Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,402
Written 12/23/13
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Buy it... if you reminisce about the early rock-laden days of Hans
Zimmer's career, this entry a nostalgic merging of that tone with a few
of the composer's modern dramatic techniques.
Avoid it... if you need significant substance to the cohesiveness
of this work, its rock portions carefree and its late drama engaging but
not uniquely gripping by any measure.
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| Zimmer |
Rush: (Hans Zimmer/Various) For those who believe
that auto racing is a troubling, pointless waste of the planet's natural
resources, the 2013 Formula One racing movie Rush will seem like
yet another juvenile display of human stupidity. But with Ron Howard at
the helm, what you get with this project is the story of two adversaries
and their evolving relationship over time, with the racing circuit
simply the backdrop that connects their lives. With remarkable accuracy
and a resistance of Hollywood dramatization, Howard tells of the lives
of Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda as they near and
participate in their dual during the 1976 season. Their personalities
divergent in many ways and both suffering setbacks due to the impact of
their sport on their relationships, these men ultimately find common
ground after the season. Howard, despite working extensively with
composer James Horner before and after his initial collaboration with
Hans Zimmer during Backdraft, has partnered with Zimmer
exclusively since the mid-2000's, most notably on the two The Da
Vinci Code-related films. Zimmer was particularly well matched for
the assignment of Rush, not only because of his European and rock
roots, but also because he had already dabbled in the subject of auto
racing and alternative lifestyles early in his career, his rock-defined
scores such as Days of Thunder serving as the announcement of his
arrival. On the surface, listeners expecting a reprise of the sound
from Days of Thunder in Rush may be somewhat disappointed
by the different vibe necessitated by this plot, most namely the
somewhat disjointed combination of 1970's tones and Zimmer's modern
action mode for the drama of the story. That said, there is nothing in
this score that isn't absolutely saturated with Zimmer's established
sensibilities. It is a Zimmer score through and through, often for the
better. At a time when he seems stuck in his endless rotation of
collaborations with famous musicians, regurgitating tired manipulations
of orchestral tones into the realm of the synthetic, a score like
Rush, despite its return to the present at times near the end, is
a breath of life that reminds of the composer's arguably better days.
There is no headlining collaborator on this score; outside of the
numerous 1970's songs infused into the equation, Zimmer sticks to his
close team of Lorne Balfe and a handful of other ghostwriters to flesh
out ideas without unnecessary pomp and flash. The result is an effective
and listenable score that will prove largely effortless and predictable
but pleasing at the same time, ending on a blissfully positive
note.
The rock style that Zimmer and his team bring to the
first two-thirds of
Rush is carefree and influenced just enough
by 1970's sensibilities, including an occasional blues diversion, to
function well for the setting. The highlight of these cues is
"Stopwatch," which exudes the kind of enthusiastic, electric guitar
coolness over string and percussion rhythms that are sadly rare in
Zimmer's typical output after he departed the initial period of his
career. The downside to the collection of relatively short collection of
rock cues in
Rush is the major detraction of the entire score: a
lack of any really evolutionary connection between these ideas. Zimmer
simply rotates between these affable, easily digestible exercises in
coolness without really formulating a clear, underlying, developmental
purpose to them. They are, simply put, rock ambience. The one main theme
that the composer conjures for
Rush is aimed at the personal
perseverance and drama that grips the last third of the picture.
Introduced in the latter half of "1976," this theme, most often conveyed
initially by Zimmer's choice electric cello, becomes a major presence in
the final fifteen minutes of music in the film, expressing triumph with
the same instrument set but not the same guilty-pleasure gravity as in
his early years (the exception, perhaps, being the middle of "Lost But
Won", which does place you right back into 1990 Zimmer mode). While
casual listeners will attach themselves to the synthetically
choral-aided "My Best Enemy" as the saccharine sendoff, the fragmentary
treatment of the theme in "Inferno" is arguably the most poignant cue of
the lot, taking the idea to atmospherically suspenseful heights. There
are plusses and minuses to be heard in the final act of the score, which
begins with "Nurburgring." That cue exhibits shades of Zimmer's current
action mode, including familiar string techniques but without the same
overbearing weight; some might be disappointed by the results. Listeners
may also appreciate or detest Zimmer's pitch-slurring applications in
Rush, meant, much like in Mark Mancina's
Speed and a few
others, to denote the tone of a passing car (which is literally inserted
to bookend the album's score cues); look for this pitch slide in "For
Love" most prominently. Overall, this music features the Zimmer sound in
a genre for which its sensibilities are perfectly suited. While it
presents absolutely nothing new for the learned Zimmer collector, it is
still a refreshing trip back to the composer's roots, with evocative
interludes late in the work that will salvage it for those who never
cared for the style of
Days of Thunder. If only Zimmer and his
team could have better tied together the early rock cues into some form
of cohesive narrative evolution, this score would have gained another
star. As is, though, it's still worth your time.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.85
(in 128 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.96
(in 299,193 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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