Customer Reviews

Munich

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Munich" is not a "common" John Williams score with sweeping melodies. It isn't instantly memorable like his other work, but is every bit as effective as anything he's ever written. It's a wonderful score, lending great power to the images that Steven Spielberg uses to tell his story. I'm continually amazed by Mr. Williams's ability to adapt his style to each project. Another notable fact is that "Munich" is his fourth score during 2005, following "Revenge of the Sith," "War of the Worlds" and "Memoirs of a Geisha." No tracks really stand out (the work as a whole is very consitent), and this may not be a CD to listen to over and over again. But its effectiveness and power make it a wonderful part of any John Williams collection.

John Williams'superb score for "Munich" pulls off something rare-it's
better than the movie.This is the maestro at his full-throttle best.
The score is intense,powerful,thrilling,and magnificently performed
by the LA Recording Arts Orchestra under the master's superb baton.
This is his best work since "Saving Private Ryan"

After nearly a decade or more of writing scores that, although incredibley well crafted, were pretty much same-old-same-old, Williams is experiencing a fresh creative take in his film scoring. Munich is another score that departs from his more conservative post romantic style. Although some of the cues are not as fun or as easy to listen as those from his golden age styled scores, they are excellent accompaniments to the film working sublty below the images. Many long time William's fans may not like this less thematic and overtly orchestrated approach, but this style works best for the type of film being scored. There is a maturity here that perfectly compliments the maturity of Spielberg's film making.

Well, I must say, Williams got ripped off AGAIN this year, with yet another beautiful score misunderstood. I sometimes wonder when the Academy will get a clue and start giving awards where they are do.

As far as the score goes, get it. It is a passionate tribute to it's story, and reminds me strongly of some of the best Williams scores. Echoes of Empire of the Sun, Seven Years in Tibet, Schindler's List and even Revenge of the Sith cover this album. On top of these wonderful stylistic comebacks is a wealth of new material, (meaning extremely original compositions) that cannot be passed up.

Support Williams, and buy the score that should have won.

Steven Spielberg's "Munich" was, and is (at least in this reviewer's opinion) one of the finest, and most inherently misunderstood, works of art to rise out of the chaos and uncertainty of the post-9/11 world.
It is my personal philosophy that, in a realist style of filmmaking, the various media incorporated into the film's presentation simulate different aspects of the viewer's own experience "inside" the story - images simulate vision, sound simulates hearing. But there is one crucial part of the human experience that film alone cannot possibly simulate; emotion. John Williams has always greatly incorporated this philosophy into his film scores, which has surely contributed to his status as a deeply respected and beloved composer. But in a film where emotion runs deep, ambiguity runs strongly, and subtlety abounds, one might expect even the best of composers to hit his limit. Not so for John Williams. His ambient, exquisite score for "Munich" encapsulates the mood, feeling and concept of the film with striking accuracy.
Williams falls back from sweeping overtures in this film to compose a score that is affecting, yet ambient. Rather than sculpting the music to choreograph each scene, Mr. Williams primarily uses only a few core themes, varying them to the appropriate degree for each scene in which they are used. The quiet consistency is strikingly effective; without even realizing it, we come to identify "Avner's Theme" with the ray of hope, the humanity that Avner and his fellows struggle to maintain even in the face of their grisly line of work. "Munich, 1972", played over the opening scenes of the film, passionately inflicts upon us the horror and tragedy of the attacks at the 1972 Olympic games; its reprise, "Remembering Munich", played as bloody story of the Israeli athletes is retold in greater detail, emanates of unease and shock. Most involving, perhaps, is the tense, feverish rhythm of "Encounter in London", which mimics a human heartbeat - Avner's heartbeat, the assassins' hearbeat, our heartbeat. Ingeniously played at strategic points throughout the film, the nightmarish beat quickly becomes a harbinger of brutality to come, filling us with dread and anticipation, completely immersing us in the action. But perhaps most memorable of all is the genuinely haunting overture of the "End Credits" followed by "Avner and Daphne", originally played over one of the most chilling endings I have ever experienced in film. The melancholy reprise of the film's major themes, the combined feeling of deep sadness, mourning and yet a tiny spark of hope for an uncertain future - these powerful elements ensured that every conscious and open-minded viewer walked out of the movie theater in deep contemplation, which is certainly something which is surely something from which Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Williams would derive a great sense of accomplishment. The tune, and the ending, still sends a shiver up my spine whenever I see it, and I've rewatched and relistened to it many times.
Anyone who has seen and experienced this exquisitely tragic film owes it to themselves to pick up this quietly beautiful soundtrack, which proves once again beyond a shadow of doubt that John Williams possesses well-nigh infinite potential for capturing the emotional essence of films in music.
On my personal ratings scale... this album receives a 10/10.

This movie was very intense due of course to the subject matter. The music by John Williams was just superb and helped draw me into this sad story. The mournful voice of Lisbeth Scott in the track "Remembering Munich" reminds me of the never-ending conflict between the progeny of Ishmael and Isaac.

If you're a film composer of the old school who learned his craft being around people like Franz Waxman or Bernard Herrmann, you should be obsolete in today's world. But not if you're John Williams.

For what seems to be the millionth time in his illustrious career, Williams has given us one of his best film scores here, for director Steven Spielberg's complex vengeance film MUNICH, about the aftermath of the 1972 Summer Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes at Munich by PLO terrorists. By necessity, the score for MUNICH is far less bombastic that those Williams supplied for the STAR WARS films or for Spielberg's 2005 summer smash WAR OF THE WORLDS, but all of his scoring instincts are still there, just serving a different purpose. Weaving suspense and funereal elements throughout, aided by vocalist Elisabeth Scott on two of the score's cue tracks, Williams creates a moving tapestry that dovetails perfectly with Spielberg's emotional and intelligent look at the Munich tragedy and the price of vengeance being paid by not only this film's Israeli hit squad but also by innocent victims on both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. There are moments of subtlety in the score that those who know Williams only for big, brash, and explosive scores will almost certainly find revelatory. For those who know the man's extensive score dossier from beginning to end, it really re-asserts Williams' pre-eminent position as Hollywood's greatest living composer of motion picture music. A stunning piece of work, by any stretch of the imagination.

I have heard the CD and it's AMAZING! 2005 is a really great year of John Williams' music. He has composed the score for the last Star Wars movie, later he tells us an alien invasion on Earth with a rhythmic propulsion and rare atmospheric music, he has composed a beautiful Japanese score about the life of a Geisha and finally he compose music for a film inspired by the tragic events of 1972 in the Munich Olympic games.

Most fans familiar with Spielberg's latest movie would know just about how much time John Williams had to write the score. Its safe to say this album is one of John's best of the year.

Ths album opens with mournful vocals by Lisbeth Scott followed by the tense string work and percussion in ATTACK AT OLYMPIC VILLAGE. Much of the soundtrack is dramatic with percussion sections for the action moments as the Mossad agents get their revenge on suspect Palestinian terrorists responsible for the MUNICH attack.

The recurring theme is AVNER'S THEME played by various instruments throughout the album. The theme is played by a solo guitar in track 10 and gets a nice string ensemble in the End Credits.

Above all, Williams proves once again that he is the Maestro of Film Music. We'll see if the Academy gives him the award he's been waiting for since Schindler's List.

John Williams continues to get better with age. This is a brooding and emotional soundtrack. Moving and quixotic at times I enjoyed it very much. This score reflects the complex nature of the job at hand for this group of men. A seasoned composer, Williams seems to gain greater insight into the essence of film with each new score he composes.