Search - James Horner :: Apollo 13: Music From The Motion Picture

Apollo 13 Soundtrack, Regular and Gold Editions

Derrick Ginter | Lubbock, TX | 07/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even if you didn't know this was another James Horner work, it wouldn't be too hard to tell. He again draws upon percussion, synthesized choral voices (ala Titanic), and a lone female vocal at the end (Annie Lennox!). It all adds up to a very good musical score to accomodate man's flight into space and the tragedy that was averted. The horns and percussion denote the military professionalism that encompasses the US space program, while the vocals denote the devine heights of flying in space. I noticed an irony to both of the movies Horner has scored- Titanic was tragic in that there weren't enough lifeboats, and the Apollo 13 crew was saved by a "lifeboat" that wasn't considered for that very purpose: the Lunar Excusion Module. The CDs also contain popular music of the period- also something I enjoyed.
I originally owned the GOLD CD version and was initially disappointed at the spoken dialogue from the movie covering many portions of Horner's score. In essence, it is a sort of short "radio" version of the movie with sound, dialogue and music. If you have never seen the movie, the GOLD CD would certainly tell the tale of what befell the Apollo 13 crew. If all you want is Horner's score, then avoid the GOLD CD as the movie dialogue covers most of those tracks. On the other hand, I now own the regular CD version of this soundtrack and actually miss the "story" as portrayed on the GOLD CD. On the regular version, Horner's score remains mostly intact as seperate tracks, and what little dialogue is available is also on seperate tracks (For the most part that is- there are some places where his score tracks are clipped at the beginning). If all you want is the music, both score and 60's rock mainly intact, then the regular CD version is for you. If you would rather have a 70+ minute audio version of the movie, than go for the GOLD CD version. It is almost like the regular CD version is the "unedited" raw source from which the GOLD CD is mixed into the final story version. I like both versions for what they are, but my favorite would have to be the GOLD CD."

Beautiful Music, Bad Production

B. Madzarevic | Rolling Hills Estates, CA USA | 06/10/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Do people who want to listen to a Soundtrack, that want to hear dialogue from the mocie, even exist? I would think if you wanted to hear dialogue you would just watch the movie.When I asked the guy at the store what was the difference between the gold version and the regular version, he told me that the gold version was higher quality because the CD was gold instead of silver. Being a person who is quite familiar with the concepts of analog and digital, this immediately struck me is not possibly being correct. I ended up buying the regular version not knowing that the real difference lie in the content. I was kind of disappointed with the dialogue on the regular CD, but apprently this problem is much worse on the Gold CD, so I guess I got the better of the 2.Anyways there are only 7 tracks of James Horner Music on the CD, and some of them have the beginnings cut off. Despite the incompetence of the people who produced this CD, the music really is quite good.Apparently there was also 2 versions of the braveheart soundtrack...and 1 had dialogue and one didn't. I didn't know that before I bought it and luckily got the right one anyways. ALso a great soundtrack, my favorite actually."

What's the point?

Scott Andrew Hutchins | Bronx, NY, USA | 01/04/2002

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Since this had more tracks than the regular release, but appeared to be the same, I figured you could program out the bits of dialogue. Unfortunately, while I've not heard the regular album, I understand that only has dialogue excerpts, this is essentially the entire soundtrack (you know, sound) of the film, or rather, 75 minutes of it. It brags how it's such an incredible aural work, but really, what's the point? Back in the days before home video, this would have been something, now it's just a disappointment for people who wanted the original music. While nothing on the album is inherently bad, it just reminds me of the days when I would put the tape recorder up to the television speaker to capture a part of a favorite film. This is the hi-fidelity version of that. The DVD probably sounds better, so why would anyone want this, given what else is available? This is essentially a less-than, while the score uncovered with dialogue is either a coveted collectible I'm not a big enough Horner fan to want to pay for, or an illegal bootleg. Either way, I never listen to the score from Apollo 13. It just sits on my shelf. "Spirit in the Sky," as the previous reviewer mentioned, is a great song, but there are better ways to get it. On this one, the last part of the song trails onto a track covered with dialogue. I can't possibly recommend a CD that's basically a professional job of an amateurish idea."