Batman Begins
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Free Music Notes for Batman Begins
Free Music Review: Awesome
Hit: 5 Stars
At first, my expectations for the soundtrack were extremely high. I expected the whole soundtrack to contain the two note adrenaline rush sequence in Vespertilio, but found it sparingly troughout the soundtrack. After my expectations resolved, I was able to appreciate the melody and theme from the other tracks. I also noticed the songs rarely have a closing, but quickly ends after climax; something I had to deal with and later found interesting. I can't wait for the sequal. Free Music Review: Batman Begins (Soundtrack)
Hit: 4 Stars
This soundtrack is both exciting and relaxing to listen to. Whenever I go to the movies there's two things that I'm looking for in flim: A good storyline and the type of musical store that encompasses the film. The musical score fits the film very well and the film's composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton add an interesting and dramatic blend of sound effects and orchestra music throughout the entire film and soundtrack. The songs have both a haunting and mystical rhythmn that fits perfectly with the persona of Batman who has become a timeless legend in the hearts of young and old alike. If you like the previous soundtracks of the Batman genre you'll definitely love this CD. It's well worth the time to listen to it and it also helps to relax and clear your mind. Free Music Review: Dark and brooding!
Hit: 4 Stars
A dense, emotive, strident score from Hollywood composing's super-duo. Fans will not be disappointed!Free Music Review: When two stars combine...
Hit: 5 Stars
A surprising soundtrack. You won't hear any real main theme. So it will be quite hard for you to remember any theme at the beginning. But what could be a weakness anywhere else isn't here. Zimmer and Howard succeed in creating a strong atmosphere that served wonderfully the movie. Fans will recognize some of Zimmer's drums and some of Howard's orchestrations. The result is a subtle yet strong soundtrack that should please many fans.Free Music Review: Yeah, right!
Hit: 1 Stars
You've got to be kidding me! Where is Batman hiding in all this noise?
I've heard the full soundtrack in one sitting and it did absolutely nothing to me. There are two things I generally don't like about Hans Zimmer: first of all, grab your synths and shove them into the lower part of your body, Mr. Zimmer! Before you do that, pull your head out of the aforementioned part of your body and you'll probably realise that orchestral samples aren't at all appropriate for such a film. Newton Howard's cues are a relief after minutes of repetitive drum smashes, incredible amounts of unindentifiable noise, electronic strings (*shudder*), synthesized low brass and boring orchestrations.
Secondly, the rehashing of old stuff (what is it, Hans, distantly related to James Horner?)
The Thin Red Line, Pirates of the Caribbean and so forth, all are intermingled with the new, so called Batman "theme". Where the heck is that one hiding? Everyone talks about that awesome new theme, but I can't hear it.
Granted, there's that heroic chord and that same drum rhythm over and OVER, but that hardly qualifies as a theme, doesn't it?
Zimmer is worse than James Horner; at least Horner uses real musicians (largely)!
The track titles already suggest what you'll get with this CD: a bloody mess.
Umm, a bit of a rant, now that I think of it, sorry. It's just that Batman and Batman Returns are two of my all- time favourites and I can't believe how Zimmer tramples on this legacy.
I believe Zimmer when he says that an Elfman- esque approach would have been slightly inappropriate, but why does he abandon the SOUND of the old films?
By the way, I don't think Hans Zimmer cared much about this film. On one hand, he says that he never listened to the old Batman scores, on the other hand he states that his music is identifiable Batman. How can he know what Batman sounds like when he never ever listened to it?
Change the style of the music, do it, after all it's a different kind of Bat- film, but why oh why can't you keep the power of a real orchestra? It belongs to Batman, no matter how emotional these films become.
Danny Elfman nailed it 15 years ago, so there's no point in reinventing the wheel.
Speaking of emotions, let's get to the so called "collaboration" between Hans Zimmer and J. N. Howard. It's plainly obvious that Howard did the emotion and Zimmer took on the task of scoring the action and filling darker passages with INCREDIBLY ANNOYING sound effects (come on, a wing- flapping sound effect, how cheesy can you get?) and that's largely it.
I could do such a soundtrack myself, by slapping together a Best Of Zimmer and Howard CD. That's not exactly what I think of when I hear "collaboration". Let Zimmer overwork some of Howard's cues and vice versa, layer sounds, make it *interesting*, not ? la "Zimmer fades out, Howard fades in".
Write a Batman theme, and may it be only for the main titles; let Howard start it softly, then Zimmer takes over with the main theme, then Howard picks up again with a soaring string interlude ... god, did you come up with *some* interesting thoughts during your, what, three months?
Hm, I forgot, you did write a strong theme, but you dumped it completely because it was not appropriate ... do you know that there's a thing called "End Credits"?
The soundtrack was over, and I didn't even notice. Bad sign, huh? No proper Batman theme (nice love theme though), no development and no variation from the Zimmer- front, repetitive Media Venture loops, repetitive noise (it's annoying, did I mention that?), some things borrowed from previous scores and not even a real orchestra that could have given Zimmer's music at least some class and power.
Let me quote Hans Zimmer: "There's not a single straight note in this one". Wow! Is he proud of that or what?
What's left? J. N. Howard did a nice job, but nothing that he didn't do before.
I might be a little conservative, but I still think they missed a fantastic chance by snubbing Danny Elfman. His earlier Batman scores would not work, I guess, but he matured, he changed his style and I firmly believe that he would have updated Batman music the way it should have been done.
He created the signature Batman sound, it would have only been fair to let him update his own soundscapes and come full circle.
But he didn't, so we get this ... mess.
Pity.
Nice cover, though ...