Filmtracks Home Page Filmtracks Logo
MODERN SOUNDTRACK REVIEWS
Menu Search
Filmtracks Review >>
Cool Runnings (Hans Zimmer/Nick Glennie-Smith) (1993)
Full Review Menu ▼
Filmtracks has no record of commercial ordering options for this title. However, you can search for this title at online soundtrack specialty outlets.
Average: 3.13 Stars
***** 31 5 Stars
**** 35 4 Stars
*** 40 3 Stars
** 30 2 Stars
* 23 1 Stars
  (View results for all titles)
Co-Composed and Co-Produced by:

Co-Composed by:
Nick Glennie-Smith

Orchestrated by:
Bruce Fowler

Co-Produced by:
Jay Rifkin
Audio Samples   ▼
Total Time: 37:31
• 1. Opening/The Derby (1:50)
• 2. 100 Meter Finals (3:16)
• 3. First Jamaican Bobsled Team (1:10)
• 4. Convincing Irving Blitzer (0:37)
• 5. Training Begins (2:35)
• 6. Send Us to the Olympics! (2:31)
• 7. Running on Ice (3:41)
• 8. Irv's Past Revealed (0:47)
• 9. First Run (2:08)
• 10. Pride and Power (1:51)
• 11. Qualifying Run (2:57)
• 12. The Race (6:05)
• 13. Jamaican Heroes (4:22)
• 14. Bobsled Jamaican Style (1:45)
• 15. End Credits (1:48)

(some bootleg variations only contain the first thirteen tracks)
Album Cover Art
(Bootleg)
(2002)
The only score-specific products for this title exist in bootleg form, sometimes combined with other Zimmer scores and varying in track titles and quantities of material.
No consistent packaging exists for the bootleg variants.
Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,652
Written 4/5/10
Buy it... if you're in search of the most infectiously likable Hans Zimmer score from a fruitful early period in his career that brought many of the composer's outwardly personable and stylish cross-cultural music.

Avoid it... if reggae tones make you cringe, because Zimmer and his associates thoroughly infuse Caribbean stereotypes into this otherwise formulaic sports score of symphonic construct.

Zimmer
Zimmer
Glennie-Smith
Glennie-Smith
Cool Runnings: (Hans Zimmer/Nick Glennie-Smith) Arguably the most heart-warming sensation of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary was the Jamaican bobsledding team, representing a tropical country for the first time in that sport. The team received significant support from other nations' competitors, who offered spare sleds and best wishes to the obviously out of place Jamaicans. The team didn't compete particularly well that year, crashing and famously walking their sled to the finish line during a qualifying run. But it did experience more success four years later in the Olympics in France, where the group finished ahead of several established nations in the sport. The initial publicity earned by the 1988 team led to a Disney adaptation of their tale called Cool Runnings in 1993. Very little of the actual circumstances of the team and their performance at the games is reflected accurately; instead, the studio opted to transform their story into a typical underdog format complete with villains and a melodramatic ending. Despite the disdainful critical response that resulted from the plethora of liberties taken in the mutilation of the real life events, Cool Runnings was a significant box office success, generating more than ten times its budget in grosses. The scoring duties fell upon the ascending Hans Zimmer, who was familiar with assignments that applied soul and gospel tones to African settings but for whom rocking reggae was still relatively fresh. Although the composer had succeeded with flying colors in his entertaining and heartfelt comedy/drama score for A League of Their Own the previous year, Cool Runnings needed an even more flamboyant and genre-bending sound. With the assistance of trusted composing partner Nick Glennie-Smith, Zimmer offered the ultimate in hybrid sports drama scores for this film, addressing not only the cultural aspect, but also adhering to the general formula of sports scores that open modestly and build to a victorious series of crescendos late in the soundtrack. Zimmer and Glennie-Smith were able to emulate the reggae sound comfortably with their keyboards and percussion, though they transcend the enjoyable but predictable boundaries of that approach by also employing an orchestra to emphasize the film's tender, character-building scenes, wild comedy moments, and triumphant conclusion. Occasional contributions by jazzy piano, cool electric guitar and Hammond organ, and vocals of soul will recall previous Zimmer works. Together, these elements, along with a cohesive set of themes, yielded a score for Cool Runnings with more unique style than most of what Zimmer would produce a decade later.

  • Return to Top (Full Menu) ▲
  • © 2010-2025, Filmtracks Publications