Patrick Suiter - A review of the music of The Rise of Skywalker

You've all heard it, you've all hummed it, you've all had it stuck in your head, but now, let's review it, the music of Star Wars. Specifically, the bastard child, the one that nobody liked, Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker.

Composed by the maestro of maestros himself, John Williams, it was sure to be a great score to finish of the saga, right? Well, kind of. In my opinion, this score is the weakest of the saga. I don't think it's terrible by any means, but nothing compared to the likes of the originals and prequels.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge John Williams fan and I love his work a great deal, you could even say he's one of my idols. But, let me just say he got totally f*cked over by this movie.

I've seen people who have proclaimed that this score is amazing, and others who agree with me in that it is definitely weak, but I better back up what I'm saying, so strap yourselves in, this one's gonna be a long one.

I'm Pat by the way, a music nerd and average movie-goer.

First of all, let's talk about what this score did right. At 88 years old, Williams certainly hasn't lost his touch. We hear a couple of new themes adding to the large number we already had. Trust me, there's a lot. Check out a 50 page theme catalogue by Frank Lehman if you don't believe me.

These themes include The Rise of Skywalker theme itself, a lush theme broken into two parts, a friendship theme and a victory theme. Both reek of nostalgia and have a sad quality about them, as I'm sure we were all sad to see this (shitty) sequel trilogy come to an end. Anyway, it's a great listen that I very much recommend. We see it in moments such as the 'We Go together' scene towards the beginning as well as the ending in the rebel base. It's also thematically transformed through its harmonisation, having a more minor feel after Chewie has died, correlating with how this is a ‘darker’ part of the story.

The other main theme is the 'Anthem of Evil'. At first it seems as if it's an illogical contribution, I mean, we already have a theme for the Emperor and Kylo Ren, why would we need another? But, the fact that this movie explores the combination of these enemies, as well as the more haunting setting of Exegol and the voices of Darth Vader and Snoke warrants this theme's use for me.

This theme sounds really awesome. I really like its atmosphere. Tt sounds really creepy and sinister, which I think fits very well with the film. The dissonant intervals (such as augmented and diminished intervals for any music players out there) used in the melody and harmony are very well done and very much contribute to the tense atmosphere, perfect for Exegol. The use of choir is very good as well, I think choirs are good for building atmosphere, something Williams has seemed to master. I definitely recommend having a listen to this one.

Of course, film scores underscore films in a way that they help us to feel, whether it be sad, happy, scared, you get the idea. I think that's something that Williams does quite well in this film. There's tons of moments that I could bring up to emphasise this point, but one that I think does the best job of this is 'In the Desert', specifically when Rey is out in the desert (go figure) on her own. The use of high strings and the chromaticism adds such an eerie vibe (yes I'm using this word). This 'vibe' is juxtaposed by the lower instrumentation when we aren't looking at Rey anymore, and then immediately returns when we return. Something as simple as this really helps to draw the listener in as it builds intensity.

How I felt when I analysed this score

While we're here, the music when Rey destroys the transport sounds bloody epic!

The bit directly after this, in a conversation between Rey and Finn is a marvellous bit of storytelling in the same way (sorry I do not have a link). The low tones with guess what - chromaticism - foreshadow the dark nature of Rey, in accordance with her lineage. In another conversation, she says that she thinks no one understands her, and the fact that Kylo Ren's theme plays here may signify that he is the only one who understands her; I'll leave that up to you.

Even things as simple as using a minor key when we think Rey's dying, or building in dynamics to the climax of Palpatine shooting force lightning - criticise it as much as you like for being simple techniques, but I think they still work really well and shouldn't be discredited for doing so.

The last thing I want to talk about in the 'pros' section is thematic transformation. It's a signature John Williams technique, modifying leitmotifs throughout a story in order to communicate that story through the music. While this film certainly doesn't have as much of it as in previous films, it still has fairly good use of it.

Rey's Theme is definitely the strongest of the sequel trilogy, and in this movie he modifies the instrumentation to communicate her increase in maturity, because she is an adult now. Look at moments like The Training Scene, and we can see this pretty clearly. While it still has that longing quality that I loved in episode 7, it also has this quality of power thanks to the use of brass, and seems far more developed than it did at the beginning. The use of the piano on its own when she is trying to communicate with the Jedi at the end is also very powerful I think too, as that's how it was orchestrated when we first heard her theme.

Kylo Ren's theme also receives an interesting development. His leitmotif is really awesome too, and demonstrates his power and evil very well, but in this movie he turns to the light side, and therefore the music should reflect that. With a slight change in harmonic foundation, the motif soars and becomes very heroic in my opinion. This was something I could even recognise in the cinema watching for the first time, when the score wasn't really at the forefront of my mind.

The Emperor's theme, while used quite a bit in this movie - some might say too much - does get some interesting transformation. If you listen to the Fanfare and Prologue from the album release, you can hear the Emperor's theme towards the end with added overtones of violins playing a messy and high accompaniment, that utilises intervals smaller than a semitone, and glissing (or sliding) between them, each instrument at different times. It just gives me goosebumps listening to it. It makes the Emperor's theme seem very alien, which corresponds with the fact that the Emperor is like a clone or something? Yeah I never really understood that either.

Ok, so that's it for everything I loved about the score. Let's get into the cons, shall we.

First of all, let's look at what I like to call fight music. I don't know quite why I call it that, but it's basically any music that takes place during action scenes. Let me be honest and say that this score really doesn't deliver in this aspect. Sure, when used with the film it fits well enough and does its job, but on its own it just sounds all random and boring. Some of the only good fight music in the movie was 'The Speeder Chase' but, oh wait, they didn't even use it! (yes, they fly now) Instead there's just some forgettable stuff in the background, that is turned down so low in the mix I can barely hear it at all!?!?

Yes they indeed fly now.

It's the same with the Battle of the Resistance.

For Falcon Flight, probably the best fight music that is actually in the movie, they used the Emperor's theme when the TIE fighters are flying in that ice thing, and while it sounds awesome as and quite menacing (and therefore fitting), the emperor didn't send these ships, it has nothing to do with him. So, why is this theme playing now? It's not in order with the story. When Poe is *cough* lightspeed skipping, we hear the same music from the Death Star blowing up. Don't get me wrong, this sounds cool too, but this is deceptive.

We think that this moment has a lot more gravity than it actually does because of its association with the Death Star blowing up, not because of the moment itself. This is where I feel like the score gets an emotional impact without going through why it's meaningful, just plugging it into this film without earning it. I'll get back to this later.

Let's just compare for a second Duel of the Fates and Battle of the Heroes with The Final Saber Duel. When I hear The Final Saber Duel I don't feel emotionally invested in the film at all. Like honestly, it doesn't make me feel scared, excited or anything. Sure, there are some synced orchestra hits with the lightsaber clashes which is kinda cool. I've seen people say the lack of music for most of the fight adds to the intensity, and in the context of the film it doesn't make sense to have anything else, and not all star wars fights needs epic choirs. To that, I have to say a big f off (except for the bit about choirs).

Just look at that scene with no music. It's SO BORING, I don't care about what's going on, I'm not on the edge of my seat. This is such a big missed opportunity in my opinion. I know tons of people wished Duel of the Fates was here, but in my opinion, (the superior) Battle of the Heroes should be. It would almost rhyme, the fact that Darth Vader sealed his fate in the dark side on a lava planet in Revenge of the Sith, accompanied by Battle of the Heroes, and then his grandson is turned back from the dark side on a water planet accompanied by the same piece of music. I'm not saying that it would need to be the same, but some references to that music would have been very good and would have made me love this so much more.

Just seriously, comparing any of the fight music in this film with the terrifyingly cool Asteroid Field, The Battle of Hoth, the Battle of Yavin, TIE Fighter Attack or literally anything else from any of these movies and it's far more engaging and interesting.

Speaking of the prequels, where is the prequel music in this movie? Rumour has it that the music heard in the 'Duel' TV spot was a re-envisioning of Duel of the Fates that was meant to be used in this film, but they ended up cutting it out and just using it in this TV spot instead. In some bits in the climax you can hear a choir that sounds something like the start of Duel of the Fates but not the real deal. I can't stress how many people would have loved the score so much better if they had actually added this in.

But still, for a movie that is supposed to be the end of the Skywalker saga, this score literally includes ONE bit of music from the prequels. ONE! That is when Zorii and Poe talk in Kijimi, in which they use the music when Anakin is told by his family that his mother is most likely dead in Attack of the Clones. Unless I am going crazy, I don't see a connection here. This is another missed opportunity in my opinion.

Furthermore, they did not use Rose's theme at all in this movie. It's a beautiful theme that I think deserved some more love.

There were three particular pieces of music in this score that aroused a lot of controversy. The first was the final track before the credits, titled A New Home. This is a beautiful piece of music, don't get me wrong, but for the end of a series it just feels way to barren, dark and empty, and feels so melancholy. If you listened to this before watching the film, you might even think it's some form of funeral music. The flutes playing Rey's theme as she slides down the hill are reminiscent of the beginning of The Force Awakens but I don't think it's enough to redeem it.

I think that even the name annoys me. Like, this would be the most unfulfilling and depressing character arc ever, a girl that starts on her own in the desert finishes her story alone in a desert. Anyway, rumour has it that a version of the hauntingly beautiful Across the Stars (the love theme from Attack of the Clones) was meant to fit in somewhere here, which I would have loved to see and would have probably fixed the issues here.

The recreation of Binary Sunset was cute.

The second is the music that plays when Rey is on the second Death Star. Now I don't know what they were thinking when they chose this music here, it's the music that played when Vader died in Return of the Jedi. For me, the use of high register and harp in this represents Vader's redemption and turn back to the light side. The fact that they used this a little reminder to say: 'hey guys! We're back on the death star if you didn't know!' just annoys me.

The third has gotta be when Luke lifts the X-Wing out of the water. When this happens, we hear the same music that played when Yoda lifted the X-Wing out of the water in The Empire Strikes Back. The rest of this track, Destiny of a Jedi, is one of my favourite bits of music from the film, but this bit really tore me.

I, for one, love this moment from The Empire Strikes Back, and it was one of my favourite John Williams moments for a long time, and so when I heard this at first in the theatre I was so happy to hear it again.

Remember this? Ah, the good old days.

In terms of emotional impact when you don’t know what the theme is, an average movie goer would still enjoy this moment very much. A lot of people had the problem that this is a reworking of Yoda's theme and obviously Yoda isn't there, so therefore this theme represents people lifting ships out of the water? And I think this argument holds some truth, but I don't mind it too much. It was meant to be a retconning of that moment anyway, and it shows Luke’s development. Maybe it would have been better to refer to it, but not have it in its original form.

One thing that does trouble me is that it was not Williams' idea to do this. In one of the featurettes on DVD, Williams said it was one of the editor's ideas, and that J.J. Abrams even questioned it. This attempt to make us feel nostalgic and feel the way we did when we watched other movies just pisses me off. As youtube channel Sideways put it, 'it's all spectacle and no substance'. It gets the emotional impact of these musical moments without actually earning them, and that is what I think is the worst thing about the score.

Originally, brother of John Williams, Don Williams, said that in this movie every Star Wars theme would be included. While on the surface this seems like a cool idea, a great way to end it off, it has resulted in some of the most poor theme choices I think I've ever seen in a John Williams score.

I couldn't name all of the poor choices in use of themes in this movie.

One of the worst offenders is towards the end at the rebel base when Lando and Jannah have a conversation. Playing in the background is the 'Luke and Leia' theme, one of my favourites, very sentimental. It was originally composed for the conversations between the two in Return of the Jedi and then used again in The Last Jedi when Luke says goodbye to her. It's derived from both Luke and Leia's themes which is cool.

Anyway, this theme is obviously very specific to the relationship between Luke and Leia, so when I see this playing when Lando and Jannah are talking, I have to ask myself what they were thinking? I suppose when Luke and Leia were talking in ROTJ they were revealing family details, and so are Lando and Jannah (kindof). But I shouldn't have to do mental gymnastics to justify this awful decision.

Apparently, he’s her father or something? I’m not sure either.

Just before this moment, Yoda's theme was playing in the background, and he has nothing to do with this either.

When Leia walks off to go kick the bucket, we hear Han and Leia's love theme. Leia has her own theme, so once again, this doesn't make any sense. I could once again try and justify it by saying, well, she's about to like project a memory of Han to Kylo or something, idfk the plot properly, or Kylo is Han and Leia's child so he's connected there in some way. This is such as stretch. Seriously, this sucks ass.

It’s such a pitiful attempt to make us feel nostalgic at the expense of being a good score.

Now, let's talk about thematic recontextualisation. This is something that Sideways stressed a lot in his video, and it has a lot of relevance to the themes we just talked about. Because of this movie, the things those themes stood for is now out the window. Like, Luke and Leia’s theme is no longer a theme for their conversations, it is one for people who are talking about families, or reuniting, or something. This theme loses its meaning because of it. Same with Vader’s redemption music playing to remind us we are on the death star. That music meant something completely different before, this is just pathetic!

Now, one could argue that the three most widely used themes in the star wars saga and the most well known are the main theme, the force theme (or binary sunset) and the Imperial March.

The main theme was originally Luke Skywalker’s theme, but because of its use at the beginning of every movie, some where Luke Skywalker isn’t there, it has become the main theme for Star Wars. In this movie, it’s used in some moments like when C-3PO sacrifices his memory (but not really), when Rey finds out Chewie is alive, and whenever the Millennium Falcon does anything. So now, the main theme has basically come to play when anything from the original trilogy happens.

So I just find it horrifying that they are actually starting to strip the main theme for Star Wars of it’s meaning for all of Star Wars. I can’t believe I’m even saying this.

The Force theme, which was once Obi-Wan’s theme, evolved to be so in the original trilogy, basically playing whenever someone used the force. This is important of course, as it would make some moments rather awkward without it.

For example, when Finn identifies that that particular Star Destroyer is where they need to make the landing, we can hear the force theme, so we know that he is force sensitive and not just making a lucky guess, or that she is healing Kylo Ren instead of touching … I’ll stop there.

But still, this theme has also represented hope for me, hearing it in the binary sunset and in the throne room in the first movie made me think that way but that’s just my personal opinion.

Even so, I just don’t understand why this music plays while Lando is talking to Poe about friendship the force theme plays.

‘We’re not gonna play the force theme when Rey is communicating with all the Jedi that came before, but we will play it when Finn is riding horses on a star destroyer!’

Why.

There are plenty of good iterations of it too don’t get me wrong, like when Luke’s force ghost catches the lightsabre, but what does this theme even represent anymore?

Finally, the Imperial March. I already talked about it’s use on the death star, but why does it play when the Emperor lifts the star destroyers out of Exigol, or when Kijimi goes boom? What does Darth Vader have to do with any of this? I don’t know, you tell me.

So, we’ve come to the end of our journey exploring the score. Now a lot of these problems I think are only problems that people who are familiar with the themes of Star Wars would actually notice. Like, I saw someone really enjoying themselves in the theatre when Luke pulled the X-wing out of the water. I wouldn’t expect many people to say: ‘Oh my goodness! This is the emperor’s theme, why is this playing here?’ or ‘Why is Luke and Leia’s theme playing while Lando is talking to Jannah’. This score is definitely the worst of the saga though, and pales in comparison to The Empire Strikes Back. Maybe it's not fair to compare them, I mean, ESB is one of the best film scores ever made, and in Williams’ old age, this score is very impressive, and I can still admire it a ton. I don’t know how this score got nominated for an Oscar when none of the prequels did though, all of which are better. I’m fairly sure the new rule implemented this year that required scores to have at least 60% original music may have been because of this film. The score still provides a good viewing experience, and it has some great theme additions, so with all of these things in mind, I give the score of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker a 6/10.

Now, you’re probably thinking, but you said you loved John Williams, why are you shitting on him like this? That’s because I don’t think it was even his fault.

First of all, I don’t think some of these thematic choices were even his. The music editor decided to pop in Yoda and the Force when Luke lifted up the ship, so I don’t doubt for a second that it was their decision to put in all of these old score moments in a bid to make us feel nostalgic. I’m not the only one that thinks this by the way.

Second of all, it was said by the end of the scoring process John Williams penned a total 3 HOURS of music for this film. I can just tell that the way Disney have put the score together in the film does not consider Williams work at all.

I’ve seen reddit leaks (that may not be true) that says that at one point, the editors put a piece of music that he didn’t want to be in a particular place in that place in the final cut!

Looking at the For Your Consideration version of the score, the album release and the actual version in the film, you might notice that they are all extremely different, and that just supports this.

Looking at a leaked cue list from the film from towards the end of the scoring process that I found on the JWfan forums, I can see cues from the prequels, and the thing about the emperor’s theme playing on that icy planet would have been solved! There are interesting entries in the list, stuff like ‘Vader’s Castle’ which would be interesting to hear. We can see all the musical ideas that John Williams had that those at Disney have just ignored. I can see how much better John Williams is than this film.

Disney have obviously tampered with the very delicate musical fabric that John Williams has spent 40+ years creating. They do not realise how important his score is to a movie, and this, I reckon, is a big mistake. So many of the things I am criticising would be solved.

But instead, Disney just took all of these carefully made pieces to the puzzle, smashed them together, and called it a day, turning it into this mess.

Compare this with the way Steven Spielberg treats Williams' music. For example, in the scoring of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Spielberg allowed Williams to conduct the final 15 minutes of the score without the film playing, and they synced the film up to the music afterwards. Take another watch of those 15 minutes. Trust me, it's some of the most stunning music ever put to film.

The best duo in film.

I'm not saying that Disney had to do something as extreme as this, but some common courtesy towards the music would have been nice!

Finally, you can tell through the themes especially that Williams put his heart and soul into this last movie, and what did they give him to do that? A movie that didn’t know it’s own plot, couldn’t develop its characters, completely disrespecting the composers work in the process. The score just doesn't seem like a priority here.

Let's just be glad that John Williams is really the only sense of continuity. Through all these films, he has never really let us down and given it his all. With inconsistent writers and directors, it is Williams that is the glue that holds it all together.

The late Ennio Morricone once said that ‘a good score can’t save a bad movie’, and I think that’s particularly relevant.

I don’t know about you, but for someone who is responsible for a good deal of this franchise’s success, I think our maestro deserved better.