MovieChat Forums > The Accused (1988) Discussion > Good movie, but horrible musical score

Good movie, but horrible musical score


It mercifully disappears for long stretches in the late going, but it is jarring and loud and incredibly dated. I wonder if there's any precedent for re-scoring a movie to help it stand the test of time.

It also makes me wonder if it's possible to tell when a movie comes out that its score is going to age so poorly. I feel like scores of contemporary films are more timeless, but that could of course be because we don't have the perspective of a few years' hindsight. However, it's been quite a few years now since '90s movies came out, and I can't recall seeing a '90s movie whose score made me cringe like that. I think the '80s love affair with cheesy keyboards and synth drums may have been a special kind of mass hysteria.

EDITED TO ADD--The contemporaneous New York Times review indicates that it's not just in hindsight that the score sucks:

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE6D71E3BF937A25753C1A96E948260&partner=Rotten%2520Tomatoes

With the exception of a crashing soundtrack score, which says everything twice, ''The Accused'' is a model of no-nonsense, tight-lipped movie making.


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Yes it's a very '80s score and a bit cringe worthy. But what - rescore a film? Just so it will be less "dated"? Ugh I hate that term. Should they also replace the record store scene - or maybe not since vinyl is coming back around? Should they have her assaulted on something other than a pinball machine since you don't see them around much any more? See what I'm getting at, moron?

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I kind of liked it. It's just a synth, no big deal.

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