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Gladiator: Special Anniversary Edition
Gladiator's score is a stylistic conflation of some audacity, incorporating lavish synthesised, percussive action sequences (a Zimmer trademark), "ethnic" instrumentation including Spanish guitar, Chinese dulcimer and Armenian duduk, and--most suprisingly of all for Zimmer--unabashed plagiarism of Wagner (his cue "The Might of Rome" is "Siegfried's Funeral March" in all but name) and Holst ("The Battle" and "The Barbarian Horde" lean heavily on "Mars"). Vocalist and co-composer Lisa Gerrard (fresh from working on The Insider, coincidentally also starring fellow-Australian Russell Crowe) adds her ethereal vocalisms to the music's more intimate scenes ("Sorrow" and "Elysium" for example). Her contribution brings an exotic, Oriental flavour to a score that in its broad musical canvas reflects the movie's depiction of the vast scope of the Roman Empire. If not the equal of Zimmer's career best work on The Thin Red Line (1998), this is still a hugely entertaining and diverse soundtrack. --Mark Walker
RRP: £12.99
Our Price: £4.89 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Back in the Golden Age of the Hollywood epic, composer Miklós Rózsa lavished much scholarly research on his scores for Quo Vadis (1951), Ben-Hur (1959), El Cid (1961) and others, gracing those movies with music that had as its wellspring authentic (or at least authentic-sounding) melodies from the period. For Ridley Scott's revival of the Roman epic, Gladiator, Hans Zimmer eschews such learned academia in favour of his own more contemporary, wall-of-sound approach (honed to perfection on movies like Tony Scott's Crimson Tide). In truth, no one is quite sure what Roman music sounded like, and Zimmer's unscholarly rock music background is temperamentally better suited to Scott's all-action movie anyway.
My favourite music of the past decade
Review date: 2010-05-19 Rating: 10 out of 10
I doubt anyone needs yet another review to tell them that the soundtrack for 'Gladiator' is absolutely amazing. It has hardly been out of the classical charts since it was first released and hardly a day goes by where parts of it aren't used as soundtrack for films, adverts and radio programs.
However, 'Gladiator' has been my personal top favourite music for most of the last decade and so, whilst I don't normally write reviews for music, I would like to bear witness in this case. From gloriously triumphant to achingly sad, 'Gladiator' has it all. I did not actually see the film until a long time after the music had become a fixture in my life and it was quite amazing to see just how well the two - image and music - fitted together. Even more amazing how close my own images conjured up by the music matched what I now saw on film. Hans Zimmer paints a picture with his music every bit as detailed as a painting by Michelangelo.
The soundtrack to Gladiator is epic in every sense.
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Reviews
Gladiator - Music From The Motion Picture (Special Anniversary Edition)
Review date: 2010-05-03 Rating: 10 out of 10
Gladiator: Special Anniversary EditionIF YOU LIKE THE FILM YOU WILL LOVE THE MUSIC..SET THE MOOD,COLD WET NIGHT NOT A LOT ON THE BOX LAY ON THE BED AND LISTEN,CLOSE YOU EYE`S AND YOU ARE THERE WATCHING THE FILM...
gladiator
Review date: 2010-01-15 Rating: 6 out of 10
Had a slight problem with download, which I hope I can resolve soon, but otherwise buying MP3's from amazon suits me. The album is very good; if not a little repatative.
Love the film., love the music!
Review date: 2009-12-07 Rating: 10 out of 10
The film Gladiator was the first DVD I ever owned and I loved the music. I have played this over and over on my MP3 player on the way to work. The second disc is great as it gives variations and original versions of those used in the film. Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard have written some fantastic music.
Sounds familiar?
Review date: 2009-10-30 Rating: 8 out of 10
I'm becoming quite a fan of Hans Zimmer and decided to buy the Gladiator soundtrack CD after enjoying the soundtrack to "The Last Samurai" (which I think is better!)
As I listened to track 3 titled "Battle" I kept thinking that I'd heard part of it before (& I don't mean from watching the film!). It took me a while but it then struck me that it sounded very very similar to Ron Goodwin's excellent "Battle in the Air" from the Battle of Britain soundtrack.
Have a listen and draw your own conclusions. Anyway even if there was a bit of subconcious plagiarism it doesn't detract from another excellent film score from the very talented Hans Zimmer.
Product Details/Specifications
Artist(s):
The Lyndhurst Orchestra
Gavin Greenaway
Recording label: Decca
Manufacturer: Decca
EAN: 0028947652236
Binding: Audio CD
Format: Box set, Soundtrack,
Release date: 2005-09-05
Universal product code (UPC): 028947652236
Number of discs: 2
Running time: 118 minutes
Disc 1 Tracks:
1. Progeny
2. The Wheat
3. The Battle
4. Earth
5. Sorrow
6. To Zucchabar
7. Patricide
8. The Emperor is Dead
9. The Might Of Rome
10. Strength and Honour
11. Reunion
12. Slaves To Rome
13. Barbarian Horde
14. Am I Not Merciful?
15. Elysium
16. Honor Him
17. Now We Are Free
Disc 2 Tracks:
1. Duduk Of The North
2. Now We Are Free (Juba's Mix)
3. The Protector Of Rome (Feat. Russell Crowe As Maximus And Richard Harris As Marcus Aurelius)
4. Homecoming (Feat. Joaquin Phoenix As Commodus And Russell Crowe)
5. The General Who Became A Slave
6. The Slave Who Became A Gladiator (Feat. Oliver Reed As Proximo And Russell Crowe)
7. Secrets
8. Rome Is The Light
9. All That Remains
10. Maximus (Guitar By Heitor Pereira)
11. Marikesh Marketplace
12. The Gladiator Waltz (Feat. Russell Crowe) (Original Synth Demo Version By Hans Zimmer
13. Figurines (Yan Ching By Lisa Gerrard)
14. The Mob
15. Busy Little Bee (Feat. Connie Nielsen As Lucilla And Russell Crowe)
16. Death Smiles At Us All (Featuring Russell Crowe And Joaquin Phoenix)
17. Not Yet (Featuring Djimon Hounsou As Juba)
18. Now We Are Free (Maximus Mix) (Mixed By Jorio)
Publishers: Decca