Gladiator [SOUNDTRACK]

Hans Zimmer (Composer), Lisa Gerrard (Composer)

Product Details

• Composer: Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard
• Audio CD (April 25, 2000)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Decca U.S.
• ASIN: B00004STPT
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (371 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,398 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Most modern Hollywood films have musical "temp tracks" laid in as they're edited, usually classical standards or music from other soundtracks that helps shape the dramatic and emotional intentions of works in progress. Sometimes these temp tracks become the score (as in "2001"), but more often they serve as a template for the film's eventual scorer. That said, we'll boldly climb out on a limb and opine that director Ridley Scott was listening to a whole lot of Holst's The Planets as he was cobbling together his modern gladiator epic. Credit Hans Zimmer for taking "Mars, the Bringer of War" and hammering its familiar harmonic and rhythmic Sturm und Drang into something serviceably fresh; cohort Lisa Gerrard generally handles the more ethereal, atmospheric passages. As epic in scope as its thematic inspiration (and with enough occasional nods to "authenticity" to make it work), this is nonetheless a work of often surprising nuances, and one that recasts the traditional heroic orchestral score in deliciously dark and ominous tones. Warning: repeated listening may inspire the invasion of neighboring countries. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

145 of 156 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful and rousing (if not too melodic) score., July 5, 2000

By	Brendan Mark Gatt (Malta, Europe) - See all my reviews

The movie Gladiator is a truly excellent film, with an involving storyline, beautiful locations, intense drama, full-blooded action and a rousing score from Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard.

As soon as the movie starts, one is surprised by the subdued tone that the musical score seems to be taking. Knowing that Hans Zimmer was the composer, I was expecting his usual rousing, booming and very pleasant music, as seen (or rather, heard) in other movies like 'Crimson Tide', 'The Peacemaker', and 'Backdraft'. However, what we get, as a friend of mine remarked, is something like a cross between Vangelis and 'The Rock' (which also includes participation by Zimmer). Which is fine.

While not as melodic as, for example, a James Horner score like Braveheart, Hans Zimmer's score, with Lisa Gerrard's participation, perfectly complements the action on screen. When battle music is required, the score returns to a classic, if somewhat more mature, Zimmer feel; totally classical in style and paying homage to Gustav Holst's Masterpiece - The Planets, particularly 'Mars - Bringer of War'. Very appropriate, given that Mars was the Roman god of War!

This, added to Zimmer's trademark rousing passages, and Lisa Gerrard's moving, lyrical contributions, makes Gladiator a memorable score. Gerrard's participation, in particular was a very pleasant addition, because it adds an ethereal element which is necessary for such concepts as Elysium (the Afterlife) and Freedom. Throughout the movie, the Hero, Maximus, constantly weaves between the 'here and now' scheming and battles, and a longing to join his family, in the afterlife. The score reflects these concepts with an excellent treatment of both dimensions.

Which leaves us listeners with a score that is not exactly easy to listen to. It is not too melodic and pleasing to the ears, but is contains a lot of wonderful, mature music. It is something like an acquired taste: after listening to the CD for a couple of times (or watching the movie itself more than once) one becomes pleasantly hooked.

A truly memorable score, for a memorable movie.

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Might of Rome, June 7, 2000

By	Julianne "bicoastalite" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I rushed out to order a copy of the Gladiator soundtrack online as soon as I saw the movie. I only regret that they didn't sell this CD at the movie theatre because I would have bought it immediately after watching the movie. The music in this soundtrack is utterly amazing, inspirational and beautiful. As I was listening to it, I could vividly see the images of the movie, floating around my head. "The Battle" and the "Barbarian Horde" scores are exhilarating and very herculean- as much as I really didn't want to relive the bloody battle scene- I could see General Maximus swooping down on his horse to create mayhem in the battle field. Or the beautiful music in "The Wheat" and others such as "Elysium" where I can see Maximus walking in the field of wheat, reminiscing of his home and his family...which is simply soul-wrenching.

Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard work together (composed by and arranged by these two) in this soundtrack to bring a myriad of heart-pumping brass and percussion and ethereal ancient (or old-style) sounding music. The contrasting music of these two work magnificiently in the score, weaving the two types together fluidly into one another... I was most impressed with the four scores (The Wheat, Sorrow, Reunion and Elysium) written and sung by Gerrard, which sets the mood for the movie from the very beginning to the final scene. These scores deeply reflect the sorrow and loss of life and the earning for something one can't have. Her dreamy and woeful voice captures just that. Heitor Pereira on the solo Spanish guitar in "The Battle" adds to the old-style. Zimmer's orchestral and dramatic scores sincerely tell the heart of the movie, which is vastly memorable. "The Might of Rome", which is very reminiscent of the movie, is also one of my favorites.

This 61 minutes of Gladiator soundtrack is heartfelt and majestic, very equal to the epic masterpiece of the movie itself. And very very Oscar worthy.

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the Grand Tradition, May 19, 2000

By	Ernie Wyatt (Milledgeville, GA USA) - See all my reviews

Hans Zimmer and Lisa Garrard so skillfully integrated their music into Ridley Scott's epic Gladiator that it might be underappreciated if not played separately. Two moods are masterfully created by this soundtrack: Zimmer's powerful martial orchestration, so stirring it will send you in search of your samurai sword in the attic trunk; and Lisa Garrard's emotional themes that sweep you with an unforgettable after-battle melancholy and sense of loss. This is certainly a soundtrack in the tradition of Miklos Rozsa (Ben-Hur, El Cid), Nino Rota (War and Peace), and Dimitri Tiomkin (The Fall of the Roman Empire). But it perhaps owes more to James Horner's recent Titanic. In his battle music, Zimmer employs a sustained bombast, at times punctuated with piercing bell strikes that remind us of Horner's rivet-popping, and Garrard employs the human voice as a musical instrument in much the way Horner so masterfully loaded his Titanic soundtrack with emotion. Fans of Zimmer may recall that he has something of a reputation for orchestral bombast. In The Whole Wide World, for example, writer Robert E. Howard is at his typewriter pounding out a Conan the Barbarian story, when Zimmer steps in with his stirring soundtrack to deliver the audience to the world of sword and sorcery. And who could forget Zimmer's burst of music as the nuclear submarine takes to sea in Crimson Tide? The Gladiator soundtrack is Zimmer's best, and stands with or without the film.