Review: Guardians Of The Galaxy (third-pass)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2D / third-pass / SPOILER-FREE)
Cert: 12A / 121 mins / Dir. James Gunn




So, you should know the score by now; Third-pass means I've seen this movie before. My first (spoiler-free) review is here and my second (also spoiler-free) one is here. Watching the film again raised a whole bunch of thoughts and questions, but this time I'm going to be having a look at the music of the film, so still no real spoilers here...

So. If, like me, you've been enjoying Guardians Of The Galaxy's Awesome Mix Vol 1 soundtrack over the last few weeks, you'll have no doubt noticed that the tracklisting doesn't run in the same order as the appearances of the songs in the film. There's nothing in the story to suggest that Peter Quill's tape is being played in-sequence, of course, but since I'm OCD enough to want my orchestral soundtracks in narrative-order, it's only understandable that I'd expect the same for compilation releases, as each song evokes the mental image of the scene it's used in...



So, here's the Guardians Of The Galaxy playlist/sountrack in movie-appearance order:

1) Spirit In The Sky - Norman Greenbaum (1969)
2) I'm Not In Love - 10cc (1975)
3) Come And Get Your Love - Redbone (1974)
4) Go All The Way - The Raspberries (1972)
5) Hooked On A Feeling - Blue Suede (1968)
6) Escape (The Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes (1979)
7) Moonage Daydream - David Bowie (1972)
8) Fooled Around And Fell In Love - Elvin Bishop (1976)
9) Cherry Bomb - The Runaways (1976)
10) O-o-h Child - The Five Stairsteps (1970)
11) Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Tammi Terrell / Marvin Gaye (1967)
12) I Want You Back - Jackson 5 (1969)

Notes:
a) I've put 'Spirit in the Sky' as track one, since it was used in the second GotG trailer but not in the movie itself. You can add it to the end of the playlist if you like, but that'd mean beginning with 10cc's 'I'm Not in Love', which - whatever you may think of the song - isn't a strong opener for a mix-tape.

b) As stated above, this is the appearance-order of the songs and not the mix of the tape itself. Apart from anything else, when Peter presses play on the second song of the film, 'Come And Get Your Love', the cassette is shown to be at around the half-way point. So the actual order of the tape is likely to remain a mystery.

c) Ain't No Mountain High Enough is the first track on Awesome Mix Vol 2, and while it's not shown explicitly in the movie, I think it's safe to assume that the Jacksons' 'I Want You Back' is from the second volume as well.

d) The soundtrack in its commercially released form (Amazon / CD | iTunes / digi) clocks in at just under 45 minutes. While Marvel have been careful to avoid adding the tape-length as part of the label (which, us old-schoolers will tell you, would never happen), it's logical to assume it's either a C60 or C90. And bearing in mind, for a C90 that you wouldn't put the same tracks on two sides of a mix-tape (and that at least one of those tracks is from Vol 2), which other songs would you fill the tape with? Pop your suggestions in that there comments-box underneath the post, there. You've got anything up-to-and-including 1988 to play with, but Peter's mum's reference-era seems to be pretty much 1970's.

e) And on a far more geeky note, I can't wait until this movie arrives on DVD so I can audio-rip the film and insert a few dialogue-sequences between some of the tracks. Much has already been written about the Tarantino-esque nature of the soundtrack, but that wouldn't be complete without some choice quotes scattered about the place…



That's a fairly accurate summation, yes.



I did.



It does.



If you're going to see this, see it at the cinema with as many people there as possible.



A bit.



Definitely.



YES. FOUND IT.
After the explosion in The Collector's den on Knowhere, Gamora makes her escape immediately after Ronan's arrival. When she pulls the guy out of his mining-pod and hurls him to the ground? It's there.

See note D, above ^^^

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• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
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