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| 9/29/10
- | Krull: (James Horner)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if you enjoy any of James Horner's early action scores, for this one embodies his distinct
1980's style and foreshadows many of his later classic scores for blockbuster adventures.
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Avoid it... |
if the derivative rhythms, motifs, and instrumentation of Horner's action style of this era
have lost their appeal over the years for you as his music has cannibalized itself and
matured.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 9/27/10
- | Batman: (Danny Elfman)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if you have any affection for vibrant, exciting, and tragic superhero scores, for Danny
Elfman's Batman is among the best ever recorded.
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Avoid it... |
if Elfman's famous theme for the character has become too overexposed for your liking, or if
you disapprovingly recall some of the passages that reveal the composer's inspiration from
others' works.
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| Rating: | *****
Read the entire review
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| 9/24/10
- | The Poseidon Adventure: (John Williams)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if you're exploring the early triumphs of John Williams' transformation into a master of
large-scale orchestral action and desire a taste of his grim, dissonant style of dread.
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Avoid it... |
if lingering sound quality issues due to poor master tape availability, as well as the
perpetual scarcity of the score on album, deter you from its often unreasonable prices when
also considering that it lacks enough typical Williams harmony to satisfy casual collectors.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 9/22/10
- | Dragonslayer: (Alex North)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
if you specifically appreciate Alex North's large-scale action scores with avant garde
tendencies that play more like classical symphonies rather than film scores appropriate to a
specific genre.
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Avoid it... |
if your sword and sorcery scores need to have bold thematic statements, easily recognizable
progressions, distinct action pieces, and, like the film, a tone fitting even the most basic
parameters of genre expectations.
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| Rating: | *
Read the entire review
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| 9/20/10
- | The Fugitive: (James Newton Howard)
- Updated Review, With Additional Album |
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Buy it... |
only if you appreciated James Newton Howard's staggered action rhythms, faint noir jazz, and
ambient effects in the context of the film, or if you have an affinity for the similar,
mundane Jerry Goldsmith thriller scores of the era.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect the score to be an engaging souvenir of a superior film that frankly could have
used a more memorable and cohesive musical accompaniment to match the consistently propulsive
sense of urgency in the plot.
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| Rating: | **
Read the entire review
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| 9/17/10
- | The Postman: (James Newton Howard)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you have always enjoyed James Newton Howard's general adventure and fantasy material on a
large scale, because The Postman was something of a template for many similar scores to follow
from the composer.
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Avoid it... |
if you seek unique themes, instrumental applications, or other techniques in what is
essentially a pleasantly generic entry for Howard in the genre.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 9/14/10
- | American History X: (Anne Dudley)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek the most powerful score of Anne Dudley's career, a remarkably heavy and tragic
orchestral lamentation that alternates between deeply solemn, sparse interludes and extremely
engaging action and redemption highlights.
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Avoid it... |
if you have no interest in attempting to casually enjoy the most brutal and challenging of
soundtracks, because this score matches the intensity and emotional weight of the film without
fail.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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| 9/11/10
- | Reign of Fire: (Edward Shearmur)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you delight in exhibits of superior instrumental texture, especially if they are the
groaning, banging, and shrieking variety that cause pets to flee from the room and neighbors
to peer out the windows with cautious curiosity.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect the marginal thematic element in Reign of Fire to provide enough satisfying
harmonic relief from what remains a long album of challenging post-modern techniques and loud
dissonance.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 9/7/10
- | Fargo: (Carter Burwell)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you are absolutely prepared for the sparse, solemn demeanor of Carter Burwell's highly
effective but depressing fiddle-defined score.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect the score to convey any of the black humor of the film, because Burwell's intent
was to play Fargo with a serious, morbid tone despite the strangely lyrical nature of his
adapted title theme.
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| Rating: | ***
Read the entire review
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| 9/4/10
- | Vertical Limit: (James Newton Howard)
- All New Review |
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Buy it... |
if you seek ten to fifteen minutes of outstanding melodic majesty for a full orchestral
ensemble and choral accents, appropriate justice for the grand vistas in any mountain climbing
film.
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Avoid it... |
if you expect the second half of this score to exhibit any of the robust stature or
interesting performance aspects of the preceding material, an oddly significant and
disappointing shift in scope and personality for a score of this promise.
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| Rating: | ****
Read the entire review
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