Mission To Mars
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Composer: Ennio Morricone
Lable (Release Year): Hollywood Records (2000) Availability: **** Rating: **** |
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Mission To Mars marks the reunification between director Brian De Palmer and composer Ennio Morricone. They have previously worked on The Untouchables and Causalties of War. 2000 has been a good year for Morricone so far. Winning a Golden Globe for his score to Legend of 1900 earlier and now giving us this extraordinary moody sci-fi score. His score is not the rousing type that one may expect. The score may not sound very "sci-fi" to some people but it sounds very much like one to me. The music reminds me a lot of an old LucasArts game The Dig. The game was based on a concept by Steven Spielberg. It is basically about a group of three people accidentally "traveled" to a mysterious planet during a space mission. On the planet, they learnt an important lesson about "life". I have not seen the movie. However, it seems to me that the movie and the game share some similarities. The mood of the game is fear and confusion mixed with "wonder". The fear comes from the unknown dangers lying ahead of them. The "wonder" comes from the the amazing things that they encountered and the search for the "wonder" of life. Morricone's orchestral score, which uses choir and electronic instruments quite often, delivers exactly that mood. Morricone score is romantic, ambient for a portion, and quite noble in occasions. There is really no bombastic action cues and I suspect there is no much huge action sequence in the movie. "A Heart Beats In Space" is a very beautiful track bookended with a heart beat rhythm. The main theme is introduced very quickly. It is a vintage Morricone romantic theme. It is quoted by Morricone's favorite instruments, oboe, trumpet and lush strings, through out the track. "A Martian" and "Where?" are two superb "larger than life" tracks. Their nobility can match The Untouchables, another great Morricone score. The horn melodies and the choir will just blow your mind away. (Hey, How come the intro of "Where?" sounds like the main theme of the Outer Limits so much?) This CD is worth buying just for track 1, 2, and 9. "A World Which Searches" and "Towards The Unknown" are the examples of the some what dark and unsettling ambient music. Electronic instruments and pipe organ are used heavily. They are some what like Philip Glass' music: a motif keep repeating and the music builds up on it. They are quite effective because the track are long enough for the build up. The feeling of fear and unknown is well presented by the dark ambient moments, while the rest of the score is filled with vintage Morricone lush melodies. It's hard to judge if you would like the score. You may not like it because of the darker moments or your are expecting a rousing score. The score is quite unique and with Morricone's signatures through out. If you are a Morricone fan, you will love this score. However, If you have not found the taste of his music yet, you may want to save this for later. However, I hope this score will create more Morricone fans and you would enjoy this romantic sci-fi score as much as I do. | |
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