Search - Edward Shearmur :: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Sky Captain's Score Soars

Filmmaking Guy | 08/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dumdumdumdum, dumduhduhduh, DUH, DUH, DUH...



Wow, this is a tremendous soundtrack. It is a great compliment to a great film. It conjures up comparisons to

Raiders of the Lost Ark, and is a rare cinematic treat. I highly reccomend it."

A rare classic

tayloran9 | London UK | 05/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow! There's been a lot of talk of comparisons between some up and coming composers and the likes of John Williams (Michael Giacchino, David Arnold) but I would have to say that on the basis of this superior soundtrack, Edward Shearmur could easily walk off with that mighty accolade - I would actually describe this soundtrack's flavour as a cross between Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Silvestri's The Mummy Returns, both classics.



Sky Captain's harmonies, orchestration and execution by the London Metropolitan Orchestra are first rate and have an intricacy that Mr Williams would be quite proud of I'm sure. Whether or not the orchestrations are the work of Shearmur himself or an experienced orchestrator I'm not entirely sure but that doesn't detract at all from Shearmur's obvious superior musical talents - the basics of the music here - and where a composer's talents really lie - namely the melodies, harmonies, developments, representation and musical complexity, are all so good that I only hope Shearmur can one day be given the right material and embark on a larger body of work, something to call his own Star Wars.



Sky Captain does sound a lot like vintage Williams and there are some rather engaging themes weaving their way throughout the cues. The main theme is perhaps not as memorable as one could have hoped for but it is certainly heroic enough, is nicely harmonised and in another sign of Shearmur's talent, is well developed so that it at times also suits a more romantic or sombre mood.



Sky Captain is really a non- stop action affair with a few light moments but the (now quite fashionable) powerful overblown trombones are never far away and when the choir is used (The Robot Army), it is awesome.



If I were to offer any criticisms, I would say that the rather beautiful romance theme is unfortunately underused and could have perhaps been adapted into some sort of bonus concert cue a la John Williams. Also, some of the cues do run seamlessly into one another and whereas on CD this is not a problem, my MP3 player inserts a little gap between them; so perhaps there could have been some reorganisation of the cues such as having one cue but two or three titles within that cue, again a la John Williams.



However, I have no real criticisms about the music and I would say not to listen to people who complain that it's all been done before. Sure, it's reminiscent of past classics but unlike other such soundtracks, Sky Captain stands right up there with them. In short, this is the most enjoyable soundtrack I've had the pleasure of listening to in a very long time and I look forward to following Shearmur's musical career with pleasure.

"