MoviesMusicReviews

Review of The Peacemaker – Limited Edition Score

Music From the Motion Picture

The Peacemaker Album Art

The Peacemaker

Hans Zimmer a name synonymous with scoring The Dark Knight Trilogy and Man of Steel, as well as thousands of other film scores! Here we listen as he becomes the sound of The Peacemaker!

the-peacemaker-movie-poster-1997

So I was 17 years old when this movie was released. It’s never ever been on my radar at all after I walked out of the theater within the first 20 mins of the film in 1997. THE ONLY  reason WHY I even went to see it when it opened, was that I had a HUGE Crush on Nicole Kidman back then. Between Days of Thunder and Batman Forever…. she was one hot lady! I mean cmon her in that skimpy black dress as Dr. Chase Meridianthat was HOT! And Clooney well he’s a great actor. He acts better outside of a Bat Suit, but it depends on the script. He was a better actor in this than Batman & Robin.

So yeah I HAD to go back and watch this film 17 years after I walked out of the theater. Surprisingly after the first 44 mins of the film the plot and action pick up very quickly. The film moves very fast after the attacks. I think the one issue I have with the movie is that in that first 44 minutes and the remainder of the film… everytime a foreign language is spoken there are NO subtitles. I had watched The Peacemaker on Netflix, so I’m not sur if the DVD release has subtitles. One thing I really liked about the film was the performances by Clooney and Kidman, and the fact that their characters were not predetermined to sleep with each other!

PeaceMaker Image 1

As far as the score itself it’s 25 tracks on two discs. Disc One’s running time is 74:16 and Disc Two is 78:00 on the nose! I do love how Hans Zimmer is a master at using different styles. The instruments in this are amazing, and with a few vocalized tracks… it gives this score weight. now I’m not the biggest fan o vocalized film scores, I prefer the instrumentals to tell the story. However with what this film is all about the vocal tracks do capture the feeling of the film. Track 7 and 12 are probably my two favorites from disc 1. Those tracks are “Car Chase” and “Checkpoint/Helicopter Chase” Yeah I LOVE chase music!!!! Track 2 on Disc One entitled “Hijack” brings you into the film. It has a mysterious dark tone to it, and I kinda like it. It’s not as dark as what Zimmer would do nearly 20 years later with the nolan Bat film scores. However there is a darkness to it nonetheless.

With Disc 2 we have 10 tracks and seven of them are all original album tracks. By that I mean they came from the original released soundtrack. Track 4 “Trains” from the original album is by far my favorite on this disc. It has high action  peaks in it, and it also conveys a sense of danger at times through the notes. I’m not sure if it’s because I just found the film ok, or if it’s just that I’m not into this Zimmer score. But after listening to it multiple times, I honestly think there are Zimmer scores out there that are better than this one. I understand what Hans was going for here, in order to match the tone of the film. It works in general, but this isn’t a score I’ll be playing on repeat. As I stated I LOVE Tracks 7 and 12 on disc one, and Track 4 on disc 2. However the rest I just can’t get into outside of the context of the film.

PeaceMaker Image 2

What I love about these La La Land Records releases is the liner notes that come with the albums. Not only do you get cool images from the project, but you also get insights from the people crafting the music. That is just a nice little addition that this soundtrack company does!!

As far as final thoughts I will be rating this a “Liked It” Because I did like certain parts of the soundtrack, but other then that I can’t give it higher than that.

You can get this awesome score from LA LA Land Records directly! You can also find the track listing there!

PeaceMaker Image 3

Final Rating:

RATINGS - 3.5 STAR

Show More

TFG1Mike

TFG1Mike is a geek with many interests. He has been podcasting for over a decade, and sees no stopping point in sight. From Transformers, He-Man, Batman, Comics, movies, video games, cartoons, and so much more, Mike has a zeal for the things he loves, and he will bring the hammer down on the things that he has a disdain for. He's generally a postive person, but negativity can creep in there. Mike is all about the innuendos and innuendon'ts too. You'll hear him on many of The GCRN podcasts!

One Comment

  1. It’s a shame that the transfer of The Peacemaker soundtrack to CD is so bad. In some of its more strident moments the distortion is unbearable. But it’s still a great movie score.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button