Published on Aug 5, 2000
(I also had that problem with his score for the movie, The
13th Warrior
, where he tries to add Middle-Eastern touches, but fails
because there isn’t even a single unifying theme to the entire
movie. Instead you are treated to various musical pieces that
dissapear into the void).
That’s me speaking about Jerry Goldsmith’s score for
The 13th Warrior and comparing it to his score for
The Mummy
. And, in fact, both of those scores have many qualities in
common with one another. They were both adventure-type movies about
ancient evils and heroes out of the ordinary. Both also featured
scores by composer Jerry Goldsmith. And both of Goldsmith’s scores
are fun.
Now, why would I bother to bring up a quote from almost a year
ago? Simple. I was somewhat incorrect when it comes to the score to
the Antonio Banderas/John Mc Tiernan/Michael Crichton adventurer.
There is a theme in the middle of all these musical pieces. In
fact, you hear it in the very first track, “Old Bagdad.” While
simplistic and primeval, the theme to
The 13th Warrior works well to fill the movie.
That said, this movie’s score suffers from the same ails as
The Mummy. While it has a good main theme, there’s no growth
beyond that point. It too is forced to serve multiple duties and
keeps reappearing into the film in many ways. From “Exiled” to “The
Sword Maker” to “Honey,” the theme is worked and reworked into the
music of the film. It makes its best appearance though in
“Valhalla/Viking Victory,” where the heroes recite an ancient
prayer before the final battle.
Nevertheless, despite its overuse of its one thematic piece,
this score is actually much more fun that
The Mummy’s. Goldsmith manages to wield more excitement into
the music and, unlike the score to
The Mummy, I could not prevent myself from skipping large
segments of the soundtrack. From the horror of “Eaters Of The Dead”
and “The Horns Of Hell” to the action of “Mother Wendol’s Cave” and
“Underwater Escape,” Goldsmith manages to create a more exciting
score here.
Perhaps its ultimate flaw – and you could say the same thing
about the movie – is that it never leaves a mark on you. Yes, it is
exciting. Yes, it is fun. However, it is very dismissible and
forgettable. Unlike the score of, say,
Gladiator, there is nothing original in this score. You can
sense that this music – and this movie – were almost on the brink
of coolness. For example, Goldsmith creates a small, wooden motif
for the villains that sounds other-wordly. Yet he never takes it to
its completion and never fleshes out a full theme for them.
In the end, though, the score to
The 13th Warrior is very enjoyable. This is action music for
the classically-minded. If you have a hankering for some good
action music, go and pick this release up. Go ahead and enjoy
it.