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The Whole Wide World

Produced, Orchestrated, Arranged, and Co-Produced by:
Harry Gregson-Williams
Co-Produced by:
Slamm Andrews
Consultation by:
Hans Zimmer


Label:
Mojo Music Inc/Mojotrax
Release Date:
February 5th, 1997


Also See:

Smilla's Sense of Snow
The Rock


Audio Clips:

1. The Love Theme (0:31), 156K whole_wide1.ra

3. Conan Emerges (0:30), 150K whole_wide3.ra

9. ...Let Go of your Mother (0:28), 140K whole_wide9.ra

10. Novalyne's Theme (0:30), 150K whole_wide10.ra



Availability:

  Regular U.S. release in 1996, but completely out of print a few years later. Very difficult to find, with copies reportedly selling for as much as $75 in the 2000's.


Awards:

  None.









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The Whole Wide World

Audio | Availability | Viewer Ratings | Tracks | Viewer Comments | Notes & Quotes
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  Used Price: $49.99

  Sales Rank: 283357

  Avg. Rating: 3.50

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Filmtracks Recommends:

Buy it... if you are not bothered by romantic compositions that need strong orchestral performances but are instead electronically rendered.

Avoid it... if you are expecting to either hear Hans Zimmer at work or if you prefer a collaboration with Harry Gregson-Williams that produces something more consistent, such as Smilla's Sense of Snow.



Filmtracks Editorial Review:

Gregson-Williams
Zimmer
The Whole Wide World: (Harry Gregson-Williams) Robert E. Howard was one of the more inspired fantasy writers of a generation, conjuring such famous serial characters as Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Conquerer, and Red Sonja. His youthful, platonic relationship with writer Novalyne Price Ellis is the subject of the story for The Whole Wide World, with the three-year friendship between writers recalled many decades later by the still-living Ellis. The tumultuous, but undeniably sweet relationship between the two was strained if only because Ellis enjoyed writing about naturalistic topics while Howard was, well, stuck in the imaginary land of Conan. Ellis' book of romantic recollection, "One Who Walked Alone," was several years in the translation to the big screen, and while embraced with critical success (especially in response to a strong early performance by actress Renee Zellweger) at the time of its release, The Whole Wide World was actually seen by very few people. Director Dan Ireland asked his friend and collaborator Hans Zimmer to compose the music for film, and although Zimmer accepted, he introduced Harry Gregson-Williams as the artist would compose the majority of music for the film. Gregson-Williams was mainly an arranger who was quickly rising up the ranks of Media Ventures artists (much like Nick Glennie-Smith at the time) and doing much of the writing duties for Zimmer. The intriguing aspect of The Whole Wide World is that unlike other Zimmer co-credited projects in which the maestro writes a theme/cue or two, Zimmer did nothing for The Whole Wide World. As Gregson-Williams said back at the time of the film's release, "Hans didn't write any music for The Whole Wide World. In fact he heard my score for the first time at the premiere." Strangely, though, the director emphatically thanks Zimmer for the score and Zimmer's name appears atop the credits for the film and album. Another ghostwriting controversy perhaps? Nothing ever came of it, maybe because of the project's total obscurity. The score by itself is an early and interesting look at Gregson-Williams' solo talent.

The influences of Zimmer's styles are clearly evident in this Gregson-Williams music, with pieces of Crimson Tide action motifs appearing throughout the score. There are essentially three sides to The Whole Wide World: the internal world of each novelist and their combined love theme. That love theme opens and closes the album, with one magnificent performance in "The Telegram." While the theme's construction has a sincere heart, its performance is one of those that greatly needed a strong orchestral presence to convey that heart, but received synthetic treatment instead. A sense of authenticity is missing from much of the score, and despite the restraints naturally existing on a film like this because of its budget, the score does suffer in its attempts at grand thematic statement. The romantic underscore for Ellis runs for lengthy sequences throughout the score, and is never less than pleasant. Here, we get woodwinds, pianos, and acoustic guitar accompanied by light strings with a more convincing orchestral result. Contrasting these fluffy cues are the dark side of Howard's imagination, with bass-heavy synths and deep mock choruses pounding Conan from pen to paper. These cues are unfortunately too spread out and harsh in tone compared to the romance to really satisfy fans of Zimmer's action influences. The score further feels the effects of its schizophrenia with cues such as "...Let Go of Your Mother" (which features layers of female and deep male choral vocals) and "Sombrero" (which comes out of nowhere with a short burst of Latin rhythms). At the very end of the album, after a reprise of the title theme, a minute of silence is followed by a hidden reprise of "Conan Emerges," with an even wilder violin performance tearing into the quiet room. Despite good intentions, and excellent compositions in individual sections of the score, the overall package is lacking in cohesion and orchestral authenticity. Poorly rendered electronics are the true villain here. Be aware that the first printing of the album for The Whole Wide World was faulty and would not easily play; these copies often had Zimmer's name misspelled on the front packaging. Approach with caution, and be sure to remember that this is not a Hans Zimmer score. ***

Purchasing Options: CD Universe (New), Amazon.com (New or Used), eBay/Half.com (Used)




   Viewer Ratings and Comments:

    Regular Average: 3.61 Stars
    Smart Average: 3.39 Stars
    *
    ***** 40 
    **** 26 
    *** 29 
    ** 15 
    * 9 
    (View results for all titles)
        * Smart Average only includes
             40% of 5-star and 1-star votes
                  to counterbalance fringe voting.
    Most Recent Comments:
    Read All  
       Awesome soundtrack
      Armando Sanchez -- 9/5/05 (2:30 p.m.)
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   Track Listings:
Total Time: 42:17

    • 1. The Love Theme (2:45)
    • 2. Two Sides of Bob (6:18)
    • 3. Conan Emerges (1:29)
    • 4. Novalyne Reflects (2:53)
    • 5. The Telegram (5:20)
    • 6. A Yarn Unfolds (2:43)
    • 7. Letters at Sunset/The Cabin (7:07)
    • 8. Bob's Despair (1:41)
    • 9. ...Let Go of your Mother (3:34)
    • 10. Novalyne's Theme (3:09)
    • 11. Sombrero (0:31)
    • 12. End Titles (4:42)

    (1:12 of total time is silence)




   Notes and Quotes:

    The insert includes a note about the score and film from director Dan Ireland.







All artwork and sound clips from The Whole Wide World are Copyright © 1997, Mojo Music Inc/Mojotrax. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 7/17/04, updated 7/18/04. Review Version 4.2 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 1997-2008, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved.