Duel of the Fates or Battle of the Heroes

[JMan 0]

Which is your favorite?

How can I put a poll in here?

[tpigeon 3]

In terms of the concert pieces, Duel of the Fates by far. It's choral aspect has dramatic impact because it is played with such force and vigor. With Battle of the Heroes, Williams went for more nobility, but it didn't work as well. The Dark Side Beckons accomplishes exactly what Battle of the Heroes should have accomplished. I much prefer Battle of the Heroes in cues like Obi-Wan vs. Anakin and The Boys Continue, but I don't like the concert piece as much at all, especially as a culmination of the theme as heard in the film.

Ted

[Ollie 1,069]

When entering a new topic you go to the poll option at the bottom of the screen and go from there.

DOTF for me.

[Red 75]

Duel of the Fates. I do like Battle of the Heroes a lot, but it is just outshined by DotF.

Rabbit--who agrees with Ted about Dark Side Beckons

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

I completely agree with Ted. DotF is by far a more inspired and thrilling composition. BotH is fine as a piece, but considering what it really could/should have been (see The Dark Side Beckons, as Ted mentioned), it's ultimately a disappointment.

Ray Barnsbury

[Trent B 337]

It's a toss up for me. Some days I like DOTF more, others I like BOTH more. So I'm a bit in the middle.

[King Mark 3,631]

Battle of the Heroes

K.M.

[Dole 17]

Battle of the Heroes all the way

[Vaderbait1 1]

I sort of agree with some of the other posters. DOTF is better as a concert piece, but in my opinion Battle of the Heroes is a much more mature, dramatic evolution. In fact, I sort of regard it as Duel of the Fates Part 2, the culmination of what DOTF was. DOTF is still great, but it doesn't back the emotional punch that Battle of the Heroes does.

[Quintus 5,399]

Battle of the Heroes never did it for me. In fact it was a major let down. The main choral melody almost seems lazy, by Williams standards. It lacks the 'hook' of DOTF - its not catchy. Having said that, I do like the brassy sections, but on the whole I think "meh" when listening to Battle of the Heroes.

Thankfully it worked pretty well during the actual movie.

[Vaderbait1 1]

I think Battle of the Heroes could have been even better without the choral pieces. But then I've always hated choral parts of a score. I always considered them a sort of "lazy" way out. And it does sort of piss me off when they drown out amazing music, like Battle of the Heroes. So I can see your argument for the choral piece being lazy. It's basically a choir yawning repeatedly. But the music! Oh that music! Amazing.

[tpigeon 3]

DOTF is still great, but it doesn't back the emotional punch that Battle of the Heroes does.

Which doesn't pack the the emotional punch of The Dark Side Beckons. As much as I like Battle of the Heroes, I see a lot of missed potential. It has all the elements of the brilliance of The Dark Side Backons: the humming chorus, the long melody, and an epic feel of nobility in its slowness. It just doesn't give me chills like The Dark Side Beckons does nearly every time I listen to it.

Ted

[Miguel Andrade 1,268]

Really can't say, but I guess, that as pure music, Duel of the Fates is a better piece.

Still Battle of the Heroes has sucha dramatic power, that just won't go away... After I first heard it, it was engraved in my mind.

[John Crichton 4]

It's difficult to judge. DotF exitsts mainly as a concert piece that was chopped up for use in the film, at least that's the way it ended up. While BotH exists pretty much solely as an in-film cue, with just a small start and finish added for the "concert" piece.

That being said, I still lean towards Battle of the Heroes.

[Jeshopk 8]

I think DotF works better on album but BotH is better in the film, mainly because of the drama surrounding the circumstances. But the great thing is, we get to gear both in ROTS. What a great sequence.

[Joe Brausam 216]

I like BotH more right now, but only becuase I think that Duelt of the Fates is so overused in pop culture that its just become boring to me now.

[King Mark 3,631]

DotF "concert Version" doesn't work for me.I like it better used as underscore in some TPM scenes.

K.M.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

DOTF is worthy of the Star Wars name,

BOTH is not.

[John Crichton 4]

DotF "concert Version" doesn't work for me.I like it better used as underscore in some TPM scenes.

K.M.

Yes, the Great Dual/Duel is the best cue in the score, and it's not even in the final film. Definately the best DotF arrangement.

[Jacob 0]

Which is your favorite?

For me, that's kind of like asking if I like air or water better. I like'em both a lot. And they both serve their appropriate purposes.

I take Duel of the Fates as a more universal presentation of the eternal struggle of the light and dark side of the Force. Whereas I take Battle of the Heroes as a more personal one.

I suppose I take The Dark Side Beckons as a little of both. Haven't really thought about it before. As a side note, I'm thinking an expanded or concert version could be spectacular. Those 30-some seconds leave me craving more.

[JMan 0]

Totally.

[crocodile 8,056]

I never perceived BOTH as a new theme. I thought that the melody originated from clashing of Imperial March with Force theme, played over the DOTF-like rythmic figure with Lament choir at the top. That would make sense in the context. But still, with all of that in mind, it doesn't make that much of a impression on me.

So I will go with DOTF.

Karol

[JWfangirl1992 18]

It's a toss up for me.  Some days I like DOTF more, others I like BOTH more.  So I'm a bit in the middle.

I'm with you. DOTF was an excellent piece for what it was meant to be, (IMO) a battle piece with a lot of dramatic bits in it.

BotH was an excellent piece that brought the more powerful and more emotional piece, along with being an excellent battle piece.

[SomeNewGuy 0]

DotF is a the better theme, but I prefer the BotH concert piece. They're both great in the films.

[Indiana_Fett 0]

BotH reminds me too much of Cinque.

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

Too difficult to chooce . All I can say they are both amazing piece of music with and without

the films.Which are also great.

[Datameister 2,094]

Meh, I don't have a favorite. Like countless other posters, I think there's a lot more originality to the DOTF concert suite than the BOTH concert suite, since the latter is basically just an expanded cue from the movie itself. But as far as the themes themselves go, I enjoy both a lot. DOTF feels furious, whereas BOTH feels deeply sad. Yes, I was a little disappointed when I first heard BOTH. But it grew on me. A lot. Now my preference really depends on the time of day, the weather, the color of my socks, etc.

[Miguel Andrade 1,268]

Meh, I don't have a favorite.  Like countless other posters, I think there's a lot more originality to the DOTF concert suite than the BOTH concert suite, since the latter is basically just an expanded cue from the movie itself.  But as far as the themes themselves go, I enjoy both a lot.  DOTF feels furious, whereas BOTH feels deeply sad.  Yes, I was a little disappointed when I first heard BOTH.  But it grew on me.  A lot.  Now my preference really depends on the time of day, the weather, the color of my socks, etc.

But mainly on the color of the socks

[King Mark 3,631]

The City of Prague recording of Battle of the Heroes also grew on me once I got used to the tempo.I like the "clean" horn intro,and the chorus part sounds more epic than the OST.

K.M.

[Datameister 2,094]

The City of Prague recording of Battle of the Heroes also grew on me once I got used to the tempo.I like the "clean" horn intro,and the chorus part sounds more epic than the OST.

Really? I haven't heard that one. Is the tempo faster or slower?

EDIT: Found a sample. At least for now, I don't like the ponderous tempo...we'll see if it grows on me, too.

[Trent B 337]

Thanks to Mark I was able to listen to the The City of Prague version for Battle Of The Heroes. Honestly I don't like it...the tempo is just too slow for my tastes...plus in certain spots it plays differently than the original recording. I actually like the original recording more...I'll stick with that version. By the way thanks Mark for sending me the file.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,070]

The reason the Dark Side Beckons works better than BotH is because it is graceful.

Battle of Heroes is just too busy for what it is trying to do.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

After the HUGE soundscape of DOTF, Battle of The Heroes just feels a bit underwelming.

i can appriciate Williams not trying to one-up DOTF, but BOTH doesn't have enough character for me to compensate for it's lack of HUGEness.

[Romão 2,276]

I love the last minute of Battle of the Heroes.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

DOTF has it's share of problems too though.

It's too long. Is there a single new musical idea in the last 2 minutes of it?

[JoeinAR 1,949]

BOTH really sucks when you compare it to real Star Wars themes.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

There is only one real new Star wars theme in the prequels.

And naturally it's the least talked about prequel theme on this Forum.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,070]

There is only one real new Star wars theme in the prequels.

Anakin's Theme died out with a whimper.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It did. The concertversion on the OST feels incomplete in some way, but I truly believe that Williams constructed it to become more darker and menacing untill it become...well you know.

[Ollie 1,069]

I love the last minute of Battle of the Heroes.

That's because it has a similar build up like the Battle Of Yavin's finish....

[BLUMENKOHL 1,070]

In terms of looking forward to what would happen next in Star Wars music, how Anakin's Theme would develop was #1 on my list...

Imagine my disappointment when I put AoTC in for the first time...

And is it just me or would the theme assigned to Shmi be much better as the love theme than Across the Stars? That is another theme that I thought was worthy of the Star Wars name...

[Red 75]

Anakin's theme being under-used (or is it mis-used?) in the later prequels still confuses me. Why did John seemingly discard a beautiful theme after TPM? The theme becoming darker as the films went on looked like a great idea to me, which to be honest, should have been used.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Blame Luc-ass!

[Datameister 2,094]

Yeah, I was greatly looking forward to Anakin's theme being developed into a dark liason into the Imperial March in ROTS, after a brief hiatus in AOTC. Too bad that never happened.

I don't care for all of the prequel-music-bashing, though. Sure, Maestro Williams never wrote another Star Wars theme to match, say, the Force theme or the Imperial march, but there's some thoroughly well-written and entertaining music in the prequels. A different flavor, yes. But I think it still deserves a little more credit than a few of you are giving it...

[Neimoidian 14]

I think that Across The Stars also deserve the "real SW theme" name. "BotH", unfortunatelly, doesn't have that necessary greatness, while still being a good one after all.

Not using "Anakin's Theme" in EII (except that brief rendition) and EIII also got me down. I believe Lucas's idea was to use it for Anakin's childhood only, nevertheless I still find it a bad idea. I had looked so much forward its develpoment in AotC and then I sorely missed its present in the movie.

[tpigeon 3]

Another "real" Star Wars theme is Qui-Gon's theme, which is quite good.

Ted

[King Mark 3,631]

All the prequel themes are real Star Wars themes.

k.M.

[Diego 21]

So being in a SW film is not enough to be a SW theme, so what's the requirement then??

[tpigeon 3]

Because it doens't meet the standards/expectations of people who enjoyed Williams' first three Star Wars scores. Only they know what real Star Wars music. Shame on Williams for not meeting their expectations of what Star Wars music sounds like.

Ted, adamant supporter of Duel of the Fates, Anakin's Theme, Qui-Gon's Theme, Across the Stars, and Battle of the Heroes, and prequel music in general

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

So being in a SW film is not enough to be a SW theme, so what's the requirement then??

Quality.