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| Creators: John Ottman, Damon Intrabartolo, The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra
Label: Rhino / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy Used: $6.35
You Save: $12.63 (67%)
New (25) Used (19) from $6.35
Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 42166
Format: Enhanced, Soundtrack
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 77654
UPC: 081227765422
EAN: 0081227765422
ASIN: B000FMGTTE
Release Date: June 27, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The fools that are Rhino... January 1, 2007
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Most of my points have been iterated here already, but hey, repetition improves the breed...
(1). Ottman made the right choice in borrowing, tweaking, and adding to Williams' existing body of work. In much the same way that "Returns" director Bryan Singer continually pays homage to the original 1978 film (e.g., Lois' inability to spell, Clark ultimately resisting his desire to tell Lois the truth about his dual identity, Lois' smoking and Superman's gentle nudging to kick the habit), Ottman makes liberal use of the themes that Williams composed (e.g., the Planet Krypton, The Flying Sequence, and of course, the March). The best track in the lot must be number 6, "How Could You Leave Us?" which takes Williams' "The Flying Sequence" and turns it into the height of pathos. In the first film, Lois and Superman are essentially on their first date, so to speak, and Williams' piece seems to telegraph that - the whole piece is light, airy, and fun. In "Returns," Ottman has altered the cadence of the theme, the instrumentation, and the overall tone, mirroring the latent, but now forbidden, love between Superman and Lois, who is now happily engaged to someone else. I really could listen to this track all day.
(2). Some of the other tracks are really not up to par. In particular, track 3, "Rough Flight," is almost atonal at times, and in the end, completely unmemorable, which is unfortunate, considering that it is supposed to support the best action sequence in the film - Lois' rescue from the Genesis space shuttle. See "The Battle of Hoth" from The Empire Strikes Back for an example of an orchestral track during an frenetic action scene that still manages to develop and maintain clear and memorable themes.
(3). So some tracks are studs, and some duds. If that was The End Of The Story, I could accept that, be happy, and move on. HOWEVER, Rhino, in their infinite wisdom, has treated this release like so many other publishers who seem clueless about soundtracks (e.g., Back to Future III, Apollo 13, Gladiator). Not only are the tracks NOT in chronological order (per the film), the CD does not even contain all the music from the movie! The most egregious and obvious example is the cue "The Planet Krypton," which is the somber trumpet solo that opens "Returns" during the title card. This track, originally written by Williams, is available on the 1978 "Superman" soundtrack, but for whatever reason, Rhino chooses not to include it here. Is it a royalty/legal thing? Is it incompetence? Is it general sycophantic toadying and maliciousness? Who knows? Who cares? Bottom line, the soundtrack is hosed.
In the end, then, 3 stars for the composer, and 0 stars for the publisher. I'm sure we'll see some sort of "Complete Unabridged Score" type product released in the next few years. Until then, though, you'll have to remain happy with this or wait for some intrepid soul to cobble together a bootleg score on UseNet.
 Great score to a great movie! December 12, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a sequel score that for once more than lives up to the original.
John Ottman's music is simply superb.His action sequence cues are all
excellent(the final battle scene is especailly outstanding).The highlights
are his beauftiful love theme and the themes for Superman and Lois.But the best feature of the score is his brilliant use of the original classic
John Williams themes.Overall,this is one of the year's best soundtracks.
Great Themes but not long enough!! December 1, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Let me first state that the album is very well mixed and the orchestra sounds great. The themes are incredible and I really enjoyed the album. My only gripe and the reason for giving it 3 stars as opposed to 5 is because of the LENGTH of the album. We know from the composers own words that 2 hours of music was recorded for this film, however the soundtrack is only 54 minutes. Anyone who is a fan of soundtracks/movie music will know that that means that there will be ANOTHER version of the album released maybe a year or two from now that contains additional music, or if the producers are exceedingly greedy release yet another album that contains ALL of the music recorded for the movie. I believe all of the main themes can be heard from the movie, however certain trumpet solos, most noticeably the opening heard in the first trailer for Superman Returns is missing from the soundtrack. This is my first Superman album so I am not as familiar with the music from the movie series as other works by Williams, however Ottman does a fantastic job. In my opinion much better than X-men 2 which I also enjoyed but am STILL waiting to hear the theme from the original X-men cartoon series which was incredible. All in all, this was a great album but not long enough. Anyone reading this review with the power to release this FULL version of this album, PLEASE do it sooner than later! Thanks! :)
Very uplifting November 9, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I loved the music. How can you go wrong with John Williams as the original composer. I think this music is spectacular. It compliments Williams' score from 1978 and brings it into the current movie wonderfully. I highly recommend it.
Amazing Soundtrack November 3, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I couldn't find this soundtrack in any store, but Amazon got it to me with no problem. I love it, it's very emotional, and a perfect touch to a great movie.
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