'Superman Returns' composed by John Ottman

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a big fan of John Williams original 'Superman' score and of John Ottman's previous efforts.

For those that do not know, Bryan Singer (the film's director) and John Ottman (the film's editor & composer) decided to mine John Williams' original themes to help establish ties to the original films (at leaset the first two). This score walks a fine line: adhere too close to the original and fans will say it's just a copy. Change too much and fans will be up in arms at the radical departure. I applaud John Ottman for finding and maintaining that delicate middle ground.

Ok, where to begin? Listening to the 'Main Title' reminds me of listening to Eric Kunzel conduct the Cinncinati Pops Orchestra through Hollywood's greatest hits. That's not a bad thing; Eric Kunzel does great work. However, the arrangement is almost identical to the original concert version (actually it combines elements from several versions but mostly the concert version). It sounds great, but I find myself asking "why"? As I said before, the filmmakers are deliberetly tying this movie to the original; I get that. But it still comes across as very 'concert in the park'.

Several of JW's themes make an apperance throughout; the 'main title march', the 'love theme/Can You Read My Mind' (thankfully, no dramatic reading of the lyrics), the 'Krypton theme' and even a variation of the 'growing up' music. After all of that I have to ask "no 'March of the Villians'"? I know that piece is written as comedic but I think it could easily be manipulated to suit the Lex Luthor of the new millennium.

Track 5 - 'Bank Job' has bongos in it that reminded me of Danny Elfman. Also, there's some choir work later in the score that reminded me of 'Edward Scissorhands' also Elfman.

About halfway through track 11 'The People You Care For', there is a stacatto piano that reminded me of Jerry Goldsmith's 'Planet Of The Apes' ('The Hunt' - great track!).

Not everything reminds me of something else; I think that Ottman's contibutions are fantastic. This might just be his most "hopefull" score yet and his action music is dynamic and exciting. I did however find myself waiting to catch the next borrowed theme, which I feel kept me from being able to completely immerse myself in Ottman's work. My hope is that with time I will be able to see past the recycled music to hear and appreciate the new material.

Listening to 'Superman Returns', I found myself continually being drawn back to 1978 through the use of the original themes. Perhaps because of my long-standing love of the original film and music, I kept being pulled out of the listening experience and transported back 28 years. Has this happened to anyone else? I doubt this was part of the filmmaker's intentions. Also, I'd be interested in hearing the perspective of someone who is not as attached to the original or has never heard or seen it at all. Does some of the music in 'Returns' sound "old"? Even though they are modern recordings, the writing, arranging and orchestrating styles and senseablilities of 30 years ago are somewhat different than today. Could a younger person tell the difference? Ponder that and drop me a comment or email.

Overall I like the score a lot, but I need more time to sort out how I "feel" about some of the elements borrowed or new. At any rate, this album just goes one step further in defining John Ottman's place in modern film music.

See you in the theater...

Transformers: More Than Meets The Ear...

Posted at Soundtrack.Net on 06/17/06:

NEWS: Steve Jablonsky scores a teaser for Transformers: "It's more than meets the eye, and won't be in theaters until July 4, 2007 - but today at the Sony Scoring Stage, composer Steve Jablonsky recorded music for the theatrical teaser to the new Michael Bay film, Transformers.

Now Me:

I have Jablonsky's score for 'The Island' (also Bay); think Hans Zimmer remixed by Trent Reznor. I do enjoy that score and after listening to it again today, I think his style would fit in very well with the Transformers. If you've not heard 'The Island', it's an amalgamation of hard rock styling meets techno percussion meets synthesizer ambiance meets modern orchestra. I recommend 'The Island' if you want to try some fresh action music.

All this talk about the upcoming movie also got me thinking about the original animated Transformers movie composer, Vince DiCola. Perhaps it's because I bought this soundtrack when it came out (1986 - I also saw the movie in the theater) but I love the score for this movie - very slickly produced synthesizer music with pounding beats and heavy guitars. There's some great pseudo-metal songs too - check out Lion's version of the Transformers cartoon theme... Awesome!

Actually, DiCola's score is a lot like the 80's equivalent of Steve Jablonsky's 'The Island'; No wonder why I think Jablonsky would be perfect.

You've got a year until 'The Transformers' comes out (July 4th 2007), so until then go pick up the original soundtrack (and if you like Vince DiCola get 'Rocky IV' too) and 'The Island ' and judge for yourself.

SoundtrackNet : News : Trevor Rabin scores Snakes on a Plane

SoundtrackNet : News : Trevor Rabin scores Snakes on a Plane

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