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“Composer Jerry Goldsmith continues his adventurous
summer, following up his popular score for THE MUMMY, with this
spectacular work for Michael Crichton’s Eater’s of the Dead or the
more palatable title, THE 13TH WARRIOR. ”
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Gold from Goldsmith
Review by Christopher
Coleman
Composer Jerry
Goldsmith continues
his adventurous
summer, following up
his popular score for
THE MUMMY, with this
spectacular work for
Michael Crichton’s
Eater’s of the Dead or
the more palatable
title, THE 13TH
WARRIOR.
Right from the onset
Goldsmith nabs the
listener’s attention
with a colorful
middle-eastern theme,
"Old Bagdad". The
theme starts mildly
but soon reaches one
of Goldsmith’s
trademark sounds of
force and depth. The
hero’s theme is
displayed here in
unforgettable fashion
and will work its way
through many of the
tracks included on
this CD release by
Varese Sarabande. The
choral work in this
track is powerful-
some of Goldsmith’s
best ever. Almost
every track features
some use of this
wonderful choral
theme.
Sharing some subtle
commonalities with THE
MUMMY, track 2,
"Exiled," among other
tracks, evokes the
mystery of the middle
east with many
indigenous
instruments, but never
too far away are
Goldsmith’s percussive
crashes, whirling
strings, and bold
brass accents.
Things take a bit of a
suspenseful turn at
track 5, "Eaters of
the Dead," where
Goldsmith introduces
the mystery and terror
of this dark race.
The softer side of
this score is
represented in track
10, "Honey." InitIally,
Goldsmith takes some
his previously
established main theme
and softens it up a
bit as it is played
lightly by the
woodwinds. Slowly he
winds some very nice
stuff from the string
section into the
piece. While this is
the softest and
prettiest of the
tracks, even it
includes a bit of
mystery and
foreboding.
After the brief,
catch-your-breath-track,
in track 10, Goldsmith
takes us back to the
scary stuff. Track 11,
"The Cave of Death"
goes from eeriness to
spine-tingling crashes
and concludes with a
healthy dollop from
his bag-o-scary music.
Track 14 stands out
from the rest by the
composer’s employment
of the strings.
"Underwater Escape"
starts with the same
bold style as most of
the other tracks, but
soon the strings begin
to ebb, flow and swirl
until it finishes with
a heroic fanfare.
THE 13TH WARRIOR
soundtrack concludes
with one of the CD’s
best. Albeit a very
short track, "A Useful
Servant" may be the
prettiest of them all
and serves to conclude
the score in an
honest, innocent, and
wonderful way.
Rating:
7/10
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The 13th Warrior is an enormously enjoyable score,
but I really just can't help but wish that Goldsmith had made it a little
more "authentic" sounding. It's so very similar to The Wind and the Lion,
Baby: The Secret of the Lost Legend and Mulan it's really quite
disturbing; rarely has a Goldsmith score lifted so much from so many
others. But, as I keep saying, taken on its own terms it is one of the
highlights of the year so far. ****
James Southall - Moviewave
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The music is mostly very loud - it is pretty much non-stop action from
start to end, which frankly can be a little monotonous at times. Some more
quiet, soft parts would have been a welcome addition...Overall, The 13th
Warrior is a good action score. Some people rank it as Goldsmith's best in
1999. The Mummy is a far better score, in my opinion. If you can't decide
which one to pick - get The Mummy.
****
Andreas Lindahl - Score! |
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Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
| 1 |
Old
Bagdad |
2:01 |
**** |
| 2 |
Exiled |
3:41 |
**** |
| 3 |
Semantics |
2:38 |
*** |
| 4 |
The
Great Hall |
5:20 |
**** |
| 5 |
Eaters
of the Dead |
3:32 |
*** |
| 6 |
Viking
Heads |
1:29 |
*** |
| 7 |
The
Sword Maker |
2:06 |
**** |
| 8 |
The
Horns of Hell |
3:25 |
*** |
| 9 |
The
Fire Dragon |
4:53 |
*** |
| 10 |
Honey |
2:36 |
*** |
| 11 |
The
Cave of Death |
3:00 |
** |
| 12 |
Swing
Across |
1:49 |
*** |
| 13 |
Mother
Wendol's Cave |
4:12 |
** |
| 14 |
Underwater
Escape |
1:36 |
**** |
| 15 |
Valhalla/Viking
Victory |
10:35 |
*** |
| 16 |
A Useful
Servant |
1:18 |
**** |
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Total Running Time (approx) |
55 minutes |
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