Thunder Force

Filmmusicsite.com talked to the composer of Thunder Force

Filmmusicsite.com had the opportunity to talk to composer Fil Eisler. He is a Czech-born, English-raised composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist who lives in Los Angeles. He has worked with ensembles of all shapes and sizes to help bring his scores to life. He has worked on television shows such as Fox Golden Globe nominated tv drama series Empire, Sony’s action thriller Proud Mary, HBO Max Superintelligence and Netflix Thunder Force.

In this new edition of Composer Talk he talks about his scores to Proud Mary, Superintelligence and Thunder Force! How it was to work with metal legends Dave Lombardo, Scott Ian, Corey Taylor and Lzzy Hale.

Check out this new edition of Composer Talk! You can find it on our main page or go to the composer tab.

Photo credit: Alex Elena

Milan Records releases april 9, 2021 Thunder Force (Music From The Netflix Film), an album of music from the Netflix superhero comedy by composer Fil Eisler.

Milan Records releases april 9, 2021 Thunder Force (Music From The Netflix Film), an album of music from the Netflix superhero comedy by composer Fil Eisler.

Available everywhere, the album was initially introduced with lead single “Thunder Force,” a star-studded collaboration between Eisler and metal legends Scott Ian (Anthrax), Corey Taylor (Slipknot & Stone Sour), Lzzy Hale (Halestrom), Dave Lombardo (Slayer) as well as dynamic electric cellist Tina Guo.
The track is one of many collaborations on the album, with Eisler enlisting the expertise of guitarist Scott Ian and drummer Dave Lombardo as featured artists on nearly half of the soundtrack.
The 33-track collection infuses soaring orchestral instrumentation with the raw intensity of heavy metal riffs and rhythms, resulting in an album of film music unlike any other. Written and directed by Ben Falcone and starring Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer, Thunder Force premieres on Netflix.

Of the soundtrack, composer Fil Eisler says, “When Ben and I first talked about what the score should be, it was more of a conversation about how much Ben didn’t want it to be a comedy score and how it had to feel like a legitimate superhero movie. The comedy had to work so there’s always this fine line between writing something that’s going to elevate the story but also have fun and not take itself too seriously. So when I saw that Melissa’s character was a metal fan and even mentioned Slayer in the film, I just thought ‘This is it. This is how we can make a kick arse score and have some fun at the same time.’ After that, there was no question - if you’re going to work in a genre, especially metal, you can’t dabble. You have to have the real thing. Choosing the right musicians for a score is no different to casting actors in a movie really. I was just lucky enough to be able to cast Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo, both metal legends who brought more to the project than I could have ever hoped for.”

In a world where supervillains are commonplace, two estranged childhood best friends reunite after one devises a treatment that gives them powers to protect their city.

About Fil Eisler:
Fil Eisler is one of today’s busiest and most diverse film composers, with projects that range from big studio action pieces and comedies, to gritty independent films and hit television shows. He has been nominated for and been the recipient of numerous awards including the World Soundtrack Awards New Discovery, SXSW Best Soundtrack Award and multiple BMI Awards.
Eisler’s ability to understand directors’ musical intent and his flexible approach to scoring has led to numerous collaborations with some of Hollywood’s most accomplished creatives, including Lee Daniels, Marti Noxon, Catherine Hardwicke, Ben Falcone, and Phillip Noyce, with whom he is currently working on the thriller feature film “Lakewood,” starring Naomi Watts.
Eisler, a Czech-born, English-raised composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist, has worked with ensembles of all shapes and sizes to help bring his scores to life. Variety described his music as 'smoky, elaborate film noir-inspired compositions,” while Beatweek Magazine praised him for making “beautiful music” that “…almost acts as another character further enveloping the audience in its grasp.”

Eisler’s inventive scores and signature themes enliven some of TV’s most popular series and notable films. His tension-filled orchestral cues for Fox’s Golden Globe-nominated drama series “Empire” and Sony’s action thriller “Proud Mary,” provide a powerful contrast to his integrated electronic and orchestral arrangements for Netflix’s sci-fi thriller “The Titan,” and provocative music for Lifetime’s Peabody-winning series “UnReal.”

He also composed the main title music for Amazon’s critically acclaimed “The Romanoffs.” Recently in television, Eisler has been scoring two quite different series for Netflix now in their second seasons, “Biohackers,” a German-produced action/suspense series and the massively popular youth-oriented Netflix series “Outer Banks”. Last fall he scored the HBO Max premiere feature, “Super Intelligence,” starring Melissa McCarthy, and recently teamed up with them again on the feature “Thunder Force” for Netflix. This heavy-metal/orchestral hybrid score features guest instrumentalists Scott Ian (Anthrax) and Dave Lombardo (Slayer/Suicidal Tenencies). Together with vocals from Lzzy Hale (Halestorm) and Corey Taylor (Slipnot), Fil and this supergroup recorded the eponymous title song for the feature as well.

Eisler’s music for Showtime's Emmy-winning “Shameless” earned him the BMI Film and TV Award. The same year, he also won the BMI Award as both the composer and conductor for ABC’s breakout hit drama “Revenge.” Eisler also composed the main title theme and acted as co-composer and music director for the Peabody-winning documentary, “Newtown,” for which he organized and led an all-star line-up of over a dozen Hollywood composers who each donated a piece of music for the film.

In 2008, Eisler was invited to participate in the prestigious Sundance Film Composer's Lab and his projects have garnered critical acclaim on the film festival circuit ever since. As part of his ongoing commitment to independent film, he returned to Sundance in 2011 with the Inupiaq-themed thriller “On the Ice,” scored the Sundance-backed documentary “Whatever It Takes” and Jonathan van Tulleken's BAFTA-nominated horror thriller “Off Season.” Eisler won the Best Film Score Award for his work on Robbie Pickering's “Natural Selection” at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival.

The film was the most decorated of the festival, also winning the Grand Jury and Audience Awards. He continued his work with Pickering on the 2015 Sony feature “Freaks of Nature. and was represented at the 2017 festival with Marti Noxon’s To The Bone (Netflix) and at the 2020 festival with the documentary “Us Kids.”

Eisler’s credits further include three films for Warner Bros., the comedy “Life of the Party,” the hilarious film reboot of “CHIPS,” and the People’s Choice Awards-nominated “How To Be Single.” Eisler has scored several shows across multiple genres including AMC’s twisted drama, “Dietland” and Bravo’s hit comedy series “Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce.”

Fil lives in Los Angles with his one lovely wife, two charming kids, and three badly-behaved dogs.

More info at: Official Web Site Netflix

More info at: Composer Fil Eisler On Facebook

Fil Eisler's score is digitally available

Milan Records today releases THUNDER FORCE (MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX FILM), an album of music from the Netflix superhero comedy by composer FIL EISLER. Available everywhere now, the album was initially introduced with lead single “Thunder Force,” a star-studded collaboration between Eisler and metal legends Scott Ian (Anthrax), Corey Taylor (Slipknot & Stone Sour), Lzzy Hale (Halestrom), Dave Lombardo (Slayer) as well as dynamic electric cellist Tina Guo. The track is one of many collaborations on the album, with Eisler (Revenge, Empire, Superintelligence, The Titan, UnReal, Life of the Party, How to Be Single) enlisting the expertise of guitarist Scott Ian and drummer Dave Lombardo as featured artists on nearly half of the soundtrack. The 33-track collection infuses soaring orchestral instrumentation with the raw intensity of heavy metal riffs and rhythms, resulting in an album of film music unlike any other. Starring Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer, Thunder Force premieres today on Netflix. The film is directed by Ben Falcone. The total playtime is 56 minutes.