Customer Reviews

Manhunter

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Manhunter has long been one of my "grail" soundtracks so I was astonished when Intrada decided to unexpectedly release an "official" CD after 24 excruciating years. There have been numerous bootlegs that have been in circulation engineered from the original MCA Manhunter Original Soundtrack which was released only on audio cassette with persistent analogue tape hiss and LP with subtle vinyl pops symptomatic of the source recordings, none of which compare to the remastered fidelity of Intrada's premiere CD that fully realizes the sublime and evocative atmosphere of Michael Mann's underrated 1986 masterpiece. Featuring the vocals of "The Prime Movers" with "Strong As I Am" and "Shriekback" on "Coelocanth," "Evaporation," and "This Big Hush," "Heartbeat" by Mike Rutherford's "Red 7," and synth-guitar instrumentals by Michel Rubini on "Graham's Theme" and "The Reds" with "Lektor's Cell," the unreleased "Jogger's Stakeout," and "Leed's House." Last but not least, Iron Butterfly's haunting classic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidda" is the icing on the cake and you will never be able to listen to it the same way again after watching the film and to this day still gives me chills when I hear it because of Tom Noonan's unforgettable performance as the "Tooth Fairy" Francis Dollarhyde.

The Intrada release unfortunately overlooks two rare and hard to find tracks from the film, neither of which were available on the original MCA issue: Kitaro's "Seiun," a beautifully dreamy ambient piece, is from the long out of print CD Millennia while Klaus Schulze's "Freeze" from the album Angst can be downloaded in MP3 format right here from Amazon.com. I can only speculate they were omitted due to licensing issues. Nevertheless, the inclusion of the never-before-released track "Jogger's Stakeout" by "The Reds" more than makes up for their disappointing absence by further expanding the album's dark atmospheric undercurrent.

Avid Fan

Manhunter was an overlooked movie, the first movie to feature Hannibal Lector, which is a shame. Directed by Michael Mann (Miami Vice, Last of the Mohicans), please often dismiss his work because he uses music to set the moods so much in his films. Well, sorry, a soundtrack can set the mood and tense faster than 10 minutes of film, and this soundtrack from beginning to end, gives Manhunter that little something extra.

Its is a pulsing, driving score with deeply sensual music like the Big Hush to the poignant rock Heartbeat by Red 7.

Often when I am too busy to watch the movie, it put it on just to heart the soundtrack, so I was very glad to find it in cassette, just wish they would put it out on CD!!!!!!!!

Very simply is a masterpiece. The music is so tight with the scenes of the movie and hearing the music i remember every scene of it. Excellent movie, outstanding music. There is nothing more i can say.

It is beyond me why the author Thomas Harris disassociated himself from "Manhunter". To me it is a far better movie than "Red Dragon" which bears the title of the book each movie was based on. The cast of "Manhunter", including William Petersen, Tom Noonan, Brian Cox, and Dennis Farina was fantastic. Tom Noonan as Francis Dollarhyde blew away Ralph Fiennes in his ability to scare me. But I digress. We are talking about the music here. The music made this movie all the more unforgettable. Any movie with In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly to set the mood for a climatic ending confrontation is great in my book. That doesn't mention the scene with the tiger sleeping and the moodful piece "Coelocanth" by Shriekback. "Strong as I Am" by the Prime Movers is great as the background music to Dollarhyde becoming jealous and reacting. This whole CD is packed with incredible music that set the moods for the scenes. "Heartbeat" at the end as we see everything is going to be okay as they check the baby sea turtles is a great piece.

Sometimes orchestra music is appropriate for a movie. For this edgy murder drama I think the bands chosen were more in synch with the theme of the movie. The great visuals Mann used also brought out the scenes as well. I can count on one hand the number of movies that I recall every scene of the movie from the music. Most movies have one theme throughout and so they don't stand out as much. I can't believe this soundtrack isn't available. Of course you can get "Red Dragon" or "Silence of the Lambs" on CD. This soundtrack is far better than the music in "Red Dragon". I think Michael Mann is a great director and deserved far more credit than he received. I think music is a crucial part to the success or failure of a movie. Look at the classics and you will see they always have great music. This movie has great music and I think Michael Mann appreciates the role music plays in TV shows and movies. Why isn't this soundtrack on CD? My cassette is ancient and I would like to replace it.

A quarter of a century has passed, and out of the blue I got the news I've been waiting for since the late eighties: the Manhunter soundtrack - on CD - is finally available. I feel like the protagonist in that Phil Collins song "In the Air Tonight," and like I should bust out singing all heartfelt and fervent...but I won't. I will simply tell you that this is news that portends very good tidings for me and for you...if you have both the ducats and the taste to buy this disc. And trust me, you want to. It is unlikely, maybe impossible, that you will ever find another soundtrack not only so well suited to the visual material it supports, but also one where every single track on the disc is a winner including the instrumental ones. The sublime mixture of musical artists, styles and genres creates one of the most rare and elusive of musical creatures - the ultimate play list; a compilation of songs that reflect a musical whole so perfect that you'd give anything to have thought of it yourself.

As a Manhunter listener, I'm always struck by how I like the soundtrack as much as I do. Upon casual glance at the list of artists, it just doesn't seem possible for it to be as killer as it is, especially considering a few of the tracks might be thought of by some as standard 80`s rock/pop, or others as early experimental techno - yet the sum total of these tracks comes together masterfully. As a Manhunter viewer, I'm always struck by how absolutely perfectly the different tracks underscore the emotional workings of the characters, how they strike just the right highs and lows in terms of tone, and how they fit a given scene.

I invite you to buy this disc, listen to it in one sitting, and let it take you on a trip through your own mental musings. You may not connect with it in the same way that I do having been a longtime fan of the film, but I'm willing to bet you'll dig the soundtrack for all it has to offer or simply for the sheer eighties-ness of it all. Perfect music for driving, thinking and feeling the night air, or just kicking back at home staring at the ceiling on an introspective summer night.

At last, this terrific album available on CD. Shame they did not use the extra space ( only 43 min long ) with the full version of In-a-gadda-da-vida, but that's just a minor gripe. I had to get it on import to the UK as it's not available here yet.

Every song was chosen to perfection by Michael Mann. Far surpassing its successors in greatness, Manhunter will linger in your mind for the rest of your life. The power, the breadth, the beauty of Manhunter and its soundtrack, its all here.


~ Jarod

Waited A Very long time for this one. Read the other reviews of this soundtrack regarding its rareity.(Strong As I Am) is my favorite song within the ten track selection along with the 8:00 min version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. The Cd's deep huanting 80's synthesized music, is the prefect musical backdrop for this thriller.

Anyone who is a fan of the movie "Manhunter" would probably enjoy this soundtrack, now finally available on CD in its most complete form yet. Why the tracks on the CD are not in the same order as they appear in the film is a mystery to me.

In fact, most of Michael Mann's films feature interesting music and make for good soundtrack listening. Want to hear more great soundtrack albums from his films? Pick up the soundtracks to "Heat" and "The Insider".

There are a couple of typos on the back of the CD insert -- in both cases a character's name is misspelled. That doesn't effect the listening enjoyment, but it looks sloppy and makes me a little sad that more care wasn't taken. I'll get over it eventually, though.

It only took about 25 years for this great soundtrack to get on CD. I have enjoyed this soundtrack over the years. This goes in my "BEST SOUNDTRACKS" collection.