Seabiscuit [ENHANCED] [SOUNDTRACK]

Randy Newman (Composer)

Product Details

• Composer: Randy Newman
• Audio CD (July 22, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced, Soundtrack
• Label: Umvd Labels
• ASIN: B0000A4G4K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #148,235 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

He was a horse too small with a half-blind jockey too big, owned and trained by a team of misfits straight out of Central Casting, but Seabiscuit was no mere legend. The film adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling chronicle has all the foundations of an American sports classic, and this marvelously nuanced score by veteran Randy Newman is one of its cornerstones. Ever personally leery of the public overenthusiasm for the "hero music" he composed for The Natural, Newman invests this Depression era sports drama with an altogether subtler range of musical emotions. To be sure, his mastery of melancholy Americana is never far from the forefront, from the gentle acoustic guitar flourishes of the "Main Title" to the fragile, self-performed solo piano of his "Seabiscuit" theme. But Newman manages to be at once more texturally adventuresome (via the Mariachi Reynas de Los Angeles' buoyant performance of "Le Tequilera" and the lugubrious bottleneck guitar folk-blues of "Call Me Red") and emotionally restrained, yielding one of the most wholly satisfying scores of his career. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Missing the good stuff, March 9, 2004

By	J. Lester "tigger7694" (Dayville, CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're like me you buy soundtracks because you liked what you heard while watching the movie. If you appreciated the music during the first forty minutes or so of Seabiscuit then buy the CD; you won't be disappointed. The soundtrack contains pretty much everything up until that point. Opening credits, Howards bike shop, Frankies demise, the backwoods racetracks where Red Pollard gets his start and pretty much every scene at Agua Caliente, including the all female band at the Molino Rojo brothel. It's when the major characters come together that the soundtrack starts to fall apart. The stirring piece from Red and Seabiscuits first win together is nowhere to be found. Track 10 may be titled Reds First Win but it should be called Reds Second Loss since it's the music from their defeat to Rosemont in the Hundred Grander, a piece so out of context with the rest of the themes it was only used that once in the film. The anxiety ridden complement to the match race is missing. Track 14-The Derby (what Derby?) starts out like the match race but there is no slow build up of tension and no release into Seabiscuits main theme as in the movie; instead it goes into that horrid Hundred Grander theme again after a brief pseudo match race intro. The lovely little guitar bit played while Red and the Biscuit are trotting around the tree during their healing days is another notable omission. You'd think Track 20-A Nice Ride would be the emotional final race at Santa Anita but it's not. It's actually the end credits sans "If I Had A Million Dollars", unfortunately. Overall, this CD is not a good representation of what on film is an excellent soundtrack.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars trailer music, August 25, 2003

By	J. Rising (United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

People who were asking about the music in the trailers -- Music you hear in the trailer for a movie is rarely (if ever) the actual music for the movie. This is for two reasons -- (1) the music hasn't been mixed and recorded yet, so it isn't ready when the trailer is ready for theatres, and (2) if the music is finished, it is likely that the copyrights haven't been completed so they won't be able to release the music with the trailer. That's why you'll often hear the score from a familiar movie on the trailer of a new movie. Hope this helps. And Seabiscuit is a wonderful movie with great music!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RE: trailer music, August 23, 2003

By	"simongrayson" (Redmond, WA United States) - See all my reviews

In each trailer for Seabiscuit I have seen, there seems to be 3 main themes I could pick out: the first I believe is from "Rudy" but not sure, the second I'm positive is from "Legends of the Fall" by James Horner, in my opinion one of the greatest scores of all time, and the third, I would agree with the other reviewers in saying "Medal of Honor" which is an amazing score for a game score.

As for the score for Seabiscuit... I would highly recommend it to any movie score lover. One of Randy Newman's best work and an outstanding film... one of my favorites.