Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (soundtrack)

Last updated

All music is composed by Michael Giacchino.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes soundtrack.jpg
Film score by
ReleasedJuly 7, 2014
Recorded2014
StudioNewman Scoring Stage,
Twentieth Century Fox Studios
Genre Film score
Length77:21
Label Sony Classical
Fox Music
Producer Michael Giacchino
Michael Giacchino chronology
Star Trek Into Darkness
(2013)
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
(2014)
This Is Where I Leave You
(2014)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Level Plaguing Field" 2:21
2."Look Who's Stalking" 2:35
3."The Great Ape Processional" 4:34
4."Past Their Primates" 1:57
5."Close Encounters of the Furred Kind" 4:38
6."Monkey to the City" 1:16
7."The Lost City of Chimpanzee" 3:46
8."Along Simian Lines" 5:04
9."Caesar No Evil, Hear No Evil" 2:27
10."Monkey See, Monkey Coup" 5:12
11."Gorilla Warfare" 7:37
12."The Apes of Wrath" 4:28
13."Gibbon Take" 2:55
14."Aped Crusaders" 3:26
15."How Bonobo Can You Go" 5:42
16."Enough Monkeying Around" 3:35
17."Primates for Life" 5:42
18."Planet of the End Credits" 8:56
19."Ain't That a Stinger"Griffin Giacchino1:10
Total length:1:17:00

Reception

The album received polarising reception, with some praising for the score being well-woven into the film, while other criticising the album presentation and lack of thematic structure. James Southall of Movie Wave wrote "The score falls down in two ways – firstly for being so close to the Lost world and consequently losing a little of its impact; secondly from the album presentation, which is just far too long. It would be churlish to focus on that, though, when there’s undoubtedly plenty of quality to be found – the atmosphere is carefully constructed, the core material is very strong, so with a better album production it could have really shone.  As it stands – very decent but not really as spectacular as you always think it should be." [6] Jonathan Broxton wrote "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is one of those rare scores where it works really well in the film, but suffers slightly when removed from its visual inspiration. There are many outstanding moments, most of them involving those aforementioned sequences of high emotion, but there are also far too many periods of curiously dead air, where nothing seems to happen for quite lengthy periods of time, causing the album to drag. I was disappointed by a Michael Giacchino score, because lord knows his disappointments are significantly superior to a large number of other composer’s best works, but that’s the price you pay for having the kind of stellar filmography Giacchino has established over the past decade. Fans of Lost and Super 8 will undoubtedly enjoy this continuation of the style, and although others would be advised to approach with a tiny bit of caution." [7]

Filmtracks.com wrote "There are two other detriments to Giacchino's score on album that are typical to the composer's career. First is his and his crew's asinine insistence upon cute cue titles that do little to help the listener identify where a cue is placed in the film (if, for instance, you want to find the music for that camcorder scene anyway, you're an ape out of luck). Far more important, however, is Giacchino's preference for an awkwardly dry mix to his scores, a choice he seemingly deviated from in John Carter but one that returns with a vengeance here. This is a fantasy score, and the eerie atmosphere in its suspenseful moments could have used reverb to achieve an outstanding effect. Instead, the score sounds very flat, exacerbating its restrained demeanor and really diminishing its potential impact. While functional in its purpose, this score is a laborious listening experience on album, a difficult one to ultimately recommend." [8] In a positive note, James Christopher Monger of AllMusic wrote "Big, bright, and brooding, yet surprisingly nuanced, Giacchino captures the mystery and the might of the series, offering up a rousing score that finds the middle ground between his evocative work on the television series Lost and the bold strokes he displayed with J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot." [9]

Movie Music Mania wrote "Michael Giacchino's score bears little resemblance to that of its predecessor, but the film itself is such a departure from Rise of the Planet of the Apes that this change seems warranted. The biggest drawback to Giacchino's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, though, is its accompanying album release. Clocking in at over an hour and fifteen minutes, the album exacerbates the tediousness of some of its quieter moments and spreads out its highlights a little too much. The score has a lot of worthwhile material, but it's also one that, save for the propulsive action music, is quite slow paced and (in a rainy-day sort of way) oddly soothing. Its darker moments boast references to Goldsmith's Apes, as well as frequent quotations of Ligeti's dissonant choral work (which, considering Desplat's Godzilla, seems to be all the rage this year), but this is a Giacchino score through and through. Some may take issue with how familiar it all sounds, but if you can get past that, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes may actually surprise you. In this reviewer's opinion, its one of the better scores to accompany a blockbuster this year. Just don't get bogged down in its more stagnant moments." [10]

Accolades

AwardCategoryRecipients and nomineesResultRef(s)
Saturn Awards Best Music Michael Giacchino Nominated [11]
World Soundtrack Academy Film Composer of the Year Michael Giacchino (also for Inside Out , Jupiter Ascending , Jurassic World , Tomorrowland )Won

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes. [12]

Instruments
Orchestra and choir
Management

References

  1. "'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. June 25, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  2. Goldwasser, Dan (July 11, 2014). "Michael Giacchino scores Dawn of the Planet of the Apes". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  3. Kendrick, Ben (July 8, 2014). "'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Director on Caesar's Story, CGI Characters, & More!". ScreenRant. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  4. "Film Studies 101: Michael Giacchino On Being A Composer". Empire. May 30, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  5. Weintraub, Steve (July 9, 2014). "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Extended Cut Details from Matt Reeves". Collider. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  6. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes soundtrack review | Michael Giacchino | movie-wave.net". July 13, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  7. "DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – Michael Giacchino". MOVIE MUSIC UK. July 15, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  8. "Filmtracks: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Michael Giacchino)". www.filmtracks.com. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  9. Michael Giacchino - Dawn of the Planet of the Apes [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic , retrieved November 15, 2022
  10. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Michael Giacchino". Movie Music Mania. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  11. "2015 Saturn Awards". Saturnawards.org. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  12. Michael Giacchino - Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (Best Original Score) , retrieved November 15, 2022