The Dark Knight Rises
Hans Zimmer
" Hans Zimmer rises "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
In 2012 the world received the epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan's trilogy. Christopher Nolan's final answers to a movie icon that captured the world by storm. It's here the term smart blockbuster was forged, it was this man's visual look and feel that reformed Batman completely after the Gothic Tim Burton movies and the cartoonesque Schumacher entries. And even though there are people that still fancy Burton or Schumacher's movies over these ones, it is fun to realize that 3 different directors created such different movies of the one and same hero.
3 different directors meant 3 different sounds. And 4 composers if you count James Newton Howard's contribution to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. But for the final inclusion, it's Hans Zimmer going solo. And the world will have known his answer to all the riddles that came before it. To point out the obvious, The Dark Knight Rises continues the sound of the first 2, but adds fire to it. Because after chaos comes fire. Fire in the person of an unstoppable criminal called Bane, fire in the form of Batman's rise after an 8 year seclusion. Whatever Nolan delivers on screen, be sure that Hans Zimmer tops it with one of the loudest mixes in cinema history.
But this is not a bad thing whatsoever. Because for me music needs to stand out. Take control of the movie and elevate it to the point it's a living breathing partner in an indestructible design. And that's The Dark Knight Rises for sure. It's monumental on screen, it's a movie and world on its own and it's by far the most explosive of the 3 Batman scores. Sadly, that's not evident by this track listing at all. Meaning for me personally, there's a significant difference between the sound you experienced in the movie, and the sound you're listening to on disc. For me there's vital music missing that may have been used in the first 2 scores, it's absence nonetheless hurts the experience banefully.
Meaning I lack "Like a Dog Chasing Cars" to point out the obvious one. The thrilling heroic ride that supports Batman after his 8 year hiatus and his fight with the Batwing at the end (aka the convoy chase). Personally the last one alone was a monumental experience on screen, and its inclusion on disc was for me without question a necessity. I have to be honest though that I see what Zimmer and the producers wanted to create here. Namely not a copy of the second one but a new experience that uses as little as possible music of The Dark Knight, without forgetting of course the motifs and the sounds that made Batman the symbol he's known for in Gotham City today. And for that, they have to be commended. The Rise of Bane, the fall and Rise of Batman, they make the experience an interesting one on disc.
The flapping bat motif of course opens the disc with "A Storm is Coming", and the new Bane motif (or sound) creates very swiftly a first impression in "Gotham's Reckoning" when it unleashes ugly relentless thumps, brassy shrills and a constant chanting choir that's elevated more then once in the film. Here, it's definitely not the loudest version. The theme for Catwoman is a pleasant discovery as well in "Mind If I Cut In?", when violin and foremost piano give it an unique 9 lives quality. Or an ethnic sound for the child that rises from the pit, the child of Ra's Al Ghul that would bring Gotham City and its citizens to its knees. The examples are faint but noticeable in "Born in Darkness" and "Necessary Evil". Meaning there's thought and ideas in The Dark Knight Rises, and they show us how different Rises is from the other 2.
But no matter the difference, I seem to miss the moments that unleashed the biggest fire in the film. The loudest Bane version to name but one (the one that elevated the final trailer), or the heroic Batman music that ignited the 2 biggest action sequences in the film (the convoy chase is a thrilling experience that you must experience on screen and on CD). Their absence here create a different experience than the one I remember in the film. Again, I know why they are absent here, because this CD perfectly sums up the story in general. The rise of a threat ( the screeching strings are painfully real in "The Fire Rises"), the 2 note Batman motif that emerges with a thunder in "Why Do We Fall?" when Bruce finally climbs out of the pit, they tell a story on its own that's completely different from the first 2.
Luckily, Zimmer holds little back in the 2 big cues at the end. Remember "The Kraken" of Dead Man's Chest? Good, because you'll spot ideas and sounds in "Imagine the Fire" for sure, bringing forth an opening minute that surprisingly uses The Joker's sinister rhythm (intentional or not) as well. The real pride comes in the second part of "Imagine The Fire" when the shouting choir finally meets his match through Batman's heroic counterattacks, showing a completely new tone that doesn't sound for a moment like The Dark Knight. And "Rise" works in general as a "Chevaliers De Sangreal" for The Dark Knight Rises, meaning an emotional conclusive track that makes the 2 note motif be heard, especially once we see the awesome climax of a trilogy end, or the awesome beginning of a new trilogy commence.
To summarize, I can not stress it out enough. The Dark Knight Rises is a different experience on disc, one that continues to use the sounds of the first 2, but one that dares to deliver something new. But the stuff you spotted in the film that made you think back of The Dark Knight, that's absent. Showing very clearly that Zimmer refused to make a rehash score. For that they are to be commended. But (there is always a but with me), for me it's lacking therefore something essential. Meaning if a film uses music from a previous part so vividly, you experience it in the new context so powerfully as well, making the absence thereby all the greater on disc. And even if this could have pushed the length further back, it would have given me the exact same experience that I remember to be massive in the film.
It is strange that a sound can grow on you so easily. I remember when I first heard and experienced Batman Begins, after we practically grew up with large grotesque scores as Batman and Batman & Robin. The change in sound couldn't be bigger. But now ((like another trilogy of Zimmer's career)) it has expanded, accustomed, forming a new sound now that we will obviously miss when they start with a new Batman trilogy. And here that sound is partially missing through the absence of some of the biggest moments of the film. I'm therefore a bit sad that The Dark Knight Rises can't equal the powerful combination of chaos, nobility and heroism of The Dark Knight, no matter the ferocity by which it sets The Dark Knight Rises on fire in the film.
Favorite Moment - Imagine the Fire (0.01 - 2.22)
You gotta love those opening minutes, ending with the Like a Dog Chasing Cars motif
Track Listing
1. A Storm is Coming (0.37)
2. On Thin Ice (2.55)
3. Gotham's Reckoning (4.08)
4. Mind If I Cut In? (3.27)
5. Underground Army (3.12)
6. Born in Darkness (1.57)
7. The Fire Rises (5.33)
8. Nothing Out There (2.51)
9. Despair (3.14)
10. Fear Will Find You (3.08)
11. Why Do We Fall? (2.03)
12. Death by Exile (0.23)
13. Imagine the Fire (7.25) Excellent track
14. Necessary Evil (3.16)
15. Rise (7.11) Excellent track
Total Length: 51.20
3 different directors meant 3 different sounds. And 4 composers if you count James Newton Howard's contribution to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. But for the final inclusion, it's Hans Zimmer going solo. And the world will have known his answer to all the riddles that came before it. To point out the obvious, The Dark Knight Rises continues the sound of the first 2, but adds fire to it. Because after chaos comes fire. Fire in the person of an unstoppable criminal called Bane, fire in the form of Batman's rise after an 8 year seclusion. Whatever Nolan delivers on screen, be sure that Hans Zimmer tops it with one of the loudest mixes in cinema history.
But this is not a bad thing whatsoever. Because for me music needs to stand out. Take control of the movie and elevate it to the point it's a living breathing partner in an indestructible design. And that's The Dark Knight Rises for sure. It's monumental on screen, it's a movie and world on its own and it's by far the most explosive of the 3 Batman scores. Sadly, that's not evident by this track listing at all. Meaning for me personally, there's a significant difference between the sound you experienced in the movie, and the sound you're listening to on disc. For me there's vital music missing that may have been used in the first 2 scores, it's absence nonetheless hurts the experience banefully.
Meaning I lack "Like a Dog Chasing Cars" to point out the obvious one. The thrilling heroic ride that supports Batman after his 8 year hiatus and his fight with the Batwing at the end (aka the convoy chase). Personally the last one alone was a monumental experience on screen, and its inclusion on disc was for me without question a necessity. I have to be honest though that I see what Zimmer and the producers wanted to create here. Namely not a copy of the second one but a new experience that uses as little as possible music of The Dark Knight, without forgetting of course the motifs and the sounds that made Batman the symbol he's known for in Gotham City today. And for that, they have to be commended. The Rise of Bane, the fall and Rise of Batman, they make the experience an interesting one on disc.
The flapping bat motif of course opens the disc with "A Storm is Coming", and the new Bane motif (or sound) creates very swiftly a first impression in "Gotham's Reckoning" when it unleashes ugly relentless thumps, brassy shrills and a constant chanting choir that's elevated more then once in the film. Here, it's definitely not the loudest version. The theme for Catwoman is a pleasant discovery as well in "Mind If I Cut In?", when violin and foremost piano give it an unique 9 lives quality. Or an ethnic sound for the child that rises from the pit, the child of Ra's Al Ghul that would bring Gotham City and its citizens to its knees. The examples are faint but noticeable in "Born in Darkness" and "Necessary Evil". Meaning there's thought and ideas in The Dark Knight Rises, and they show us how different Rises is from the other 2.
But no matter the difference, I seem to miss the moments that unleashed the biggest fire in the film. The loudest Bane version to name but one (the one that elevated the final trailer), or the heroic Batman music that ignited the 2 biggest action sequences in the film (the convoy chase is a thrilling experience that you must experience on screen and on CD). Their absence here create a different experience than the one I remember in the film. Again, I know why they are absent here, because this CD perfectly sums up the story in general. The rise of a threat ( the screeching strings are painfully real in "The Fire Rises"), the 2 note Batman motif that emerges with a thunder in "Why Do We Fall?" when Bruce finally climbs out of the pit, they tell a story on its own that's completely different from the first 2.
Luckily, Zimmer holds little back in the 2 big cues at the end. Remember "The Kraken" of Dead Man's Chest? Good, because you'll spot ideas and sounds in "Imagine the Fire" for sure, bringing forth an opening minute that surprisingly uses The Joker's sinister rhythm (intentional or not) as well. The real pride comes in the second part of "Imagine The Fire" when the shouting choir finally meets his match through Batman's heroic counterattacks, showing a completely new tone that doesn't sound for a moment like The Dark Knight. And "Rise" works in general as a "Chevaliers De Sangreal" for The Dark Knight Rises, meaning an emotional conclusive track that makes the 2 note motif be heard, especially once we see the awesome climax of a trilogy end, or the awesome beginning of a new trilogy commence.
To summarize, I can not stress it out enough. The Dark Knight Rises is a different experience on disc, one that continues to use the sounds of the first 2, but one that dares to deliver something new. But the stuff you spotted in the film that made you think back of The Dark Knight, that's absent. Showing very clearly that Zimmer refused to make a rehash score. For that they are to be commended. But (there is always a but with me), for me it's lacking therefore something essential. Meaning if a film uses music from a previous part so vividly, you experience it in the new context so powerfully as well, making the absence thereby all the greater on disc. And even if this could have pushed the length further back, it would have given me the exact same experience that I remember to be massive in the film.
It is strange that a sound can grow on you so easily. I remember when I first heard and experienced Batman Begins, after we practically grew up with large grotesque scores as Batman and Batman & Robin. The change in sound couldn't be bigger. But now ((like another trilogy of Zimmer's career)) it has expanded, accustomed, forming a new sound now that we will obviously miss when they start with a new Batman trilogy. And here that sound is partially missing through the absence of some of the biggest moments of the film. I'm therefore a bit sad that The Dark Knight Rises can't equal the powerful combination of chaos, nobility and heroism of The Dark Knight, no matter the ferocity by which it sets The Dark Knight Rises on fire in the film.
Favorite Moment - Imagine the Fire (0.01 - 2.22)
You gotta love those opening minutes, ending with the Like a Dog Chasing Cars motif
Track Listing
1. A Storm is Coming (0.37)
2. On Thin Ice (2.55)
3. Gotham's Reckoning (4.08)
4. Mind If I Cut In? (3.27)
5. Underground Army (3.12)
6. Born in Darkness (1.57)
7. The Fire Rises (5.33)
8. Nothing Out There (2.51)
9. Despair (3.14)
10. Fear Will Find You (3.08)
11. Why Do We Fall? (2.03)
12. Death by Exile (0.23)
13. Imagine the Fire (7.25) Excellent track
14. Necessary Evil (3.16)
15. Rise (7.11) Excellent track
Total Length: 51.20