Local Hero (1983 Film) [Soundtrack]

Mark Knopfler (Artist), 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 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,247 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This soundtrack (along with Ry Cooder's for Paris, Texas and Ennio Morricone's for Once Upon a Time in America, to name two other examples) is the kind of music that CDs were made for. Some of it is so delicate, so quiet, that it could disappear underneath the rumble and noise of a vinyl LP. You'd never know this was the score to a comedy--even a gentle wisp of a comedy like Bill Forsyth's picture. Some of it could pass for Scottish- flavored ambient music by Brian Eno. "The Rocks and the Water" seems to rise up like the tide with electronic calls that suggest the music of whales or dolphins. The sound of the sea whispers behind several atmospheric tracks, but Knopfler's guitar is also featured up-front some of the more overtly melodic tunes. The overall impression is luminous and evanescent as the Northern Lights. --Jim Emerson

Product Description

Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler's intricate introspective fingerpicked guitar stylings make a perfect musical complement to the wistful tone of Bill Forsyth's comedy film Local Hero. This album was billed as a Knopfler solo album rather than an original soundtrack album with the notation 'music...for the film.' Knopfler brings along Dire Straits associates Alan Clark (keyboards) and John Illsley (bass) plus session aces like saxophonist Mike Brecker vibes player Mike Mainieri and drummers Steve Jordan and Terry Williams. The low-key music picks up traces of Scottish music but most of it just sounds like Dire Straits doing instrumentals especially the recurring theme one of Knopfler's more memorable melodies. Gerry Rafferty (remember him from 'Baker Street'?) sings the one vocal selection 'That's the Way It Always Starts.' ~ William RuhlmannComposed by Mark

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

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

By A Customer

Format: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.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

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

By Paul Allaer TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format: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?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Rocks, Water, All That Matters August 12, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Audio CD

This is my favorite movie ever, so I'm biased. What the soundtrack brings to the table is dreamy, sensual, and romantic. Knopfler communicates much better through his guitar playing than singing (he does none here), and "Smooching", "Going Home", and "Wild Theme" are brimful of wistfulness, borrowing more from classical than folk. I listened to this album every night for the summer of 1983!