The Great Escape [IMPORT] [SOUNDTRACK]

Elmer Bernstein

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 22, 2004)
• Original Release Date: December 21, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Soundtrack
• Label: Pioneer
• ASIN: B0006FGZ1C
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #394,152 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Japanese pressing of 1963 soundtrack composed by Elmer Bernstein, starring Steve McQueen and directed by John Sturges. Packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. Varese. 2004

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cherished and Essential Soundtrack, August 29, 2008

By	gobirds2 (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

THE GREAT ESCAPE left us with indelible images, characters, dialogue and music. This film contains one of Elmer Bernstein's most recognizable themes in cinema history: the main title or "The Great Escape March" as it is often referred to. To say that THE GREAT ESCAPE has such a distinction is an understatement. His main title theme is as much a tribute to the Allied prisoners in the film as it is to all men who must overcome the odds through their own perseverance and unwillingness to bend to defeat to whatever noble end they strive for. Bernstein's complex score complements the theme by giving us passages and statements on the diversity of the individuals as well as their singular overall objective. Once the Allied escapees are on the road, the music reaches exhilarating proportions unlike that of traditional action Hollywood scoring. Bernstein wants to put the audience through the same suspense and anticipation that the escapees feel and then unleashes our pent up emotions in a crescendo of rousing orchestrations that has us cheering them on. That was the same brilliant technique he employed in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. I don't think many people give Elmer Berstein the credit for being the musical innovator that he was back in this period of his prestigious career. Composer Bernstein was able to control our emotions giving us moments of reflective tranquility, then despair and in the next moment lifting our spirits again knowing that actions were not taken in vain and good will eventually prevail. This is an excellent recording.