King Kong | ||
 | Composer: Max Steiner Label: Buy this soundtrack: | |
Track Listing | ||||||||||
| 01 King Kong (1:10) 01 King Kong (1:10) 02 A Fateful Meeting (4:16) 03 Defeat Is Always Momentary (2:48) 04 It's In The Subtext (3:19) 05 Two Grand (2:35) 06 The Venture Departs (4:03) 07 Last Blank Space On The Map (4:43) 08 It's Deserted (7:08) 09 Something Monstrous... Neither Beast Nor Man (2:38) 10 Head Towards The Animals (2:48) 11 Beautiful (4:08) 12 Tooth And Claw (6:17) 13 That's All There Is... (3:26) 14 Captured (2:25) 15 Central Park (4:36) 16 The Empire State Building (2:36) 17 Beauty Killed The Beast - I (1:59) 18 Beauty Killed The Beast - II (2:22) 19 Beauty Killed The Beast - III (2:14) 20 Beauty Killed The Beast - IV (4:45) 21 Beauty Killed The Beast - V (4:13) Total Length: 1:15:51 | ||||||||||
More Soundtracks by Max Steiner Reviewed by - Grade: There is no greater story ever told than that of beauty and a beast. Whether it is
the story of the same name, the phantom of the opera, or the elephant man, no
relationship can ever be told so dramatically in the entertainment medium. I challenge you to ever
question me on this. A love one cannot have, a love that is strained by so many barriers, a love that
is so pure, so distilled in its beauty, that it can move one to tears.With its imminent release on December 12th, Peter Jackson takes the reigns of one of the saddest beast stories ever told, King Kong. James Newton Howard has pulled off a brilliant score, as brilliant as the director will tell this story. Howard uses a full orchestra to achieve moments of darkness, mystery, comedy, drama, enlightenment, and of course beautiful love. I am invigorated by this score because since Waterwold, I have always believed Howard to be one of the gretest action composers of all time. It is evident in Kong that he will one day cement himself with that title. The opening track King Kong begins with a low chours of violins and trumpets engaging us to enter into the world of the beast. A chorus fades in from the background and we are treated to a delightful entrance of the main theme that will be used throughout. Moving to the beginning of the film Howard goes from grand orchestra to simplistic piano cues and elegantly brings us back again into the strings. It is flawless. You are set for a feeling of opportunity and hope for this young actress who will embark on this incredible journey into the heart of the beast. As illustrated by "Defeat is Always Momentary" the strings section carries the action throughout most of the score with trumpets blasting in the background. This part of the score is mostly a light hearted setup for the journey on the ship to the mysterious island where the real action begins. "Last Blank Space on the Map" seems to cross the threshhold for the film to go from light hearted to dark. Percussion kicks in and the strings go from hopeful to dark and sinister. The trumpets seem to squeal more and we are invariably treated to imagery that Jackson has for so many years envisioned. Yet within the music, there is a sense of grandeur and inspiration that you can feel echoing away from the dark choruses. The following track "It's Deserted" begins the harrowing terror of the film, the inhabitants of the island make their appearance, and set the stage for the arrival of Kong in "Something Monstrous...Neither Beast Nor Man". As I expected, Howard takes a note from the book of Max Steiner (the original composer of the 1933 film) and uses strong percussion with echoing bass to introduce us to Kong. From there, the action continues and we are brought along the journey over the bewildering island of beasts long forgotten by time. "Beautiful" breaks up the action to give us a solo flute performance followed by strings and a lone horn. It is designed to be a slow track for the beauty the the beast begins to adore. It is actually a sad track, rather than a peaceful track, always seeming to end on a lower note than a higher one. And then suddenly, as you are beginning to feel down, he reverses it on you and the song becomes uplifting. Without having seen the visuals of the film, I can almost be assured that this track fits perfectly. After several more strong action cues, Kong is captured and brought back to New York where the track "Central Park" seems to take us more into the human element of the beast. Again, lone horns, flutes, simplistic piano notes, and a harpsicord against a backdrop of strings slows the pace and no doubt creates a moment of beauty in the film. While the track is not as enchanting as "Swimming" from Howard's Waterworld, it is very effective and peaceful. Especially around 3:26 into the track. The piano is uplifted and sweeps into a positive chorus of strings.The soft music continues into "The Empire State Building" and is fleshed out in the remaining 5 tracks titled "Beauty Killed the Beast", where we are taken on the final journey of Kong. Track "V" of this series is strong and the chorus with percussion in the end signifies a dramatic ending to this tale. King Kong has invigorated me to believe that in a recent world of stale and redundant movie soundtracks, that truly original, epic, and moving compositions can continue to be created. I give it a 9/10 only because I have not seen it scored to the film yet. That might change if all goes well. *Update* - Well, I saw the film and I'll still rate the score a 9/10. It is an incredible score and very powerful when used with the film. Is the film an epic movie? Absolutely. It is brilliant. A little long, but brilliant. And yes the music helps bring Kong to life. The relationship between Anne Darrow and Kong is stronger than any of the other films, but it lacked the same emotional punch that say an Edward Scissorhands had. It was close. Also to note that when Kong is introduced as the 8th Wonder of the World at the Alhambra Theater, the live orchestra playing the music for the performance is actually playing the original score to the 1933 version of King Kong composed by Max Steiner. More Movie Soundtracks
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