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The Last Samurai on DVD
• "wide-ranging score" • Dolby Digital 5.1 More DVD info... |
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The Last Samurai on DVD
• "wide-ranging score" • Dolby Digital 5.1 More DVD info... |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you look forward to hearing Hans Zimmer, in a solo effort, venture forward into a new genre of music that includes a variety of native, specialty instruments. Avoid it... if you had any qualms about Zimmer's use of out-of-place synthesizers to add depth to the orchestra in Gladiator and would similarly resent their employment in this score. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Hans Zimmer, however, handles his native instrumentation differently than Horner does. Instead of glorifying each individual instrument in its composition and mixing, Zimmer is more concerned with the overall package. Thus, you are much more likely to hear all of Zimmer's elements together at once, even at lesser volumes, than have a shakahachi flute, for instance, howl over the top of all the other performers. The shakahachi is joined by various other woodwinds, a fiddle, Navajo voice, koto, and, most importantly, the Taiko drums, which pound throughout The Last Samurai with a determined base. Through these elements, Zimmer creates a score that is revolves around textured layers of sound and only slips into thematic mode during battle sequences. The themes have Zimmer's usual neo-classical style to them, but they never rise to a level of nobility that was heard in Gladiator. This is a welcomed move, because the Americanized theme is usually presented through Japanese instrumentation. The melodies of the reflective underscore exist in the same harmony as in Beyond Rangoon, and, as heard in The Thin Red Line, there is almost always a major-key cello chord underneath the music in order to elevate that nobility to achieve a greater cinematic effect. The music is pleasantly accessible for most of its length, following simple harmonies that Western listeners can identify with. The way Zimmer handles the integration of the Eastern instruments and sensibilities into his own styles is similar to the way Basil Poledouris did the same in 2002's The Touch. The music for The Last Samurai is immediately recognizable as being composed by Zimmer while also stepping through new territory at the same time. This is probably the sense of quality that Zwick was looking for in a score, although it could be argued that the same detractions from Gladiator also plague, to a lesser extent, The Last Samurai; that is, Zimmer's insistence on supplying dramatic weight in his music by layering his strings and brass with an electronic mix of the same. Sometimes, as in Invincible recently, this technique is superbly rendered. In The Last Samurai, the electronics are clearly the weakness. When Zimmer kicks the full ensemble in gear with all of the soloists, the added electronic depth to the chords is less noticeable and convincingly does its job. But when the electronics are alone with the orchestra, they become troublesome. This is because you end up with a sound like that of Toys or Crimson Tide --a blatantly synthetically enhanced sound-- in circumstances that don't fit their style. The Los Angeles orchestra hired for The Last Samurai was relatively small, necessitating the use of the electronics to flesh out their sound, and why the orchestra couldn't have been fuller is another reasonable question to ask. Zimmer fans know, if even only from the likes of Hannibal, that the composer can write spectacular music for a recording largely without the assistance of the synths, and The Last Samurai could have been a similar project. Zimmer and Zwick might argue that the Japanese culture was rigid and strict at the time and thus the music followed suit, and yet the flat, electronic sound in parts of this score don't mesh as well with the dynamically recorded specialty instruments. The male chanting in "Red Warrior" and female vocals in "To Know My Enemy" are recorded with the same clarity as the metallic clanging of swords in the battle sequences, and the vivacious recording quality of these fantastic cues is offset by the more dull synthetic cues. One curious synthetic effect that conversely works is the echoing sound of Chariots of Fire-style metal tapping at the end of the "To Know My Enemy" cue. Most of Zimmer's other, more varied cues also inspire multiple listens --and the Taiko drum alone is an impressive inclusion in any of its cues-- but be forewarned that if you had any qualms about Zimmer's use of synthetic depth in Gladiator, then you may be disappointed by the same application of electronics in The Last Samurai. Zimmer's supplemental ethnic instruments, though, along with his genuinely interesting contemplative work for the film, make The Last Samurai one his better efforts in recent years. The emotional power in the score resides in its less-intense cues, although the album is split about half and half between action and reflection. A rare solo score by Zimmer these days, The Last Samurai could very well follow the success of the film during the awards season. ****
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film. The CD is an 'enhanced' product with a website link that leads to photos, trailers, and production material. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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