The Sixth Sense: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]

James Newton Howard

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 24, 1999)
• Original Release Date: August 24, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B00000K1G5
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #133,455 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrificly creepy music, why so short?, September 4, 1999

By	"hamlet1979" (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

James Newton Howard does a superb job in writing the music for this film. Listening to the CD was almost as creepy as watching the movie (which is terrific too!). Be careful when you get to track five ("Suicide Ghost"-it gave me a start!) Other great music highlights include "Tape of Vincent" (where Malcolm discovers Cole was telling the truth) and "Help the Ghosts/Kyra's Ghost" (freaky!!) I only have two things to complain about. One: the final track on the tracklist printed on the back tells the twist ending, a spoiler for those who haven't seen the movie (I had the same complaint about The Phantom Menace soundtrack, which listed two tracks that gave away Qui-Gon's death listed on the back of the CD. At least this soundtrack came out AFTER the movie was released). Two: the surprisingly short running time of the album, totalling only approximately 30 minutes. (Was this all there was in the movie? How about the hair-raising opening credits music?) But if you loved the movie like I did and you want a good CD to play at Halloween, this is still worth the buy (if you leave your player on "repeat" of course)!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When they get mad it gets cold, February 28, 2000

By	Roman Dlouhy (Decin, Czech Republic) - See all my reviews

I can't say, whether the soundtrack to "The 6th Sense" works the same wonderfully as a stand-alone score as it functions in the thriller, because I saw the movie first. I viewed it three times and definitely decided to purchase the score after that. I rarely buy a soundtrack after I have only heard and liked the music in the movie. But with this score, while having been so amazed by the film, I made an exception, which now I know I will never regret. James Newton Howard composed a piece that fits the movie mood as good as possible. Howard is, undoubtedly, capable of making a thematically richer theme ("The Prince Of Tides") or even more airy orchestration ("Junior"), but this time he cleverly held himself back. The result is more than satisfying. The music doesn't ever try to be a step or two faster than the story itself and lets viewers come comfortably through the fear or whatsoever without any revealing or disturbing effect. Yes, the score is somewhat short (John Williams' "Stanley & Iris" comes to my mind), some 30 minutes plus of the running time, but I came up with a small trick to make it about 20 minutes longer. As the music of the score doesn't dramatically change with every new bar - it's not its fault, it was meant to be done - you can programme your CD player and repeat several middle tracks (the choice is yours). It would only be so said "proper", if you kept the first and the last track at their positions if you wished to keep the movie's opening and ending unchanged. Well, when I first heard the music in the film, I was briefly reminded of the "Alien" score (or may be "Aliens" - I don't remember both exactly). Not the melody, but the distant feeling was the reminder. Nevertheless, that feeling quickly disappeared and I found, that further on the music was flowing its own way... What a great and playful score it is! Supportive, but great. If it weren't in the movie, you could be missing something mysterious, something hard to imagine. You would never feel the prickly things on the back of your neck. You wouldn't see dead people walking around like regular people. You wouldn't know, that someone next to you has already been dead... (Not to be continued.)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Soundtrack- Length, While Short, is Okay, May 22, 2000

By	Carissa L. Norris (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is one of the most beautiful soundtracks I have ever heard! James Newton Howard has artistically orchestrated both beautiful and creepy music. I would definitely recommend this soundtrack to anyone who was impressed by the music of the movie when they saw it. The music stuck with me for days, and I can say that I love the soundtrack and have not regretted purchasing it. Also, I think that the length of the soundtrack, while short, is good for me. If I listen to a soundtrack, I want to listen to the whole thing, as if I were watching the movie again. Thirty minutes is a good time frame to sit down, close your eyes and just listen. If you are someone who likes to listen to a soundtrack all at once, the length won't bother you. Even if you think that thirty minutes is too short, the music is of high quality and worth the price. It's beauty will amaze you!