Took a bloody long while, as these bastards tend to do, but here we are at that oh-so-glorious year of 2004! In order of theatrical release:

Hidalgo - ***

If you want some rousing, entertaining Western adventure music, then boy do we have…two or three great cues for you! The opening and final two tracks on this album are a lot of fun – the rest, man, I dunno. Way too much blah underscore and a ton of Middle Eastern-flavoured music that sounded like a rejected score from The Four Feathers. It’s aight.

Hellboy - ***1/2

Yet another “Pointless Riley Story”. So I go to A&B Sound, see this score for 20 bucks, and think “hell yeah, that guy did Blade II, I’m totally getting this”. And the fucking thing had weird skippy noises throughout. Annoyed, I take it back a couple weeks later, get a refund, buy it again – and the same thing happens. This was not exactly pre-internet, sure, but it was early enough that I hadn’t even thought to research this issue, and find out that the original album pressing had shit loads of glitches, so I wasn’t alone. Just pissed. Anyhoo, the music’s damn good – for my money, the best Hellboy music we’ve had so far. A lot of the action is downright freaky, the cue Fireproof being a great example, and others go more operatic and melodramatic than you’d expect from a movie where Ron Perlman wears a hundred pounds of red prosthetics and chomps cigars.

The Alamo - *

Carter Burwell has a lot of staunch defenders on this site. Mostly Tristan. So I apologize, Tristan, for hating this score so much. I can’t remember the last time I heard something so lifeless and boring. NOTHING FARKIN’ HAPPENS!!!

The Punisher - ****

Copy and pasted from my Non-MCU Score series last year:

Another one of my first score purchases, this one took me by complete surprise at the time. For me, back then especially, “action scores” meant “Zimmer”. Anything that didn't sound like Media Ventures was foreign to me, and this decidedly old-fashioned, very orchestral score by Carlo Silotto, which sounds plucked right out of the 1970s, was an odd duck. Yet I still listened to it all the time, rapidly falling in love with it (I’m just gonna say the primary theme for The Punisher, epic and melancholy at the same time, is a Top 5 all time theme for the genre). I was going to give this 4.5/5, then I rewatched the movie for the first time in a decade last night, and…y’know what, it doesn’t quite work in context. It is often too over the top, too cheesy at times – hell, even the lead actor Thomas Jane complained about the score after loving the nearly music-less rough cut and then seeing this at the premiere, thinking it was far too melodramatic for the material. He might be right. I don’t care much though. Still awesome.

Man on Fire - ***

I mean…it’s a Harry Gregson Williams score for a Tony Scott action/thriller. They all, more or less, sounded the same – some lovely cues, often featuring Lisa Gerrard or someone similar, a bunch of electronic action zipping all over the place your ears get twitchy, and a bunch of bland underscore. I honestly don’t know how to rank or rate these scores, because they all do the job supporting the ADHD-inflicted filmmaking Scott had at the time, but they’re also so schizophrenic it’s hard to enjoy any of them on album.

Van Helsing - ****1/2

2004 was my Alan Silvestri year. He’s never been one of my fave composers (of main themes, oh my yes, but for overall scores…not so much). But then in this glorious year, he rocked my bullocks with both Van Helsing and The Polar Express, which I maintain is his greatest all time score. Despite Pol-Ex being a Christmas family film, it’s similar to Van Helsing in that it contains the best action writing of his career – I listen to the energy and power and creativity in Helsing (that guitar in Journey to Transylvania, oh my gawwwwd) and then think back on his Avengers scores and I dunno…for me, it’s night and day. Van Helsing is 50 minutes of slam-bang adventure writing with the occasional splash of horror and romance, befitting the highly goofy yet highly enjoyable movie. Plus, THAT GUITAR IN JOURNEY TO TRANSYLVANIA!

Troy - ***1/2

One of my favourite behind-the-scenes disaster stories has been the Gabriel Yared/James Horner debacle over Troy. It just kept going and going – I remember being flabbergasted when Yared posted a couple cues of his rejected score online before they got taken down. I don’t even know if at the time, I understood what a “rejected score” was, and yet here were a couple action cues that blew my absolute socks off, and then I went and listened to Horner’s last-minute slap-dash replacement and went “…huh”. So here’s the thing – the two scores just aren’t comparable. Yared’s is a masterpiece, Horner’s is a rush job so filled with Hornerisms that if you made it a drinking game and took a shot with every danger motif you’ll have liver failure by the end of its 75 minutes. But it still is a solid, effective action/drama score, the kind of music I would kill to have more of today. One of those things you take the good with the bad (or you just ignore Horner's, pop in Yared's, and get nothing but good).

The Day After Tomorrow - ***1/2

Way back in junior high, I spent two months’ worth of allowances on two new scores, both composed by the same guys, Harald Kloser and Thomas Wander, with Day After Tomorrow and Alien Vs. Predator. Today, I remembered very little about either one, other than that I found them more entertaining action scores than reviews at the time said, though relistening to DAT this morning made me realize it doesn’t have a ton of action, and the action it does have is kinda flat. What this score does deliver, though, is a splendid main theme that’s kind of like a slower, sadder mix of Independence Day and Journey to the Line. The titular cue and President’s Speech are fantastic – the rest is fine.

The Chronicles of Riddick - **1/2

I listened to this right when it came out, downloading every dang track from Kazaa, and thought “Meh”. 21 years later I give it another spin and think…”Meh”. It’s functional. It’s fine. Some of it is more epic than usual for Revell…other stuff is exactly what was least interesting about Revell. On the plus side, there’s a cue called Pop the Cock, so there you go Kuhni – if you want to set up a German indie band, there’s your name.

Spider-Man 2 - ****1/2

Another copy and paste from my previous series:

Rarely are sequel scores better than the first, but Elfman’s Spidey 2 managed it – shocking considering how badly things went in post-production behind the scenes (the use of the Hellraiser music now that I’m a Hellraiser fan is hilariously distracting). The heroism is more highlighted and epic, the dramatic and romantic stuff more touching, and the action among the best of any Spidey flick. Also, unlike the first Spider-Man score, this one has a fantastic villain theme. So why do I give it the same 4.5/5 star rating? I dunno. This isn’t an exact science. It’s all slightly better while both not quite being masterpiece levels (if this seems cranky, remember that I have probably only given a full 5/5 stars to maaaaaaybe 50 scores). Anyways, it’s an awesome work, even with Chris Young (and John Debney too) having to pitch in to the whims of the director losing his marbles.

King Arthur - *****

Most of the scores for this journey I relisten to before writing about (hence why each entry takes a fuckin month to complete). I didn’t bother relistening to King Arthur, because I could probably recite every single note from memory as I sit here typing. Zimmer’s King Arthur may not be often mentioned among his greats (hell, our own Obi Wan, Craig, hates it if memory serves). But for me, it’s not only his best score, it’s been in my Top 20 all-time scores since it came out. It’s everything I want in an action/adventure score – big bold themes played repeatedly, a shit load of heroism, epic as balls action that rattles my cages and smashes my innards, moments of beauty and haunting melancholy instead of droning “braaaawm thump thump waaaamps”, and all of this in a neat and tidy hour-long package. Hell, I even love the Enya-esque song plopped in here too. If you haven’t revisited this one in a while, please do so. When I put on my cranky pants – and it’s often – by saying “Hollywood scores don’t sound like they used to”, this is exactly what I mean. Same composer, same kind of movie, yet COMPLETELY different tones, sounds, melodies, and entertainment value than what we’re getting from the Zim’s (and all his many many copycats) today.

I, Robot – ***1/2

Marco did some quirk work with this sucker. Alex Proyas wanted to collab with Trevor Jones again for his new Will Smith bot-battling flick, but Jones had to pull out at the last minute, leaving Marco Beltrami 17 days to write and record the entire score. Considering the incredibly short time he had, it’s amazing the score turned out as good as it did – in fact it’s easily the Beltrami album I’ve listened to the most over the years, spinning it quite a few times in high school. The action is solid though a bit too choppy for my tastes (an issue I have with all Beltrami’s action writing), and there’s some mundane suspense underscore that won’t light anyone’s butt on fire. However, I Robot remains a damn fine album because Beltrami conjured up a fantastic main theme, one he uses throughout that comes across more mysterious and haunting than you’d expect.

The Bourne Supremacy - ****1/2

In the last entry, I was surprised at how so much of The Bourne Identity, on relisten, kinda sucked. Today, I’m surprised at how much Bourne Supremacy completely blew away every single aspect of Powell’s original entry. Talk about overachieving – dude could’ve just repeated what came before, considering Identity was an inexplicably successful and popular score, and instead he said “hold my beer” and did everything the same, just a thousand times better. Therefore, it still feels innately Bourne – the mood and design didn’t really change, making everything fit cohesively in the trilogy. It’s just that the energy, the excitement, the action, the badassedry – all of it got cranked to 11. And despite all this, my favourite cue of the entire score might not even be one of the big action moments, but Funeral Pyre, which mixes emotion with classic Powell percussion in such a beguiling way.

Catwoman – *1/2

I mean…it’s not like Klaus Badelt was given a lot to work with.

Collateral - ****

What a musical mess this wonderful Michael Mann action/thriller was. If memory serves – James Newton Howard was hired to write the score. He scored I think the majority of the movie, but Mann being Mann, he then replaced about 80% of it, some with music by Antonio Pinto (including the wonderful final cue, something so good even JNH admitted it was better than his own work) and one of the producers, Tom Rothrock. Plus, Mann jammed in a ton of songs to go with it, which ranged from Mexican ballads to pulsating techno to an Audioslave song that blew my friggin mind (and introduced me to them as well). All of this chaos should be a negative, yet…I think the musical landscape of Collateral is awesome. The songs are wicked, Rothrock’s contributions very entertaining, Pinto delivers the best music of the movie for the finale, and JNH’s stuff (including the chase music at the end which was almost completely omitted from the OST much to my chagrin) is damn solid too.

Aliens vs. Predator – ***

It’s fine. The horror is decent, the action kinda fun, the lack of any memorable themes an issue, and within, like, 35 minutes it’s over. I can see why I dug it as a teen but rarely returned to it.

Paparazzi – **1/2

This one is also just fine. Brian Tyler before he was really Brian Tyler doing an action/thriller in a Brian Tyler style before Brian Tyler Style was really stylish. So yeah, it’s…fine, I guess.

Cellular – ??

I dunno guys…it’s not on Spotify and it’s not on YouTube and it’s the only one I haven’t written about. I just wanna post this thing and get er done. Eff it!

Resident Evil: Apocalypse - ***

Of all the composers you may have thought scored a Resident Evil movie…I bet Jeff Danna isn’t high on your expectation list. I really have no clue how he got associated with this one (to compare, the first movie had Marco Beltrami, and the third had Charlie Clouser). But I’m glad he did, because this was the only Resident Evil score I ever owned, and dare I say the only one that’s actually listenable on it’s own. To be fair, it runs out of steam halfway through and never recovers, but the first half is quite a bit of early 00’s hard rock action mixed with early 00’s horror. Nothing earth shaking, but considering I’ve never heard Danna in this mode before or since, it’s worth listening to.

Sky Captain – ****

Another year, another painful reminder how good Edward Shearmur was, and how awesome life was in the early 00’s when the guy got hired on so many big projects. Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow (if we’re gonna be picky and fully spell out the entire title) is an extreeeeemely dated movie, it’s “fully in a computer” special effects now looking as special as an Instagram filter made by my four year old, but at least it allowed Shearmur to harken back to the Korngold days of old-school, old-fashioned heroism and derring-do. I find the score almost a little exhausting as a straight-through listen, because it just keeps coming at you with so much signature classic 1940s Hollywood action sounding stuff, but that’s a good problem to have.

Team America – ****

One of the best satires and funniest movies of all time, Team America also gave us one of the best and funniest satires of modern film scoring. Harry Gregson Williams, taking scoring duties over from Marc Shaiman after some creative differences (luckily Shaiman’s hilarious songs stayed in) understood the assignment to a T. Whereas most cranky critics at the time were too pissed at the movie’s politics and too-soon approach to terrorism, those of us who hated Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer action movies knew exactly what the movie was actually spoofing, and HGW delivered a perfectly straight-faced Media Ventures score that would’ve fit like a glove in any Bay/Bruckheimer crapfest. The action, the overly serious moments, and especially the power anthem – he nailed it all, so well.

National Treasure – ***1/2

One of the great disappointments in recent years that didn’t involve politics in America was Trevor Rabin’s long-awaited return to big-budget action scoring with the National Treasure Disney+ show. It was, alas, pretty mediocre – apparently almost every action scene used a needle drop, so he didn't have much to play with, and we were stuck with a lot of music I like to describe as “Aggressive Walking And Talking To Move The Plot Forward”. But y’know, in all fairness…the first two National Treasure scores had a lot of the same. They really aren’t among his best – even the action cues, while fun, lack what I loved most about Rabin in that he usually hinged his action around a simplistic, memorable main theme. National Treasure didn’t really do that, so while it’s not all Aggressive Walking and Talking music, it still isn’t the most thrilling stuff in the world.

Alexander - *****

Since Day One of this score existing (and I mean literally, cause I bought it the day it came out) this has been an all-time fave for me. Since we’re here to talk about action, let’s get one big stickler out of the way – the album only has one real barn burner action cue on it, Drums of Gaugamela. And its so goddamn perfect it makes up for a lack of great (or even any action at all) on the rest of the breezy and beautiful 60 minute album. The choral chanting, the majesty, the synths that actually work really well somehow, and oh yeah, THE THEMES, OH GOD THESE THEMES, INJECT THEM DIRECTLY TO MY SOUL. Love love love this score, by far the best work Vangelis ever did.

Next Up: Desplat emerges, Badelt overachieves, Horner has a blast, and Zimmer delivers an awesome score that essentially changes Hollywood music for the worse, forever.

> Took a bloody long while, as these bastards tend to do, but here we are at
> that oh-so-glorious year of 2004! In order of theatrical release:

> Hidalgo - ***

I relistened to this one just a few days ago, and I like it more than you. Also, I'm surprised I missed the little easter egg of a few notes from the theme to Lawrence of Arabia on previous listens. A very enjoyable score that I'd rank highly in the "horse-film" score sub-genre.

> Hellboy - ***1/2

Love the film and score, which remains my favorite from Beltrami. As much as I like Elfman, I wish he was brought back to score the sequel. Maybe if Hellboy 3 ever happens, he'll come back.

> The Alamo - *

Hey, at least we have Tiomken's great Alamo score.

> The Punisher - ****

Agreed. I wish Siliotto got a chance for more mainstream films (and in fact I'm listening to one of his scores right now).

> Man on Fire - ***

As much as I like HGW, I don't think I ever bothered with one of his Tony Scott film scores outside of the film.

> Van Helsing - ****1/2

I find this one overrated, but I've also read a lot of material is missing from the album, so maybe an expanded release will change my mind.

> Troy - ***1/2

I like both Horner's and Yared's scores. I also really dig film.

> Spider-Man 2 - ****1/2

This one deserves the full 5 stars, and La La Land's expanded release is one of the best score purchases I've made this year.

> King Arthur - *****

Another score I find really over-rated. It's good, no way is it 5-stars good.

> I, Robot – ***1/2

This is right on the money.

> The Bourne Supremacy - ****1/2

It's still one of my top 5 Powell scores.

> Collateral - ****

oof, you like this much more than me. It's just in one ear and out the other every time I listen to it.

> Aliens vs. Predator – ***

Probably my least favorite score from the Alien or Predator sereis.

> Sky Captain – ****

Great stuff.

> Team America – ****

I'll probably need to listen to this at some point.

> National Treasure – ***1/2

I just want a 3rd film already!

> Alexander - *****

It's wonderful.

> Van Helsing - ****1/2

Full five for me. Silvestri really did just deliver his best two scores in the same year.

> Troy - ***1/2

What a mess. I know we talk about it all the time, but what. A. Mess.

> The Day After Tomorrow - ***1/2

I have never once been impressed enough with a Kloser and/or Wander score to keep it in my library. No exception here.

> Spider-Man 2 - ****1/2

I really need to listen to this trilogy.

> King Arthur - *****

> Most of the scores for this journey I relisten to before writing about
> (hence why each entry takes a fuckin month to complete). I didn’t bother
> relistening to King Arthur, because I could probably recite every single
> note from memory as I sit here typing. Zimmer’s King Arthur may not be
> often mentioned among his greats (hell, our own Obi Wan, Craig, hates it
> if memory serves). But for me, it’s not only his best score, it’s been in
> my Top 20 all-time scores since it came out. It’s everything I want in an
> action/adventure score – big bold themes played repeatedly, a shit load of
> heroism, epic as balls action that rattles my cages and smashes my
> innards, moments of beauty and haunting melancholy instead of droning
> “braaaawm thump thump waaaamps”, and all of this in a neat and tidy
> hour-long package. Hell, I even love the Enya-esque song plopped in here
> too. If you haven’t revisited this one in a while, please do so. When I
> put on my cranky pants – and it’s often – by saying “Hollywood scores
> don’t sound like they used to”, this is exactly what I mean. Same
> composer, same kind of movie, yet COMPLETELY different tones, sounds,
> melodies, and entertainment value than what we’re getting from the Zim’s
> (and all his many many copycats) today.

Ditto to everything you wrote here. I still get a little sad when I listen to this score knowing that it and its kind are, for all intents and purposes, forever a thing of the past.

> I, Robot – ***1/2

Giving a composer 17 days to score a feature film should be punishable by prison time.

> The Bourne Supremacy - ****1/2

I just don't get this franchise's music. To me, it just sounds like all the copycats that came after, and when there's the kind of Powell that makes me happy just to be alive out there? Why would I ever need to go listen to this?

> Sky Captain – ****

The irony of people saying this score is like Korngold is that this score is about five times more exciting than 99 percent of Korngold's entire discography.

> Team America – ****

I also need to listen to this one.

> Alexander - *****

I know complaining about the synths in a Vangelis score is stupid, but really dude; the synths were already there, so why'd you have to make the orchestra sound atrociously fake too? Just add the synths and let the people who know how to orchestra (Nic Raine) do their jobs!

> Took a bloody long while, as these bastards tend to do, but here we are at
> that oh-so-glorious year of 2004! In order of theatrical release:

> Hidalgo - ***

> If you want some rousing, entertaining Western adventure music, then boy
> do we have…two or three great cues for you! The opening and final two
> tracks on this album are a lot of fun – the rest, man, I dunno. Way too
> much blah underscore and a ton of Middle Eastern-flavoured music that
> sounded like a rejected score from The Four Feathers. It’s aight.

Managed to pick this up a few months ago. I need another listen to know whether or not I should agree with this take.

> Hellboy - ***1/2

> Yet another “Pointless Riley Story”. So I go to A&B Sound, see this score
> for 20 bucks, and think “hell yeah, that guy did Blade II, I’m totally
> getting this”. And the fucking thing had weird skippy noises throughout.
> Annoyed, I take it back a couple weeks later, get a refund, buy it again –
> and the same thing happens. This was not exactly pre-internet, sure, but
> it was early enough that I hadn’t even thought to research this issue, and
> find out that the original album pressing had shit loads of glitches, so I
> wasn’t alone. Just pissed. Anyhoo, the music’s damn good – for my money,
> the best Hellboy music we’ve had so far. A lot of the action is downright
> freaky, the cue Fireproof being a great example, and others go more
> operatic and melodramatic than you’d expect from a movie where Ron Perlman
> wears a hundred pounds of red prosthetics and chomps cigars.

Beltrami's masterpiece, without question. I get the sense that it takes the right director to bring out this side of him because a lot of his stuff is aural wallpaper. Not so here. Truly gorgeous and colorful music. Why aren't all comic book adaptations scored like this? Seriously, somebody add that shit to the Constitution!

> The Punisher - ****

> Copy and pasted from my Non-MCU Score series last year:

> Another one of my first score purchases, this one took me by complete
> surprise at the time. For me, back then especially, “action scores” meant
> “Zimmer”. Anything that didn't sound like Media Ventures was foreign to
> me, and this decidedly old-fashioned, very orchestral score by Carlo
> Silotto, which sounds plucked right out of the 1970s, was an odd duck. Yet
> I still listened to it all the time, rapidly falling in love with it (I’m
> just gonna say the primary theme for The Punisher, epic and melancholy at
> the same time, is a Top 5 all time theme for the genre). I was going to
> give this 4.5/5, then I rewatched the movie for the first time in a decade
> last night, and…y’know what, it doesn’t quite work in context. It is often
> too over the top, too cheesy at times – hell, even the lead actor Thomas
> Jane complained about the score after loving the nearly music-less rough
> cut and then seeing this at the premiere, thinking it was far too
> melodramatic for the material. He might be right. I don’t care much
> though. Still awesome.

Pretty much what I just said. The score is too big for the movie and yet, perfect for it at the same time. Very operatic. Pity that Siliotto isn't a bigger name on this side of the pond.

> Van Helsing - ****1/2

> 2004 was my Alan Silvestri year. He’s never been one of my fave composers
> (of main themes, oh my yes, but for overall scores…not so much). But then
> in this glorious year, he rocked my bullocks with both Van Helsing and The
> Polar Express, which I maintain is his greatest all time score. Despite
> Pol-Ex being a Christmas family film, it’s similar to Van Helsing in that
> it contains the best action writing of his career – I listen to the energy
> and power and creativity in Helsing (that guitar in Journey to
> Transylvania, oh my gawwwwd) and then think back on his Avengers scores
> and I dunno…for me, it’s night and day. Van Helsing is 50 minutes of
> slam-bang adventure writing with the occasional splash of horror and
> romance, befitting the highly goofy yet highly enjoyable movie. Plus, THAT
> GUITAR IN JOURNEY TO TRANSYLVANIA!

One could argue that this is too big for the movie, but that's only if you've never seen the movie. I still remember the burn on this score in the Mad Magazine parody of the film. I'd love an expanded edition.

> Troy - ***1/2

> One of my favourite behind-the-scenes disaster stories has been the
> Gabriel Yared/James Horner debacle over Troy. It just kept going and going
> – I remember being flabbergasted when Yared posted a couple cues of his
> rejected score online before they got taken down. I don’t even know if at
> the time, I understood what a “rejected score” was, and yet here were a
> couple action cues that blew my absolute socks off, and then I went and
> listened to Horner’s last-minute slap-dash replacement and went “…huh”. So
> here’s the thing – the two scores just aren’t comparable. Yared’s is a
> masterpiece, Horner’s is a rush job so filled with Hornerisms that if you
> made it a drinking game and took a shot with every danger motif you’ll
> have liver failure by the end of its 75 minutes. But it still is a solid,
> effective action/drama score, the kind of music I would kill to have more
> of today. One of those things you take the good with the bad (or you just
> ignore Horner's, pop in Yared's, and get nothing but good).

A long time ago, there was a link to a cut of Troy that put Yared's music back into the film. Nothing against Horner, but I don't think I can watch the movie any other way. Smashing music.

> Spider-Man 2 - ****1/2

> Another copy and paste from my previous series:

> Rarely are sequel scores better than the first, but Elfman’s Spidey 2
> managed it – shocking considering how badly things went in post-production
> behind the scenes (the use of the Hellraiser music now that I’m a
> Hellraiser fan is hilariously distracting). The heroism is more
> highlighted and epic, the dramatic and romantic stuff more touching, and
> the action among the best of any Spidey flick. Also, unlike the first
> Spider-Man score, this one has a fantastic villain theme. So why do I give
> it the same 4.5/5 star rating? I dunno. This isn’t an exact science. It’s
> all slightly better while both not quite being masterpiece levels (if this
> seems cranky, remember that I have probably only given a full 5/5 stars to
> maaaaaaybe 50 scores). Anyways, it’s an awesome work, even with Chris
> Young (and John Debney too) having to pitch in to the whims of the
> director losing his marbles.

Not much to say here except I love Doc Ock's theme.

> I, Robot – ***1/2

> Marco did some quirk work with this sucker. Alex Proyas wanted to collab
> with Trevor Jones again for his new Will Smith bot-battling flick, but
> Jones had to pull out at the last minute, leaving Marco Beltrami 17 days
> to write and record the entire score. Considering the incredibly short
> time he had, it’s amazing the score turned out as good as it did – in fact
> it’s easily the Beltrami album I’ve listened to the most over the years,
> spinning it quite a few times in high school. The action is solid though a
> bit too choppy for my tastes (an issue I have with all Beltrami’s action
> writing), and there’s some mundane suspense underscore that won’t light
> anyone’s butt on fire. However, I Robot remains a damn fine album because
> Beltrami conjured up a fantastic main theme, one he uses throughout that
> comes across more mysterious and haunting than you’d expect.

Again, I'd love an expanded edition. This really was Beltrami's year.

> Paparazzi – **1/2

> This one is also just fine. Brian Tyler before he was really Brian Tyler
> doing an action/thriller in a Brian Tyler style before Brian Tyler Style
> was really stylish. So yeah, it’s…fine, I guess.

I'd bump it up a star. Not outstanding, but perfectly enjoyable suspense music. The 'investigation/realization' motif is especially great.

> Cellular – ??

> I dunno guys…it’s not on Spotify and it’s not on YouTube and it’s the only
> one I haven’t written about. I just wanna post this thing and get er done.
> Eff it!

It totally is on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OQ9PcVoQcA&list=PLxOPkrIZGdAjAfnsnGdFotE5GNeQp3n1w Terrific music. Ottman was sort of a master at these mid-budget thriller assignments. The material for the villains is quite witty. ****, easy.

> Sky Captain – ****

> Another year, another painful reminder how good Edward Shearmur was, and
> how awesome life was in the early 00’s when the guy got hired on so many
> big projects. Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow (if we’re gonna be
> picky and fully spell out the entire title) is an extreeeeemely dated
> movie, it’s “fully in a computer” special effects now looking as special
> as an Instagram filter made by my four year old, but at least it allowed
> Shearmur to harken back to the Korngold days of old-school, old-fashioned
> heroism and derring-do. I find the score almost a little exhausting as a
> straight-through listen, because it just keeps coming at you with so much
> signature classic 1940s Hollywood action sounding stuff, but that’s a good
> problem to have.

Fun sweeping music. Shearmur deserved a bigger career.

> Team America – ****

> One of the best satires and funniest movies of all time, Team America also
> gave us one of the best and funniest satires of modern film scoring. Harry
> Gregson Williams, taking scoring duties over from Marc Shaiman after some
> creative differences (luckily Shaiman’s hilarious songs stayed in)
> understood the assignment to a T. Whereas most cranky critics at the time
> were too pissed at the movie’s politics and too-soon approach to
> terrorism, those of us who hated Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer action
> movies knew exactly what the movie was actually spoofing, and HGW
> delivered a perfectly straight-faced Media Ventures score that would’ve
> fit like a glove in any Bay/Bruckheimer crapfest. The action, the overly
> serious moments, and especially the power anthem – he nailed it all, so
> well.

Not sure how likely an official release with the songs and both scores is, but the regular album is pretty fun (even if I do miss the wonderfully ridiculous end credits tune 'You Are Worthless, Arec Barwin').

> Took a bloody long while, as these bastards tend to do, but here we are at
> that oh-so-glorious year of 2004!

Considering my Howard Shore series is getting new installments every month or so as well, I think we're fine. Or not. Hey, that's 2025 in a nutshell!

------

> Hidalgo - ***

I've seen the film a few years ago... but remember nothing about the score. It was good/functional, but nothing has stuck with me.

> Hellboy - ***1/2

Probably agree with your rating, not so sure about "best of the concept" though. This is one of the few Beltrami scores that I can actually remember outside of "yeah, it worked fine in-film", tho.*

*and yes, that includes the local favorite 3:10 to Yuma. Sorry, folks.

> The Alamo - *

This reminds me I need to finally get around to watching both this and the John Wayne Alamo flicks. Have had both in my collection for a few years but never watched them.

> Van Helsing - ****1/2

This is one where I REALLY want an expanded release of. There's a ton of more interesting "downtime" material not included in the '04 album that's really good. Also another prime example of a composer absolutely COOKING for a rather crappy film... even if it does have Prime!Hugh Jackman and Prime!Kate Beckinsale.

>Plus, THAT GUITAR IN JOURNEY TO TRANSYLVANIA!

I think that's a balalaika, if memory serves. In the guitar family, though.

> Troy - ***1/2

Funny you should post this now as I recently ordered the '04 CD from Amazon to add back into my collection (needed a cheap ad-on for my order and remembered "oh yeah! Soundtracks!"). The whole Horner/Yared debacle is fascinating and from what I've heard of the unused score, it A) should definitely be given its own specialty label release someday (come on, WB...) and B) would have fit Petterson's film just fine. Heck, large chunks of it sound very similar to what Horner scraped together last second.

Once I have the CD again, I'll probably do a "Revisited" review for Soundtrack-Universe if my opinion has changed any.

Aside:
Have you ever watched the Director's Cut of Troy? Finally picked it up a year or two back and it's rather interesting. Essentially the same movie but very different tone/vibe from the theatrical cut.

> The Day After Tomorrow - ***1/2

Another one for the category of "haven't seen it in years but remember the music being fine".

> Spider-Man 2 - ****1/2

Possibly a 5/5 for me....?

> King Arthur - *****

I would probably give Arthur (no, not THAT one...) a solid 4/5. It's another "all hands on deck" sounding affair, but man is it powerful and effective.

> I, Robot – ***1/2

> Marco did some quirk work with this sucker. Alex Proyas wanted to collab
> with Trevor Jones again for his new Will Smith bot-battling flick, but
> Jones had to pull out at the last minute, leaving Marco Beltrami 17 days
> to write and record the entire score.

Well, that's disheartening to know we missed out on another Trevor Jones score...

> The Bourne Supremacy - ****1/2

Between this and the 2000's Scoreboard Awards, I really need to re-watch the Bourne trilogy.

> Catwoman – *1/2

> I mean…it’s not like Klaus Badelt was given a lot to work with.

... wait, there's a Catwoman movie?!??

> Collateral - ****

Michael Mann and Terrence Malick are probably the kings of "hiring a composer and then massively reworking everything about the soundtrack". That said, I can't deny that more often than not their finished products are fantastic... even if they are travesties from a purely score-lover standpoint. Don't remember much about Collateral, but everything you said pretty much applies to my feelings for Mann's Heat.

> Aliens vs. Predator – ***

> It’s fine. The horror is decent, the action kinda fun, the lack of any
> memorable themes an issue, and within, like, 35 minutes it’s over.

Yeah, pretty much.

> Resident Evil: Apocalypse - ***

> Of all the composers you may have thought scored a Resident Evil movie…I
> bet Jeff Danna isn’t high on your expectation list.

Jeff also adapted Akira Yamaoka's music from the games Silent Hill for the (actually pretty good) 2006 movie adaptation. So I guess one of the Danna Bros. was/is into horror films.

> Sky Captain – ****

As a film, this is kinda in the same area as something like The Phantom for me: retro throwback but firmly rooted in the era it was made. Also fun but HIGHLY flawed.

The music's good. Need to listen to it on album some day.

> National Treasure – ***1/2

Been ages since I've seen this. Remember the music being fine.

> Alexander - *****

... I really need to listen to this as an album.

> Next Up: Desplat emerges, Badelt overachieves, Horner has a blast, and
> Zimmer delivers an awesome score that essentially changes Hollywood music
> for the worse, forever.

You're right about Zimmer... Madagascar massively ruined Hollywood scoring to this day.