(The following donated review by Sean O'Neill was moved by Filmtracks to this comment section in July, 2007)
Mulan: (Jerry Goldsmith/Matthew Wilder) I saw the trailer in the
theater and the film looked like Goldsmith could break through with a truly epic score, with
an oriental side to the score. The music from Dragonheart worked unbelievably well in
the trailer, and so did that wicked battle music at
the beginning of the trailer when the Mongol warriors storm down the hill. Goldsmith has
composed one of the best scores I've ever heard from him; the main theme is grand with the
brass and string sections giving its tribute. The
orchestrations are grand like the score: who better to do it than
Alexander Courage, who also did an excellent job with The Ghost and the
Darkness.
The first score track is incredible, beginning with the main theme and
then moving into transitions with a secondary theme with a low percussion
beat. Suddenly, the brass and percussion then are joined to create an
awesome theme. Hints of the Disney side of the film are given later in the
track, with an oriental flavour which goes into a romantic epic scale like
that of Star Trek First Contact and The Edge before moving
to a climax.
Another excellent cue, and my second favorite from "Suite from Mulan" and
"Mulan's Decision," is "The Huns Attack". Both "Mulan's Decision" and
"The Huns Attack" have a heroic feel to them, with Mulan's theme played
by brass and percussion. The heroics aren't spoiled by and loud blasts
from the brass and no screeching strings --in fact, none of the score ever
is annoying. The true evil side to this CD is the inclusion of those
crappy songs; I'll probably get it for that. The good thing is that Goldsmith
didn't write any of the songs.
Mr. Clemmensen was right about Goldsmith. He wrote a pretty bland score
for Deep Rising and then followed with U.S. Marshals, which
didn't carry as an action score (but was a little better then Deep Rising).
Mulan is ten times better then either of his two other contributions this year. All I
can say is that it's just going to get better for Goldsmith in 1998, with Small
Soldiers and Star Trek IX. *****
