Customer Reviews

The Ring/ The Ring Two

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

 

 

I have been waiting to hear the score for The Ring since it came out and finally hearing it on a official soundtrack was great. Considering that Ring Two was hitting the screens, it was obvious to release both scores at the same time...on a single disc. I have to say that all of the music here on this cd is very good and pleasant to listen to, especially if you are a big fan of the ring or even zimmers music, because this is one of his greatest works.

The Good-
The sound quality of this soundtrack is very very good and worth buying. It really enhances the score and makes it very clear and listenable, compared to the lesser sounding promo edition. Like I said all of the music here on this soundtrack is very good and I think they hit alot of the highlights in the film. The new music for the Ring Two was also great to hear and makes me even more eager to see the film.

The Bad-
Yes there are alot of mistakes that went into this soundtrack. My major complaint is that there is not any kind of list that says whether the track is from The Ring or Ring Two. Each track is a suite of different tracks from The Ring and Ring Two one after another. I really wished that they had put the score to The Ring first followed by the score to The Ring Two. I am also very very upset that there was not very much music from The Ring. There is only 18 minutes worth of music from the first film which i think is pretty sad. And were are looking at an hour cd here. There are alot of great tracks that were on the promo that didn't make it here. They include the music when Samara is being interviewed, when the horse jumps off the ferry (yet we do get an alternate version of it for The Ring Two), and the music when Rachel and Noah find the well under the floorboards. I also missed alot of other good tracks from the film like when Rachel picks the fly out of the TV, when Aidan goes up into Kaite's room, when Rachel finds the Katie's photobook with all the scratched out faces, the music during Rachels dream....the list goes on. I just think it's too bad that they wern't able to sqeeze in one more track with stuff from the original movie.

Still, I was overall quite happy with what I got and I think The Ring has one of the greatest horror scores of all time. it is one that should not be missed!

Say what you will about the 2002 remake of The Ring (and remakes of J-horror in general), there's no denying the film boasts a great score courtesy of Hans Zimmer, Henning Lohner and Martin Tillman. A wide variety of instruments and interesting sounds are used, creating one hell of an atmospheric track that holds up well independent of the movie.
However, I do have some complaints:
First and formost, there are only twelve tracks, so each track is very, very long (the first one clocked in at around eleven minutes or so!). I think that the score could have easily been broken down into more than twelve tracks for sure.
Second, the first five or so tracks all sound nearly identical--they even go so far as to reuse certain cues many times over.
And finally, the last two tracks--"seven days" and "television", techno-remixes of the main theme--were completely unnecessary. Not only do they break the mood the earlier tracks build, but they are in themselves very cheesy-sounding as well (Never thought I'd say "cheesy" when describing a Hans Zimmer score!).
Do I recommend this soundtrack? Absolutely. The first ten tracks are great, moody pieces that build an ominous, somber atmosphere perfect for both the film and a rainy, dreary day. I do wish, however, the score was broken-down a little more, as it tends to drag at times. Great music anyways...

One word...phenomenal. The music is amazing and produced with exceptional quality. Highly recommend this to anyone who loves the movie, or music for that matter!

Creepy music or not...this piece of music is simply fantastic. One of my favorite musical scores. Highly recommend.

For the most part, this is a great compilation of the score to The Ring and The Ring Two. Although it is a great buy, I must admit, I feel kind of robbed. The score is incomplete. There are many parts missing...for example...in the ending credits to The Ring, once the copyright and legal notices begin to scroll onto the screen, Samara sings the song she sung before her mother murdered her. Also, on the Extra Feature after the movie on the special edition VHS there are more pieces of score that were never included in either movies or the soundtrack. I really, truly love this CD, the key themes are really chilling and give me goosebumps when I listen to them (especially Track 8) I just feel that the composers would've done better by including a complete score to each movie...then again, I guess it's better to keep us guessing which pieces were included and which weren't.

The Ring/The Ring Two is the scariest album I've ever owned or heard. Unlike the atmospheric themes and sweeping emotional cues of "Signs" or "The Sixth Sense," "The Ring" exists only to unleash every musical nightmare on one disc... a feat Hans Zimmer will go down in history for. From the beautifully horrifying string/piano theme from "The Well," to the deceptively childlike and innocent "Before you Die you See the Ring" this score is set apart for it's uncanny ability to sneak it's way through your skin and give you the chills anytime it wants.
A must listen for Zimmer/thiller score lovers!

Seeing as the music was in my opinion one of the most powerful aspects of the movies (especially in the first one), fans of the movies will definitely want to have this album. If the films frightened you, the first eight tracks WILL frighten you, as the movies practically live on through these tracks, along with their MAJOR scary moments. Faint-hearted will definitely not want to play this music late at night before bedtime.

Why four stars instead of five? Because I believe the quality takes quite a dip towards the end. From track nine to twelve the music turns into a mash of remixed experiments, which I find simply not as good as the first eight tracks. It's a nice try and really not that bad, but it seriously doesn't fit on the CD and destroys the atmosphere of mystery, terror and fear which the previous tracks built up. However, the first few songs are definitely worth buying the CD by their own. Especially when the deeply rumbling cellos kick in during The Well or I'll Follow Your Voice... Gloom, terror, and pure fear in the form of music. A great effort by Hans Zimmer.

I bought this album today and it is amazing! I cant really say which track is the best because they are all great. I reccomend this to anyone who loves scary movies. Really this is a great soundtrack

I'm not a big fan of Hans Zimmer,
but his score(s) for The Ring films impress very much.
In fact they almost rescue both movies from the unevenness
and mediocrity they unfortunately suffer from,
(particularly the sequel).

Mostly strings (ala Herrmann's Psycho)
to match the blue monochrome tonality of the visuals:
creepy-mysterioso throughout.

Simple motifs are introduced and interwoven
often in a rondo-like format - an ingenious compliment to
the story's main symbol. I particularly dig the ostinato
violas and basses - truly hypnotic!

Tasteful electronic slashes, pulses and accents,
especially in the more dramatic cues, bring to mind
another landmark fantasy score: Goldenthal's Alien3 -
splendid company indeed!

A lone, plaintive, echoy piano - like Danny Elfman's
in Dolores Claiborne - serves nicely as the emotional center.

The almost toylike motif (chimes? glockenspiel?)
is an effectively disturbing little nod to The Exorcist's Tubular Bells theme.

There's plenty of nice effects, ambience and variations on
some deceptively simple themes; a haunting suite.

All in all, Zimmer has quite seamlessly and altogether
appropriately summarized much of the horror genre's
best musical cliches and conventions, and done so
with admirable class and sensitivity.

I agree with the others who complain about all his music not being included on this disk.
Yeah, it would have been nice to have every cue,
properly annotated, and I could easily have done
without the contempo filler.
But I for one am grateful to finally have this much
after waiting so long.

Fans of Zimmer will love this CD, especially because there was no initial release of the score to The Ring. Hans worked solo on The Ring and composed a very haunting score for Gore Verbinski's version. However, Zimmer did not participate in the dull and drawn out sequel. Instead he assigned the project to two composers who work at Media Ventures with him, Henning Lohner and Martin Tillman. What Lohner and Tillman did was provide new music by working off of the themes created by Zimmer. The CD is a combo of Zimmer's work from the first film and the work of the apprentices on the second one.

Hans Zimmer fans will notice that the score is almost identical to the score of Hannibal. Hans Zimmer does indeed like to recycle cues from his previous works, which I have no problem with. I don't see this as a trait of unoriginality, I see this as an attempt to expand on a great idea. Tracks 1 and 5 from Hannibal are almost identical to the cues in The Ring. Zimmer creates atmosphere for his horror films through piano and string instruments. He loses his trademark synth style of his action films and adopts a more poignant and subtle perspective for these films. It's really quite remarkable if you listen to Hannibal and then this CD. While the cues are the same, the result is completely different. Hannibal has a romantic feel to it, The Ring gives the sense of foreboding terror. Zimmer fans will appreciate this effort, others maybe not so much.