Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Tone Poem Tuesday

Time for some film music! One thing that a lot of movie music fans discover is how often it turns out that they love a particular filmscore while disliking the film for which it was written. This is an example of mine. The 80s urban fantasy flick Highlander is a cult fave for many, but I have never much liked it at all. Not even the inherent coolness of Sean Connery or Clancy Brown are sufficient to make the movie interesting to me (if you haven't seen it, it's about immortal beings who are fated to battle one another through the ages until only one remains). The movie is shot with flare and the action sequences are cool, but the script is...well, it's mostly ponderous and dull.

Not so, however, is Michael Kamen's score, which soars and swoops and gives the entire film a gravitas that it honestly doesn't earn by virtue of its story. This is a suite that someone edited together from Kamen's work for the film, and it highlights the best parts of Kamen's work. Enjoy!

1 comment:

Jason said...

Well.

I completely disagree with you about the film -- it's long been one of my favorites -- but we are sympatico on the score. I had this suite on my iPod during Anne's and my tour of Scotland, along with tracks from Outlander, Rob Roy, and The Last of the Mohicans (different country but surprisingly appropriate music!), and it was downright magical. Thanks for posting this one!