Top Science Fiction & Fantasy Film Score Tracks of the 2010s and 2020s

Andy's Robin Hood is Worth the Price

Andy Price is probably not the first composer that comes to mind when thinking about Robin Hood score composers.  Michael Kamen is undoubtedly the most famous Robin Hood composer in recent times for the 1991 film starring Kevin Costner.  Others have included Erich Korngold's The Adventures of Robin Hood in 1931 and the most recently, Marc Streitenfeld's score to Ridley Scott's 2010 Robin Hood.  Andy Price is an English composer who scored the BBC television production of Robin Hood from 2006-2009.  Despite the scores place on a TV show, the quality is certainly not low budget and certainly elevated the show it accompanied.  Price undoubtedly drew inspiration from some of the other great fanfares in modern times, especially John Williams' Superman for his Robin Hood fanfare.  Similarities aside, the main theme is one heroic, enjoyable piece, which is easily remembered and whistled long after the show is over.  The one criticism I would levy is the sound byte nature of the cues on album.  Clocking in at 57 minutes the 2006 album features 37 tracks and the listening experience is somewhat inconsistent.  These deficiencies can be overlooked somewhat because of the otherwise high quality of the themes and the orchestral performance.  Action highlights include Outlaws, Gisborne's Trap, and my personal favorite cue on album: Rescue.  Price also crafted a beautiful, romantic melody to accompany Marian featured in Marian's Theme, Robin and Marian, and I Never Told Her I Loved Her.  Add the opening track and the end credits to the aformentioned tracks and you have an enjoyable 14 minutes of high quality listening.  All in all a worthy musical accompaniment for Robin and his band of merry men.***1/2  Purchase on Amazon.    

Eleven Year Old Appreciation for Gregson-Williams' Prince of Persia

So tonight my children wanted a treat and I agreed to give them some if they correctly identified the score after hearing a cue.  I was shocked when I put on Raid on Alamut from Prince of Persia: Sands of Time by Harry Gregson-Williams that my eleven year old daughter identified the score correctly from clear on the other side of the house after only ten seconds into the cue.  If you've heard the track then you know it starts out subdued for the first ten seconds or so.  She replied, "It's the only one I know that sounds Persian."  So Harry, as far as my ten year old is concerned you nailed the Persian sound.  The beginning of the cue begins with the Hollywood sound for the middle east and then quickly turns to suspenseful percussion to back Dastan, the film's heroine, as he super humanely scales the wall to gain entry to the sacred city of Alamut.   About two minutes in the cue's intensity kicks into high gear with furious strings back by percussive elements common to Harry Gregson-Williams' scores.  About 3:49 some male chanting joins the mix and then at about 4:28 some solo, male, ethnic wailing briefly appears to highlight Dastan's gaze of the city from atop a spire.  At 5:23 the theme for Prince of Persia makes an appearance and then again in softer tones at 5:59.  The cue ends heroically backed by chorus.  My initial reception to this piece and score were lukewarm.  However, seeing the melding of film to cue increased my appreciation for Harry's work.  Raid on Alamut is certainly a noteworthy cue from 2010 and recommended not only by me, but also by my eleven year old daughter.  Also, recommended are The Prince of Persia and Destiny.****    

The Battle of Pelennor Fields by Howard Shore

I came late to Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings scores.  My wife got me Return of the King just a couple years ago for Christmas and earlier this year I finally purchased Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.  A couple weeks ago I watched the special edition version of Return of the King.  Hours into the movie comes one of the best cues of the trilogy, The Battle of Pelennor Fields.  Chills coursed through my body as the music built to the climactic Rohan theme's roar in sync with the charge of the Rohirrim army lead by King Théoden against the orc horde.  Wow, what amazing visuals and Howard Shore nailed the score for the sequence!  I realized that my original album release of highlights did not have this amazing cue, certainly among the best of the film and the entire trilogy.  I soon remedied this over at Amazon.  If you can't afford the complete Return of the King score release price tag, then may I recommend four cues for download in order of priority:

The Battle of Pelennor Fields
The Crack of Doom
For Frodo
Shieldmaiden of Rohan

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole by David Hirschfelder

Australian composer David Hirschfelder was unknown to me until about thirty minutes ago when I was browsing new scores and came across a new release, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole.  The film is based on the book series Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky.  I started listening to the samples on Amazon, which really only teased of what I might expect.  What the hay, I decided, I'll get this one blind.  Right from the get go this score does not in any way suggest that it comes from an animated feature.  The score opens in Flight Home with trumpets, and a cimbalom, backed with choral accompaniment, which builds to a brass fanfare of the film's heroic main theme.  I really quite like the theme, but unfortunately it doesn't make an appearance in the same heroic form, excepting the conclusion of the final track, More Baggy Wrinkles.  Several of the tracks have a brooding and/or suspenseful action tone, such as A Long Way to the Guardians, that would seem to support the movie's description by some as a darker child's fantasy.  In fact, the demeanor of the majority of the score tracks would indicate a more serious, dramatic fantasy, which rarely gets into the realm of Mickey Mouse (perhaps the first part of You Know We're Flying and the quote of Les Toreadors from Bizet's Carmen at the end of Follow the Whales Fin).  Most of the tracks employ choral backing and the finale of My Soldiers My Sons features an exciting choral chant.  If only it lasted longer than twenty seconds.  Legend of the Guardians wont endear quite so quickly as this year's earlier hit, How to Train Your Dragon. The main theme while heroic and memorable is featured far too little on album in contrast to the latter.  The score also features much more dissonance and has a more serious tone throughout.  Even if not as immediately satisfying as How to Train Your Dragon, Hirschfelder has crafted a mature, orchestral animated score, diverse in instrumentation, which excels beyond many other scores in the genre.  Highlights include the score's bookends, Flight Home and More Baggy Wrinkles, The Boy was Right and Into Battle.****

Note: Physical CD purchasing of this title in the U.S. is limited to Borders brick and mortar locations.

Taking Some "Leaps of Faith" with James Newton Howard

While most of the hype this year concerning James Newton Howard has surrounded his work for The Last Airbender, Howard also snuck in a children's fantasy score: Nanny McPhee Returns.  Patrick Doyle composed the music to the first film and despite crafting a beautiful, choral backed, majestic theme did not return for the sequel.  For those interested, Doyle's music is best represented in the beautiful final track of the score "Snow in August," which is available on the original soundtrack, but also Varese Sarabande's 30th Anniversary 4-CD set.  Howard's effort has met mostly lukewarm reception among film score fans including complaints of length concerning the release and too much mickey mousing in the score's mid-section.  Neverthelss, I decided to take a leap of faith and purchase the second to last cue, Leaps of Faith.  The suite features several different variations of Howard's theme including trumpet, strings, choral, and even a tender xylophone iteration at the conclusion.  While Howard's theme is not as majestic sounding as Doyle's original, it still packs an emotional punch.  I also enjoyed the use of choir even though it is similar to Doyle's.  Recommended.

Related Scores: Nanny McPhee, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium 

John Powell's Surprise Hit: How to Train Your Dragon

John Powell hit a new high on my radar this year with his hit score to How to Train Your Dragon. How to Train your Dragon is quite simply one of the best scores of the year and one of the best to come along in the animated genre in some time. John Powell has done animation before (I just love Oogway Ascends from his co-scored effort of Kung Fu Panda), but never at the level of maturity and cohesiveness (no mickey mousing to be found here) found in this 2010 score.  So why do I like How to Train Your Dragon?  A heroic main theme (Test Drive is one of my favorite renditions), Celtic influence throughout, romantic sentimentality (just check out the awesome Forbidden Friendship cue), excellent use of percussion (check out the end of Coming Back Around, for example), and excellent sub-themes (check out Dragon's Den---it sounds so epic it's hard to believe this is coming from an animated feature) are a few of the reasons. Groundbreaking scores like this just do not come along that often and undoubtedly this one will be emulated and likely end up in trailers for other movies in years to come. As of this writing, How to Train Your Dragon is the best score I've heard so far in 2010 and one worth picking up the entire score.  Keeping it coming John!