Search - Tyler Bates :: Watchmen: Original Motion Picture Score

Great music to match a great movie!

Miguel Carvajal | Santa Rosa, CA | 03/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a movie soundtrack collector and, after listening to the samples of the soundtrack for this movie, I just had to add it to my collection. After I watched the movie, the soundtrack actually took a deeper meaning as it matched the bleakness of an earlier America. In the past I've enjoyed Tyler Bates soundtrack for the movie 300 and he did a great job once again scoring the soundtrack for Watchmen."

WHO LISTENS TO THE WATCHMEN?

J. R. Mounts | Atlanta, GA USA | 03/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tyler Bates has done musically for "Watchmen" what Zack Snyder has done for it in film.

What sets this score apart most from what one might expect for a "superhero" film is that it is nothing remotely like any "superhero" score, or traditional score in general. It is very non-score sounding, more like musical characterizations. It seperates the film from the genre almost as much as the original comic did for it's genre way back when. In this way, it is similar to 2008's wonderfully eclectic score for "The Dark Knight" and even harkens back to "Blade Runner" for Vangelis which was very 80s sounding then without feeling unscore-like.



Tyler Bates does an incredible job of sounding nostalgic, melancholoy, bittersweet and hopelessly desperate as we travel with the Watchmen through generations of heroes and happenings, conflicts and commentaries. All this without distracting or detaching ourselves from the film's immediate present day events taking place. It feels appropriately 80's while at the same time new, fresh and exciting. Breaking new ground, yet familiar. The instruments vary as well, going anywhere from lush orchestral strings to near industrial techno and rock without skipping a beat or feeling out of place. It weaves wonderfully with the artist songs Zack Snyder chose for moments throughout the movie.



It takes several listenings to really appreciate all the layers Bates has textured the movie with and works best once you've seen the film. I hope we get an expanded score should they release the film as it was originally filmed (a bit over 3 hours). As an original fan of the "Watchmen" comic, I am very satisfied with Bates and feel he was the perfect choice to give "Watchmen" a musical voice. The music alone makes me want to see the film again and again. That really says something about the strength of this composer."

Hmmm.....

Joel B. Kirk | Bay Area, CA, USA | 11/23/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"A soundtrack, I feel, should tell a story...it should give you a feeling of what the film is trying to convey.



I never saw the film 'Legends of the Fall,' but the soundtrack by James Horner moved me greatly. I not only had the feeling of of the 'Old West'...but had the feeling of love, loss, growth, etc...



The Watchmen soundtrack by Tyler Bates doesn't evoke any feeling; it is not inspirational.



The final track 'I Love You' is actually the only one that caught my attention, no other track was memorable. It's what I call 'filler music'...



It's not 'bad' music, but it's just music that could probably fit any movie or any medium as aforementioned filler music...i.e. video game, television episode, etc..."