The Forbidden Kingdom - Original Motion Picture Score
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CD Details
Composer: David BuckleyEdition: Music CD
Format: Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 2008-07-22
Music Label: Lionsgate Records
Soundtracks:
- The Mountain of Fruit & Flowers
- The Peach Banquet
- Monkey Business
- China Begins
- Hops' Shop
- J & J Temple Fight
- The Legend of the Temple Staff
- Two Tigers - Two Masters
- Tea House Fight
- The Tyranny of War
- Don't Forget to Breathe
- Ni Chang & Her Cult Killers
- Drunken Master Wounded
- The Seeker of the Prophecy
- Let the Journey Begin
- Monkey King Released
- Battle of the Bride
- Her Destiny was Written
- As one tale ends...
- ... Another tale begins
Music reviews of The Forbidden Kingdom - Original Motion Picture Score
Music Review: A Great Soundtrack, If You Get A Working Copy
Rating: 4 Stars
While I was watching the film, I was thinking to myself what a good soundtrack it had, by new-comer composer - David Buckley. It took it's time to find a release, but finally it's here - albeit in a rushed CD-R... This has caused numerous problems, as you can see with the reviews here, and considering I was ordering to the UK, I was praying that I got a working copy. Thankfully, I did.
The music itself is very good overall. Many, if not all of the tracks have a fantasy / ethnic sound that fits perfectly into the film.
What I also like about this score is that it is varied, and the tracks are well placed, so you won't be tired of hearing battle tracks over and over again for example. Luckily for me, it focuses slightly more on the calm, relaxing tracks than the battle themes, although I did really enjoy the action-based tracks in this too, even if they do drag on a bit - 'J & J Temple Fight' in particular, which is a heavily-percussion based track that goes on for over 5 minutes.
Track 12 - 'Ni Chang and Her Cult Killers' (bit of a silly name, which is a minor gripe I have with some of the tracks on this score) is a track I particularly enjoyed because of the mix of action and towards the end, a more calming melody, a style that many of the tracks adopt - 'China Begins', 'Hops' Shop', and especially the epic-sounding 'The Seeker of the Prophecy'.
Track 12 also has that cool guitar that is played when the witch appears in the film, and even if it does sound very out of place, and more fitting to a stand-off in a western film, it's still a fun listen.
There are noticable influences of Harry Gregson William's music in much of this score, which makes sense considering he was Buckley's 'tutor' and the producer for this album.
My favourite track is probably track 08 - 'Two Tigers - Two Masters', which is an opinion many people share. This is played during the training montage in the film.
I do have some minor gripes with the score than prevents me from giving it a full 5 stars. The main one is obviously the format of this CD, and I feel very bad for the people who are not getting working copies. Don't give up though, it is a real treat to listen to.
As I have mentioned earlier, some of the battle tracks do drag on a bit, but that is understandable considering some of the fight scenes in the movie were quite long, and they are played mainly as background pace music.
Some of the tracks, track 1 and 8 for instance, feel badly mixed at times, by that I mean a different 'type' of music cuts in when the other finishes, and it would have worked better as two different tracks. This is particularly evident in the first track, which starts the score off with a nice, soothing sound and then leads randomly into an annoying 'adventure based' piece for the Monkey King's character.
Overall, it is a very enjoyable listen. Just be sure to keep your fingers crossed in hope of recieving a working copy.
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