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Avatar: Music From The Motion Picture

jefferiestubes8

jefferiestubes8

Commodore
Commodore
James Horner's score Avatar: Music From The Motion Picture

The closest thing I can really think of is Bear McCreary's music for the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, or even the track ‘Padme's Ruminations' from Star Wars: Episode III
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Horner's musical illustration of the world of Pandora and the Na'vi is beautiful and suitably humble, evoking the likes of the lush Ba'ku theme from Star Trek: Insurrection
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Already, I've heard people saying it sounds like Glory or Braveheart, and also invoking his past musical crimes. And yeah, it does occasionally evoke those scores
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Probably the best compliment I can give Avatar is that it sounds like something Jerry Goldsmith might have written,
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Avatar: Music From The Motion Picture review
http://www.denofgeek.com/Reviews/382931/avatar_music_from_the_motion_picture_review.html
Dec 17, 2009
 
It's a great score. I've had it on my iPod Touch for days. "War" is probably the best track, an eleven minute pulsating crescendo. There are tidbits of the Reliant theme from Star Trek II that represent the film's villain, Quaritch, which was annoying especially since Horner repeats it throughout the score. The soft, elegaic nature of the Na'vi remind me of Horner's work for Titanic. Regardless, Horner still manages to make it feel fresh and original.
 
I like the soundtrack, but I haven't seen the movie yet, and how it fits with the movie is always a big deal.

It does suffer two main problems though. First, and most glaring it does not really have a memorable main theme. Horner's best work is memorable, stuff like Braveheart, STII, Rocketeer. Avatar has nothing as memorable as any of those.

The second problem is that Horner does rip himself off a lot. He rips off some of his good stuff though. The worst example is probably the "Climbing Mount Iknimaya" track which is a direct variation of a melody from Glory. "Destruction of Hometree" has a very Enemy at the Gate feel to it. Throughout the entire score there are bits and pieces of Troy, Titanic, Braveheart, Enemy at the Gate, Star Trek, Zorro any many more.

As a huge Horner fan I actually enjoy picking up bits and pieces of his prior work in the score, but overall this is not his best work.
 
I haven't listened to many tracks yet (trying to see the film first) :) - But my impression is that a lot of cues are compressed into each track. It seems like this release could benefit from a 2CD release.

My favorite piece so far is where Horner experiments with a more electronic sound, like here in track 1 at 4:39 to the end. (youtube link) It seems very different from what I have heard from him before, but I could be wrong.
 
I listened to the first two tracks. It sounded pretty nice, kind of what I'm looking for in music right now, but I'll wait to hear the whole thing until I see the movie.
 
I've listened to it four times already since I got it last week and was really surprised with how much I enjoyed it. It's a really great score, as JacksonArcher and others have pointed out there are rifts of previous Horner scores in this, some are obvious and other's aren't. The Reliant theme from Star Trek II becomes repitative and annoying and makes you want to watch Star Trek II or yell out Hornerrrrrrrr! Overall though it's a great sounding score and yes I agree that "war" is probably the best track and that this would kick ass as a complete score. Perhaps one day we will get one.
 
I picked up the soundtrack and love it. It was probably my second favorite part of the movie after the stunning visuals.

I'll probably be humming something for several days.
 
After the impression it left while watching the movie, I went the iTunes route and downloaded the score last night. I enjoy it quite a bit, but Caliburn24 is absolutely right about the number of very familiar sounds there are to the overall compositions.

What's more, I picked up on a main theme in the film that isn't quite as clearly presented in the score.

Still, I like the variations in sound the score uses, especially the choral elements.
 
The theme isn't clearly presented on the score, huh? I've been listening to it all of the past two days and I can't get that theme out of my head. So yes, sometimes it segues seamlessly into "My Heart Will Go On"... but that's probably just in my head, right? ;) And aside from that, it's a beautiful score. Best I've heard in years, so evocative, so well-suited to the film, and, aside from the fact that Horner likes to recycle his material, it's very varied, balancing action music and romantic mood pieces nicely.
 
Yeah, funny, innit? The main theme comes through with a bit more clarity in the film than it does in the score. It's still a *good* score, but the sequencing and composition of it, tilts more toward the diversity of sound, rather than emphasizing the melodic presentation of a singular theme. It's certainly there, but it isn't featured as prominently as it was within the film itself.
 
James Horner's music in Avatar was as familiar as ever. Frequently during the scenes with Jake Sully wandering around Pandora I thougt the Titanic was sailing across to ocean. Then there were moments in the final battle where I thought the Reliant was going to fly in, others when I thought they were in the Mutara Nebula.

And yes, there were times throughout the movie when I was reminded of Bear McCreary's work on BSG.
 
Yeah, while the soundtrack was good, it was not as excellent as I had hoped. Horner's Titanic score was much better. I was hoping for stronger themes. His Avatar score feels more experimental, switching between styles, but never staying long enough on one to make it memorable.

Ah well, just a small disappointment, and only because my expectations were higher of Horner's work.

But then again, I may change my mind when I re-watch the film. For example, I did not pick up on the brilliance of Howard Shore's work in LOTR:FOTR until I saw it again.
 
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