The Postman
James Newton Howard
" The Postman delivers you epic music, soft music and shitty songs "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Whether or not Kevin Costner made an impression on you with his epic Dances with Wolves and Waterworld, he thought the world would be ready for another epic tale, namely the tale of The Postman. The problem being a total box office failure wasn't the quality of the movie per se, but the actual length of the film. I know length doesn't say anything about the quality, but people that aren't sure of which movie to pick will always go for a shorter movie in the process. So, sadly for Kevin Costner, The Postman bombed financially at the box office, leaving a wonderful epic score of James Newton Howard only audible for some home surround systems.
And so The Postman had to be heard by watching the movie, or by hearing the initial soundtrack. And for a 73 minute soundtrack, it only delivers about 45 minutes of the composer's voice. Because the remainder of the time things are spent on some of the dullest songs I may have ever encountered in my life. Being easy on the ears, they feel so out of context that they rock you to sleep without a single problem. And having 8 of these babies is not helping the situation either. At least we can try to keep ourselves awake with the titles of the songs, because I don't know how I ever could fall asleep during "I Miss my Radio". :facepalm:
Now let us continue with the music that does matter for us. The first sign of any epic music comes in "The Belly of the Beast", and it immediately turns out to be a cracker. Here after a couple of minutes a blazing heroic theme comes knocking at your door, delivering a load of suspenseful choir over a marching rhythm that's only rescued by the blazing heroics of a most spectacular theme. Sadly this theme isn't repeated a whole lot during the score, but it comes back softly in "General Bethlehem" and stirring at the end of "The Postman".
Another heroic cue is "The Restored United States", and through the use of the choir and the marching brass things turn to a percussive fireworks display, this for the showdown between General Bethlehem and The Postman. I'm sure for many it is one of the favorite moments of your listen. The noble heroics after that are quite soaring too. And "The Postman" continues in that trend by delivering soft noble statements and a big climatic main theme performance. In between this the dramatic theme soars in "General Bethlehem", "Abby Comes Calling" and "The Restored United States".
Besides these whopper moments we discover that "Main Titles" is rather an appetizer than a recommendation, delivering a sense of mystery that flows through in "Shelter in the Storm", being but a whisper for the actual bombast that's waiting after that. Through the soft strings and flutes it reminds me easily enough of many of the composer's works (with Alive being a recognizable one). The big tamale of calmness turns out to be "Abby Comes Calling", and James paints a soft picture for the love growing between Abby and The Postman.
So even though The Postman movie turns out to last a stunning 180 minutes, only about 45 minutes of James Newton Howard's music appears to be on the soundtrack release. The rest of that time is sadly wasted on music that neither sells nor impresses. And even though I find it to be a nice combination of relaxing underscore and heroic epic music, one must only wonder what if? The Postman doesn't dare to match James Newton Howard's Waterworld, but I'm sure many will fall in love with the powerful moments nonetheless.
Score: ****
Songs: *1/2
Tracklisting
1. Main Titles (2.20)
2. Shelter in the Storm (6.22)
3. The Belly of the Beast (6.49) Excellent track
4. General Bethlehem (6.55)
5. Abby Comes Calling (10.49)
6. The Restored United States (6.43) Excellent track
7. The Postman (9.50) Excellent track
8. Almost Home: Jono Manson (3.58)
9. It Will Happen Naturally: Jono Manson (2.17)
10. The Next Big Thing: Jono Manson (2.18)
11. This Perfect World: John Coinman (3.38)
12. Once This Was the Promise Land: John Coinman (2.06)
13. I Miss My Radio: Jono Manson and John Coinman (2.42)
14. Come And Get Your Love: John Coinman (3.06)
15. You Didn't Have to be So Nice: Amy Grant and Kevin Costner (3.38)
Total Length: 73.43
And so The Postman had to be heard by watching the movie, or by hearing the initial soundtrack. And for a 73 minute soundtrack, it only delivers about 45 minutes of the composer's voice. Because the remainder of the time things are spent on some of the dullest songs I may have ever encountered in my life. Being easy on the ears, they feel so out of context that they rock you to sleep without a single problem. And having 8 of these babies is not helping the situation either. At least we can try to keep ourselves awake with the titles of the songs, because I don't know how I ever could fall asleep during "I Miss my Radio". :facepalm:
Now let us continue with the music that does matter for us. The first sign of any epic music comes in "The Belly of the Beast", and it immediately turns out to be a cracker. Here after a couple of minutes a blazing heroic theme comes knocking at your door, delivering a load of suspenseful choir over a marching rhythm that's only rescued by the blazing heroics of a most spectacular theme. Sadly this theme isn't repeated a whole lot during the score, but it comes back softly in "General Bethlehem" and stirring at the end of "The Postman".
Another heroic cue is "The Restored United States", and through the use of the choir and the marching brass things turn to a percussive fireworks display, this for the showdown between General Bethlehem and The Postman. I'm sure for many it is one of the favorite moments of your listen. The noble heroics after that are quite soaring too. And "The Postman" continues in that trend by delivering soft noble statements and a big climatic main theme performance. In between this the dramatic theme soars in "General Bethlehem", "Abby Comes Calling" and "The Restored United States".
Besides these whopper moments we discover that "Main Titles" is rather an appetizer than a recommendation, delivering a sense of mystery that flows through in "Shelter in the Storm", being but a whisper for the actual bombast that's waiting after that. Through the soft strings and flutes it reminds me easily enough of many of the composer's works (with Alive being a recognizable one). The big tamale of calmness turns out to be "Abby Comes Calling", and James paints a soft picture for the love growing between Abby and The Postman.
So even though The Postman movie turns out to last a stunning 180 minutes, only about 45 minutes of James Newton Howard's music appears to be on the soundtrack release. The rest of that time is sadly wasted on music that neither sells nor impresses. And even though I find it to be a nice combination of relaxing underscore and heroic epic music, one must only wonder what if? The Postman doesn't dare to match James Newton Howard's Waterworld, but I'm sure many will fall in love with the powerful moments nonetheless.
Score: ****
Songs: *1/2
Tracklisting
1. Main Titles (2.20)
2. Shelter in the Storm (6.22)
3. The Belly of the Beast (6.49) Excellent track
4. General Bethlehem (6.55)
5. Abby Comes Calling (10.49)
6. The Restored United States (6.43) Excellent track
7. The Postman (9.50) Excellent track
8. Almost Home: Jono Manson (3.58)
9. It Will Happen Naturally: Jono Manson (2.17)
10. The Next Big Thing: Jono Manson (2.18)
11. This Perfect World: John Coinman (3.38)
12. Once This Was the Promise Land: John Coinman (2.06)
13. I Miss My Radio: Jono Manson and John Coinman (2.42)
14. Come And Get Your Love: John Coinman (3.06)
15. You Didn't Have to be So Nice: Amy Grant and Kevin Costner (3.38)
Total Length: 73.43