James Newton Howard – Batman Begins: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

This soundtrack album has a beautiful sound. I have been listening to it numerous times over the years. The last time that I listened to it was on my own laptop only last week and it sounds fantastic. When the first track came up on the CD; it was really nice and loud. The headphones that I used when listening to it were built in with Bluetooth. The mastering on these CD's is top quality. If you're a fan of Batman, particularly of the Nolan Trilogy, you should go and purchase this score on CD. You won't regret it as it's a fantastic score to own. Hans Zimmer is a genius in composing music scores.

Some guy on eBay (rival-records) is selling "reissues" of this album on black wax. Kind of insulting to the original owners who bought this record thinking it was limited to 500 copies worldwide. Oh well.

I read a quote from Zimmer in regards to this score where he said he wasn't looking to get involved with another big budget action movie, and was instead looking for something on a smaller, more intimate scale. Unfortunately, it shows on this score. Don't get me wrong, it's still a very, very enjoyable listen, but it feels like Zimmer on autopilot to me. But then, Zimmer on autopilot still means exceptional material, and here we are treated with a mix of Zimmer's balls-to-the-wall action writing ('Molossus') and James Newton Howard's trademark epic strings ('Laziurus').

I was searching for a phrase to sum up this score, and I think the term 'functionally majestic' does the trick. Batman is the 'Dark Knight' - a character who has a sense of nobility about him, so he requires a majestic, powerful theme to accompany him. But he is also a man of action and purpose, so a theme full of pomp and ceremony would only serve to hamper him. The theme Zimmer and Howard concocted for the caped crusader here then is functional and keeps the action moving, but reminds us that Batman is more than just a vigilante out for revenge. The first track, 'Vespertilio', is the perfect example of this - a simple two-note 'majestic' motif on the brass plays over choppy, throbbing strings.

The other thing to note about this score is the synthesized percussion heard throughout the(the beginning of 'Vespertilio' is again the best example of this). It was designed to represent the flapping of bat wings and is quite effective.

Like the film, the score is mixed with a lot of bottom end, and therefore needs to be played loud and on a system with plenty of bass to fully appreciate the effort that went into composing a scoundscape that was appropriate for this iconic character.