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| Williams |
The Patriot: (John Williams) Director Roland
Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin loved making monumental disaster films
in the 1990's, but they surely didn't intend for their first attempt at
a serious, historic topic to be a monumental disaster of a film itself.
That was unfortunately the fate of
The Patriot in 2000, an
extremely graphically gory depiction of one South Carolina family's
fight against the British during the Revolutionary War. For
underachieving lead actor Mel Gibson, there is no doubt that
Braveheart was a template for this role, but unlike the vastly
superior earlier film,
The Patriot was doomed by an unforgivably
trite and poorly paced script. It's difficult to think that a film about
such a valiant struggle could be made so insufferably boring, but that's
exactly what happened. The production itself was met with criticism
before it was even finished, with protests from anti-gun lobbies and
groups of historians, both of whom had complaints about the film's
wayward depictions. Also discontent were fans of popular composer David
Arnold, who had been the collaborator of Emmerich and Devlin for their
immense blockbuster films
Stargate,
Independence Day, and
Godzilla in the prior six years. The director and producer
decided that Arnold's demo for
The Patriot did not exude the
right feel for the story and, as quickly as that, the successful
collaboration came to a lasting conclusion. By luck, the venerable John
Williams just happened to be available for the necessary window of time
during the post-production of
The Patriot, and so for a bit more
of a cost (though Arnold commanded some hefty fees of his own), Williams
was brought on board to provide the film a sure bet of a score. The
maestro was well known by this time for his extensive concert music on
behalf of the great American experiment generally, his years leading the
Boston Pops yielding countless optimistic orchestral pieces to glorify
the nation and its history.
Williams had also successfully tackled several films of
historical significance in the Americana spirit by this point, with his
work for
Amistad and
Angela's Ashes both receiving recent
Academy Award nominations. The score for
The Patriot netted
Williams yet another Oscar nomination, though that fact remains more
likely due to the reality that it was the composer's only score of 2000
and the Academy, which by then always nominated the composer during each
year of his productivity, had nothing else from him to select. That last
point is a bit misleading, however, because
The Patriot is a
truly fine score with all the solid attributes of a comforting Williams
effort. Opinions about it in the film music community ranged wildly up
front, though, and Williams caused much of this disagreement by writing
a score that is extremely derivative of his other works and thus utterly
predictable. If you assume that Williams would approach this film with
the expected stamped maturity of stature and keen sense of Americana,
then you know exactly what it will sound like before you hear it. The
execution of its nobility and heroic aspirations are pure Williams in
style. The multitude of themes all point to familiar progressions and
the instrumentation is standard in his Americana-ready ensemble. With
all this in mind, the quality of
The Patriot for any listener
will depend on how much respect he or she has for Williams' consistent
superiority in even his less inspired incarnations. For most, the score
will likely be easy to respect, interesting to the ears at every moment,
and a solid experience. The success of
The Patriot starts with
the continuation of Williams' basic Americana spirit, which was most
vibrant in
Far and Away, most dramatic in
Born of the Fourth
of July, and most respectful in
Amistad. Flowing string
layers, heroic solo trumpets, solemn horns in unison, a lightly tapping
snare, and joyously fluttering flutes all exist in the score, with the
only notable solo work coming in short contributions on violin in the
end credits concert suite and its reprise on album.
The mix of all the instruments in the 90-player ensemble
is extremely vivid in
The Patriot, allowing cues like "Ann and
Gabriel" to shine despite making use of only harp, harpsichord, and
flute over a barely registering string accompaniment in its first half.
A resounding bass region, especially in a few of the ambitious action
cues later in the score, is almost electronic in its depth and could be
embellished early in "Tavington's Trap." The highest treble
contributors, led by the complex piccolo figures for sixteen of them in
the concert suites and a few of the stand-off cues, are mixed at a
reasonable distance. The score was uniquely recorded with superior
multi-channel technology at the time that was later abandoned
industry-wide, but its reduction to a regular stereo soundscape for
regular consumption is quite impressive, even many years later.
Thematically,
The Patriot has much to offer. The suite covers the
main ideas in the score, with one other theme and a sub-motif existing
elsewhere, the latter for the primary villain. The biggest detriment of
the score may be the fact that many of the four themes in the suite are
very similar to previous Williams ideas. The first of these, which runs
until the 2:45 in "The Patriot," is the most intriguing, using the solo
violin and acoustic guitar to convey the romantic love theme for the
young couple in the story and doubles for the Martin family more
generally. It's the most memorable heart and soul of the score, with an
intoxicating set of secondary lines and a little bit of the Kent family
farm from
Superman infused into its country soul. On the surface,
this folk-like identity for harpsichord, dulcimer, guitar, and harp at
its core is the most unique idea in the work, though its rendering does
beg for comparisons to James Horner's
Legends of the Fall. As the
secondary phrases of the theme develop, its more upbeat progressions
take on pieces of
Jurassic Park: The Lost World, specifically in
the closing phrase between 1:30 and 1:35 of the aforementioned track for
this connection. In fact, the slightly exotic twist to some of the chord
movements in this theme give it, sans violin, a slight fantasy tilt that
could very well accompany a film of that genre. The distant mix of
woodwinds in the second minute of the suite acts as almost an eerie
substitute for a synthetic choir.
The love theme's most major exploration outside of
Williams' credits suite is a very lengthy and satisfying flute and then
ensemble performance in "Ann and Gabriel," which itself could be
considered a concert arrangement with its gorgeously fluid presentation.
Elsewhere, it's heard in the middle of "Family Farm (The Patriot Main
Title)" in standard orchestral colors, in the unused cues "Colonel and
Corporal" and "To Gullah Maroon," and compliments the main theme on
flute during "Ann Recruits the Parishioners." It resurrects
Far and
Away form on piccolo in "The Wedding" and enjoys another flourish on
flute and strings in "Susan Speaks," and returns later in "The Patriot
(End Titles)" on flute. The second and third themes for
The
Patriot are connected to the same general idea of the colonies and
war, with the latter serving in the suite as an interlude to the former
despite their differing purposes. When the snare and flute figures are
introduced at 2:45 into "The Patriot," the patriotic colony theme
follows on respectful lower strings. This theme occupies the next minute
in the suite, providing the young country with a noble sense of
entitlement. Unfortunately, this theme is so derivative of several
others that its effectiveness for film score collectors is questionable.
The opening measures of the theme (in fact, the entire first phrase) are
copied directly from the title theme to
Amistad, and the rising
conclusion to the idea, leading into the third theme, is pulled from
Far and Away. This theme's best use in the score itself comes in
its own prideful concert arrangement of sorts in the outstanding "The
Colonial Cause." Outside of these album-arranged tracks, the main
patriot theme is heard only in its secondary phrasing in "Family Farm
(The Patriot Main Title)," on solo horn at 0:35 into "Addressing the
Assembly," in more somber shades during "The Defeat at Charleston." It's
a little warmer from brass in "Colonel and Corporal," gains some
momentum from the ensemble in "Ann Recruits the Parishioners," and earns
its militaristic presence in "Martin Rejoins the Troops." After guiding
"Preparing for Battle" and the subsequent cues with rhythmic snare, the
de facto main theme declares victory in the second minute of "Yorktown
and the Return Home" and occupies much of "The Patriot (End Titles)"
with wild flute lines after the love theme.
The secondary phrasing of the main patriot theme yields
the score's gloriously upbeat fanfare, easily the most memorable aspect
of the
The Patriot and heralded by triumphant trumpets at about
3:40 into "The Patriot." (There could be some debate about whether this
phrasing counts as a separate theme from the less fanfare-inclined
remainder of the patriot theme.) The static, repeating structure of this
sequence also resembles that of the main theme from
Jurassic Park:
The Lost World, though its blatantly patriotic tones and a few of
the other progressions may also remind some listeners of Jerry
Goldsmith's
Air Force One. This portion of the theme is obviously
the victory motif in the score, and accompanies the heroic actions by
members of the Martin family, starting almost immediately at the
conclusion of the cue "The Family Farm" and appearing in fragments
during crescendos throughout the work. The third theme in the Williams'
work is rarely touched upon in the score, and it is the noble,
medium-range horn salute at the end of the concert suite. This idea for
American adversity adapts directly from
Saving Private Ryan and
is the weakest representation of militaristic stature in
The
Patriot. Its presence isn't really necessary in the narrative,
either, Williams perfectly able to adapt the main patriot theme for the
same purpose when needed. Restrained in its marginal heroic posture, the
adversity theme is subtle on brass late in "Martin Leaves the Family"
and in "Reading the War Map," a little brighter in "Colonel and
Corporal," dies out early in "Martin Rejoins the Troops," and flows with
more noble depth in the latter half of "The Patriot (End Titles)." Along
these same lines, Williams also devises a fourth, war trauma theme on
trumpet early in "Family Farm (The Patriot Main Title)" that haunts the
primary characters' past. It's a very subdued identity that likewise
struggles to attain any memorability. Hinted in "Addressing the
Assembly," this idea returns to prominent trumpet in "Walking Among the
Fallen" and contributes to "The Death of Thomas," "The First Ambush,"
"Rough Fighter Recruited," "Mortally Wounded," and "Martin vs.
Tavington." Another even smaller but effective idea is used to represent
the evil Colonel William Tavington, with faint trumpets producing a very
creepy and sour, descending motif that is as curiously distant as it is
menacing.
The remainder of the score for
The Patriot has
only a few moments of relative downtime, even in its fuller album
presentation, though it does point to some rare temp track emulation by
Williams. Outside of the many references to his prior themes, several
cues have surprisingly transparent connections. The last half-minute or
so of "The Burning of the Plantation" is a page from David Arnold's
style of tragedy, and the last minute of "Susan Speaks" is obviously a
pull from Ennio Morricone's
Once Upon a Time in America. The
action cues, led by "Tavington's Trap," offer the same frenetic,
rhythmic density as
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, with many of
the structures and orchestrations surprisingly identical. The original
73-minute presentation contains the most alluring performances of
especially the love theme and the other major ideas, but enthusiasts
clamored for the significant amount of additional material that Williams
wrote for the film, some of it dropped in favor of alternate takes. The
unused versions largely fiddled with percussive presence or swapped out
lead instrumental lines, though the final battle sequences contained
several significantly different takes. At least four separate
arrangements of the end credits cue were created. In 2025, Intrada
Records assembled a 3-CD set that combined the complete film score and
slew of alternates (including those distinct suites) ahead of the film's
extensive source material on the first two CDs and the original album
arrangement on the third. In terms of basic quality, Williams' score
sounds fantastic in its mix and can support this length, but the
experience is still likely to remind listeners of his other works even
with the additional material exposed. The attractive product is an
outstanding treatment of a score that may not have really needed such
expansion, but the presentation is better than expected even if
ultimately a bit redundant. On either product, the score's nagging
familiarity remains, though. Williams usually doesn't run into problems
with temp track opacity, but
The Patriot is an exception. There
is one very unique use of a tolling bell effect (and not just standard
chime banging) in "Redcoats at the Farm and the Death of Thomas" to
symbolize imminent death. Could David Arnold have produced the same
result? Maybe, but it wouldn't have sounded like an absolutely typical,
major-key John Williams score of respectful Americana. And, ultimately,
that's what everyone got.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.68
(in 91 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.53
(in 365,725 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert of the 2000 Hollywood album includes no extra
information about the score or film. That of the 2025 Intrada album
features extensive notation about both.
