Dungeons And Dragons [Soundtrack]

 

 

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Well,I`ll begin this review with saying that Justin Caine Burnett is an absolutely talented composer,as this is his first own score (he has only been an assistant to Hans Zimmer on "The Rock")and it seems to be one of the best scores of the year 2001. The movie was actually better than I had expected it to be,with lots of cool CG effects,although it is probably more for the fans of the role playing game. This soundtrack is very well adapted to the "game" format of the film,and it could very well have been used in a game as well,as it features a huge brass section and lots of dark action cues. There are often some rousing strings,and if there are any similarities to other composers,then I would like to compare it with Howard Shore and Hans Zimmer - imagine a combination of "Seven" and "The Rock" and you`ll know what this one approximatley sound like. And then add some more fantasy sound of it. Sometimes,this score gets too dark to be interesting,but it is absolutley amazing. There is not much of love or ethnic themes here,so if that`s what you`re looking for,then you should not take this one. The slow moments of this score appears mostly in track 6 and 14. Most of the other tracks contain some dark,brassy music,as it waits for something,and suddenly,they burst out into massive action music. Some of that can be heard in "The Maze",one of the best tracks,featuring some really heroic,sweeping,2 minutes of action music before the track gets too dark. And "Thieves Fight" is another great action track,with some strings at the beginning,before it becomes a dark action track with the theme of "The Maze" heard in the middle,which is the heroic theme. Another heroic theme appears at the beginning of the first track,"Opening to Profion`s Dungeon". That is what I believe is the main theme of the soundtrack. After a minute,some dark chorus is heard,and the huge brass section is also used. Another great track to mention is "Battle on the Rooftops",where the seldom-heard female choir appears yet again. This is a nine-minute non-stop action track with some more heroic moments,which is heard when Ridley,the hero,fights the incredibly evil Damodar. And it ends up with some heroic brass and chorus as he throws his enemy off the tower!
Great action music can also be heard at it's best in the 13th track,"Fighting Profion".
The final highlight of the score is "Resurrection & End Titles" which is a nine-minute suite using some female chorus in the beginning. Then,it repeats all of the main themes with full orchestra. If you just want to hear the themes,then that is a recommended track.
Over all,this is a very great fantasy score and it really sounds like it was taken from the role playing game it is based on - some times may be a little too dark for some listeners,but that is really good,I think,because then you have easier to really think the villains are evil - with horrifying music,they become more horrifying as well. And so does the dragons.
It is also more inspiring than many people think. Here are the best scores of 2001 so far: this one (of course),Atlantis,The Mummy Returns,Jurassic Park 3,Final Fantasy and Planet of the Apes. This seem to be a great year for fantasy music - can`t wait till I hear the Lord of the Rings & Harry Potter scores.
But don't forget this one. It is very good too!

I was surprised by the movie AND the soundtrack. While I expected the movie to be pretty bad, I didn't know it would be THAT bad. (Though, admittedly, the special effects were state-of-the-art.) I would have expected the movie to have a pretty craptastic musical score, but this one really blew me away. It's very unique, emotional, and moving, and definitely worth having. If you like movie soundtracks or modern instrumental at all, you will enjoy this uniquely satisfying CD. As for the movie, rent it if you must, but it's just not as "fun" without being surrounded by geeks pointing out inconsistencies in the "Silence 15' radius" spell.

A fine peice of scoring for a terrible movie. Justin Caine Burnett once again seals the age-old riddle of the worst movies having fantastic, wonderful, classic scores (The Final Conflict, anyone?)

Though the CD it's self is rather loud and boisterous, there's not much to it. Burnett's orchestrations echo his mentor Hans Zimmer's quite a bit, but the music is his own. There is one utterly fantastic track on the CD, "The Maze" that has a beautiful, sweeping 2 minute opening that makes the CD worth owning.

Over all, considering this was an impulse buy, I'm very pleased with the CD. Anyone who likes this, I strongly suggest grabbing James Horner's Kull 2-CD or Basil Poledouris's Conan Soundtracks (which are among the finest in score history)

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4.0 out of 5 stars An impressive debut.
One of the better things about the so-so "Dungeons and Dragons" film is this wonderful score by first-time feature film composer Justin Burnett. Read more

Published on May 25 2001 by Fantail Entertainment

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure exhilarating brilliance!
All the characters, settings, and events in the Dungeons and Dragons movie are supported by this superb musical score...one of my all-time favourites. Read more

Published on April 27 2001 by Anthony J. Larme

5.0 out of 5 stars Justin Burnett has arrived.
Too much has been made of Justin's emergence from the Hans Zimmer camp. It is apparent after a single hearing that his talents--while still raw and needing refinement--vastly... Read more

Published on Mar 22 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars An A+ for first-time composer
For an ''unknown'' composer, Justin Burnett has entered the competitive world of movie soundtracks with an amazing first attempt. Read more

Published on Jan 17 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars It's pretty good
Hey all...this is a pretty good soundtrack (the composer is an understudy of Hanz Zimmer...what do you expect? Read more

Published on Jan 17 2001 by Katrina

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