Grade Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Nicholas Hooper

[BLUMENKOHL 1,086]

Ye have seen it! Now it is time to grade it!

Just got back from seeing the movie....midnight showing....WOW...I have work tomorrow too. I really have to say...I was amazed out how well the music worked in the movie after that questionable soundtrack release. The album is just a butchered mess, but Hooper's music really did lift some scenes way beyond what they could have been. It also seemed to me a good bit of music was missing from the album. Is it as grandoise and melodramatic as John Williams or Patrick Doyle? Not by a long shot, but it is not supposed to be, because the story is neither grandoise nor melodramatic. Over all Hooper delivered, and immense kudos for delivering without resorting to bombast and oversap. It's no Prisoner Azkaban but Hooper's proved he can write with the competence of the big guys.

The greatest issue I saw was that A Window to the Past was sorely missing from the death of Sirius...but the action music revolving around that entire scene fit infinitely better than I imagined while listening to the album.

And his newcomer status gives him a motivation to listen to criticism and grow on his next score...so I have to say, I eagerly await his next outing with Potter.

I give it a B+

Thus far, the JWFAN.net community has rated:

Lady in the Water by James Newton Howard A-

X-Men: The Last Stand by John Powell B

007: Casino Royale by David Arnold B

The Da Vinci Code by Hans Zimmer B-

Apocalypto by James Horner C

Charlotte's Web by Danny Elfman C

Blood Diamond by James Newton Howard C

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End by Hans Zimmer C

Superman Returns by John Ottman C-

Eragon by Patrick Doyle D+

All the Kings Men by James Horner D

Pirates of the Caribbean - The Dead Man's Chest by Hans Zimmer F

The Overall Output of the year 2006 as graded by JWFAN.net: D+

[SomeNewGuy 0]

C. It seems to me that the director's choices for the style of certain scenes robbed Hooper of the opportunity to write any outstanding cues. The talent is there, but it's not on full display.

[Neimoidian 14]

I just listened to it. I give it C + for now. I am not impressed, though I must say I really enjoy couple of tracks and some moments in others. Generally Hooper wrote an all right score that I am sure will do wth the images, but without them it just lacks something in enjoyability. I must say I prefer Doyle's work to Hoopers after this first hearing.

[aj_vader 573]

i havent seen the film yet, i see it tommorow night, cant wait looks fantastic

Its soo upsetting again to hear that Mr Williams hasnt scored another Harry Potter movie. The soundtrack (album version) is very strange indeed, i must say the journey to hogwarts begining has a nice homage to hedwig's theme, i liked wot he did there, but no Window To The Past knocks me sick! coz i imagined that when he died

terrible terrible idea to leave it out!

so ill have to give it a C -

[standbyfax 0]

I was really surprised at how good the score was. Not because it is by a composer that we don't know, but because the album was a mixed affair. I too missed A Window to the Past, but didn't find its absence detrimental. I actually liked the way the death scene was scored, acted, and presented. It very easily could have been over the top, but it wasn't and it deserves praise for that.

Another scene that I thought was scored perfectly was the kiss that everyone in the media has been making such a fuss about. I've heard many people criticize, after only hearing the music on album, that they wished there were something more sweeping and romantic for this moment, but I'm glad they took the route they did. This is not a story of passionate star-crossed lovers, but rather about two kids and their first kiss. Sure your first kiss is an awesome and magical moment, but more importantly the score portrayed a kind of subdued excitement and nervousness which I certainly felt during my first kiss. It's probably one of the least interesting tracks on the album, but is an absolute home run in the film.

I did however have a problem with the music as Dumbledore's Army set off for the Ministry. The music was filled with too much magical wonderment about flying on the backs of mystical creatures. It was a complete tone shift from the scenes directly around it. For me, that was really the only hiccup with the music, and can't wait to see and hear what Yates and Hooper have in store for The Half-Blood Prince.

A-

[Red 75]

B-

Not a bad score, but not something really special like the first three.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,086]

Not because it is by a composer that we don't know, but because the album was a mixed affair

I was very surprised as well. I thought the film would help the score, but I was dubious as to wether or not the music would actually reciprocate by lifting scenes.

[standbyfax 0]

Alright, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this would be the chronological track order. Some of the cues are spliced together, so it won't be perfect but...

01. Another Story

02. Dementors in the Underpass

03. Flight of the Order of the Phoenix

04. The Ministry of Magic

05. A Journey to Hogwarts

06. Umbridge Spoils a Beautiful Morning

07. Professor Umbridge

08. The Sacking of Trelawney

09. The Room of Requirements

10. Dumbledore's Army

11. The Kiss

12. Darkness Takes Over

13. Fireworks

14. The Sirius Deception

15. The Hall of Prophecies

16. The Death of Sirius

17. Possession

18. Loved Ones and Leaving

I don't think I've ever come across a soundtrack that is so badly out of order.

[GoodMusician 66]

Fireworks then Darkness takes over isn't it? Because as the fireworks were going, that's when he collapses... but wait... when was the girl released from Azkaban? that's when the end of that cue plays....

And wasn't the end of... I want to say Another Story used at the end as Harry spoke to Dumbledoor?

[Mr. Breathmask 581]

I think The Sirius Deception was for Harry's collapse. Darkness Takes Over I think was for Hagrid's comments about the war coming.

[GoodMusician 66]

you're right... lol... I guess the track list is correct then...good job! I was going to work it outmyself but you guys beat me to it lol

It seemed, as if through most of the beginning of the film, that most of the score is on the album lol...

Did anyone notice any in particular that were not?

Also, I want to say that the end credits, what I heard of it, was

Dumbledoor's Army starting around 1:10

Flight of the Order of the Phoenix starting around 0:25

but that's all I caught

[BLUMENKOHL 1,086]

It's a shame the album had to be that disjointed. The shuffle button works better.

[Docteur Qui 1,576]

B-

It was far more enjoyable in the movie; cues that were good on the album were outstanding with the film. Possession was amazing when accompanied by its images, and the build up in the Ministry of Magic had me shivering with my mouth open. The Umbridge music was lots of fun too!

I enjoyed it probably as much as I enjoyed Doyle's effort, though they are quite different from each other.

[Mr. Breathmask 581]

I like this score better than Doyle's, but I'm not ready to rate it.

[Magnus 0]

I haven't heard it as on CD yet, but in the movie I thought it was great! Clearly worthy of an A-.

[ChuckM 1]

I gave it a B. A pretty good score. Just a little minimalistic though.

[Docteur Qui 1,576]

Watched the film a second time and I have to say it's one of the best spotted of the Potter films, behind PoA. The climactic duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore was unaccompanied and was absolutely magnificent for it. GoF was hampered by redundant underscore (such as the Harry/Ron fight in the dorm) as was PS.

I like it better and better the more I see the film.

[Eric_JWFAN 13]

Just got back from HP5. I really liked Hooper's score. He used a lot more winds and mallets (hello xylophone!) than Doyle, and just seemed to have more fun with it. I was a tiny bit troubled by the inconsistency throughout the film (at times I felt I was hearing 2 or 3 different composers) but overall it was a huge improvement over the disaster that was GoF.

On a side note, I had this horrific thought. What if this score gets nominated and (gulp) wins the Oscar? Wouldn't that be the ultimate kick in the groin to JW fans everywhere, even more so than the Santaolalla fiasco(s)?

[Henry B 51]

It won't win.

[Eric_JWFAN 13]

It won't win.

I know it's a long shot, but it's probably the strongest of all the sequels not scored by Williams. And we know how the Academy loves to shaft Williams.

[Docteur Qui 1,576]

If it was nominated I hope it would win, as I thoroughly enjoyed the score. As Eric said, it sounds like Hooper had fun writing it, which is more than could be said about GoF (though I still enjoy that).

I've long since given up hope that the Academy truly appreciate JW. But it'd be good for Hooper to get some recognition.

[Henry B 51]

It won't win.

I know it's a long shot, but it's probably the strongest of all the sequels not scored by Williams. And we know how the Academy loves to shaft Williams.

It does?

[Eric_JWFAN 13]

It won't win.

I know it's a long shot, but it's probably the strongest of all the sequels not scored by Williams. And we know how the Academy loves to shaft Williams.

It does?

My bad. Silly me for thinking that ESB, Raiders, both Indy sequels, Saving Private Ryan, Superman, Hook, HP etc etc don't hold a candle to scores like Midnight Express, Chariots of Fire, Finding Neverland, and Life is Beautiful.

You're being naive. If the award was judged solely by people who truly know the art of film scoring, Williams would easily be in double figures right now. Even considering the 5 he's bagged, he's made a career out of getting robbed on Oscar night.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,668]

I disagree, he's been given more Oscars then most people, and more nominations then even Walt Disney.

He's had his share of the pie.

[Damo 0]

I haven't seen the movie yet but I have managed to listened to the entire soundtrack and don't ask me how. By judging Hooper's style, I though it was a much better score then Patrick Doyle's for GOF. I must say it was a very wise move for John Williams to kick off the Harry Potter series though...

I gave it a B+

[Eric_JWFAN 13]

I disagree, he's been given more Oscars then most people, and more nominations then even Walt Disney.

He's had his share of the pie.

Last I checked there was no rule or limit on how many Oscars a composer can win. That's what bothers me about the academy. They have this spread the wealth attitude like it's not fair if they give it to the same guy every other year. If his score is the best, he should win.

Here's a comparison of ten right here. Pick the better score for each one:

Midnight Express or Superman?

Fame or The Empire Strikes Back?

Chariots of Fire or Raiders of the Lost Ark?

The Right Stuff or Return of the Jedi?

A Passage to India or Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?

Life is Beautiful or Saving Private Ryan?

Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone?

Finding Neverland or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?

Brokeback Mountain or Munich?

Brokeback Mountain or Memoirs of a Geisha?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,668]

That really is not the issue here, since most of us will agree with your examples. (with the exception of Fellowship, which was that years best score)

But with his record number of wins and nominations, I don't really see how anyone can make a case that Williams was deliberatly snubbed by the Academy.

Williams has 5 wins out of 45 nomination, I believe. Which means he's won more then 10% of the times he's been nominated.

People play the lottery every day with much worse odds then that.

Williams had his share, now Jerry Goldsmith on the other hand.

[Eric_JWFAN 13]

That really is not the issue here, since most of us will agree with your examples. (with the exception of Fellowship, which was that years best score)

But with his record number of wins and nominations, I don't really see how anyone can make a case that Williams was deliberatly snubbed by the Academy.

Williams has 5 wins out of 45 nomination, I believe. Which means he's won more then 10% of the times he's been nominated.

People play the lottery every day with much worse odds then that.

Actually, 5 for 45 is rather poor when you have a 20%, sometimes 40% chance of winning every time. It's even worse when you consider his scores were most of the time thought to be the favorite. Look at some of the other multiple winners and their percentages-

Alfred Newman: 9 for 45

Alan Menken: 8 for 16

John Barry: 4 for 6

Maurice Jarre: 3 for 8

Andre Previn: 4 for 11

Gustavo Santaolalla: 2 for 2

Howard Shore: 2 for 2

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,668]

Howard Shore was robbed for TTT, I still get mad just thinking about it!

[Elmo Lewis 7]

At least that year's Oscar was given to somebody competent.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,668]

Who?

[JoeinAR 1,953]

now that I saw and heard the film I must raise my grade from c to b

[gkgyver 1,647]

I know it's a long shot, but it's probably the strongest of all the sequels not scored by Williams.

"The strongest of ALL the sequels NOT scored by Williams"? There are exactly two of those, and one of them sucked badly.

I have just seen the film, and while a little slow in the first half hour, the rest was pretty brilliant in my eyes. I loved it that the flashback to Snape's childhood were included. I find it a sign of competent writing that details like these are there with a significantly shorter running time compared to GoF.

The only part that I didn't like was Grawp. He didn't look right, too much like CGI. It was a little squeezed in there, too, but it was worth for staying true to the book when it came to Umbridge's exit.

That the whole amazing sequence from the book, with Dumbledore's Army exploring the ministry, was completely cut is a hard blow, of course, but I understand why it isn't there.

Apart from that, I don't see any significant part of the book missing, and that's something I really didn't expect.

And you can clearly see that they included some moments between Hermione and Ron to lead into Half-Blood Prince.

Then the score ... first of all, no wall to wall scoring is good. After having seen the film, I must say that Hooper adds alot to it, quite often. But the film still lacks a strong thematic identity, especially in the most dramatic scenes. I would say the whole second hour is up to the finest moments in PoA. Dumbledore's face-off with Voldemort was intense and graceful, although I really was surprised that the filmmakers left out the chance of bringing the three statues to life.

Harry being finally posessed by Voldemort gave me shivers, and Hooper's music had no small part in it.

I still find that the french horn solo in "Loved Ones and Leaving" lacks pretty much any inspiration, but it worked well in the film indeed.

Visually and stylistically, PoA remains on top, but Order Of The Phoenix is a strong follow up on spot #2.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,668]

I know it's a long shot, but it's probably the strongest of all the sequels not scored by Williams.

"The strongest of ALL the sequels NOT scored by Williams"? There are exactly two of those, and one of them sucked badly.

3 actually, William Ross did COS, and it does suck at times, Paddy Doyle did the 4th film, and that's a good score.

[gkgyver 1,647]

... but not for Harry Potter.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,668]

I think it worked very well in the film, very magical at times.

[Eric_JWFAN 13]

I know it's a long shot, but it's probably the strongest of all the sequels not scored by Williams.

"The strongest of ALL the sequels NOT scored by Williams"? There are exactly two of those, and one of them sucked badly.

I was talking about all the franchises (Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Superman, Jaws, Home Alone)

[Elmo Lewis 7]

Who?

Elliot Goldenthal, right?

Better him than some first-timer with a funny last name and a minimalistic score.

[Snowster 23]

I haven't seen the film yet, but Hoopers effort made me smile in a good way. Doyles score was a fine one, but it didn't feel like a HP score. Now this one, I think, has a solid Potterish feel in it, and I really like it. Can't wait to see the movie, as others have pointed out the score working better in it than on the album.

-Snowster

[Richard P 4,526]

Seen the film now, and I have to say, everyone who's commented on how well the music works in the movie is right - it works perfectly. I'll be giving the album some more listens, especially now that I have some strong images to connect to.

I also thought the movie was by far the best of the 5 so far, even if the pacing and story progression felt a little rushed at times.

[Henry B 51]

B-

Lower after seeing the film. I felt very overwhelmed by the score. However, the fact that some cues were omitted, the low mix of the music, and the theater's terrible sound system doubtless made it seem worse than it is.

[Composer_Fan 2]

I gave it a B. Though it isn't John Williams, I did think this score was much better than GoF. My only complaint about the CD is that a lot of the tracks are far too short, some as brief as 1:30. There isn't much development going on here. But it did have good moments. The emotional music during Possession really added a lot to that crazy montage of clips from all five films (which I love!). I also enjoyed the string and piccolo runs in "Darkness Takes Over." Some of it is "bland under-score," but even some Williams soundtracks can get like that.

I also wish the tracks were in order....

[JoeinAR 1,953]

its not to difficult to beat Patrick Doyles score, other than 2 or 3 tracks his score is just horrid. this one is better, but still the underscoring is so bland at times I thought sprinkle some salt on it, anything, jeez.

[Henry B 51]

Agreed. It's weird, because Hooper seems to be a very adept orchestrator at times, hopelessly basic at others. He mentioned in an interview that the scoring process became very rushed at the end, and I suspect that he just ran out of time or got lazy. Yes, it happens.

[Henry B 51]

Remember musicloop.mp3 from the Harry Potter site? I haven't been able to place the second clip from that. The beginning of "A Journey to Hogwarts" has a clean ending where it's supposed to. Also, the statement of Sirius's theme (for lack of a better term) seems a bit different from the album version. Perhaps it's the unreleased Platform 9 3/4 cue.

[Richard P 4,526]

its not to difficult to beat Patrick Doyles score, other than 2 or 3 tracks his score is just horrid. this one is better, but still the underscoring is so bland at times I thought sprinkle some salt on it, anything, jeez.

'Horrid' is far from how I'd describe Doyle's score. It may not have had such a Potter personality as this one did, but on its own I still find it a very enjoyable listen.

[gkgyver 1,647]

I was really surprised that the CD actually features the best music from th film.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

Is that an insult or a compliment?

Ray Barnsbury

[mahler3 504]

C+ - I have tried to warm to this after a couple of listens but find the score very poor and uninspiring. Doyle's score was far more interesting and again not worthy of the incessant slagging it receives on this board.

The Fireworks cue was really promising as an opening to the album but is then destroyed by the appearance of an electric guitar, plain horrible. Professor Umbridge's theme is pleasant and certainly the 2 cues Dumbledore’s Armyand Flight Of The Order Of The Phoenix are good but that's only a decent 10 mins worth of its 50+ mins run time.

I hasten to add that I have not seen the film so cannot comment on its key purpose coupled with the film, maybe i'll appreciate it more after a screening.

- a disappointed Tim.

[Mr. Breathmask 581]

The electric guitar is virtually inaudible in the film.