*MOVIE SCORES*
( 11th August 2004.
Currently in major overhaul to bring you
extended commenture! YES! NO! YES! :D (and for me to re-listen to
stuff, to see if I have changed my mind... ;P )
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(My personal preferences tend toward the
Goldsmith/Zimmer line of scores, sound-wise).
Ratings subject to change, dependent on my repeated listenings!
("unrated" simply means I haven't listened to
it enough yet!)
Recent Additions: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban;
Hellboy; Hidalgo; The Chronicles of Riddick
R.I.P. Jerry Goldsmith, by the way. A big loss - he was one of my
favourite composers.
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1492 - Vangelis - *** '
Anastasia - David Newman - **** '
Apollo 13 - James Horner - ** '
Army of Darkness - Joseph LoDuca -
Varèse Sarabande - ** '
Back to the Future I, II - I -
Various & some Alan Silvestri - *** ; II
- Alan Silvestri - ****
Balto - James Horner - ***
Birdy - Peter Gabriel - ** '
Baraka - Michael Stearns/various - *****
Black Hawk Down - **** - Hans Zimmer -
Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pact de
Loups) - Joseph Lo Duca - **** '
Captain Blood (and others): Classic Film Scores
for Errol Flynn - M.Steiner /E.W.Korngold /F.Waxman
/H.Friedhofer : National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by
Charles Gerhardt (1975) - ****
Cat People - (1982) Georgio
Moroder - ** '
Conan the Barbarian- Basil Poledouris -
*****
Contact - Alan Silvestri - ***
Crimson Tide - Hans Zimmer - *** '
Dragonheart - Randy Edelman - ** '
Dune - Toto - ** (except for the
Prophecy theme by Brian Eno - ****!)
Elizabeth - David Hirschfelder -
*** '
Enemy of the State - Trevor Rabin &
Harry Gregson-Williams - *** '
Fight Club -The Dust Brothers - ***
Genghis Blues- Ondar & Pena - *****>
George of the Jungle - Marc
Shaiman/various - ***
Gladiator - Hans Zimmer (feat. Lisa
Gerrard) - *****
Gladiator(additional) - *** '
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- John Williams - **** '
Hellboy - Marco Beltrami - unrated
Highlander - I, II, III the
Original Scores - Michael Kamen / Stewart Copeland / J.
Peter Robinson - ****/*/*** '
Hidalgo - James Newton Howard **** '
Human Traffic - Various - *** '
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -
John Williams - **** '
Krull - James Horner
Labyrinth - Bowie - unrated
Ladyhawke - Andrew Powell/Alan Parsons
- **! - Actually I love the theme, but
wish it was "redone" in a less Parsony way - sorry
Alan!
Les Triplettes de Belleville(The
Triplets of Belleville) ****
LOTR - The Fellowship of the Ring -
Howard Shore - unrated
LOTR - The Two Towers - Howard Shore - unrated
LOTR - Return of the King - Howard
Shore - unrated
Music For a Darkened Theatre Vol. II - Danny
Elfman - *****
Passion(The Last Temptation of Christ)
- Peter Gabriel - *****
Pirates of the Caribbean - Klaus Badelt
(Hans Zimmer - Producer) - *** '
Shakespeare in Love - Stephen Warbeck -
** '
Sleepers - John Williams - ** '
Small Soldiers - Jerry Goldsmith (NOT
the "songs from"...release) - ****
Space Jam - James Newton Howard (NOT the
"songs from"...release) - ***
Stargate - David Arnold - **** '
The 13th Warrior - Jerry Goldsmith - ***** *!
The Fifth Element- Eric Serra - **** '
The Hunt for Red October - ****
The Insider - Lisa Gerrard and Pieter
Bourke - unrated
The Mummy - Jerry Goldsmith - *** '
The Mummy Returns - unrated
The Peacemaker - Hans Zimmer - *****
The Princess Bride - Mark Knopfler - *****
The Professional(Leon) - Eric Serra
The Red Violin - John Corigliano - ***
-
The Shawshank Redemption - Thomas Newman
- ****
The Truman Show - Burkhard Dallwitz -
*** '
Total Recall - Jerry Goldsmith - ***
Toys - Trevor Horn / Hans Zimmer /
various - ****
Van Helsing - Alan Silvestri - ***
Zorro James Horner - * '
*
to sort..
Mortal Kombat
Batman - the TV series!
Trainspotting
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The "Where are these?" list...
Poltergeist - great theme. Not sure about all of it.
Dracula - ??? Haven't yet seen this movie!
Bladerunner - no excuse! Will be rectified - eventually.
Braveheart- pure Cheese. Romantic, but Cheese!
Titanic - Stinky Cheese.
curiosity about -
Last Action Hero (do I have this?)
True Lies
The Matrix
Terminator
Pitch Black
Hidalgo
Blade??
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Composer's Compilations:
Music For a Darkened Theatre II (Contains extracts from Edward
Scissorhands, Batman Returns, Black Beauty) - Danny Elfman
John Williams
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1492
- Vangelis - (Notable tracks 2, 4, 5)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Anastasia - (animated movie)- David Newman - Favourite animated movie score (with songs)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Apollo 13 - James Horner
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Army of Darkness - Joseph LoDuca - Varèse Sarabande -
** ' (notable tracks - 2, 5)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Back to the Future I, II, III
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Balto - *** '
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Baraka - Michael Stearns/various -
- note for others - Track 3 - "The
Host of Seraphim" by Dead can Dance, features the voice of
Lisa Gerard. It is my favourite track.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Birdy - Peter Gabriel - Virgin/Charisma Records - 1985
- ***
An interesting score, containing "recycled material and no
lyrics", according to the sleeve.
Track 2 reminded me of the start of Baraka. Others remind me of
slow pieces from Bladerunner.
Hummability factor - None of the tracks particularly stand out in
my memory.
As I am already a Peter Gabriel fan, I bought this one some time
ago, but haven't listened to it for literally years (until now,
in review!). It is a slow-moving score (with the exception of
tracks 7 & 9) - concentrating more on atmosphere. It is
probably best enjoyed in a dark room with no other audio
interruption.
Birdy is Peter Gabriel's first "movie score".
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Black Hawk Down - Hans Zimmer -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pact de Loups) - Joseph Lo
Duca - **** '
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Cat People - Georgio Moroder -
- I like the "jogging"
track...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Captain Blood (and others): Classic Film Scores for Errol
Flynn - M.Steiner /E.W.Korngold /F.Waxman /H.Friedhofer :
National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Gerhardt
(1975) - **** - in a word,
SWASHBUCKLING!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Conan the Barbarian- Basil Poledouris - Varèse
Sarabande - *****
It makes me shudder to think the score
to this movie was once proposed to be done as a
"Contemporary Rock" one ...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Contact -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Crimson Tide - Hans Zimmer -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dragonheart -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dune - Toto -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Elizabeth -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Enemy of the State -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Fight Club -The Dust Brothers -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Genghis Blues- Ondar & Pena -
I am a big fan of this documentary, and the soundtrack matches it
well.
The interesting aspect of this is in the performance of Tuvan
Throat-Singing, and Paul Pena does his kargyraa in such form as
to prove his nickname "Earthquake." You will be trying
this in the car on your way home.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
George of the Jungle-
You get to hear "Wipeout", a rollicking version of the
main theme, and John Cleese singing "My Way". What more
could you want?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gladiator - Hans Zimmer, feat. Lisa Gerrard - *****
The wonderful vocals of Lisa Gerrard really make this work on
levels of sorrow and joy. The words are "not in
English" - which I appreciate! And her voice is used more
like an instrument itself.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gladiator(additional) -
An interesting medley of recorded variants, and movie samples,
with an atrocious dance mix at the end - but good on them for
trying!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Of the three Harry Potter movies so far, I like this one the
best, especially "Mischief Managed!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hellboy
Nice one, Beltrami. :)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hidalgo
I really enjoy this one, for the arabic themes. :)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Highlander - I, II, III
As with the films, soundtrack II "was never made".
Caspiche?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - **** '
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Krull - James Horner
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Labyrinth -
If you can't remember a song from this, then you're a lot younger
than me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ladyhawke -
An unfortunate use of rockband here - the orchestral bits are
nice, but the sound of the rest has dated, not too well. The
theme is fantastic, and one I'd love to hear with a full
orchestra doing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Les Triplettes du Belleville - (The Triplets of
Belleville) - ****
I really enjoy this soundtrack! A really well done animated
feature, that more than deservedly won its Oscar, has a
soundtrack that continues to evoke the film. There are many
variations on the main theme (the catchy song that bears the same
name as the movie), with a creole/french flavour throughout. If
you enjoyed the film, you'll probably be happy with the
soundtrack.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
LOTR - The Fellowship of the Ring - Howard Shore -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
LOTR - The Two Towers - Howard Shore -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
LOTR - Return of the King - Howard Shore -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Passion(The Last Temptation of Christ) - Peter Gabriel
- *****
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Pirates of the Caribbean - Klaus Badelt (Hans Zimmer -
Producer)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shakespeare in Love -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shawshank Redemption -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Small Soldiers - Jerry Goldsmith
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Stargate -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Fifth Element- Eric Serra -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Hunt for Red October -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Insider -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Mummy -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Mummy Returns -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Peacemaker -
A soundtrack that should not be driven to! It took a while to
grow on me, but now ranks among my favourites.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Princess Bride - Mark Knopfler - *****
The film has everything to like about it, and the soundtrack is
no exception. :)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Professional(Leon) - Eric Serra - *** '
A very quiet score, with a nice "Parisienne" violin
theme in places. Characteristics - Low flute/woodwind, acoustic
guitar, solo violin, string section. Suited to a Sunday listening
whilst kipping in a beanbag, or dozing in a comfy bed. For
something with a bit more of a booster, consider Serra's work on The Fifth Element. Noted tracks - 1. Noon; 6. She
is Dead; 11. Feel the Breath; 17. Tony the IBM; 21,22, The Fight
(parts 3 &4); 23. Two Ways Out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Red Violin - John Coriglianomay
suit a violin lover's tastes more... still, good score.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The 13th Warrior - Jerry Goldsmith - ***** *!
I really enjoy this soundtrack! Probably more than I enjoyed the
film (which didn't win me over straight away, but improved with
subsequent re-wiewage).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Truman Show -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Total Recall -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Toys -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Van Helsing - Alan Silvestri - ***
Very disappointed that the theme from the "first
introduction" to the Van Helsing character is not part of
the CD, as this was the main theme that I wanted.
A small sample of it can be heard in the "Ride to
Transylvania", which at just over a minute and a half in
length, is far too short.
If it had the main theme, I would have given it an extra half.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Zorro (The Mask of) -
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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