| Van Helsing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | May 4, 2004 |
| Recorded | 2004 |
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Length | 43:45 |
| Label | Decca Records |
| Producer | Alan Silvestri, David Bifano |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| SoundtrackNet |   link |
| Movie Music UK | link |
| Filmtracks | link |
Van Helsing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri and released on May 4, 2004, by Decca Records. The score accompanies the 2004 film, as its name implies.
| # | Track Name | Musical Description | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Transylvania 1887 | Played over the black-and-white opening of the film, this short track mostly features Count Dracula's theme, a brutally rhythmic idea with powerful brass and choral chanting. It ends in an action theme that segues straight into the next track. | 1:26 |
| 2. | Burn It Down! | Burn It Down! is an action piece played during the scene, still in black and white, in which the mill is burned and Frankenstein's monster falls into the flames holding his creator's body. It states some of Silvestri's action ideas in choral, orchestral and percussive majesty. These include the theme for Frankenstein's monster and another statement of Dracula's theme. | 4:46 |
| 3. | Werewolf Trap | Werewolf Trap is a short action piece for the scene in which Velkan and Anna Valerious try to imprison The Wolfman. | 1:53 |
| 4. | Journey to Transylvania | Journey to Transylvania is the first statement of Van Helsing's theme, a fast-paced, powerful and percussive motif in 5/4 that features a rambling acoustic guitar under a six-note repeating pattern performed either by strings or choir. The five-note theme itself blasts out over the top, usually on French horn. It is played during Van Helsing and Carl's voyage by sea and land to Transylvania. | 1:33 |
| 5. | Attacking Brides | Attacking Brides is a lengthy action suite played when Dracula's brides attack the Transylvanian village and are fought off by Van Helsing. It features the brides' own theme, a brassy one over a pounding percussive beat, at about 2:00. | 5:02 |
| 6. | Dracula's Nursery | Dracula's Nursery, accompanying Van Helsing and Anna's sneak through Castle Dracula, is a piece that switches between suspenseful, ambiental effects and a playfully devious, waltz-like subtheme for Dracula that film score reviewers, such as Christian Clemmenson, have compared to Elliot Goldenthal's music for Batman Forever . It ends with another statement of Dracula's main theme. | 5:47 |
| 7. | Useless Crucifix | Useless Crucifix plays during Van Helsing's first confrontation with Dracula and his ensuing escape with Anna from Castle Dracula. It features the debut of a heroic, swashbuckling theme that stands out from the other, more darkly gothic themes. Some listeners have commented (on Filmtracks.com, for example) that this theme sounds like what Alan Silvestri might have composed for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl had he not been replaced by Klaus Badelt. | 2:35 |
| 8. | Transylvanian Horses | Transylvanian Horses is the action piece that is played during Van Helsing's attempted escape by carriage from Transylvania, and his ensuing fight with The Wolfman and Dracula's brides. It opens with Van Helsing's theme, pauses for some suspenseful music before moving into action that expands on the swashbuckling theme from Useless Crucifix. | 3:55 |
| 9. | All Hallow's Eve Ball | All Hallow's Eve Ball, played during the ball scene in Budapest, begins with a source cue, a slow, spooky waltz featuring female vocals and cello solos, before expanding into a short, fully orchestral waltz that then segues into more action material. | 3:01 |
| 10. | Who Are They to Judge? | Who Are They to Judge?, the title taken from one of Van Helsing's lines, plays during Dracula's kidnapping of Frankenstein's monster and features the latter's theme for the first time since Burn It Down!. It ends with a dramatic cue, almost romantic in nature, hinted at in Attacking Brides, that seems to represent Van Helsing's anguish at becoming a werewolf. | 2:00 |
| 11. | Final Battle | As the title suggests, Final Battle is the film's longest action piece, featuring a lengthy, relentless recap of all the film's action themes, including Dracula's, Frankenstein's, the brides' and the swashbuckling theme. | 6:28 |
| 12. | Reunited | Reunited, a respite from the action, is the music played as Van Helsing stands on the cliff and sees Anna in heaven, as well as Frankenstein's monster sailing off on his raft. It introduces a new theme, a love theme for Van Helsing and Anna, that is performed on solo horn and strings, with a powerful variation following with some heartbeat-resembling deep percussion. A final statement of Van Helsing's theme completes the album. | 4:23 |
Generally well received by fans and critics alike, three major score-reviewing websites all rated it at four out of five stars. Movie Music UK's Peter Simons says that Silvestri has delivered "what may be the loudest score of the year", but that he "makes this kind of music sound good...[infusing] the score with a textural richness and compositional quality that is quite rare these days". He does admit that "the score is unbelievably loud and hyperactive with virtually no moments of rest", dryly remarking that "a free bottle of aspirin may have been more appropriate" as a freebie than the offered mini poster. [1]
On Soundtrack.net, Dan Goldwasser calls the score "one heck of an album", saying of Transylvania 1887 especially: "It's grand, it's epic, and it's a great start to the album". He also points out that "the sequencing of the album leaves just a little to be desired", bemoaning the scant treatment of the love theme that "factored so heavily in the film". [2]
Filmtracks.com editor Christian Clemmenson praises the score for "allowing the force of a full orchestra and adult choir to set a high standard for summer action once again" and particularly enjoyed the cue Reunited, which he describes as "nothing less than lovely". Like the other two reviewers, he points out the lack of softer underscore on the album, but also finds that Van Helsing's guitar-accompanied theme "sounds remarkably strange in context" and that Silvestri broke a fundamental rule of film scoring by giving the title character the weakest theme. His summary is that "Van Helsing is one monumentally bold and wickedly exciting work", however. [3]
Besides Alan Silvestri, who co-produced the album in addition to composing it, these additional credits are given on the back of the CD cover:
Produced by:
Orchestrated by:
Special Vocal Performances:
Mixed and Recorded by:
Edited by:
The orchestra used was the Hollywood Studio Orchestra, while the choral sections were provided by the Hollywood Film Chorale.
Alan Anthony Silvestri is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for nearly all of his feature films including the Back to the Future film series, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and The Polar Express. Silvestri also scored many other popular movies, including Predator, The Abyss, Father of the Bride, The Bodyguard, Eraser, The Parent Trap, Stuart Little, The Mummy Returns, Lilo & Stitch, The Wild, Night at the Museum trilogy, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, The Croods, Ready Player One, and several Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including the Avengers films.
The Polar Express: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the animated film of the same name, released on November 2, 2004 by Warner Sunset Records and Reprise Records.
Mission: Impossible III is the soundtrack album for the 2006 film Mission: Impossible III, composed by Michael Giacchino. Unlike the previous two films in the series, there was no album released containing the film's contemporary music.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is the official soundtrack album from the film of the same name. The album was released on July 22, 2003, by Walt Disney Records, and contains selections of music from the film score. The music of the film and this album are credited to composer Klaus Badelt and producer Hans Zimmer.
Alexander is the original film score of the film Alexander (2004), scored by Greek electronic composer Vangelis. It received the Public Choice Award at the 2005 World Soundtrack Academy.
Batman Begins: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack album to Christopher Nolan's 2005 film Batman Begins. It was released on June 15, 2005. The soundtrack drew from the film score, composed by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, as well as contributions by Ramin Djawadi, Lorne Balfe and Mel Wesson.
Star Trek: Music from the Motion Picture is a soundtrack album for the 2009 film Star Trek, composed by Michael Giacchino. The score was recorded in October 2008 since the film was originally scheduled to be released the following December. It was performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony and Page LA Studio Voices at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, California. The score incorporates the "Theme from Star Trek" by Alexander Courage and Gene Roddenberry.
Predator: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the official soundtrack album of the 1987 action film Predator. It was composed by Alan Silvestri. The score is completely orchestral and was released in 2003.
The Incredibles is the soundtrack album to the 2004 Disney-Pixar film of the same name composed by Michael Giacchino. The Incredibles is the first Pixar film to be scored by Giacchino. Director Brad Bird was looking for a specific sound as inspired by the film's design — the future as seen from the 1960s. John Barry was the first choice to do the film's score with a trailer of the film given a rerecording of Barry's theme to On Her Majesty's Secret Service. However, Barry did not wish to duplicate the sound of some of his earlier soundtracks; the assignment was instead given to Giacchino.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, directed by Robert Zemeckis and featured film score composed by regular Zemeckis collaborator Alan Silvestri, who conducted the London Symphony Orchestra. The musical score was heavily influenced on Carl W. Stalling's music composed for Looney Tunes. Apart from Silvestri's score, the film also features performances of "Hungarian Rhapsody", "Why Don't You Do Right?" by Amy Irving as Jessica Rabbit, "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" by Charles Fleischer as Roger Rabbit, and a choral version of "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!" performed by the Toons.
Dark Phoenix (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2019 film of the same name, based on the Marvel Comics X-Men characters. It is a sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) the seventh and final mainline installment in the X-Men film series, and the twelfth installment overall. Directed by Simon Kinberg, the film's musical score is composed by Hans Zimmer; his first superhero film he scored after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). The soundtrack album was released alongside the film on June 7, 2019, by Fox Music. The score received mixed critical response. A second album titled Xperiments From Dark Phoenix released in that August, containing unreleased music from the film, which garnered generally favorable response.
X-Men: First Class is the soundtrack album to the 2011 film X-Men: First Class. The film, directed by Matthew Vaughn, is based on the X-Men characters appearing in Marvel Comics, and is the fourth mainline installment in the X-Men film series and the fifth installment overall. Henry Jackman, who had worked with Vaughn in Kick-Ass (2010) composed the score, becoming the fourth composer to score for the series. The score consisted of pop and rock infused music, which is reminiscent of John Barry's themes from the 1960s.
Ready Player One is a 2018 American science fiction action film based on Ernest Cline's novel of the same name, directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Zak Penn and Cline. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, and Mark Rylance.
Pinocchio (Original Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2022 Disney film Pinocchio, a live-action remake of Walt Disney's 1940 animated film of the same name, which is itself based on the 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, the film is directed by Robert Zemeckis, and starred Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo and Luke Evans with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (as the title character), Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key and Lorraine Bracco in voice roles. The musical score was composed by Alan Silvestri, who regularly collaborated in all of Zemeckis' films, and was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios, London. Besides producing the score, Silvestri also wrote new songs for the film, with songwriter-producer Glen Ballard, while the songs from the original counterpart were also featured in the album. Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack album on September 8, 2022.
The Predator: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the score album to the 2018 film of the same name directed by Shane Black, who wrote the script with Fred Dekker, and is the fourth installment in the Predator franchise. The film is scored by Henry Jackman, the third composer to score for the franchise. Jackman also incorporated original themes composed by Alan Silvestri from the 1987 film. The album was released by Lakeshore Records digitally on September 28, 2018 and through physical formats on October 5, 2018.
Prey (Original Soundtrack) is the score album to the 2022 film of the same name directed by Dan Trachtenberg, which is the fifth instalment of the Predator franchise and a prequel to the first four films. The original score is composed by Sarah Schachner, the fourth composer to score for the franchise. Unlike the previous films, the score does not refer Alan Silvestri's themes from the first film, but featured new original themes created and curated for the film, focusing the principal character Naru (Amber Midthunder) and her emotional story and evolution. Several ancient string instruments have been used in the score, as the film is set during the 18th century America, while the score also featured Pueblo musician and flautist Robert Mirabal.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the score album to the 2014 film of the same name. Directed by Matt Reeves, the film is a sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and the second installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise. Reeves' frequent collaborator Michael Giacchino, who previously worked on Cloverfield (2008) and Let Me In (2010), composed the film's score. He significantly created themes deriving his own compositions from Lost (2004–2010) and Super 8, and had referenced Jerry Goldsmith's themes from the original 1968 film. The soundtrack was released by Sony Classical Records on July 7, 2014, and received polarising reviews with praise over the score's integration and criticism directed on the album length and lack of significant themes, with some comparing it as inferior to Giacchino's compositions.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – Score from the Motion Picture is the score to the 2009 film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra directed by Stephen Sommers. The film is scored by Alan Silvestri, who reunited with Sommers after The Mummy Returns (2001) and Van Helsing (2004). Silvestri recorded the score with a 90-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Newman Scoring Stage in 20th Century Fox and at the Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage in Sony Pictures Studios, respectively. A soundtrack album of the score was released by Varèse Sarabande on August 3, 2009, four days ahead of the release.
The A-Team: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 2010 film The A-Team directed by Joe Carnahan, based on the 1980s television series of the same name created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell. The film's musical score is composed by Alan Silvestri and released on June 21, 2010 through the Varèse Sarabande label.
I, Robot is the film score soundtrack to the 2004 film I, Robot, directed by Alex Proyas starring Will Smith. The musical score is composed by Marco Beltrami and released under the Varèse Sarabande label on July 20, 2004.
