the story than it is just expected, which is the real problem. Terminator was every bit as synth-y, in almost the same overblown way, but it served the narrative better and had better hooks. Which, if you can, is the way to write music in general, but still.

[xannoside.livejournal.com]

I think I may just have a reaction to obvious movie slow-mo.

I got over-exposed in the early-'00s and now I've become allergic.

[negativeq.livejournal.com]

After the incredibly tense first 10 minutes I found "Drive" too boring and slow. I was nearly dozing by the time the violence finally (FINALLY!!!) started. I knew absolutely nothing about the movie going in, I've been trying to avoid accidental spoilers, so I was expecting a vehicular action movie. Not ... lots of silent staring ...

The soundtrack would be nifty, though.