Local Hero (1983 Film) [Soundtrack]

Mark Knopfler (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: LRS MEDIA
• ASIN: B000002KYZ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,313 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top-notch Knopfler, August 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Local Hero (1983 Film) (Audio CD)

Dire Straits notwithstanding, Mark Knopler's score for "Local Hero" is one of his most wonderful musical contributions. This film score is one of his finest, along with his scores for "Cal" and "Comfort and Joy". Did James Horner hear these Knopfler scores before his titanic "Titanic" score? I think so. But Horner was not able (or allowed) to communicate so simple and sweet a vision. "Local Hero" is one of the great films of the 80s, and so, too, is Mark Knopfler's score for that film.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best soundtracks... EVER, March 13, 2006

By 

Paul Allaer (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Local Hero (1983 Film) (Audio CD)

In 1983, at the height of the Dire Straights' reign of pop music ("Money for Nothing"), Dire Straights lead song writer Mark Knopfler scored the soundtrack of a delightful "little movie that could" called Local Hero.

"Local Hero" (14 tracks, 43 min.) creates the atmosphere of the Scottish scene in which the movie is set, in which a US expat is sent to convince a small seaside town to sell their interest in a beach so that a "big bad" US oil company can explore ir for oil. The mostly instrumental soundtrack is superb from start to finish, creating a wonderful mood. The opener "The Rocks and the Water" sets the stage, just superbly brought of what the Scottish seaside is like. Knopfler's guitar virtuoso gets a workout in a couple of tracks, but it never deteriorates from the overall mood. Other outstanding tracks include "The Mist Covered Mountains", gently bringing in a local band playing a sorrowful yet hopefull tune, and "Stargazer", in which you can just see and smell the open Scottish sky. There isn't a single weak track on the album, frankly. This album remains a soundtrack by which others should be measured by.

The best known track remains the very last one "Going Home (Theme of Local Hero)", which is as close as you'll get to the Dire Straights' sound, and it inevitably appears on Dire Straight live and compilation CDs. But it is the anamoly on this gorgeous soundtrack. This album was originally released in 1983, when I bought it on vinyl, and I bought it when the CD came out in 1990. Isn't it about time for a re-release on remastered sound?

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfect Film Score, December 2, 2003

By 

J. Jeffrey Donahue (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Local Hero (1983 Film) (Audio CD)

Local Hero is one of my favorite film scores, and contains some of the best music Mark Knopfler has written. It is hedonistically enjoyable and bears repeated listening. The music is not anything like a Dire Straits album, but is beautifully evocative of the small town in northern Scotland where the movie is set.

Mark Knopfler is clearly the main the main songwriter, but Alan Clark (a founding member of The Hollies) collaborates with Knoplfer on some tunes, and contributes a few short pieces of music of his own, including the hauntingly beautiful "Stargazer", which actually sounds like the Aurora Borealis. Gerry Rafferty ("Baker Street") contributes vocals to one track as well. I am left with the impression that having other talented musicians to work with on this project (instead of sidemen) inspired Knopfler to create a great achievement not only in the music presented but in the quality of the audio production as well. Knopfler has not reached same heights again on any of his later soundtracks, although the music for "Wag the Dog" comes fairly close.

As much as I love my old LP version of this album I have to admit that the CD is stunning. The wide dynamic range of the music is what CDs were made for.