Customer Reviews

Les Mans-Le Chasseur Soundtrack

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Fans of Steve McQueen's classic racing movie "Le Mans" have been waiting patiently for decades to get their hands on a recording of Michel Legrand's wonderful score. McQueen's obsession with racing footage over plot would probably have fallen flat without Legrand's jazz-tinged orchestrations. This disc finally delivers. In addition there are tracks that didn't make the film (including a wild Jean-Luc Ponty jam) and more tracks from McQueen's later film "The Hunter." I almost bought it on vinyl back in '81 at a used record store in Covent Garden but passed on the opportunity because it was expensive and I didn't want to carry the record all over Europe. Now, 37 years after I first saw the film as a teenager, the disc is in my own Porsche 911 ready for a drive in the country -- although at a bit less than 200 mph.

For Legrand fans, this is a must-have; for fans of Steve McQueen, this is also of import since this album features music from one of his most popular films ("Le Mans") and his last film ("The Hunter"). Interesting to note similar motifs used by Legrand for both. "Le Mans" has some tracks that just scream "1960s", but there is also a great deal of ahead-of-the-curve innovation. "The Hunter" features some very innovative musical concepts that apparantly had the studio suits a bit concerned, but thankfully Legrand stayed with his vision.

The Le Mans soundtrack is a work of genious, no doubt, but if you ever get chance to buy the original (vinyl only) then do so -- it has much more atmosphere since it includes much more of the film. The Race, First Laps, for example, is so much more atmospheric with the sound of a Porsche 908 superposed.

Great soundtrack for a classic film about the racing circuit. The tracks capture the very essence of the film, just as LeGrand did with the soundtracks of Summer of 42, and The Picacco Suite. Looking forward to more of the same.

A great 70's frentic jazz soundtrack that suited like few ever have successfully coupled racing images and the roar of the engines passing by with music.
Agreeing with the other reviewer that says that the original vynil makes for a better and richer album with more engine and ambient sounds from the movie, having both, I have to admit that the CD is worth the money, if only I wonder why instead of the Hunter soundtrack (a fine one by itself, by the way), why didn't they included ALSO the tracks from the vynil, with the sounds of the Porsches 917 and Ferraris 512 in this product.
The quality of the CD is very good and thankfully, the songs are EXACTLY the ones used in the film, which is key to me, since some soundtracks that use different cuts or even players (see Bullitt for a perfect example of this) in their "home edition", makes completely pointless and enraging to buy it.
Some goodies come in form of never before heard songs or parts of them (even in the vynil), such as "Loneliness in the wind", a real masterpiece of this soundtrack, in my opinion, and a real treat to have the in-crescendo at the beggining, exploding with the sound of racing cars passing by and then a nostalgic trumpet melody.
But a real miss is the different version of a frentic song from the vynil edition ("The Race, Last Laps").
Anyway, "The Hunter" soundtrack is left somewhat on the shadow of "Le Mans", thanks to the sheer quality of the car movie. Although the Hunter is typical Legrand with most of the tracks, it also is somewhat experimental with some barroque themes used throughout the film. They seem more cohesive with the scenes in the movie the more you see them and in the CD, they are nice to listen by themselves, although they seem a bit out of place in what is mainly, a jazz music album.
Summing up this is clearly my favourite CD from my McQueen's soundtracks collection and will always make for a nice listening on your own or shared.

Forget about Le Chasseur...which is a fine soundtrack to be sure, but that's not what I bought this CD for.

Having looked high/low for a soundtrack of Steve McQueen's LeMans racing movie for years, finally found it here.

This is it, in all its cool, lounge-y, 70's funkiness. It fits McQueen's King of Cool aura perfectly. Legrand, as usual, has got it all together with grooves that capture the essence and excitement of the racing scenes perfectly, and the world of LeMans in the 70s. The Made in France sticker on the cover adds to the coolness.

C'est lui, dans tout le frais, le funkiness 70s. Il adapte le roi de McQueen de l'aura fraīche parfaitement. Legrand, comme d'habitude, l'a tout ainsi que les cannelures qui capturent l'essence et l'excitation des scènes de emballage parfaitement, et le monde du Mans dans les années 70s.

I purchased this hoping to replace my old vinyl version with a CD version especially for my 9 year old son to enjoy as I did when I was a kid. The music is great but why didn't they include the original Porsche and Ferrari sounds which made the original so wonderful?
They could have done without the Hunter soundtrack and replaced it with the vinyl version of Le Mans. Then we'd have the best of both worlds.
If you are after the music only, this is great. But for those who recall the wonderful original soundtrack, you'll have a bit of a let down.