One of the best things about The Dark Knight (and most overlooked as well) is the fantastic score. The music in that film just adds so much in the process of creating the atmosphere. The music practically becomes a character itself.
But last month there was a wee bit of controversy when an academy committee ruled that the score from The Dark Knight was ineligible for the Academy Awards because it had more composers than the rules allow for. A lot of people were outraged by this… but personally I didn’t mind because rules are rules, and as long as they’re being applied evenly and fairly there’s nothing to complain about.
Well good news. After reviewing the issue more they’ve decided the score IS indeed eligible for the Awards. The folks over at Yahoo give us this:
The executive committee of the academy’s music branch initially ruled November 10 that there were too many composers involved in the score; the Academy generally considers only scores that are the work of one or at most two composers. But after reviewing the submission, it concluded that Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard were the main composers and deemed the duo’s work for Warner Bros.’ Batman blockbuster as eligible.
Excellent. The nominees haven’t been announced yet, but I’ll be shocked if this doesn’t grab one of the nominations.
It’s a decent score, but I wouldn’t call it great. Zimmer doesn’t write all of his music anymore though he has a few composers come in and help with every score he does. I’m surprised that they had multiple composers working on this score when Zimmer had James Newton Howard helping him.
Well, this score might actually win the gold statue if it’s nominated. Still though I expected better from these two composers.
The Da Vivinci Code, and I Am Legend scores certainly had a presence in The Dark Knight, and while they are effective I just wish they had come up with something more original.
The synth screech that was used for Joker was good even if it is simplistic for the complex character of the Joker.
I f*ckin’ hate Hans Zimmer for getting credit for all the music he doesn’t compose, and winning awards for it…but at the same time I respect him so much for being in a place in his career where he CAN actually do that and get away with it.
I want CREDIT for not over looking the music score and was talking earlier today about how much I loved the music score.
This is obviously a ratings ploy. Why didn’t they do this for the Jesse James OST
The more chances TDK has to win an Oscar, the better the ratings.
Hey Tarmac, I second the notion of the Cave/Ellis collaboration being shamefully ignored by the academy. What an amazing soundtrack Jesse James had.
I LOVED the score. The Joker’s siren thing is creepy as all hell, and there is a brief moment in the score that damn near made me cry. I almost cried in a Batman movie. Listen during the moment at the end when Gordon’s son calls out to Batman. The violin section does this little progressive series of five notes that sound so incredibly sad, and it”s my favorite bit of the entire score. I looked up that particular song online when I got home from the movie just to hear those notes again.
The gods have some mercy! The Dark Knight’s gonna break the record!
Jay E, i totally disagree. I listened the dark knight soundtrack recently and it truly is a masterpiece and a great experience by itself. I liked how you could hear the different themes from different songs and how the whole sountrack just beautifully flowed forwad.
If you truly wanna know why it should be nominated for best score then my interpertation of what a great score to a film is this:
A musical score that can stand on its own to carry an emotional expression to the audience without any other sound effects with themes or melodies during each scene of the film.
Now granted that all films do this but only a select few can really be watched without diologe or sound effects and still give the power that the film recives with all the elements in place. A few of examples is StarWars Saga, Wrath of Kahn, Superman, JAWS, WALL-E,
I’m a huge soundtrack buff but the Dark Knight score is such a conflict for me. I absolutely loved it in the movie, it was perfect for each scene and the Joker “theme” really heightened the tension.
But I cannot listen to this score by itself. It drives me nuts, the music does not standalone well at all. I still listen to the Batman Begins OST and love the various themes, but those themes only show up in TDK for a few bars here and there, while most of the music is the ambient tension music for the Joker or explosive action music without the use of the themes from the first film. I can only listen to the grating violin ambiance of the Joker for so ong before I have to turn off the music.
Gone is the 2 two note “theme” of Batman Begins, gone is the piano love theme of Rachel Dawes, gone is the bombastic theme (replaced by just bombastic hits).
As I said, the music was perfect in the movie but by itself it does not lend well to casual listening.
The soundtrack is subtle yet intense. It really reminds e of the Shinning.
What makes this so different from The Assassination of Jesse James’ score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis? That should have won last year but was disqualified.
Damn right too; I couldn’t say it has a shot at getting nominated for best picture (i’ve wrestled with it and just don’t think it will) but I do think it should be nominated for best screenplay and best score.