RE: Kenneth Branagh's HAMLET - music cue in trailer (1 Viewer)

[Nick*Z]

This one has baffled me for a while and I was just wondering if anyone knew where the music cue comes from. The trailer for Branagh's 1996 masterpiece Hamlet was prepared with 2 music cues taken from other movies (not such an outlandish thing to do in the mid-1990's). The trailer to Sense and Sensibility actually borrows its cues from Gillian Anderson's Little Women (1994).

Branagh's trailer combines two cues. The second cue, which begins with the clip illustrating Ophelia's madness and taking the trailer to its conclusion, hails from Branagh's own Henry V. It's the St. Crispin's Day Speech cue, written by Patrick Doyle.

The cue I am interested in finding is the one that begins this trailer with the heart-pounding drums, right before the clip of Branagh delivering the famous 'to be or not to be' speech, and immediately following, while the narrator introduces the entire cast and heralds the picture being released in glorious 70mm. Watch the trailer and if ANYONE has an idea what this music cue is, if you could provide the answer here, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanking everyone in advance.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

That’s John Williams- Born on the 4th of July

 

[Robert Harris]

I don’t believe any film with a “borrowed” music cue beats The Artist, and its Academy Award.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

That’s John Williams- Born on the 4th of July

The strings piece is Born on the 4th of July, but is the pounding drum at very beginning from that, too? Sounds a little like a library cue.

Incidentally, that's Peter "Optimus Prime" Cullen narrating.

 

[Nick*Z]

Okay, I've listened to a few cues from Born on the Fourth of July and the melody is definitely there, but not the tempo. Does anyone know the exact cue from which Branagh lifted this track? Is it a reorchestration, perhaps? Anyone?

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Okay, I've listened to a few cues from Born on the Fourth of July and the melody is definitely there, but not the tempo. Does anyone know the exact cue from which Branagh lifted this track? Is it a reorchestration, perhaps? Anyone?

It's the last track on the official soundtrack album, simply called "Born on the Fourth of July." There's an *unmentionable* album floating around out there with a slightly different arrangement of the end credit suite. To make it even more confusing, this is the official album track paired with the cover art for the aforementioned unmentionable...



Hope that helps!

 

[Konstantinos]

The only Hamlet I have seen is the one with Mel Gibson. Is this any good?
The duration frightens me. Hehe.
Not that I don't love films with large durations (like Ten Commandments and Cleopatra), but with more recent films, I don't know...

 

[Todd Erwin]

I don’t believe any film with a “borrowed” music cue beats The Artist, and its Academy Award.

I remember reading that Branagh was embarrassed regarding his Oscar nomination for this film's adapted screenplay.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

The only Hamlet I have seen is the one with Mel Gibson. Is this any good?
The duration frightens me. Hehe.
Not that I don't love films with large durations (like Ten Commandments and Cleopatra), but with more recent films, I don't know...

It's been a while since I last saw it, but I remember liking it. As usual with Branagh's films, it's relentlessly theatrical and often over-the-top, but that suits his Shakespeare adaptations pretty well.

The built-in Intermission is a good place for a break, though.

 

[Todd Erwin]

It's been a while since I last saw it, but I remember liking it. As usual with Branagh's films, it's relentlessly theatrical and often over-the-top, but that suits his Shakespeare adaptations pretty well.

The built-in Intermission is a good place for a break, though.

It's a gorgeous film, shot in 65mm, and way overdue for a 4K UHD release.

 

[Brian Husar]

They also used the Born On The Fourth Of July Music for the trailer to Carlito’s Way.

 

[Nick*Z]

It's the last track on the official soundtrack album, simply called "Born on the Fourth of July." There's an *unmentionable* album floating around out there with a slightly different arrangement of the end credit suite. To make it even more confusing, this is the official album track paired with the cover art for the aforementioned unmentionable...



Hope that helps!

Exquisite. I cannot thank you enough for this.

 

[Nick*Z]

The only Hamlet I have seen is the one with Mel Gibson. Is this any good?
The duration frightens me. Hehe.
Not that I don't love films with large durations (like Ten Commandments and Cleopatra), but with more recent films, I don't know...

Irrefutably, one of the truly outstanding adaptations of Shakespeare on film and, arguably, the definitive Hamlet as it is the complete text. Not a scene or character omitted. Extraordinary production values and what a cast. Branagh ought to have been Oscar-nominated for Best Picture, Direction and Acting.

Alas, no. This was the year Branagh's rep was rocked by the scandal of his divorce from wife, Emma Thompson, and the competition of her Sense and Sensibility.
Though Hamlet received Oscar nods for Adaptation, Score, Production Design and Costuming, it won in NONE of these categories. Obscene oversights from AMPAS.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Exquisite. I cannot thank you enough for this.

I'm not sure if John Williams has ever composed a bad film score, but I think this is one of his more underappreciated ones. I keep hoping one of the boutique soundtrack labels would put out an official expanded score release some day.

 

[JoshZ]

Extraordinary production values and what a cast.

Personally, I've always felt that the stunt-casting of famous movie actors who have no business doing Shakespeare was a big weakness of the film. Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Jack Lemon, and others just seemed way out of place in this production.

 

[Nick*Z]

Personally, I've always felt that the stunt-casting of famous movie actors who have no business doing Shakespeare was a big weakness of the film. Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Jack Lemon, and others just seemed way out of place in this production.

I'll concur with you that Jack Lemon was a weak participant. But Williams acquitted himself rather nicely of the effete Osric, and Crystal gave a credible interpretation of the grave digger as a glib surveyor of life - and death.

 

[JoshZ]

I'll concur with you that Jack Lemon was a weak participant. But Williams acquitted himself rather nicely of the effete Osric, and Crystal gave a credible interpretation of the grave digger as a glib surveyor of life - and death.

I haven't watched the movie in years, but my recollection is that Williams was very hammy and Crystal was basically doing a variation of his usual comedy schtick. Many of the others (esp. Lemmon) gave very contemporary performances that clashed badly with the broad theatricality that Branagh otherwise seemed to be going for.

 

[KDHM]

It is the only film version that is the complete play. That is why the long running time. A Some subplots and shortened scenes removed from most stage productions and films are all there.

 

[JoshZ]

It is the only film version that is the complete play. That is why the long running time. A Some subplots and shortened scenes removed from most stage productions and films are all there.

I know that was Branagh's ambition and his mission statement when making the movie. However, even in Shakespeare's time, the intention was for the play's length to be adaptable for the needs of the venue it was playing and the audience. There was no expectation of anyone performing the entire written play.

Branagh himself even acknowledged this in his own A Midwinter's Tale, which has plot points about a community theater production of Hamlet making decisions about "the cuts."