Ender's Game (soundtrack)

Last updated

Ender's Game
Ender's Game (Original Motion Picture Score).png
Film score by
Steve Jablonsky
ReleasedOctober 22, 2013
Venue2013
Studio Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre Film score
Length70:40
Label Varèse Sarabande
Producer
Steve Jablonsky chronology
Pain & Gain
(2013)		Ender's Game
(2013)		 Lone Survivor
(2013)

Ender's Game (Original Motion Picture Score) is the film score soundtrack to the 2013 film Ender's Game directed by Gavin Hood based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Orson Scott Card and starred Gary Oldman, Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld and Abigail Breslin, amongst others. The film score is composed by Steve Jablonsky who replaced the original composer James Horner. Varèse Sarabande released the soundtrack exclusively through iTunes on October 22, 2013, and in CDs and digital download on October 29.

Contents

Development

In January 2013, it was announced that James Horner would compose the musical score for Ender's Game. [1] [2] However, by that May, Steve Jablonsky was hired to compose the musical score replacing Horner. [3] [4] Though Jablonsky was unfamiliar with the 1985 novel, once he was brought onboard, he listened to the one-line narration by Hood and found it to be compelling, called it as "more of a drama wrapped up in a sci-fi film". [5] Like his prior films, he would compose specific themes from the ideas he provided from the discussions with the directors and sketch rough outline of the musical ideas. From the onset, he did not want to focus on the action sequences or emphasize the grandeur with the film's music and produce over-blown sound effects. Instead, he wanted to find simple thematic ideas to play Ender's emotions and his development throughout the film. [5] [6]

Jablonsky developed orchestral and choral compositions to highlight the battle room sequences—set in a glass-paned dome where Ender and his troops trained for combat in zero gravity—as the choir gives "an ethereal, floaty feeling to the zero-gravity scenes in the film". The dome's setting was also used for playful sequences, where he composed a lighter piece of music for the sequence where the kids play in the dome, while the rest of the film's score was kept to be very dark and moody. [5] [6] As Ender being an isolated person, he wrote a simple melody for solo cello; the filmmakers liked those piece as it was very fitting for Ender's character. [6]

Reception

Jonathan Broxton, reviewing for Movie Music UK, wrote: "Ender’s Game is the most satisfying music Steve Jablonsky has penned for several years, in terms of the design and structure of the score, the intelligent application of themes, and some straightforward contemporary action, and is worth giving a second look to for those who might have otherwise automatically dismissed it." [7] Filmtracks wrote "Like the Transformers scores, there is a guilty pleasure suite to be compiled from Jablonsky's generic output for Ender's Game, perhaps even fifteen minutes of tonally dumb but tasty red meat for avid Remote Control collectors. It's significantly better than Battleship , but then again, damn near everything is, even the concurrent Remote Control disaster for Captain Phillips ." [8]

James Christopher Monger of AllMusic called it as "a thrilling mix of old-school and new that complements the film's eye-popping special effects and traditional narrative structure." [9] Movie Music Mania summarized "It may not be Jablonsky's worst, but Ender’s Game is in so many ways a marvelous opportunity squandered." [10] Tim Grierson of Screen International called it as a "booming, solemn score". [11] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote "Steven Jablonsky’s mostly-digital score, which sounds like Daft Punk plus strings, cements the film’s debt to that recent Disney reboot". [12] Charlie Schmidlin of IndieWire called it as a "serviceable electronic score". [13] Angela Watercutter of Wired wrote "What Ender’s Game has lost in heart, it attempts to make up for with lushly filmed battles to fill the void, scored by Transformers composer Steve Jablonsky." [14]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Ender's War"3:27
2."Stay Down"2:42
3."Battle School"1:56
4."Move It Launchies"0:56
5."The Battle Room"3:03
6."Mind Game Part 1"2:24
7."Salamander Battle"3:34
8."Mind Game Part 2"3:55
9."Dragon Army"2:24
10."Dragons Win"3:53
11."Bonzo"1:37
12."Ender Quits"6:22
13."Mazer Rackham"2:34
14."Enemy Planet"3:50
15."Command School"2:42
16."Graduation Day"1:28
17."Final Test"6:02
18."Game Over"2:36
19."The Way We Win Matters"6:14
20."Ender's Promise"5:09
21."Commander"3:33
Total length:70:40

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes [15]

Orchestra
Soloists

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References

  1. ↑ Vejvoda, Jim (February 1, 2013). "James Horner to Score Ender's Game". IGN. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  2. ↑ Kain, Erik (May 7, 2013). "First 'Ender's Game' Movie Trailer Live: What About A Video Game?". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2024. The film is being directed by Gavin Hood, whose recent work includes the TV series Stargate SG-1, with original music composed by James Horner.
  3. ↑ Lussier, Germain (May 10, 2013). "Steve Jablonsky Scoring 'Ender's Game,' Not James Horner". /Film. Archived from the original on May 30, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  4. ↑ Orange, B. Alan (May 11, 2013). "Transformers Composer Steve Jablonsky to Score Ender's Game". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 "BMI Composer Steve Jablonsky is the Man Behind the Music in 'Ender's Game'". BMI.com. Broadcast Music, Inc. November 7, 2013. Archived from the original on March 20, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 Shirey, Paul (January 16, 2014). "Exclusive Interview (Part One): We talk to composer Steve Jablonsky about Transformers, Ender's Game, and more!". JoBlo. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  7. ↑ Broxton, Jonathan (November 11, 2013). "ENDER'S GAME – Steve Jablonsky". MOVIE MUSIC UK. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Ender's Game (Steve Jablonsky)". Filmtracks.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  9. ↑ Monger, James Christopher. "Review: Ender's Game [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Ender's Game – Steve Jablonsky". Movie Music Mania. October 20, 2013. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  11. ↑ Grierson, Tim (October 25, 2013). "Ender's Game". Screen. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  12. ↑ Debruge, Peter (October 25, 2013). "Film Review: 'Ender's Game'". Variety. Archived from the original on July 30, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  13. ↑ Schmidlin, Charlie (October 28, 2013). "Review: 'Ender's Game' Starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld & Abigail Breslin". IndieWire. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  14. ↑ Watercutter, Angela (November 1, 2013). "Ender's Game Wins as a Popcorn Flick but Loses Some Heart". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028. Archived from the original on April 4, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  15. ↑ Steve Jablonsky. Ender's Game (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Media notes). Varèse Sarabande.
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