Customer Reviews

The Forbidden Kingdom - Original Motion Picture Score

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

EDIT: Maybe I was too harsh on this expereince. Afterward Amazon promptly replaced the defective CD-R, with a new one. And since then the quality of their CD-R issues have risen dramatically. The last 2 CD-Rs I bought were as professional as they could be. I'm going to change my rating from 1 to 4 stars, as it more accurately represents my new expereince with this product and the music on it.

I just wanna point out that Amazon is sending out CD-Rs of this score and not pressed disc. Now you probably already new that. But what you should also know is that a good number of people are receiving disc that still have wet smudgible ink, and there is some unremovable residue of some kind that has dripped on the recored surface of the disc that makes it unplayable. I've had to return my disc for a replacement.

This is a wonderful score, but this review is not about the music. Unfortunately, Amazon is not producing a wonderful product. My copy came with something that smears off the front side of the cd, and some sort of residue on the recorded side of the cd. The disc will not even play in my cd player.

If this were an isolated incident I wouldn't gripe, there's always one that goes wrong. But I am aware of four to six other people who have had the same experience when ordering this cd. Glue or residue on the cd making it unplayable. Who knows how many others there are I don't know about.

Amazon promised me a replacement, of course. I only hope the next one is produced to some kind of quality standard. Bad enough that they are charging us cd prices for a CD-R which has neither the quality or the lifespan of a commercially recorded cd. I hope they get their production process corrected.

My CD came w/out any smudging or residue and so far it it's playing great. I do agree that this is a very cheaply made CD, but I guess at this point it's better than nothing.

I'll never understand why this film had such a crummy marketing campaign that saw the production of nearly NO TYPE OF MOVIE-TIE IN's what so ever.

How many crappy/undeserving/forgettable films get soundtrack treatments and this film, barely, gets *this*... I just don't get it.

Anyway --

Great,charming, fun film/score

Unbelievably cheap product.

After seeing this film on a whim (gee, that looks interesting, let's go watch it), I looked high and low for the soundtrack. Apparently, it's only available through Amazon. Shipping it took them forever and a day, I guess it's because they make these to order, and don't keep a stock on hand. I guess that's good in keeping supply low so as not to horribly exceed demand?

Also, it was recorded onto one of those CD-R disks with the blue backing. Not sure if this is scratch protection, but some other reviews I've seen and one other person I know who bought this say that the blue stuff is gummy and ruins both the CD and player. I guess I was lucky in that it played and ripped perfectly fine.

As for the music, I can't really find a track that stands out at me. My favorite motif isn't highlighted in any specific song, and most of the album is either transition music or quiet ambient background music. It's not something I'd specifically listen to, so I'm filing it into the 'play when I want music playing for the sake of music playing" because as background goes, it's great.

While I was watching the film, I was thinking to myself what a good soundtrack it had, by new-comer composer - David Buckley. It took it's time to find a release, but finally it's here - albeit in a rushed CD-R... This has caused numerous problems, as you can see with the reviews here, and considering I was ordering to the UK, I was praying that I got a working copy. Thankfully, I did.


The music itself is very good overall. Many, if not all of the tracks have a fantasy / ethnic sound that fits perfectly into the film.

What I also like about this score is that it is varied, and the tracks are well placed, so you won't be tired of hearing battle tracks over and over again for example. Luckily for me, it focuses slightly more on the calm, relaxing tracks than the battle themes, although I did really enjoy the action-based tracks in this too, even if they do drag on a bit - 'J & J Temple Fight' in particular, which is a heavily-percussion based track that goes on for over 5 minutes.
Track 12 - 'Ni Chang and Her Cult Killers' (bit of a silly name, which is a minor gripe I have with some of the tracks on this score) is a track I particularly enjoyed because of the mix of action and towards the end, a more calming melody, a style that many of the tracks adopt - 'China Begins', 'Hops' Shop', and especially the epic-sounding 'The Seeker of the Prophecy'.
Track 12 also has that cool guitar that is played when the witch appears in the film, and even if it does sound very out of place, and more fitting to a stand-off in a western film, it's still a fun listen.

There are noticable influences of Harry Gregson William's music in much of this score, which makes sense considering he was Buckley's 'tutor' and the producer for this album.

My favourite track is probably track 08 - 'Two Tigers - Two Masters', which is an opinion many people share. This is played during the training montage in the film.


I do have some minor gripes with the score than prevents me from giving it a full 5 stars. The main one is obviously the format of this CD, and I feel very bad for the people who are not getting working copies. Don't give up though, it is a real treat to listen to.
As I have mentioned earlier, some of the battle tracks do drag on a bit, but that is understandable considering some of the fight scenes in the movie were quite long, and they are played mainly as background pace music.
Some of the tracks, track 1 and 8 for instance, feel badly mixed at times, by that I mean a different 'type' of music cuts in when the other finishes, and it would have worked better as two different tracks. This is particularly evident in the first track, which starts the score off with a nice, soothing sound and then leads randomly into an annoying 'adventure based' piece for the Monkey King's character.


Overall, it is a very enjoyable listen. Just be sure to keep your fingers crossed in hope of recieving a working copy.

I searched for the ost after seeing the movie. It drew me into the movie and I like the oriental accents in it.
Now I bought it and I find it just as beautiful without the accompanying images. It has faster paced and slower, more emotional pieces. This in my opinion is always a plus. The first song " Mountain of fruit and flowers" is in itself a perfect mix and one of my favorites. It goes from a beautiful soft melody to a happy, faster paced tune. (And having seen the movie, I could really imagine the Monkey King when listening to it). A very good introduction to the rest of the cd. "Monkey Bussiness" is another mix, switching between ominious drums and brass (sorry, I don't know the exact terms as I'm not a native speaker)of the Jade Warlord and the happy playfull violins and flute of the Monkey King. "Ni Chang and her cult killers" has a sort of Wild West edge to it. The oriental sound is present throughout. I could continue discussing each song, but I'll leave that to the listener to disover.

Overall it's a beautiful soundtrack, guaranteed to sweep you off to that forbidden kingdom. Enjoy.

PS: I did read some negative comments about the quality of the cd. My cd itself was in perfect condition: no scratches, no glue. The only way you might tell it's a cd-r instead of a regular cd is the slightly lesser quality of the booklet. But it is really only slightly vissible. Might I not have read the comments, I might not have noticed. Whatever the problems were when this first came out, I think they solved it.

It's all in good fun, hitting all the right notes of warmth and sweetness, haunting beauty, unabashed but innocent naughtiness, and heart-breakingly plantive longing at all the right moments. The music tracks for scenes with the white haired bride and her cult of killers are oh so very Sergio Leoni and his Magnificent Seven(a film so blatantly lifted wholesale from the Seven Samurai) and while these are not my favorite tracks in this album, they are a perfect nod to how deeply films from this genre have influenced our entire film-viewing experience.

Without the cleverness of its often inventive score, the pleasure of viewing this film would have been greatly lessened.

Trust me. Get this album. You'll not regret it.

Cambridge-educated, choirboy-turned-film-composer David Buckley scored The Forbidden Kingdom, an enchanting Hollywood-release fantasy-wuxia movie I'd never even heard of until I found it on my DVR (My wife: "I thought the kids might like it,") pairing Jakie Chan & Jet Li for the first time on the Big Screen, and yes, its as exciting as it sounds - of course nothing of this scope works without supporting accompaniment, which is where Mr. Buckley comes in.

Akin to hearing the fantastic DVD-menu to Stardust for the first time (Ilan Eshkeri's "Cap'n's At The Helm") and the unsuspecting "Holy Crap!" score which followed, David Buckley's The Forbidden Kingdom punctuated similar evocations throughout. Starting right in by setting the underlying motif in the main title (The Mountain of Fruit & Flowers), the album jumps to the festive "Peach Banquet" tying the album together audibly rather than following the film.

While I've certainly enjoyed Tan Dun's more...accurate...period scores, David Buckley was able to fully open the door cracked by Bear McCreary [in his use of ethnic instruments] by applying them to a film in which they were actually applicable. Where as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero were Chinese films this release was Hollywood, intended for Hollywood audiences in both scope of story, and soundtrack.

In Buckley's words from the TrackSound Interview, "In the end, we decided that the overall tone of the score should not be overtly Chinese. Rather, it should be something that would be accessible for western audiences and acceptable to eastern audiences." Now I can't speak on the behalf of the Eastern audiences, but I most assuredly enjoyed the mixture of Asian-flair and full-on orchestration - and I'm a huge fan of McCreary so I hope you took that comparison as a compliment!

"Hops' Shop" is, at times reminiscent of Jablonsky's Transformers but in this listener's opinion that is not a bad thing. "Tea House Fight" is Jackie Chan's first big fight in the film, and the 4:23 track certainly doesn't disappoint - the brass is shiny and bold and the strings stirring! For me, though, finishing my taekwondo workout to "As One Tale Ends..." is the pinnacle of the album, though he gets major props for the funky throwback end-credit sequence, "...Another Tale Begins."

Thank you Mr. Buckley for the wild ride!

Originally posted on my blog - [...]

I've always loved the kind of music occidental composers do to suggest or meld oriental sounds.

In this case is so, Funya nd elegant music with an exotic touch.

I enjoyed it very much

I was amazed and stunned when I put this CD in my computer. The music was exciting, emotional, and (I don't know how else to put this) cool! Tracks 1 and part of 19 reminded me of the Pirates of the Caribbean music. 12, 15, and 16 are just plain cool. Tracks 13 and 19 are very emotional. Yes, it is printed on a CD-R, but it rips well to a computer. This Music is amazing; anyone should love it!