Opening theme song....
So in 12 seasons they never changed the B-roll.....wave,Lady Columbia statue, National Cemetery of the Pacific, hula dancer, girl running down the beach etc
shareSo what?
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MovieChat Forums > Hawaii Five-O (1968) Discussion > Opening theme song....
You don't mess with a classic.
Ephemeron.
BOOM! I was about to say the EXACT thing. Oh, for the days when TV shows all had 2 - 3 minute opening montages and music! Seems like the "opening montage" thing peaked mid-70s - mid-80s, and of course some were better than others - this was one of the BEST. I'm sure it was tempting - as it always is over time - to change it, but luckily SOMEONE in charge recognized its classic nature and stood firm. When I was in Hawaii, I wanted to visit all the places shown in H5.0 opening montage, but they won't even let you out in the Cemetery of the Pacific anymore - a bus rides you around the big circle, but doesn't stop, or allow anyone to exit (and it doesn't really come very close to the statue).
shareWell, not completely. Of course, there were changes as the cast changed. But even with the same cast members, the intro shots for Dan Williams and Chin-Ho change. Early on Dan is seen running, it later changes to a shot of him looking through broken auto glass. Chin Ho starts the series pivoting to look at the camera as it zooms in, then changes to a shot of him talking on a walkie talkie.
Then, in the early seasons there was a shot of someone spinning the cylinder of a revolver (full of spent rounds), which was replaced by a shot of a fireman and a crashing race car. There may be more, my memory is a little foggy.
So no, it didn't change much. But it was the single greatest into in the history of television, bar none, so why change?
"He was running around like a rooster in a barnyard full of ducks."--Pat Novak
Also, not mentioned for opening credit sequence is Jack Lord balcony 'zoom in' and quick edit turnaround, was not changed in 12 seasons.. Still a classic.
shareAlways liked the way the zoom-in is edited in a series of chops, exactly timed with the accompanying drum roll. In fact, in the earliest seasons, every small sequence in the intro is cut to keep exact time with the music. Not just the cuts between sequences, but the actual action in the sequence is in time.
For instance, in the early seasons the Dan Williams shot has him running toward the camera, he is running in exact time. The revolver cylinder is spun in time. The Kono shot is sped up to keep his shotgun assault in time. The blue police "roller" rolls in time. I'm not kidding about all of this--watch it.
Even in the outro, the outrigger rowers row in time.
All of this frenetic activity, timed to great music, almost traps a viewer. In the 80's when the show first went into syndication and came on every night, I would frequently tune in just to watch the intro. It's that great.
"He was running around like a rooster in a barnyard full of ducks."--Pat Novak
There were some small tweaks from season to season to the actual theme music.... a different drum sound, added trills, etc. You can hear them if you listen close enough.
My favorite use of the theme outside of the TV series was in the beginning of Shrek 2, when the music the trumpeters play ends with the first few notes of the Hawaii 5-0 theme. Every time I saw that scene in a movie theater, the audience went wild!!!
shareI have (what I think are) all the opening main themes on my WWW site:
http://fiveohomepage.com/music/
Thanks! Good stuff!
"He was running around like a rooster in a barnyard full of ducks."--Pat Novak