> I'm a little lower on the Basil than you are. It's still a very good
> score, but the narrative doesn't quite pack the punch of his better
> adventure works.

I kept going between 4/5 and 4.5/5 and after a third listen decided to just go with my heart on this one. That said, I concede the narrative isn't quite as strong as Basil's best work.

> This I'm way higher on than you are. It's occasionally anachronistic for a
> drama set in the 1890s. But there are moments of playfulness that suggest
> his animation scores to come, the finale is magnificent, and at the time
> it had some of the most gorgeous music of Hans’ career to date.

As I mentioned to Riley, if this was a concert piece or "concept album", I'd be willing to bump up my rating a full point... possibly. For me it's the knowledge this was suppose to be for a period adventure, the blatant temp-tracking and the fact not all the ideas hang together that well that ultimately got the rating you see here.

Though as I said in my review, it's still worth checking out for the Zimmer fan, either causal or diehard.

> If part of it sounds like a love letter to Morricone, that's somewhat due
> to its rushed process. Hans “wrote 80 minutes of music in 16 days and
> never told Jeffrey I was sick as a dog afterwards. But when you’re a kid
> you take on any old dare.” Given how much of his music didn't make the
> movie, it's honestly amazing he elected to work with Katzenberg again.

Good grief... no wonder it's essentially "just do the temp-track". As I've gotten older and discovered more behind-the-scenes stories about scoring films, the "I did a score that barely made the final cut, but years later worked with the same people again" is a rather common occurrence.

> Plus it's how he and John Powell met! That's worth half a star on its own.
>

Umm, excuse me sir... I'm reviewing the music here and not the personal relationships of those involved.
(cool that this is where they met, though! )

> I agree with your assessment. It's a step down from its predecessor, but
> so was every Poledouris sequel score. This one might be the best of them.

Welp, that does not bode well for the next title I'll be covering....

> A strong score I haven't revisited in a long time for no good
> reason - something to fix this week!

Indeed! Go forth and enjoy, my good man!!