Our Sponsor Sideshow Send us News
Lord of the Rings Tolkien
Search Tolkien
Lord of The RingsTheOneRing.net - Forged By And For Fans Of JRR Tolkien
Lord of The Rings Serving Middle-Earth Since The First Age

Lord of the Rings Movie News - J.R.R. Tolkien

  Main Index   Search Posts   Who's Online   Log in
The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Movie Discussion: The Hobbit:
Misty Mountains Theme Absence?
First page Previous page 1 2 Next page Last page  View All

KingTurgon
Rohan


Nov 21 2014, 5:16pm

Post #1 of 31 (1375 views)
Shortcut
Misty Mountains Theme Absence? Can't Post

Anyone know why they have not used it at all since AUJ (that we know of)? It was a great piece of music. I've seen "distancing from AUJ" as a reason but I'm not sure if I buy that.


BlackFox
Half-elven


Nov 21 2014, 5:20pm

Post #2 of 31 (694 views)
Shortcut
Because the Company left the Misty Mountains behind them in AUJ. // [In reply to] Can't Post

 



Fàfnir
Rohan


Nov 21 2014, 5:40pm

Post #3 of 31 (684 views)
Shortcut
That's a very litteral interpretation [In reply to] Can't Post

it was clearly the theme of the company, not of a region in the west of some mountains in the referenced. And the misty mountains themselves are very secondary part of the song in the first place.

Personally I don't understand the absence of this theme. I tend to think it was not a free decision and that some copyrights issues happened, since the theme was composed by Plan 9 and not by Howard Shore


Lindele
Gondor

Nov 21 2014, 5:47pm

Post #4 of 31 (659 views)
Shortcut
Also, if you notice [In reply to] Can't Post

the oftentimes second part of the Misty Mountain theme, that sort of escalating melody that Howard Shore wrote as a transition out of the Misty Mountain theme (which he didn't write), is used a lot in DOS. I wish I was better with musical terminology etc but I know what I'm trying to say.


King_horse
Bree

Nov 21 2014, 5:55pm

Post #5 of 31 (740 views)
Shortcut
Because of copyright issues [In reply to] Can't Post

If you played the lego hobbit game (which includes AUJ and DOS) you will notice that the cutscenes are a very accurate adaption of the movie. Even the music was very accurate but every scene that featured the misty mountain song was left out of the game. In fact the song was never used again in any trailer, advertising, soundtrack... once AUJ came out.


BlackFox
Half-elven


Nov 21 2014, 5:57pm

Post #6 of 31 (638 views)
Shortcut
I didn't come up with it myself [In reply to] Can't Post

I read about it. Somewhere. Might have just been an excuse.



(This post was edited by BlackFox on Nov 21 2014, 5:59pm)


Faleel
Rohan


Nov 21 2014, 5:59pm

Post #7 of 31 (597 views)
Shortcut
Timestamp? [In reply to] Can't Post

Timestamp?

I think I know what your are referring to.


King_horse
Bree

Nov 21 2014, 6:06pm

Post #8 of 31 (620 views)
Shortcut
Clearly an excuse [In reply to] Can't Post

Would they really decide to never use one of the best piece of music from the hobbit again just because they left the mist mountains ? The song was the heroic company theme and was used even before they arrived to the misty mountains (troll scene). They could have used the music during the heroic dwarves moments in DOS ( barrel scene and smaug fight).


(This post was edited by King_horse on Nov 21 2014, 6:07pm)


Imladris18
Lorien


Nov 21 2014, 6:09pm

Post #9 of 31 (620 views)
Shortcut
I did notice this now that you mention it. [In reply to] Can't Post

It was kinda jarring. I was anticipating it, but then they threw a curve and I was a bit sad :(



BlackFox
Half-elven


Nov 21 2014, 6:51pm

Post #10 of 31 (577 views)
Shortcut
But not entirely illogical [In reply to] Can't Post

Not that it would make the theme's post-AUJ absence any less odd.



(This post was edited by BlackFox on Nov 21 2014, 6:51pm)


Crunchable Birdses
Rohan


Nov 21 2014, 6:51pm

Post #11 of 31 (658 views)
Shortcut
Written by a third party - WB didn't license it for anything beyond AUJ [In reply to] Can't Post

It's not a Howard Shore tune, someone else wrote it, and for whatever reason, WB decided they didn't want to pay to license it for further films / media.

Maybe the guys who owned the copyright were asking too much, and wouldn't back down, or WB were just being tight. We'll never know.

* crunch *

(This post was edited by Crunchable Birdses on Nov 21 2014, 6:52pm)


Macfeast
Rohan


Nov 21 2014, 7:04pm

Post #12 of 31 (533 views)
Shortcut
Not to mention... [In reply to] Can't Post

... that there are three songs in the book ("Far over the Misty Mountains cold", "The wind was on the withered heath", and finally "Under the Mountain dark and tall") that follows the structure of the Misty Mountains-song, so the Misty Mountains-theme (as we have come to call it, mind you; I can't recall ever seeing it officially referred to as thus) doesn't have to be restricted to the Misty Mountains - as in, the actual mountain-range - exclusively. Have the dwarves perform the "Under the Mountain dark and tall"-song in preparation for the battle to come, and you could reasonably have the Misty Mountains-theme (or at least a more somber and grim rendation of it) make a return without being out of place.

Also, if we can get themes like the "Gondor Reborn"-theme in AUJ, when Gondor was nowhere to be seen, then I think the Misty Mountains-theme (again, as we have come to call it) can make a return played alongside the dwarves with which the theme was frequently played; The latter actually strikes me as more "topical" (in lack of a better word) than the former, if that is of importance.


(This post was edited by Macfeast on Nov 21 2014, 7:07pm)


Bishop
Gondor


Nov 21 2014, 7:06pm

Post #13 of 31 (554 views)
Shortcut
Wow, I had no idea [In reply to] Can't Post

Looking at the big picture that seems like an awfully strange oversight, a major thematic motif being dropped from the score because of licensing issues. But it would make sense. Otherwise I could see it being a continuing motif for sure.

Any idea why they didn't get Shore to compose a piece for it?


macfalk
Valinor


Nov 21 2014, 7:12pm

Post #14 of 31 (562 views)
Shortcut
Has to be the copyright issue. [In reply to] Can't Post

If not there would at least be a hint of the theme in DOS and BOFA OSTs and there aren't. Misty Mountains theme was to Thorin & Co what the Fellowship theme was to the Fellowship - they would never just drop it like that.

Luckily we have the "Erebor" theme which is a worthy replacement.

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.

(This post was edited by macfalk on Nov 21 2014, 7:13pm)


Faleel
Rohan


Nov 21 2014, 7:13pm

Post #15 of 31 (534 views)
Shortcut
And [In reply to] Can't Post

And Thorin's theme.


sycorax82
Rohan

Nov 21 2014, 8:20pm

Post #16 of 31 (532 views)
Shortcut
Howard Shore didn't write it, so maybe wanted it gone asap [In reply to] Can't Post

I don't mind because it at least makes AUJ unique. The 'sons of Durin' theme is more-or-less the replacement for it.


There&ThereAgain
Rohan


Nov 21 2014, 11:08pm

Post #17 of 31 (405 views)
Shortcut
this [In reply to] Can't Post

I feel like maybe I read to much into it, but I got the impression that Shore was annoyed when talking about it on the AUJ EE. It's probably why that feature is so short (besides there being not many new themes in AUJ in general).

I mean would you want someone coming in and defining a theme for you? For a series of films that you defined? I'm sure it was boring for Shore to have to adapt someone else's music and didn't complain when he didn't have to use it going forward!

I still love the Mist Mountain song though. Bless Plan 9! Angelic

"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair; and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."-J.R.R. Tolkien

"Thanks for the money!" -George Lucas


Glorfindela
Valinor


Nov 22 2014, 12:14am

Post #18 of 31 (388 views)
Shortcut
It's a huge shame [In reply to] Can't Post

It's probably the most appropriate and best piece of music for the Dwarves, and it should have been used throughout the three films in the same way that the Shire theme was used throughout the LotR trilogy in scenes featuring Hobbits.

It just seems bizarre that they couldn't have taken care of copyright issues (if those were the reasons for the exclusion of the music past AUJ). Much of the DoS music just seemed alien to me, which was a great pity, because the music for the LotR films and the Misty Mountains theme are very memorable and a big part of the film experience for me.

IMHO


Faleel
Rohan


Nov 22 2014, 12:43am

Post #19 of 31 (350 views)
Shortcut
I [In reply to] Can't Post

I seriously doubt that it was a copyright thing.

If that were so, how were they able to use Flaming Red Hair in the AUJ EE? and why did Plan 9 return for the Lake-town fanfare if they were unhappy with royalties?

No, I believe it was a creative decision by the filmmakers.

Oh and the best dwarf theme is this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lepwy1Gz-Gk

(This one is good too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtD0_J_nyN4)


Glorfindela
Valinor


Nov 22 2014, 12:52am

Post #20 of 31 (368 views)
Shortcut
As far as the 'best' Dwarf theme is concerned [In reply to] Can't Post

This is subjective and a matter of personal preference. For me, the best Dwarf theme IS the 'Misty Mountain' theme.


Faleel
Rohan


Nov 22 2014, 1:23am

Post #21 of 31 (341 views)
Shortcut
Don't [In reply to] Can't Post

Don't get me wrong, its a great theme, and I love it, but its not the most malleable.


Old Toby
Grey Havens


Nov 22 2014, 3:34am

Post #22 of 31 (301 views)
Shortcut
Yeah, I love that song myself [In reply to] Can't Post

I think it represents Thorin & Company's quest in general. Although I would have not liked hearing it done a lot again, still the melody might have been able to play a part somewhere. As I recall in the book, after the dwarves got inside Erebor, at one point they sang another song, which was supposed to sound a lot like the Misty Mountains song. So who knows, maybe the melody will resurface. Probably not though, for various reasons that people here have posted. But that one scene of them singing that song in Bag End is one of my favorite moments of the films thus far.

"Age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good." Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher)


zzdecapitator
The Shire

Nov 22 2014, 7:05am

Post #23 of 31 (258 views)
Shortcut
Maybe it will be present in BOFA? [In reply to] Can't Post

Perhaps its absence in DOS has something to do with the three-film split. Could they have just signed an agreement for it to be used in 2 films and then didn't want to revise the contract?


Aragorn the Elfstone
Tol Eressea


Nov 22 2014, 7:20am

Post #24 of 31 (277 views)
Shortcut
Perhaps a preference by Howard? [In reply to] Can't Post

I've long thought it might just be the fact that it wasn't a theme composed by Howard, and after it's heavy use in the final cut of AUJ, perhaps HS just desired to push his own themes in DoS and BotFA.

Just pure speculation on my part, but no more than the legal issues theory.

If there's one silver lining to the theme's absence, it's that it gives AUJ a unique musical quality in the trilogy.

"The danger with any movie that does as well as this one does is that the amount of money it's making and the number of awards that it's got becomes almost more important than the movie itself in people's minds. I look at that as, in a sense, being very much like the Ring, and its effect on people. You know, you can kind of forget what we were doing, if you get too wrapped up in that."
- Viggo Mortensen

(This post was edited by Aragorn the Elfstone on Nov 22 2014, 7:24am)


Noria
Gondor

Nov 22 2014, 1:48pm

Post #25 of 31 (218 views)
Shortcut
I love the Misty Mountains theme but am fine with its absence.. [In reply to] Can't Post

This was my assumption: Shore had not composed the score for AUJ when filming began and they needed a song for the Bag End scene. They got Plan 9 to write the Misty Mountains theme, which was so great that PJ wanted to keep using it and Shore incorporated it into the AUJ score.

For whatever reason, licensing or artistic, the theme isn't part of the sequel scores. Misty Mountains is great but IMO there is enough of it in AUJ. I happy that there is now space, so to speak, in the scores for the other themes that Shore composed for the Dwarves and other places and characters..

First page Previous page 1 2 Next page Last page  View All
 
 

Search for (options) Powered by Gossamer Forum v.1.2.3

home | advertising | contact us | back to top | search news | join list | Content Rating

This site is maintained and updated by fans of The Lord of the Rings, and is in no way affiliated with Tolkien Enterprises or the Tolkien Estate. We in no way claim the artwork displayed to be our own. Copyrights and trademarks for the books, films, articles, and other promotional materials are held by their respective owners and their use is allowed under the fair use clause of the Copyright Law. Design and original photography however are copyright © 1999-2012 TheOneRing.net. Binary hosting provided by Nexcess.net

Do not follow this link, or your host will be blocked from this site. This is a spider trap.