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Review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Michael Giacchino)

2016 Disney

2022 Disney

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you expect a competent and passionately loyal emulation of John Williams' instrumental and melodic techniques by Michael Giacchino, who achieves perhaps the best possible outcome for this impossible assignment.

Avoid it... if you expect Giacchino's derivative melodies to compete favorably with the maestro's, or if you demand a truly representative presentation of the film's music on the sadly underwhelming 2016 commercial album that missed important cues.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: (Michael Giacchino) For those who grew up on the original trilogy of Star Wars films and "survived" the prequels, the notion of witnessing a new feature film in this franchise every year because of Walt Disney Studio's purchasing of Lucasfilm was strangely unsettling. The Hollywood cash grab phenomenon is disturbing enough without seeing it sully such a storied franchise as this, though under the guidance of producer Kathleen Kennedy, a diminishment in quality hadn't materialized as of 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The first entry in a series of spin-offs based on the Star Wars universe that was killed off on the big screen by 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, Rogue One expands upon the backstory described in Star Wars: A New Hope about the stealing of the original Death Star's plans. The film's admirable exploration of George Lucas' canon is its highlight, propelling the movie to positive reviews and massive box office returns. On the other hand, it squeezes too many characters and locations into one story, yielding potential confusion (this is the first Star Wars film that required title cards for each planet, minus Darth Vader's Mustafar, returning from Revenge of the Sith, and a brief flashback to the galactic capital on Coruscant) or dissatisfaction with the lack of depth in character backstories. There are also issues of massive logical fallacies in the story (think for a moment about the catastrophic data loss the Empire willingly committed on Scarif), something The Force Awakens certainly didn't mind perpetuating. Fans won't care, though, as the space battle at the climax of the film, highlighted by a Hammerhead corvette encounter with a Star Destroyer, and the stunning digital resurrection of Peter Cushing as Governor Tarkin aboard the Death Star are well worth the admission price. As Rogue One debuted, composer John Williams was recording his score for the eighth episode of the franchise's proper chronology, and while he was never attached directly to this film, his legacy clearly loomed large.

Director Gareth Edwards had originally selected his Gozilla collaborator, Alexandre Desplat, to compose the music for Rogue One, the French composer accepting on the condition that he not write music that aped Williams' style. By the time of the highly publicized reshooting of the film (the amount of mass character casualty at the end was a running debate within the production team), however, Disney changed its mind and demanded a Williams-like score, forcing Desplat to abandon the project (scheduling reasons were cited as a mere courtesy). With time running short, Williams himself was apparently irked that he was not asked to score the picture, and he was not happy with the last-minute score provided by replacement composer Michael Giacchino even though he was unquestionably the most logical choice to continue any franchise helmed previously by Williams at the time. Soundtrack collectors had known this since Giacchino's accomplished "Medal of Honor" video game scores beginning in 1999 confirmed suspicions that he was a master emulator of Williams's style and the Indiana Jones voice in particular. When Giacchino stepped into the Jurassic Park franchise in 2015 with Jurassic World, his adaptations of the Williams mode and themes, while somewhat inarticulate due to meddling by the filmmakers, were about as good as anyone could have expected. With the Star Wars franchise, expectations are infinitely higher, and Giacchino only had about a month to score the picture, forcing him through many sleepless nights in an effort to deliver for a concept he had loved so much as a boy. With the help of Williams orchestrator William Ross and the study of the maestro's longtime orchestrator, Herbert Spencer, Giacchino sought to create the right instrumental techniques and pairings to ensure as close a resemblance to Williams' style as possible. A clear knowledge of Williams' original three scores for the franchise is also on display, though slightly disappointing is the lack of more tangible connections to Revenge of the Sith given this film's placement in the chronology, especially in the only rather vague similarity to Williams' handling on deep brass of the planet of Mustafar. Largely, though, Giacchino succeeds quite well at times in the task of perpetuating Williams' tone in Rogue One.

There are some differences to note between the two composers that are inevitably conveyed in the music for Rogue One. Giacchino's action music has never been as accessible as that of Williams, in part because of the younger composer's reliance on different types of anticipatory chords, his less tonal, broken-chord choices simply not as melodically enticing as Williams' seemingly more nuanced balance between conflicting notes and heartening tonalities. There are times when listeners will equate Giacchino's music, especially that for the Imperial forces in this story, with Nazi Germany from the "Medal of Honor" games rather than Williams' prior Star Wars efforts more directly. The moments when Giacchino really flourishes in Rogue One are those when he nails particular instrumental and tonal applications to closely resemble some particular sequence in either A New Hope or The Empire Strikes Back. Even here, however, as in the deceleration of the Imperial March at the end of "Krennic's Aspirations", the execution sounds slightly off. The novice ear may not particularly care about any of these finer points of orchestration and mixing, leaving the themes as the more important takeaway from the score. Here, there's a balance of good and unnecessary. Giacchino has, despite conjuring some outstanding melodies ranging from the solo piano tear-jerking in Up to the sweeping expanse of fantasy in Star Trek Beyond, never been associated with mainstream melodic embrace. In other words, you won't hear his themes performed in sports stadiums like you do with Williams. To expect Giacchino to compete on that playing field is indeed unfair, but it has to be raised as a topic in this score, because the thematic applications in Rogue One are a curious lot. The fresh identities are seemingly as numerous as the new character introductions, and that muddies the score to an extent. You have six or seven returning (or heavily suggested) motifs from the Williams scores with a full slate of new identities that are themselves typically informed by one of Williams' existing themes. On screen, this plethora of identities becomes something of a wash, leaving listeners inevitably grasping at the direct quotes of the Williams classics. The least satisfied listener was Williams himself, who disapproved of Giacchino's use of the old themes so much that Disney forced Giacchino to remove some quotations of them in his final product.

Nowhere is Rogue One as unnecessarily bloated as in the musical identities for the villains. Kudos to Giacchino for resurrecting both Imperial themes from A New Hope, the original Death Star's brief fanfare heard in "When Has Become Now" and "Confrontation on Eadu" and the broader Imperial motif heard twice in "Krennic's Aspirations." Of course, the Imperial March for Vader is heard in "Krennic's Aspirations," where you also receive a strong allusion to the Emperor's theme, and in nearly humorous, bombastic form in "Hope." The over-the-top choral rendition of the idea for Vader's massacre scene is perhaps justified by Revenge of the Sith, but it's simply too overstated to be taken seriously. On top of these returning favorites, Giacchino supplies two additional new themes when only one, if even that, was necessary. Rather than associate the Imperial March with the villains in a general way in Rogue One, Giacchino supplies them the appropriately narcissistic, Nazi-inspired march as summarized in "The Imperial Suite" and best heard in the film in "When Has Become Now" and the introduction of the lovely Imperial data center on Scarif. The spritely spirit of this material's major pronouncements is awkwardly overhyped, offering the Empire a somewhat cartoonish feel. In the middle of the concert arrangement of "The Imperial Suite" is the formal representation of the theme for the villain Krennic, and you receive extended treatment of his theme (again, clearly using minor thirds like the Imperial March) in his most potent scene, the opening landing in "He's Here For Us." Arguably, this theme is more alluring than the primary Imperial identity from Giacchino, which is a shame given that it disintegrates over time as the character is frustratingly marginalized; in "Get That Beach Under Control," his theme is a subdued presence compared to the main Imperial idea. A better approach to the picture might have been to allow one of Williams' existing Imperial themes to represent Tarkin, the Death Star, and the various Imperial installations while the one dedicated theme for Krennic first augments and then clashes with that prevailing identity. At times, as in "Are We Blind?," Giacchino achieves his best material for the fighting Imperial forces when he isn't confined to this mess of Imperial identities. The sequence reprising the Hoth battle from The Empire Strikes Back in "AT-ACT Assault" is outstanding, all the way down to the familiar handling of percussive strikes.

The themes for the rebels and the force in Rogue One are also too numerous, often times distracting in their references to past Williams or Giacchino ideas. Returning is arguably the franchise's most important and perpetually unavoidable theme, that for the Force; despite the lack of any Jedi in this film, the Force theme is littered throughout. Although odd on the surface, it actually makes fair sense in the narrative because the characters' references to the Force are frequent, and Giacchino uses each instance to state the theme in some form. Also at work is the planet of Jedha, a historically important base of operations for the Jedi, and when two guardians of the Whills (a concept never detailed to satisfaction in this film) join the main rebel gang, they are accompanied by the official "Guardians of the Whills" theme that is a clear offshoot of the Force theme in progression and provided a mystic tone to accompany mostly Donnie Yen's blind character as he chants his way to heroics. It's a nice melody but not entirely necessary. On the other hand, the theme for the main heroine, Jyn, is vital to the film's melodramatic appeal. Here, Giacchino suffices in offering a dramatic winner for the character, though that success is tainted by a couple of misplays. First, the melody is a distracting merging of his Yorktown theme from Star Trek Beyond and Rey's theme from The Force Awakens, and, secondly, its choral performances at the end of the film are a bit too saccharine to handle, even after Williams also set the table for such levels of outward musical tragedy in Revenge of the Sith. In the concert arrangement of "Jyn Erso and Hope Suite," as in the finale of the film, her idea is provided a poignant solo string performance, and the second half of that recording summarizes a nascent Luke Skywalker theme simply denoting the concept of "hope" that accompanies Jyn's transformation from cynic to believer in "Rebellions Are Built on Hope" and elsewhere later in the picture. The franchise title theme clearly guides this identity and makes it, again, a bit unnecessary. Why not just use the main rebel fanfare of original trilogy fame in more dramatic form? That main franchise theme does receive due airtime in the more substantial rebellion sequences, including "Scrambling the Rebel Fleet" and "AT-ACT Assault." The film features the main theme in its usual, bracketing end credits placements as well, and look for its reprise from the rebel blockade runner sequence in A New Hope at the end of Rogue One.

As expected, there is some more obvious spotting controversy involving themes in Rogue One. While small quibbles, like the lack of Leia's theme at the end, are not significant, the handling of the opening and closing titles are impactful. The end credits take Williams' standard fanfare placements of the main rebel theme and push the three new concert suite arrangements in between, and that's fine. The lack of a representation of the final credits sequence on the original album is unacceptable, especially given the more customized, soft ending to close out that arrangement. But if steam is going to come out of the ears of Star Wars fans in regards to the music, it'll be because of the opening of the film. Gone is the yellow crawl and big "STAR WARS" letters, the single title card instead shown after the opening Krennic landing sequence and the escape of Jyn. Giacchino blasts one chord at the outset of "He's Here For Us" that is too discordant with the Star Wars universe to be satisfactory, and his sudden statement of the Hope theme over the main title at the end of "A Long Ride Ahead" is rushed and, quite frankly, really odd in context. For film music collectors, there are also some other curiosities that are distracting, such as the blatant similarity to the song melody from Williams' Hook in "Rogue One." Perhaps forgiveness must be allotted Giacchino in this discussion of themes, however, because of all the films in the franchise, the third and fourth episodes were the most often to feature totally nonsensical thematic attributions (who can forget the rebel fanfare when the Millenium Falcon is captured or Leia's theme when Obi-Wan is killed?), and this film resides in between those works in the chronology. In the end, the orchestration and rhythmic figures are more likely to sink or float this score for you, and it's often in these portions that Giacchino hides his most intelligent Williams references. There are a few trademarks of Giacchino himself in the score, whether in the solo piano of "Star-Dust" or the groaning percussive sound effects akin to Doctor Strange in "Trust Goes Both Ways" and "Jedha Arrival," and these are a net neutral. One could argue either way about the solo cello and mass choral applications. It's easy for these elements to get lost in the warm French horn lines, chomping bass string rhythms, or trumpet triplets that will more likely gain your attention. The timpani accents are an expected delight in the late action cues like "Entering the Imperial Archives" and "We Have to Press the Attack." Giacchino also pays special attention to the lighter woodwinds that were prominent in A New Hope, particularly the flute.

Walt Disney Records' assumption of franchise album rights from Sony did not yield more satisfactory albums, aside from their refusal in this case to allow Giacchino his usual asinine cue titles for the album tracks. (They were published separately for fans to enjoy, however.) As with The Force Awakens, an online awards promotional stream was presented by Disney for Rogue One with 26 minutes or so of additional material that didn't make the 70-minute album, and even when their contents are merged together, they are not complete. You won't, for instance, find the full end credits, even if they did happen to be cobbled together artificially. Some of the awards promo tracks are negligible, including the atmospheric "Hearts of Kyber" and "Today of All Days" cues on Jedha. But there are entire sections of the movie not represented on the commercial score album, and the portion bridging the escape from Jedha and arrival on Eadu is among those. The four or so cues from those scenes include the exciting and dramatic "An Imperial Test of Power," the "Asteroid Field"-like "Approach to Eadu," and the forceful Krennic theme reprise in "Jyn's Path is Clear." More impressive development of Krennic's theme exists on the promo cue "Good Luck Little Sister" (this theme's presence on the commercial album was woeful), including his boisterous arrival at Scarif. The action material in "Are We Blind?," "Entering the Imperial Archives," "Get That Beach Under Control," and "We Have to Press the Attack" is entertaining and sadly absent on the main album. If any cue really needed to be included on the commercial release, it was "Project Stardust," the data tapes shaft scene in which Giacchino offers some of his most rousing Williams-like material. Disney finally released 144 minutes of music from Rogue One in a digital and vinyl-only expanded edition in 2022 without much hype, but that presentation has downsides that remind of the label's terrible 2021 The Hunchback of Notre Dame expansion. It provides only stunted fragments of the end credits and suffers awkward, long silences in the middle of two tracks; it also annoys with a sudden start to the final bonus cue. The sound quality remains dull and flat on the product, extending the composer's usual, awfully dry sound. Much of the newly revealed material is not interesting and exposes this score as uneven in quality. Given the time crunch for the task, Rogue One still has to be labeled a success, but that doesn't exonerate the score's melodic deficiencies. This was a no-win situation for Giacchino, but he handled it better here than in Jurassic World. Disappointed listeners must recognize that while Giacchino is not and never will be John Williams, his heart is in the right place.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

2016 Commercial Album:
Total Time: 69:49

• 1. He's Here For Us (3:20) • 2. A Long Ride Ahead (3:56) • 3. Wobani Imperial Labor Camp (0:54) • 4. Trust Goes Both Ways (2:45) • 5. When Has Become Now (1:59) • 6. Jedha Arrival (2:48) • 7. Jedha City Ambush (2:19) • 8. Star-Dust (3:47) • 9. Confrontation on Eadu (8:05) • 10. Krennic's Aspirations (4:16) • 11. Rebellions Are Built on Hope (2:56)

• 12. Rogue One (2:04) • 13. Cargo Shuttle SW-0608 (3:59) • 14. Scrambling the Rebel Fleet (1:33) • 15. AT-ACT Assault (2:55) • 16. The Master Switch (4:02) • 17. Your Father Would Be Proud (4:51) • 18. Hope (1:37) • 19. Jyn Erso and Hope Suite (5:51) • 20. The Imperial Suite (2:29) • 21. Guardians of the Whills Suite (2:52)

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2016 Disney Awards Promo:
Total Time: 75:43

• 1. He's Here For Us (3:21) • 2. A Long Ride Ahead (3:57) • 3. Wobani Imperial Labor Camp (0:57) • 4. Jedha Arrival (2:49) • 5. Hearts of Kyber (0:57) • 6. Jedha City Ambush (1:11) • 7. Today of All Days (3:34) • 8. Star-Dust (3:48) • 9. An Imperial Test of Power (2:49) • 10. Approach to Eadu (1:19) • 11. No Trust Among Rebels (2:01) • 12. Jyn's Path is Clear (2:31) • 13. Confrontation on Eadu (6:02) • 14. Rebellions Are Built on Hope (2:55) • 15. Rogue One - Part 1 (0:27)

• 16. Rogue One - Part 3 (1:28) • 17. Cargo Shuttle SW-0608 (4:00) • 18. Good Luck Little Sister (2:48) • 19. Are We Blind? (1:33) • 20. Scrambling the Rebel Fleet - Part 1 (1:06) • 21. AT-ACT Assault - Part 1 (1:32) • 22. AT-ACT Assault - Part 3 (1:16) • 23. Project Stardust (3:46) • 24. Entering the Imperial Archives (1:24) • 25. Get That Beach Under Control (1:13) • 26. The Master Switch (4:02) • 27. We Have to Press the Attack (2:39) • 28. Your Father Would Be Proud (4:52) • 29. Rogue One End Credits (5:26)

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2022 Expanded Disney Album:
Total Time: 144:13

• 1. He's Here For Us (3:22) • 2. A Long Ride Ahead (3:57) • 3. Wobani Imperial Labor Camp (0:57) • 4. There Are Spies Everywhere (2:16) • 5. The Detention of Jyn Erso (1:13) • 6. Jyn's Interrogation (1:57) • 7. Mission to Jedha (2:00) • 8. Trust Goes Both Ways (2:46) • 9. When Has Become Now (2:00) • 10. Jyn's Memories of Childhood (0:51) • 11. Jedha Arrival (2:49) • 12. Hearts of Kyber (0:57) • 13. Ambush in Jedha City (1:09) • 14. Jedha City Ambush (2:20) • 15. Let Them Pass in Peace (Part 1) (1:24) • 16. Let Them Pass in Peace (Part 2) (0:39) • 17. No Friends of the Empire (1:07) • 18. Imperial Departure (0:54) • 19. Reunion at Saw's Hideout (0:46) • 20. Cassian's Prison (0:19) • 21. Today of All Days (3:51) • 22. Star-Dust (3:48) • 23. An Imperial Test of Power (3:37) • 24. Apologies Are in Order (1:37) • 25. News From the Ashes (0:59) • 26. Approach to Eadu (1:19) • 27. No Trust Among Rebels (2:25) • 28. Jyn's Path is Clear (2:31) • 29. Confrontation on Eadu (8:09)

• 30. Krennic's Aspirations (4:17) • 31. Rebellions Are Built on Hope (2:55) • 32. A Rebel Change of Heart (1:53) • 33. Rogue One (2:06) • 34. Cargo Shuttle SW-0608 (4:01) • 35. Good Luck Little Sister (2:49) • 36. What Brings You to Scarif (2:31) • 37. Are We Blind (1:33) • 38. Scrambling the Rebel Fleet (1:34) • 39. AT-ACT Assault (2:56) • 40. Finding a Way Through (3:36) • 41. Project Star-Dust (3:46) • 42. Entering the Imperial Archives (1:24) • 43. Get That Beach Under Control (1:13) • 44. The Master Switch (4:02) • 45. We Have to Press the Attack (2:40) • 46. Scarif Antenna Alignment (3:16) • 47. Your Father Would Be Proud (4:53) • 48. Hope (1:40) • 49. Jyn Erso & Hope Suite (5:53) • 50. The Imperial Suite (2:31) • 51. Guardians of the Whills Suite (2:52) • 52. Jyn Erso & Hope Suite - Alternate Open (6:02) • 53. Guardians of the Whills Suite - Alternate Ending (2:23) • 54. A Long Ride Ahead - Alternate Ending (3:59) • 55. Jedha City Ambush - Alternate (1:11) • 56. Rebellions Are Built on Hope - Alternate (2:57) • 57. Scarif Antenna Alignment - Alternate (1:22)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert of the 2016 commercial product includes a list of performers, a note from the composer about the score, and his usual pun-laden alternate track titles. The 2016 Disney promotional album and 2022 expanded album are primarily digital products with no official packaging.

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story are Copyright © 2016, 2022, Walt Disney Records (Commercial Album), Walt Disney Studios (Promotional Album), Walt Disney Records (Expanded Album) and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 1/8/17 and last updated 3/16/22.