Film Music Central

Hans Zimmer talks The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Hans Zimmer talks Hannibal (2001)

Hans Zimmer talks Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Hans Zimmer (and Richard King) talk The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

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Hans Zimmer talks The Road to El Dorado (2000)

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While it wasn’t a big hit at the time, 17 years later there is still a soft spot in my heart for The Road to El Dorado. The story follows two Spanish con-men, Miguel (Kenneth Branagh) and Tulio (Kevin Kline) as they accidentally stow away on the ship of Hernan Cortes on his way to conquer whatever empires of the New World he may come across, and end up discovering the legendary city of gold, El Dorado, where they are mistaken for gods.

(I wrote about one of the film’s songs here)

Miguel and Tulio are initially content with their plan to amass as much gold as possible and then sailing away to “ascend to the heavens” in a boat they’re having the residents of El Dorado build for them, but complications quickly begin to emerge. For one, Miguel is quickly becoming enamored of life in the hidden city. And, as he points out to Tulio, leaving to live like a “king” somewhere else would be a step-down from “god.”

For another, the high priest, Tzekel-Kan, is suspicious of the pair as they do not behave as the gods are supposed to (nor are they supposed to bleed as Miguel does after cheating to win a ball game) and is determined to expose the two as frauds. There’s also the looming threat of Hernan Cortes, who will surely destroy El Dorado and enslave the populace if he can find it.

And yes, I admit, the music has something to do with why I like this film as much as I do. With the orchestral score composed by Hans Zimmer, the music is a blend of Spanish sounds (heard mostly in the beginning of the film) and a “New World” sound that takes over once Miguel and Tulio discover El Dorado. I was delighted to discover a full length behind the scenes look at creating the score for this movie, with thoughts from Hans Zimmer, Elton John (who worked with Tim Rice on the songs) and also Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh, the voices of Miguel and Tulio.

If you haven’t given The Road to El Dorado a try, I sincerely hope that you give the movie a chance. It has terrific animation and, as I’ve said, a wonderful musical score.

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See also:

Hans Zimmer talks Hannibal (2001)

Hans Zimmer talks Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Hans Zimmer talks Inception (2010)

Hans Zimmer (and Richard King) talk The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

Hans Zimmer talks Hannibal (2001)

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Sequels are always a risky business; no matter how successful the original, there’s always the chance that a follow-up story will fall totally flat and ruin the story forever. Thankfully, such was not the case with Hannibal (2001), the follow-up to The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Set ten years after the original story, Clarice Starling (now played by Julianne Moore) must locate Hannibal Lecter before a surviving victim (played brilliantly by Gary Oldman) tracks down the serial killer to exact his gruesome revenge. While it’s true that this film was met with mixed reviews by the critics, I found Hannibal to be a very thrilling story, especially the last third. Anthony Hopkins is such a compelling presence when he’s onscreen, and he plays the role with so many layers that you can watch the film multiple times and see a new interpretation each time.

Of course the film wouldn’t be nearly as good without its musical score, which was composed by Hans Zimmer. In this wonderful interview, both Zimmer and director Ridley Scott talk about the music and how it came together. Scott believes that the music is just as important as the dialogue and so the score is crafted accordingly. Hannibal marked the fourth time that the director and composer collaborated on the same project, and you can tell that they’ve developed a good working relationship with each other.

Zimmer describes Hannibal as a “haunting story” and that the music must be haunting as well to match it, and I believe he totally succeeded in accomplishing this. One thing about Hannibal (the character) that always fascinated me is his love of the classical, be it art, poetry or music. The score reflects this to a large degree, as Hans Zimmer wrote several choral pieces in an early classical style for certain scenes involving the titular character. It was amazing to learn about the score for this haunting film, and I hope you enjoy it as well.

You can become a patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

See also:

Hans Zimmer talks The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Hans Zimmer talks Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Hans Zimmer talks Inception (2010)

Hans Zimmer (and Richard King) talk The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

Hans Zimmer talks Man of Steel (2013)

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Man of Steel “Sculptural Percussion” (2013)

After Superman Returns (2006) fell flat at the box office, Warner Bros. made the decision to reboot the Superman film franchise and cast Henry Cavill in the title role. Like Superman: The Movie decades before, Man of Steel begins on the doomed planet Krypton, where Jor-El has learned of the planet’s imminent destruction and has his infant son Kal-El sent away in a small rocket ship shortly before the planet explodes.

Before he is sent away, however, Jor-El takes steps to infuse the genetic codes of Krypton into Kal-El’s DNA (codes that are also sought by General Zod, a former friend of Jor-El). Growing up on Earth, Kal-El, now living under the name Clark Kent, wanders the country seeking a purpose in life after his foster father is killed in a tornado (he’d forbidden Clark to use his powers to save him).

Man of Steel “Percussion” (2013)

Clark is forced into action when General Zod and his compatriots escape the Phantom Zone and land on Earth, around the same time that Clark enters a Kryptonian scout ship discovered in the Arctic. Inside, Clark finds an AI of his real father, Jor-El, who gives him a Kryptonian uniform bearing the family symbol. Meanwhile, Zod intends to terraform Earth into a new Krypton (which would kill most if not all of Earth’s human inhabitants) and Clark must stop him before it’s too late.

Man of Steel “Strings of Steel” (2013)

Man of Steel “Solo Violinist” (2013)

As I remember it, this film got mixed reviews, and was heavily criticized for the scene where Superman kills General Zod.

The music for Man of Steel was created by veteran composer Hans Zimmer, who had initially denied rumors that he would be scoring the film. To make sure that Man of Steel stood out from previous Superman films, Zimmer did not use John Williams’ iconic “Superman March” in any way, instead creating his own original themes for the character. The five links I’ve located concern the score in general (top link) and how the various instrumental parts were devised for the score (two for the percussion and two for the strings).

I still prefer Christopher Reeve’s interpretation of Superman (and the “Superman March” will always be a favorite piece of mine), but I’ve also heard that Henry Cavill has done a good job in the role. I hope, therefore, that you enjoy listening to Hans Zimmer talking about the score for Man of Steel.

Hans Zimmer talks Hannibal (2001)

Hans Zimmer talks Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Hans Zimmer talks Inception (2010)

Hans Zimmer (and Richard King) talk The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

King Arthur “Knight’s March” (2004)

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*poster image is the property of Warner Bros. Pictures

King Arthur (2004) tells the old story in a new way

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On July 7th, 2004, the adventure film King Arthur was released into theaters. Rather than showing a traditional portrayal of the fabled king of legend, Arthur (Clive Owen) is shown here as a Roman officer in the waning years of the Roman Empire, with his “knights” of the Round Table (Bors, Gawain, Lancelot, Tristan, Galahad and Dagonet) being fellow officers under his command.

For the last fifteen years, Arthur and his fellow soldiers have been guarding Hadrian’s Wall and preventing the Woads from crossing into Roman territory. However, now that Rome is officially abandoning Britain, they all expect to receive their freedom (as their length of service to Rome is set to expire the very next day).

However, at the last possible moment, Bishop Germanus arrives and insists that Arthur and his knights travel past the wall to rescue a wealthy Roman family, as their son is the favorite godson of the Pope. The mission is nearly suicidal in nature, but they won’t receive their freedom unless they go.

At the same time as Arthur and a company set out to rescue the Roman family, the Saxons, led by Cedric and his son Cynric, are seen landing on another coast, set to plunder and destroy as they go. In the course of the mission, Arthur rescues a Woad woman named Guinevere (Keira Knightley rocks in this role), who has been trapped alive inside a wall. Her father is a Woad chieftain named Merlin, and he desires to join forces with Arthur’s so that they can fight the coming Saxon incursion.

A lot of this film revolves around Arthur accepting who and what he really is: that he’s not really a Roman (his mother was Celtic) and that the Rome he dreams of doesn’t really exist. In the end, the Saxons are defeated and Arthur and Guinevere marry, with Arthur being proclaimed king by Merlin.

At the time this film came out, I was deeply obsessed with the legend of King Arthur and Merlin and anything remotely connected to them, so I naturally took this movie in like a sponge. I recognize now that the story is deeply flawed, but if you forget about historical accuracy (and the blatant lack thereof that exists in this film), you can spend an enjoyable two hours watching this film.

One positive the film does have is a great score composed by Hans Zimmer, who once again proved why he is a master of writing scores for action and adventure films. The music for the Woads is particularly well-done, fitting their mysterious nature.

Sadly, the film wasn’t very well-received (it’s currently rated “Rotten” at Rotten Tomatoes), which is a shame, because there are some great moments in this film, and the score as I said is another Hans Zimmer gem.If you haven’t seen this film, I recommend borrowing a copy and checking it out.

*film poster is the property of Buena Vista Pictures

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Hans Zimmer (and Richard King) talk The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

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Hans Zimmer (and Richard King) talk The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

The finale of The Dark Knight film trilogy saw composer Hans Zimmer return to score the film. Co-composer James Newton Howard declined to return for this film (as he felt Zimmer and Nolan would work better together) but the main theme that he helped create still remains in the film.

Zimmer admits that he kept Selina Kyle’s theme ambiguous and also that he took Bane’s theme in a completely different direction than what had been seen in the previous installments of the series.

This interview clip that I found features not only Zimmer, but Richard King as well, as they talk about the various sounds and musical themes heard in the film.

Like The Dark Knight (2008), I admit that I haven’t actually seen this film, but I’ve heard from so many that it is good, that I’ve placed the entire trilogy on my “to watch” list. Please enjoy this interview for The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

*all images are the property of Warner Bros. Studios

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Hans Zimmer talks The Dark Knight (2008)

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Hans Zimmer talks The Dark Knight (2008)

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In 2008 Warner Bros. Studios released The Dark Knight, the highly successful sequel to Batman Begins (2005), continuing the story of Batman (Christian Bale) as he faces his most legendary foe: The Joker (Heath Ledger in his final screen role).

Oddly enough, though I was fascinated by Batman around this time, I never got around to watching this movie, or any other movie in the Dark Knight Trilogy to be perfectly honest. I’m not sure if it was because Heath Ledger had died or something else, but I know from reputation that they are an excellent set of films, with a great trilogy of scores co-composed by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard.

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It’s interesting to note that Zimmer created the Joker’s theme while Howard created the theme for Two-Face (to serve as musical contrasts to each other). The score was, for the most part, well-received, though like most films there were those who disliked it as well. I’ve had the score recommended to me for some time, so I should probably get my own copy sooner rather than later.

The interview linked above contains an extensive look at the score of the film and as always provides a valuable insight into how a film composer works. If you’re a fan of The Dark Knight (and even if the film is new to you), I believe you will enjoy this.

*poster image is the property of Warner Bros. Studios

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