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| • | Newest Major Reviews: | . | • | This Week's Most Popular Reviews: | • | Best-Selling Albums: | ||
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1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 2. Ratatouille 3. Live Free or Die Hard 4. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer 5. Shrek the Third | . | . |
1. Moulin Rouge 2. Gladiator 3. Star Wars: A New Hope 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 5. Schindler's List |
6. POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl 7. Braveheart 8. Titanic 9. Edward Scissorhands 10. Casino Royale | . | . |
1. Varèse Sarabande 25th 2. Life is Beautiful 3. Braveheart 4. The Last of the Mohicans 5. Glory |
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Original Review, by Christian Clemmensen
The widely accepted highlight of the score is actually the original music composed for the film's beautiful theatrical trailer. Williams doesn't often do this; in fact, the next time he would attempt such a feat for either a children's film or an original trailer cue would come ten years later for the film debut of Harry Potter. The (1:30) trailer cue, entitled "Prologue," is arguably the best minute and a half Williams has ever composed, not withstanding all of his more famous efforts. So flighty and energetic is the swashbuckling attitude of that piece that it sets a elevated standard that the rest of the score has difficulty maintaining. Although the music for Hook can easily be described as a raucous and spirited ride, much of the best music following the prologue is enveloped in Williams' (both Robin and John's) reflective sequences. After all, this is a children's film, and so the charm of Home Alone's more serious family side is greatly expanded upon in Hook. These moments of innermost feelings are punctuated by the use of a full choir in a non-lyrical fashion --something we rarely hear Williams do. Tracks 14 ("You are the Pan") and 17 ("Farewell Neverland") offer 14 minutes of spectacular counterpoint to the dynamic action otherwise heard during the swashbuckling scenes. The woodwind-driven theme for the bumbling villains, as well as the more modern, inflective theme, are a page taken directly from the Home Alone formula, even conveying a Christmasy flavour in the final track. The rumbling, timpani-pounding action cues move at the same frantic pace that would lace Phantom Menace, though the unpredictable turns of events in Hook don't allow them many luxuries of extended performances. A bootlegged second volume of music exists, though I cannot imagine, even as good as Hook is, why anyone would want more than the 75 minutes which appear on the original commercial album. It can easily be said, though, that the Epic Soundtrax album is one of the most flawed endeavors ever to haunt a Williams score. The choice of cues to include, while falling on the shoulders of Williams himself, leaves some to be desired; the second through fifth track (essentially, to the point of the first flight) are unimpressively dull. The Academy Award nominated song (literally blown away by Beauty and the Beast at the Oscars) near the end would have been better positioned at the very end of the album. The album's packaging is a disgrace, with the only track names, minus times, listed on the CD itself and absolutely no technical, engineering, or other credits or notes within the insert. The music was also recorded in analog sound before being digitally cleaned up, and this causes some minor loss of depth in the more aggressive tracks. Even with all of these faults, however, Hook remains one of the most diverse and beautiful scores of the 1990's. Williams' attention to so many different themes and instrumentation elevates this score to a "must buy" priority for any devoted film score fan. It would be the final great children's score for Williams in the decade and the century. ***** Review #2, by Anonymous
Hook: (John Williams) I've owned Hook for about ten years, and it still continues to stun me with every listen. It grows rich like a fine wine; its brilliance is inherent, steadfast, and more evident with each listen. Its thematic richness is colossal. Its command of orchestral texture is wondrous. Many music fans have enjoyed this score enormously as a masterpiece that they'll treasure for the rest of their lives. Yet, this gift to the music world from John Williams is one that many have yet to experience. And that's a tragedy. There are countless emotions displayed here: adventure, wonder, discovery, regret, sadness, and so on. As is usual with a Williams score, the music grabs the suggested emotions from the film and projects them into the auditory world. It doesn't just compliment the emotions; it reveals and magnifies them. But that's just the beginning of Williams' work, for here he has written a vast number of themes (almost twenty themes and motifs altogether; some not heard on the commercial album). Every new situation of discovery seems to have a new theme, and some are just heard once and then gone forever. There is much detail on each track, also; I even spotted a bird-chirp in track 8 adding the perfect effect exactly when needed. ***** Read the entire donated review.
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