Customer Reviews

The Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Take Ireland's #1 group "The Chieftains", throw in Sinead O'Connor's voice and an absolutely first-class orchestra to boot, and you are swept into the deep waters of Loch Ness ,Scotland with strength and great bravado,yet with also simplicity and tenderness.Six time Oscar nominated composer James Newton Howard has composed ascruptiously delicious Celtic-flavoured score sprinkled with the Uilleann Pipes,tin whistle et al of "the Chieftains" and lush strings,bold brass and reed and wind instruments in virtually one continuous Celtic symphony.Each wonderfully harmonious track flows uncut into the next, and the listener is carried to the Highlands.Howard is one of my top five score composers and he excels in backing all of the action required for the Jay Russell film.Even without the film, though, this CD stands quite beautifully on it's own, especially for we Celts or for those who adore our music.Highly recommended film and soundtrack.Howard's other recent soundtrack to I Am Legend and Restoration: Music From The Miramax Motion Picture Soundtrack among others.

Okay, Sinead O'Connor wrote and sings the theme song, "Back Where You Belong," which is one of the most beautifully sad-yet-uplifting songs ever written for a film, and the track was produced by Daniel Lanois.

Hello?!

Overall, a wonderful collection made ideal (esp. for a big-budget fantasy film) with all the classic strings, swooping cinematic flourishes, and other bells & whistles by composer J. Howard. The film looks to be an absolute winner, what with the vaunted production and the strong cast (not to mention the story).

But the O'Connor/Lanois track ("Back Where You Belong") is worth its weight in absolute GOLD. Just get it. How does that woman write with such emotional, powerful "beauty"?

Being an admirer of both celtic music and James Newton Howards work, I was really excited about this album. But, my interest was peeked even further when discovered that the Chieftains had collaborated with Howard for this score. And I wasn't dissapointed.
The whole score is made up of melancholy, majesty, jaw-dropping swells of melody and emotion and the beauty of Scotland.

I didn't see the movie, but I bought it just because James Newton Howard wrote it and he does stellar work ALL the time.

I wasn't really enchanted with most of this score. I don't like Celtic music that much or song vocals. Truthfully I haven't finished listening to the whole score, but found cuts #12 Swimming and #19 The End Of The Story to be absolutely worth the price of purchase. It amounts to about 10 minutes of music, but those two pieces are stunning! Like some of you others I too was sorry there weren't more pieces like these.

JNH never fails to give us what we love and expect of him. And JNH, I think your brother Arliss is superb. Don't know why he never became an A-list supporting actor!

Very easy to listen to. Evokes the atmosphere of the story, but also stands on its own merits. Just wish there was more of it.

Not often do you get the singing talents of Sinead O'Connor and The Chieftains and Men's Choirs underscored by a full blown Symphony Orchestra doing the music of top film soundtrack composer James Newton Howard Restoration: Music From The Miramax Motion Picture Soundtrack andI Am Legend and The Great Debatersall at once!!! Well here you have it, and it is glorious.From the gentle "pipes" opening of 'The Water Horse Main Title' through 'Ann', 'Run Angus', the humorous 'The Dinner Party', the all-consuming 'The Net' and ending with the 8+ minute 'The Water Horse Suite' performed by The Chieftains, the score for "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep" flows seamlessly from track to track evoking the powerful images of the Scottish Highlands and the murky depths of the cavernous Loch Ness.This soundtrack is exciting from start to finish. A

From the opening scenes of the movie, while the camera shows us the beauty of the Scottish country, James Newton Howard's music elevates the beautiful scenery to something very special. I knew within seconds that I would own this score. The action sections of the score, while listenable, are not as moving as the tender moments that tug at the heartstrings. In my opinion, this score belongs with JNH's best, like The Village or King Kong. This is excellent music that stirs the soul.

Other than Braveheart, there are few soundtracks that really set a Celtic feel for a movie. This movie takes place in Scotland and the music really emphasizes that drawing one into the legendary side of the island. It's very enjoyable and relaxing to listen to and the track on the end by The Chieftains really puts the icing on the cake.

Water Horse was a terrific movie for any age. The story is a tale based on the Loch Ness legend, and it delivers the goods! there is also a pet bulldog who practically steals the whole show. Rivaling Disney's special effects the story is rather shallow on plot but delivers that plot with aplomb and sincerity. This is truly a must see DVD.

A delightful little fantasy with a Celtic lilt, The Water Horse is a children's family film directed by Jay Russell. Set in Scotland, it follows the adventures of a little boy named Angus MacMorrow (Alex Etel), who befriends a rather unusual animal: an amphibious `water horse', which causes much mischief and mayhem in the MacMorrow household, but also eventually becomes the source of a much-discussed legend - the Loch Ness monster. The film stars Emily Watson, Ben Chaplin, Brian Cox and David Morrissey in the adult roles, and features a pleasant score from James Newton Howard. As befits the setting, Howard breaks out his Scottish orchestrations, littering his orchestra with all manner of skirling bagpipes, Celtic fiddles, rapid fire percussion, and windswept woodwinds. It's clichéd, but it sounds lovely, never more so than in the slightly lonely sounding "Main Title', the moody "The Workshop", or the vaguely romantic "Ann". Occasionally, the score sounds like one of James Horner's Celtic scores, or the Irish concept albums Mychael and Jeff Danna wrote for Hearts of Space in the 1990s; it's all very pleasant, unassuming stuff, which washes over the listener but never really rises out of the realms of `pretty nice'. Once in a while the true spirit of the Gaelic reel jumps out, such as the opening parts of "Bathtub", the hand-clap led "The Fishermen", or the raucous and unexpectedly Carl Stalling-esque "The Dinner Party", but the single highlight is inarguably the triumphant "Swimming", in which Howard presents a stirring, sweeping theme for the full orchestra and various soloists which truly captures a sense of energy and freedom, friendship and childhood innocence. Some of the album's conclusive cues, notably "There's No Monster", the thrilling "Saving Crusoe", and the stirring pair "The Net" and "The Jump" also feature a great deal of high-emotion composing for the orchestra, and sometimes recall the finale of Basil Poledouris's Free Willy. The album also features a lovely song by Irish vocalist Sinead O'Connor, "Back Where You Belong", and (to continue the trend of confusing geographical specificity) a performance by the legendary traditional Irish band The Chieftains in the conclusive "Water Horse Suite', and while The Water Horse certainly has its moments of great beauty and excitement, it can't really be counted amongst the composer's - or the year's - best.