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Zimmer’s Super 8
Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated World War II epic Dunkirk doesn’t premiere in movie theaters for a couple weeks.
Lucky for us, one of the songs for the forthcoming war film by composer Hans Zimmer made its way out of enemy gun fire, via WaterTower Music (ie- Warner Bros.).
What is it with famed directors and composers and the word “super” and the number 8 (think J.J. Abrams, Steven Spielberg and Michael Giacchino of the science-fiction thriller Super 8)?
At 8-minutes in length (8:03, to be precise), the titled track, “Supermarine” is everything you’d expect from a Hans Zimmer-Christopher Nolan collaboration. That’s an intense, emotionally climbing tempo with a larger-than-life feeling that puts you squarely into the action projected on silver screens so immersive as to blur the line between the film and reality.
This is the point where you’re itching to play the song again. Go ahead. I’m doing the same thing. And if the soundtrack is already this powerfully engrossing, just imagine what the action sequences are that this music was acutely designed for…let alone the sound of the remaining soundtrack.
Mr. Nolan and Mr. Zimmer seem poised to present war cinematically and musically we haven’t yet seen and heard experienced.
As if “Supermarine” isn’t enough of a clue to confirm that declaration.
Extending Our Brief History in Time
“If humanity is to continue another million years, our future lies in boldly going where no one else has gone before,” Hawking said, BBC reported.
Stephen Hawking continued his remarks.
“To leave Earth demands a concerted global approach, everyone should join in,” he said. “We need to rekindle the excitement of the early days of space travel in the sixties.”
He added one more thing.
“It is time to explore other solar systems. Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth.”
You have our attention, Mr. Hawking.
The famed scientist made this bold delcaration at a recent arts and science festival known as Starmus. This event took place in Norway. Whether or not people or nations rush to join this intergalactic effort (aside from Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, what countries can afford this challenge right now?), the premise of rededicating ourselves to exploring the unknown of outer space is an exciting point to make in remembering America’s historically inspiring recent past. There are countless policies, specifically concerning the economy, entitlement reform and foreign policy/defense, that need to be crafted and enacted. Absolutely. Having said that, exploring space should jump back to being a national priority.
Instantly after reading Mr. Hawking’s eye-opening remarks, a specific film came to mind.
Christopher Nolan’s movies are always an experience and about something more than just the initial story and characters. And it seems that one of the leaders of the scientific community had more to say (knowingly or unknowingly) about the seemingly prescient cinematic event of 2014.
That cinematic event being Interstellar.
The Lesson: Watch more movies.
History’s Clock Never Stops Ticking
The present and the future becomes the past in a hurry.
Having said that, Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming World War II epic Dunkirk about the past during the mid-1940s is a heroic present for the 21st-century future.
400,00 men. 933 ships. 9 days.
The harrowing events portrayed in the film Dunkirk strive to capture the legitimately incomprehensible odds Allied soldiers faced against the merciless German army during World War II on the beaches of France. Incredibly, the battlefields of World War II may never be seen again in the context of the three figures listed above. Wars, throughout time, have contained many threads of commonality with innovative changes and strategies according to the century and respective technological advancements. Still, the magnitude of the Battle of Dunkirk is still staggering.
And it’s that reality of history, the scale of the Battle of Dunkirk, that sparks curious intrigue for Mr. Nolan’s first filmmaking venture into an event during a historic war that defined the 20th-century. Beyond Dunkirk being the first war film by Mr. Nolan, which is an exciting moment as a directorial benchmark and cinematic reference point, one of the storytelling gifts the aforementioned director gives movie fans is the skill to scale a moviegoing experience onto the largest IMAX screen while simultaneously grounding the story and characters in deeply intimate struggles (internal and external) with powerful acts of heroism, defeat, and mystery.
And mind-bending surprises in the finale.
Or, in another word, prestige.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 