Development
The film's score was set to be composed by Mychael Danna,who previously associated with Lee on The Ice Storm (1997) and Ride with the Devil (1999). However,the executives at Universal Pictures rejected Danna's score due to its non-traditional approach;his score consisted of Japanese taiko,African drumming,and Arabic singing. [1] Universal's president of film music,Kathy Nelson,later contacted composer Danny Elfman through telephonic conversation indicating his involvement in the film. Since Elfman was a fan of Lee's works and had also scored for the superhero films Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992),and Spider-Man (2002),he agreed to it and eventually flew to Los Angeles,where he visited Lee at the Industrial Light &Magic studio,where the film was in post-production. With thirty-seven days to compose over two hours of music,Elfman agreed out of respect to Lee. [2] While instructing to retain much of the character of Danna's score,Lee pushed Elfman to write material that did not sound like his previous superhero scores. [3] Danna said,"They did leave some of my music in the movie,so the Arabic singing and some of the drumming is mine. What happened is that they panicked,they brought in Danny,and he heard what I've been doing,and I guess he liked it." [4] Danna's initial score had an ethereal,world music element,which Elfman deciphered as "beautiful",but felt that it somehow did not suit the film's tone. [2]
Critical reception
Heather Phares of AllMusic rated two-and-a-half out of five,and summarized:"Presumably,the only people interested in this soundtrack will be either people who enjoyed the movie or die-hard Elfman fans;the former already know what to expect,while the latter might wonder if Elfman—or his music,anyway—hasn't undergone some strange transformation." [5] In a more negative review, Filmtracks.com wrote "Elfman's work is an admirable failure,especially in context,though you can't fault him for the result of this nightmarish experience." [3] However,Mark Hockley of Music Web International wrote "A potent,dynamic,fiercely moving work that reminds us,if we should need reminding,that Danny Elfman is unquestionably one of the great modern day film music composers." [6]
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