Green Lantern (soundtrack)

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Green Lantern (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by
ReleasedJune 14, 2011
Recorded2011
Studio
Genre Film score
Length52:47
Label WaterTower Music
Producer James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard chronology
Water for Elephants
(2011)
Green Lantern
(2011)
Larry Crowne
(2011)

Green Lantern (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score composed by James Newton Howard to the 2011 superhero film Green Lantern directed by Martin Campbell based on the character from DC Comics, and starred Ryan Reynolds as Ryan Reynolds stars as Hal Jordan / Green Lantern, alongside Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, and Tim Robbins. The album featured 18 tracks which was released through WaterTower Music on June 14, 2011.

Contents

Background

In January 2011, it was announced that James Newton Howard would compose the musical score for Green Lantern. [1] Howard previously associated with Campbell on Vertical Limit (2000), [2] and also composed the DC Comics superhero films Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008) with Hans Zimmer. [3] [4] For the film, Howard composed large orchestral themes and electronic, hard rock elements for the titular superhero and the antagonist respectively. [1] The score was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios and AIR Studios in London, along with the Sony Scoring Stage in Sony Pictures Studios, and the Village studio in Los Angeles. [5] The soundtrack was released through WaterTower Music on June 14, 2011, featuring 18 tracks and also included the "Green Lantern Oath" by Reynolds. [5] [6]

Track listing

All music is composed by James Newton Howard.

No.TitleLength
1."Prologue/Parallax Unbound"3:09
2."Abin Sur Attacked"1:08
3."Carol Scolds Hal"1:21
4."Drone Dogfight"3:15
5."Did Adam Put You Up to This?"2:25
6."The Ring Chooses Hal"2:34
7."Genesis of Good and Evil"2:35
8."The Induction Process"3:05
9."Welcome to Oa"1:42
10."We're Going to Fly Now"1:53
11."You Reek of Fear"2:13
12."The Origin of Parallax"3:25
13."Run"5:30
14."You Have to Be Chosen"7:29
15."Hector's Analysis"1:06
16."Hal Battles Parallax"7:19
17."The Corps"2:19
18."Green Lantern Oath" (featuring Ryan Reynolds)0:19
Total length:52:47

Reception

Thomas Glorieux of Maintitles wrote "During many years James Newton Howard was always one of my safety nets, a composer who had such a typical voice one could rely on. Even his less inspired efforts of late still had that tone, but that is mostly gone in Green Lantern. What's even more disappointing, Green Lantern is a box office movie. Not a very good one, but still heroic material that could have received a better heroic score." [7] James Southall of Movie Wave wrote "It’s all so tired-sounding, all so free of anything which might entice anybody back to listen again; it’s not quite Iron Man-bad, but in some ways it’s even more disappointing than that was, since we actually know what this composer’s capable of doing." [8]

Filmtracks wrote "Howard rarely sleepwalks through these major scores, but a sampling of his snoring could have been used to augment the sound design in Green Lantern and nobody would have noticed the difference." [9] Daniel Schwieger of AssignmentX wrote "Green Lantern is all musical colors of the Hollywood blockbuster rainbow- at once aware of its hero’s cosmic significance, the utter sci-fi strangeness of his shtick, and the rhythmic rock imperative of most superhero scoring nowadays. Like the movie that proudly wears his ring, there’s nothing about Green Lantern that’s escaped James Newton Howard’s musical sight." [10]

R. L. Shaffer of IGN wrote "James Newton Howard's overbearing score plays them out." [11] Bill Graham of Collider wrote "even James Newton Howard's score is mostly uninspired". [12] Melody MacCready of Screen Rant wrote "Howard composed a score that was equally as thrilling as it was fun. It matched the tone for a character as energetic as Green Lantern, but when it wanted to present the epicness of a scene, Howard did his job. His soundtrack could have easily been used for the likes of Superman or Spider-Man." [13] The cue "We're Going to Fly Now" has been regarded as one of the best superhero score cues of the 21st century by Inverse . [14]

Personnel credits

Credits adapted from liner notes: [15]

Choir
Orchestra
Instruments

Accolades

AwardsDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards June 28, 2012Top Box Office Films James Newton Howard Won [16]
[17]

References

  1. 1 2 Davis, Edward (January 21, 2011). "James Newton Howard Scoring 'Green Lantern'". IndieWire . Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  2. Weintraub, Steven (May 17, 2011). "Director Martin Campbell Interview GREEN LANTERN". Collider . Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  3. Martens, Todd (June 2, 2008). "Zimmer brings 'punk attitude' to Batman with The Dark Knight". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  4. D., Spence (May 19, 2012). "Batman Vs. Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard Part 1". IGN . Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  5. 1 2 Vejvoda, Jim (May 7, 2012). "Green Lantern Soundtrack Online". IGN . Archived from the original on January 17, 2025. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  6. "Green Lantern: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". WaterTower Music . Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  7. Glorieux, Thomas. "James Newton Howard: Green Lantern". Maintitles. Archived from the original on February 7, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  8. Southall, James (July 3, 2011). "Green Lantern soundtrack review | James Newton Howard". Movie Wave. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  9. "Green Lantern (James Newton Howard)". Filmtracks . June 20, 2011. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  10. Schweiger, Daniel (July 1, 2011). "CD Review: GREEN LANTERN original soundtrack". Assignment X. Archived from the original on July 4, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  11. Shaffer, R. L. (October 13, 2011). "Green Lantern Blu-ray Review". IGN . Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  12. Graham, Bill (June 16, 2011). "GREEN LANTERN Review". Collider . Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  13. MacReady, Melody (February 20, 2022). "DC: 10 Reasons Green Lantern (2011) Isn't As Bad As Some People Think". Screen Rant . Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  14. Busch, Caitlin (April 4, 2017). "The 15 Best Superhero Movie Scores of the 21st Century". Inverse . Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  15. James Newton Howard. Green Lantern (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Media notes). WaterTower Music.
  16. Billboard, Phil Gallo (June 28, 2012). "Justin Bieber, Trent Reznor Pick Up ASCAP Film & TV Awards; Composer Trevor Rabin Honored". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
  17. Staff, Billboard (June 29, 2012). "ASCAP Film & TV Awards Honor Isham, Newton Howard, Zimmer, Rabin, More". Billboard . Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2025.