Customer Reviews

Basic Instinct 2

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well, the movie wasn't what it should've been, but I actually like John Murphy's try at scoring this, and being a raving fan of Goldsmith's original BASIC, I was 1) glad to see the producers had enough sense to at least keep it in the new movie and 2) I did enjoy some of Murphy's re-orchestrations of Goldsmith's work. I also found Murphy's original stuff to be effective and moody - some of it had a David Arnold-ish feel.

Let's start with the good news,why don't we?..Alas,the good news is painfully minimal,which is to say that John Murphy's score for this sequel isn't a total disaster..
Now for the bad news,which,alas,is more plentiful...It is NEVER a good idea to incorporate elements of a Great score into the soundtrack of an inferior one..the contrasting styles allow the listener to compare,and in doing so the inferior score sounds worse than it might otherwise have done had it been listened to on its own merits alone...The late Jerry Goldsmith wrote an arresting and unique score for the original"Basic Instinct" film..Among the outstanding elements of that work is the main title,an ominously spooky theme that is a stand-out..John Murphy,not nearly the composer that Goldsmith was,incorporated that spooky main title into his effort for "Basic Instinct 2",weaving it into what is in effect,just a bunch of tense,minimalist "thriller" cues...In comparing the two very different styles,one cannot help but come away wondering why Murphy even bothered to write anything at all..His cues sound like a computer program composed them,while the Goldsmith theme has a human touch...Murphy further complicates matters for himself by also including material written by Mozart,thus further diminishing his own pale contribution...This score is futher evidence that today composition,melody,all of the things that make music what it should be,are being by-passed in favor of vapid,empty,computer sounding drek...

Well, everyone was prepared to hate Basic Instinct 2, even though in reality it was a fun little thriller. Let's hope that this prejudice to sequels (and/or Sharon Stone?!?) won't stop people from checking out this excellent CD. Utilizing themes from the original Basic Instinct score and adding exotic, moody original music, this is an excellent recording.
If you can find a copy (not easy!) grab it while you can. A keeper.

was shipped like new excellent compagny recommandation for orthe to purchasse with this compagnie go with out fear.

This music is just as haunting, even more so, than the original 1st, "Basic Instinct". It's great background music and also, sexy.

but considering the fact that composer John Murphy had some pretty big shoes to fill when he worked on this particular film score, he didn't do too badly.

Incorporating thematic elements from the original Basic Instinct score, composed by the late, great Jerry Goldsmith, gave the score an overall sense of continuity from the original film, but there wasn't the sense of seductive mystery and menace which made the original Basic Instinct score such a classic.

In any case, the Basic Instinct 2 soundtrack isn't bad, but I still can't help feeling that there should have been more mystery within the music.

A somewhat jarring patchwork of a soundtrack, copy-pasting its most striking compositions straight from Jerry Goldsmith's highly original 1992 score (available on Prometheus Records). If some cues are flat one-to-one re-orchestrations, others sport pre-shrunk tempi to fit Michael Caton-Jones' tone-deaf directing.