Disclosure Day (John Williams)
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Disclosure Day does not have any overt musical thematic connections or references to A.I..
I hear there some similarities.
I wonder why everyone is so focussed on the Cinque’s Theme similarity and the Angela’s Prayer similarity in mentioned so rarely. I found that more significant.
Maybe because it’s a female wordless vocal that sings the melody, in both Amistad and Disclosure Day.
Could be. But apart from that I find the usage of the theme very different.
Anyway, it’s a great melody. Basically build upon a three note motif. It has something very fundamental. It’s a little bit like taking the first three notes from the close encounters five note motif and play around with it.
Sure, but the similarities are stylistic in nature, very much in Williams’ vein, and, as I said, not an overt musical reference to A.I. (which to me implies a conscious nod).
I mean, I could name several Williams tracks that are somewhere “in that vein”, even from movies that are conceptually as far removed as SABRINA.
The Qobuz soundtrack download charts has DISCLOSURE DAY on positon 3 today. 1 and 2 are Pemberton with score and single from MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. Interestingly none of them is in the soundtrack streaming charts. Which probably tells a bit about the audience 😉
For those interested having not seen it on the socials: https://variety.com/2026/music/news/disclosure-day-john-williams-steven-spielberg-1236779833/
Yes. John Williams up to scoring Spielberg’s next film (if he’s able), which is rumoured to be a western.
Sure, but the similarities are stylistic in nature, very much in Williams’ vein, and, as I said, not an overt musical reference to A.I. (which to me implies a conscious nod).
I find in the memory theme from Disclosure Day the reference to A.I. quite explicit.
See my post above. I adjusted the A.I. video with the track where that melody begins. The DD theme sounds like a fragmented version of the A.I. one to my ears.
But it wouldn’t be the first time that I believe to hear something that noone else seems to hear.
Me too. While watching the film DISCLOSURE DAY I could hear the similarity to A.I. in music.
Yes, it could be argued Williams has scored in that vernacular many times before (STEPMOM, SABRINA etc).
But the future/alien side of things brings forth the A.I comparisons much sooner than the other genres.
The AMISTAD lift was much more obvious to me though.
I don’t mind these things, btw. They are all part of the composers’ signature voice.Yeah, I am not saying there are no similarities, I am merely saying that they are stylistic similarities because it’s John Williams’ “sound”, it is his vernacular. I do not hear an overt musical connection between A.I. and DISCLOSURE DAY, the themes are too different. I find the theme to SABRINA more similar, and I’m sure that’s not meant as an overt reference either.
I am merely saying that they are stylistic similarities because it’s John Williams’ “sound”
I have only sampled the score via Youtube – still have to buy a download… – and I have to relisten to AI or AMISTAD to really recognized any themes but that I would say so far, too.
I have yet to listen to the soundtrack. Somehow I’m not drawn to the film or the music. It’s probably going to be one of those Spielberg movies I’m going to pass on.
I have seen the film now. It’s not very good.
Wow, for Emily Blunt! She is brilliant. Alas, the rest is gibberish. Weak story, gratuitous action. Empathy? Not really. The score was the only disclosure worth mentioning, but I have listened at greater length now and I think there are some musical references going on.
But – I am now sure that any references in the music have nothing to do with the storyline of the film. I think my little conspiracy of thematic references is probably John Williams self-referencing his own work for fun (and maybe because the film really needs something to help it along).
My Musical Resonance Imaging scanner has found a few more hat-tips in the album score. I jotted them down fyi,
A.I. theme: memory, celestial, reprise
Close Encounters theme: celestial, chase
E.T. theme: believeThen there are lots of stylistic things, like the government “horns” and the “press” newsreel musical styles that JW often uses in scores, without them being actual quotes.
And that draws a line under it all from me. I think the score was better than the movie. It’s a shame that Steven Spielberg rushed into this project. The potential idea deserves something much bigger than this quirky cliché romp that smashes up a few vehicles for no obvious reason.
And that draws a line under it all from me. I think the score was better than the movie. It’s a shame that Steven Spielberg rushed into this project. The potential idea deserves something much bigger than this quirky cliché romp that smashes up a few vehicles for no obvious reason.
That made me think, do I rather get a bad Spielberg movie with a John Williams score or a good Spielberg movie without a Williams score? I must admit, probably option one.
Spielberg has some bad movies on his record. Most have great John Williams scores, which I don’t want to miss.I don’t find it mediocre. But it’s definitely a B-film heightened by a master director. There’s an artform in that.
I don’t find it mediocre. But it’s definitely a B-film heightened by a master director. There’s an artform in that.
I wasn’t directly referring to the movie itself which I haven’t seen but in general.
Besides Spielberg’s own movies on the topic, when I think of the last movies about extraterrestrials on earth, that I have seen, like UNDER THE SKIN, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE THING, STARMAN, MEN IN BLACK, ARRIVAL or even MARS ATTACKS, they all were much better than this flick. Really.
When is your detailed review coming, Thor?
Some time in July, hopefully. I’ve just returned from a week on a desolate island (and a festival bubble before that), and trying to re-orient myself in modern society (and all the things in my calendar that need doing)! But probably won’t be that detailed; nothing new that hasn’t been said so far across various messageboards. I feel like every nook and cranny of this score has been covered already, and I haven’t even had the time to listen to it once! (also, I’m currently at MINORITY REPORT in my collection walkthrough, and had hoped to get through the remaining 12 soundtrack albums of the JW collection before I delve into DISCLOSURE DAY…we’ll see).
Btw, someone over at JWFan said, that already the trailer gave him M. Night Shyamalan vibes and I must say, for me the whole movie did. The way the movie handles characters and the whole disclosure plot. And the reveal at the end going public reminded me directly of the disclosure at the end of GLASS.
But Shyamalan’s take on the alien topic with SIGNS was a lot better.
I finally got arund to listening to the entire album, and found it quite excellent. As I’d hoped, this is Williams in much better form than the disjointed DIAL OF DESTINY. My attention didn’t wander at any point during the 64 minutes, which I think is a good litmus test for whether a score is good or not. 🙂 There are quite a few similarities with other scores, for sure, and I agree with those mentioned by Mark and others here, so no need to repeat them. But (as also mentioned by others) the references are mostly stylistic rhater than melodic, and I like those styles, so it’s not a problem. Still, there are a few sequences of notes that you’ll find in the themes of some of those other scores .
Favorite tracks (after one listen) are “celestial” (really wonderful), “listen”, “memory”, and “reprise”. Really love the ethereal/mystical/religioso parts.
As for the film itself, I haven’t seen it yet, but opinions and reviews seem to be all over the place. I see that several people here are not very impressed, but one of Norway’s largest national newspapers, for instance (Aftenposten), gave it top marks (six out of six), with the reviewer saying things like “Spielberg can still do magic”, “at times so suspenseful, I held my breath”, and “a fabulous mix of realism, delightful humour and visual storytelling”. And for a change, the score is mentioned (favorably).
The most divisive element seems to be the ending – in much the same way the ending of A.I. was divisive, as far as I can tell? I liked the ending of A.I., so my guess is I’ll like this one, too. 🙂 Here, too, Aftenposten is handing out superlatives: “fantastic”, “moving” and “pure movie magic”.
I found the movie itself ok as a Sunday afternoon movie – which it was.
Williams’ score didn’t leave much of an impression when watching the film except on one occasion. The woodwind motif when the bird appeared was such an obvious cliché that it was a distraction that pulled me out of the film itself. (I have yet to listen to the album.)
Williams’ score didn’t leave much of an impression when watching the film
That I found interesting as well. I hardly recognized the score. In a way that’s a good sign. But it almost left me a little disappointed. In Dial of Destiny I enjoyed the presence of the music very much. I was looking forward to a similar experience. And the Disclosure Day score is really rich and beautiful. But Spielberg doesn’t give room to the score like he used to.
By the way, in recent days I read some comments about the Disclosure Day score and people praising it how great it is after the “letdown of that terrible Dial of Destiny score” or something like that.
I don’t understand this. I found the Dial of Destiny score great. John Williams at his best.I received my CD from Waxwork yesterday. Took 15 days. Somehow managed to sneak its way past customs. Still very expensive – about $25 – but would have been even more expensive if I hadn’t ordered another CD along with it (BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE).
Anyways, it allowed me to organize my thoughts a bit, which I scrabbled down here, for anyone interested.
Thank you for sharing your review, Thor. For my taste you werea little too harsh on the score and too well-minded on the movie. But I know your perspective.
My album copy seems to be somewhere above the atlantic ocean.
In the meantime my favourite entry point for the album is to start at track “empathy…” From there to the end it is a terrific album.
I expect the script and probably the movie getting nominated for the razzies this year.
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