Customer Reviews

Die Hard With A Vengeance: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A collection of "ethnic" rap tunes and some poorly played classical pieces are the sum total of this horrible CD. Be warned that in the movie "When Johnny Came Marching Home" is played continuously but is no where to be found in the Soundtrack.
While the soundtrack does have Beethoven's 9th symphony it is played so horribly that it does not make this a worthy purchase.
Buyer beware.

For some reason this soundtrack has completely missed the mark. There are some songs on it, but mostly rap, (Thank god they included Summer In The City by The Loving Spoonful), some classical pieces, but I don't recall Beethoven's Ninth being in the movie, and some additional score. If you're looking for a soundtrack with a cool collection of songs, you're in the wrong place. If you're a "real" soundtrack collector, you'll be disappointed that the "Ants Go Marching" theme, which was featured so prominently in the film, can't be found anywhere on this soundtrack.

About half the CD consists of score, and since the original "Die Hard" album was never commercially released ... the only real reason for buying this album is to get as much of the legendary "Die Hard" score as possible... And now they've even stopped printing this album...

Well...I have only one thing to say about this soundtrack selection. Whoever created this soundtrack was on "CRACK!" and needs to be removed from the music industry. I mean how can the "Main" score in the movie not in the soundtrack selection? This is like going to Disneyland and not see Mickey but Bugs Bunny? (No ofense to Bugs. I love you :p) Too bad I found this review way too late till after I have purchased it. (for $0.01) I think this soundtrack ain't worth listening to or better yet...to be looked at. For the price I've paid, I think I got ripped off.

BTW if anyone know where I can get my hands on the movie version of "When Johnny came marching Home" the acoustic version and also the Man's Chore version. Please share with the world. I think the people of the world will be very happy to find that someone do care for another's love for "GOOD MUSIC". :D

Die Hard With A Vengeance is unfortunate enough to have pretty the absolute worst score CD of any movie ever made, I'm afraid to say. It's just a complete disaster from top to bottom.

First of all, the track listings are not on the cover or the insert. So it's a big of a con if you pick the CD in the stores considering you cannot even see what exactly it is that you are getting. The tracks themselves are, rather cryptically, named after things that did not appear in the movie. Iron Foundry? Waltz of the Bankers? What??? Second, there are awful, and very dated, rap tunes littered about the CD even though they only appear in the film for a few seconds each. Third, only a tiny, tiny portion of Kamen's music makes it to the CD. What we get is a few tracks of underscore with the main action cues completely absent. What the hell is the point in creating a score CD that represents the strength of the film in no way whatsoever?

The brilliant 'Johnny Comes Marching Home' music: missing. The bomb in the subway music: missing. The car chase music: missing. The final reveal of the bomb music: missing. The showdown music: missing. The only action track we get is the scene when McClane surfs the dump truck and even that is different from its equivalent in the movie.

Michael Kamen did two scores for this movie. His first was rejected by John McTiernan in favor of repeated themes from the first movies. So, when you think about it, there's probably about 2-hours worth of music for Die Hard 3 out there that ain't getting the CD release it deserves. Maybe someone like Intrada or Varese Sarabanda can pick this up for a limited release because this RCA release is an effing disgrace.

The best way to describe the music in this score is to listen to Die Hard 2: Die Harder, as a lot of the material used in that score is used in this one. With under 30 minutes of score, most of the music consists of songs and 2 lengthy classical pieces by Brahms and Beethoven. "Goodbye Bonwits" is mainly ominous in nature with hints of the Die Hard theme. "John and Zeus" begins like the last one, but then goes into action mode with racing strings. "Papaya King" contains lots of strings, some low-key pianos, and quotes of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" by the brass. "Take A-Nother Train" quotes the famous Die Hard theme again and contains loads of powerful brass and driving string rhythms. "Waltz of the Bankers" contains ominous strings and flute rhythms played over marching snare drums. "Gold Vault" is almost mickey-moused sounding at the beginning, but then goes into Kamen's usual punctuating strings. "Surfing the Aquaduct" is an exciting action cue that is very reminiscent of many of the action cues in "Die Hard 2: Die Harder", with frantic strings, pounding brass quoting the Die Hard theme, and driving percussion. A nice edition to this score is a classical piece by Alexi Mosolov titled, "The Iron Foundry", which is an exciting orchestral work that sounds a lot like something Michael Kamen would write. The songs can basically be forgotten, except for "Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful. Overall, a great score, while not as good as the other two, still holds its ground and sounds great outside the film.

The original title of "The ants are marching one by one" is the civil war song "When Johnny is marching home" or more original, the Irish "Johnny , I hardly knew ye". In this movie this old song is perfectly blended in a modern variant.

Don't get me wrong, this CD has it's moments, it's just, they are few and far apart.I was kinda hoping for more than this. Like the theft. That neat little marching tune that started with a piece from "Flight of the Valkyries" (did I spell that right?) and "The Ants go Marching 1 by 1" (okay, I know that isn't the real name, but thats all I know it by). Seriously though, a true Die Hard fan would probably recognize the theme song, placed in many of the songs on the CD. Anyone else, you'd probably get a better song if you held a tape recorder up to the TV while the credits roll.

Yes it lacks the ants come marching home or whatever the song is called but with all else it does contain most of The score from the film and the Die Hard Theme unlike the Live Free Die Hard Score. This was my favorite soundtrack as a kid and Its still a great one till this day.

I dont personally own this soundtrack, however, awhile ago I was able to actually find the "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" score from this movie and I believe it is the correct version. Sadly it is not listed on the soundtrack, which would have been the only reason I would have bought this.

Ce disque est je pense aussi bon que le film lui mème,il retrace parfaitement l'ambiance du film;ainsi que les deux premiers; dommage que le premier soit introuvable.Je trouve que les deux morceaux de rap sont tout à fait dans les propos du film lorsque Bruce WILLIS se trouve dans Harlem.Disque à acheter absolument pour les inconditionnels de la trilogie,en attendant un quatrieme épisode.