NOTE: I am not Hans Zimmer and therefore don’t own this piece and have no rights or claims to it whatsoever sodon’tsuemeokthanks.
Youtube link, just in case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fapCOoOp9ic
Just downloaded this even though I’m about 12 years late.
I feel like whenever we think of Gladiator, particularly of its soundtrack, we think of “Now We Are Free”, when [SPOILERS] Maximus goes to Roman heaven and sees his wife and child again while Proximo pronounces over his body that the gladiators are legally free and the Roman people are free of the tyranny of Commodus [/SPOILERS]. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful, ethereal song. But Gladiator is about reclaiming honor through blood, battle, and violence, not through this soft, spiritual stuff. Maximus does not cut up lions to the sound of a crooning woman. The rest of the soundtrack accompanies the fight scenes, which as you may have noticed takes up A LOT of the movie.
“The Battle” is one of them. It takes place when Maximus is still in charge of his legion and is taking down the Germanic “barbarians”. I know that it’s not as consequential as other battles in the movie.
but DAMN. LISTEN TO THAT PERCUSSION. That guy is having FUN!
And FABULOUS usage of the strings, omiGOODNESS.
It’s intense but not in a Dark Knight or 300 sort of way. I can almost imagine someone going through battle smirking the entire time as he cuts down his enemies. War is not evil; it is a game, a playful exercise almost.
And that’s exactly what this battle, in the context of things, is. The Germanic tribes put up a hard fight, but there’s no question that the Romans will win. They are superior, without question. Plus, in this time period, battle represent a chance for honor rather than a harrowing, dark experience affecting those who live and those who die.
Hans Zimmer gets that here. Yes, when you finally get to the theme, you could probably imagine a battle on the high seas involving a pirate that has a compass that doesn’t work. But dang, you get that idea that’s one of the points of the entire movie: violence for pleasure, warring for sport.
“ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?” - epic line of epicness that has nothing to do with this particular battle but is still cool.
Like this song. Ignoring a lack of originality, this is one damn good piece of battle music.
[It’s no Lord of the Rings, but then again, only Lord of the Rings will ever be Lord of the Rings.]
EVERY. TIME.
(For peeps without Spotify: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pmVMtc_67o )
I’ve figured it out: the Hobbit soundtrack is essentially horn porn.
Don’t believe me? Listen to this one piece. Just this one. It’s where [SPOILERS] the quest has just escaped the mountains and now the Wargscouts led by Azog are after them and chasing them down the mountain [/SPOILERS]
Holy crapsicles, it’s so freakin epic and well done, I want to hug the f*ck out of those brass players every time I listen to it. I can picture so perfectly [SPOILERS] Thorin standing up like the majestic beast he is and facing Azog in a near battle to the goddamned death. [/SPOILERS] The dynamics of the brass are perfectly done; they’re supposed to soar over the strings and they do a tremendous job at that. And I don’t even know what to call the technique where the French horn or the trombone sounds it’s squashing itself, but that sounds awesome.
Basically, it’s one of the most epic brass-heavy, horn-porn pieces I’ve ever heard. I can imagine it in the background almost anyone doing a slowmo fight scene of badassery of epic proportions. I don’t normally fangirl over heavy brass pieces; I’m predominantly a strings lover. But if any piece ever made me wish I knew how to play the French horn, it’s this one.
This soundtrack on the whole…..OMFG, can I marry it and the entire Lord of the Rings soundtrack? Would that be so wrong?
p.s. I’m going to do HTML [SPOILERS], [/SPOILERS] from now on. I’m kinda proud of myself for think of that. *toots own horn*
oh, more horns….
(Source: Spotify)
HAAALLLP
The Hobbit theme…
I can’t get it out of my head.
I saw the movie Sunday. It’s Wednesday.
It was funny initially. Now I have a problem.
Everywhere I go, it’s in my head. “Far over…the Misty Mountain-“
THERE IT GOES AGAIN.
DAMN YOU HOWARD SHORE, DAMN YOU TO HECK!!!
LINDSEY STIRLING, YOU ARE AMAZING AND FLAWLESS AND I LOVE YOU.
