OVP: Best Sound (2000)
The Nominees Were...
Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis Sands, & William B. Kaplan, Cast Away
Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, & Ken Weston, Gladiator
Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, & Lee Orloff, The Patriot
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David Campbell, & Keith A. Wester, The Perfect Storm
Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker, Rick Kline, & Ivan Sharrock, U-571
My Thoughts: Maren Morris sings a song with the lyrics "why don't you just meet me in the middle" which is a phrase that has an actual meaning (that you need to compromise with people), but is something I sing to myself personally whenever I get to a category like this field. Sound Mixing in 2000 is a series of "pretty good" with barely enough "that's great" nominees. As you're going to see in our discussion today, a lot of it is the films doing 1-2 things well, but that ultimately being the only reason for their inclusion. This isn't necessarily Oscar's fault (2000, as we've discussed, wasn't a super impressive film year, particularly when it came to the action & musical bread-and-butter we'd usually see in this category), but it also makes ranking these films really challenging because they're all on the same page.
The best example of this is The Perfect Storm, a movie that does one thing notably: water. The film is best known for being one of the earliest films to blend CGI and practical effects involving water, which is really challenging to pull off (and it does-the visual effects in this movie are super well-done), but that's the only thing that it does well. I want a sound design to be less one-note, especially when it comes to mixing, and the dialogue scenes or the other sequences don't have the same level of cache. You either need to do everything perfectly or you need to have true standout mixing details in your key scenes...this doesn't do the former, and while it does do some of the latter, it feels more like an editing achievement.
The same can be said for Gladiator. This is a movie that during its epic battle scenes (the ones in the arena) you hear every corner, every sound, and it comes together marvelously. But the other sequences, it just doesn't feel authentic. I don't feel like I'm being transported into Ancient Rome. We're coming to the point soon (as we go back in the OVP) where sound design was harder (the technology & cameras weren't there), but given other films of 2000 were able to achieve something really special & feel authentic to these worlds, I wanted to hear that in Gladiator.
The Patriot does this somewhat better. It helps that it has the best film score of these five, so we have John Williams aiding in making this feel like a world onto itself, something that recalls a colonial series of villages & rebellions, rather than a reconstruction of these sets with 20th Century actors. I also love the roaring cannons & battle sequences, which are harsh but also cinematic (you can tell Mel Gibson just starred in this and didn't direct it given the battle scenes are focused on adventure & not intestines). I don't think it's bringing it to a great level, but it is decent work, and incorporates its score the best.
Cast Away also does well with its score, and I think might have the best balance of the films here. You have really standout sequences, particularly those with Tom Hanks at sea. The famous scene where he says goodbye to Wilson the Volleyball is really well done because it gives you competing sounds (the water, the music, Tom Hanks' yells), while other sequences use quiet ingeniously. The whale scene (which terrified me the first time I saw this) is so silent except the waves, which works perfectly as the entire audience is holding their collective breaths during it, adding to the silence. This is a movie that clearly remembered the best way to see a movie is on the big screen.
Our final nominee is U-571, which I'll be honest, feels more like an editing achievement than a mixing one. Much of the noise here comes from the claustrophobia of the ship, and the attacks & gadgets that are the bread-and-butter of a submarine film. The score isn't a big calling card, though, and I don't think we get anything unique from how it's used. I also think some of the dialogue doesn't work as well against the battles; I hate when "it's too loud to hear" is an excuse to not hear dialogue-I always want to hear the actors, and there are ways to make it seem like the characters can't hear each other but the audience can without sacrificing realism.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Cinema Audio Society was not yet splitting its awards between Animated & Live-Action in 2000, so we get a combined category (though it's worth noting that no animated films made it into the lineup). The Cinema Audio Society, though, adds nothing to the conversation as they picked the exact same lineup as Oscar (with Gladiator winning), while BAFTA gave the top prize to Almost Famous (I love when BAFTA is off doing its own thing), against Billy Elliot, Crouching Tiger, Gladiator, and The Perfect Storm. I think the clear sixth place is Crouching Tiger, a film that did well virtually everywhere else, and feels like it should've been cited here.
Films I Would Have Nominated: I've said Crouching Tiger so often, we'll go a different direction. In a year with very few musicals, you'd be hard-pressed to find a film with the kind of perfect musical influence as O Brother, Where Art Thou. I'm in the middle on the film's quality overall, but the music is spectacular, and even lip-syncing it is designed to make you think George Clooney can really sing.
Oscar’s Choice: Deprived of its chief competition in most categories (Crouching Tiger), this was a slam dunk win for Gladiator.
My Choice: The only one of these that will be showing up in my personal awards is Cast Away, and so I'll happily give it the statue considering how well it does with the full picture of sound design for the film. Behind it (in order) are The Patriot, The Perfect Storm, Gladiator, and U-571.
Those are my choices-how about you? Do you want to battle it out with Oscar & Gladiator, or will you set sail with myself & Cast Away? Am I crazy thinking this is all relatively good nominees...but only one great one? And why do you think Oscar skipped Crouching Tiger? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Also in 2000: Sound Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Previously in 2000
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