The Background Music/Soundtrack

[DistantJ]

I looked in the quick links and I did a search and couldn't find a mention of this, so here goes...

How did you feel about the movie's soundtrack? It was notably mostly music taken from the different games in the series, from SH1 to 4, a few (if not all) of which seemed to be re-recorded (Promise: Reprise in particular sounded noticeably different to me).

So how did you feel about this? Was it cheap that they just re-used the music from the games or did you love the way it brought back the same feelings? Would you have had a new soundtrack? What about the sequel?

Personally, I'm a bit of both. I loved hearing Promise: Reprise and Letter From The Lost Days and others and it really made it feel like Silent Hill, but I think perhaps it'd have been nice to have had a few new pieces too. It was nice to hear the 'classic' melodies since this was a different retelling of the story with returning monsters and such, so returning melodies seem appropriate.

However, I'd love if, for the sequel, they'd call in Akira Yamaoka to do an original score in the same vein. I think without Akira's unique sound a lot of the Silent Hill atmosphere would be missing, but to reuse the game music again may come across a little cheap. True, there's new music to use now in 2 (soon to be 3) games which have appeared since the film, but it'd be cool to have music by Akira written specifically for the situations in the movie.

So what about you, what was your opinion on it? Was the music mere fan service, or was it an important decision to keep the atmosphere? Would it have been better to have had a new score by Akira, or even by somebody else? Was it done to capture the same atmosphere and to make fans smile, or was it just cheap and lazy to reuse music?

[Whitney]

I didn't mind the reuse of the game's soundtrack in the movie I thought it was a conscious decision to keep the game atmosphere...to bad they couldn't stay with the original plot! I think if and when a sequel is made it would be better for Akira to do an original score, like he does with each new game, because rehashing the soundtrack is old hat and I love the soundtracks and that would mean a whole new album to listen to!

[nicole84]

Still, the track from the boss "fight" was new. And I loved the use of the SH games tracks for the movie. They totaly fitted in my opinion. But yeah, I guess now that they've already used game music they would have to write new tracks for the 2nd movie. Or use some of the tracks they didn't use in the first movie.

[DistantJ]

Oh true, that awesome organ music when Alessa rose up... Awesome!

I think the plot was better than that of the game, and easier to understand, so I'm not gonna make any complaints of that in here. Change =/= Bad. Accuracy to source material =/= Good.

[Vixx]

So what about you, what was your opinion on it? Was the music mere fan service, or was it an important decision to keep the atmosphere?

I think it's a little of both. It was fantastic to hear the Silent Hill theme pounding on me in the darkness of a cinema's surround sound, but it would've been nice to have had an original score, too. As someone else has said, presumably the game OST tracks were written for specific emotions and situations; recycling them and crowbarring them into a film and making 'em fit seemed a little ... I don't know, forced maybe?

But to use someone else other than Yamaoka? NO WAY!

[Video Gamer]

So what about you, what was your opinion on it? Was the music mere fan service, or was it an important decision to keep the atmosphere?

I think it's a little of both. It was fantastic to hear the Silent Hill theme pounding on me in the darkness of a cinema's surround sound, but it would've been nice to have had an original score, too. As someone else has said, presumably the game OST tracks were written for specific emotions and situations; recycling them and crowbarring them into a film and making 'em fit seemed a little ... I don't know, forced maybe?

But to use someone else other than Yamaoka? NO WAY!

Maybe having a few seconds of the song, enough to identify it, but not the entire thing...Like, say, when we see Lisa, there's a brief play of Not Tomorrow, but only in the background. That'd be cool.

[DistantJ]

Ah yeah, like a sort of musical cue in the score... I know it's a bad example but like the Darth Vader theme in Star Wars, how a few notes of it pop up in the prequels whenever the little emo kid gets a bit pissed off.

[Miss Dee]

Ah yeah, like a sort of musical cue in the score... I know it's a bad example but like the Darth Vader theme in Star Wars, how a few notes of it pop up in the prequels whenever the little emo kid gets a bit pissed off.

Lol.

I loved the use of the game music in the movie.


Scared me senseless!

[Cokekitty]

I never really realized that the songs were recycled from the games. I always loved the soundtrack from the movie, because of how authentic the music was! But I guess I see why now.

[VIVIsect]

Yamaoka really had no input in the films soundtrack. All of his original tracks were remastered/remixed/re-arranged and in some cases entirely re-recorded by someone other than Yamaoka, which is a bit of a shame. It would have been nice if he had been involved and contributed some new material. I will say, however, the re-recorded film version of Wounded Warsong is amazing.

[heavensnightsh]

I loved hearing the Silent Hill theme start out my movie experience in the theatre. I must have had the biggest smile in the theatre at that point. It would have been cool if they mixed in a bit of new songs, along with the game soundtracks. I feel for the second movie, if it follows one of the games, then use some music from the games still, just not as much as they did before. If the movie is going to be a whole new plot, then make new music