"Well, I suppose that depends on the type of music you're testing your equipment for. However, go to almost any online discussion of audio equipment, particularly subwoofers, and you'll come across this disc. Sure, most of the other reviewers mention the sound effects in less than glowing terms. It remains though that this disc contains some of the crazy lowest signals one can buy on disc. The T rex footsteps shake the entire house despite being below my hearing range with my Martin Logan Descent sub. Incredible stuff. And the glass shattering sound effects in the Terminator theme can melt your tweeters too if turned up too loud. Don't take yourself too seriously for a few minutes and enjoy the noise!
Beyond that, musically this is one of the Cincinatti Pops' finest soundtrack collections. Perhaps the best. Almost all of their recordings are sonically of the highest quality (Copland: Music of America won a Grammy for best engineering), but all too often in recent years the releases have not met the standard of this album. Arrangers that don't begin to care what the composer's intent was or tacking on pre-fab endings are the worst offenders, but most of the selections here meet or exceed the quality of the original soundtracks. All around, a great soundtrack collection."
Blows Away All Other Such Compilations!
Reginald D. Garrard | Camilla, GA USA | 04/02/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Caution: Digital Sound Effects of high levels with intrasonic frequencies to 5 Hz. Please establish safe playback levels before playing tracks [3], [5], [19], [20], and [21]. Excessive playback levels could result in damage to equipment." The above quote is found prominantly on the back cover and is a warning not to be taken lightly. The respective tracks are awesome and should be played, as well as listened to, with great care. A 20-bit digital recording that is perfect for surround-sound systems, "The Great Fantasy Adventure Album" is a wonder for fans of the sci-fi/fantasy film genre. Highlighting some truly landmark films, the 1994 release showcases compositions from the legends of past and contemporary film scoring. Themes from the likes of Rosza, Williams, Horner, Herrmann, and Elfman are grandiosely featured here. The best cuts are Goldsmith's "Total Recall: Main Title", "Conan the Barbarian: Anvil of Crom" (Poledouris), and Brad Fiedel's "Terminator: Theme". Upon hearing this trio, chills will not just go up the spine but will permeate every ounce of one's body"
Great cover cd with relentless sound effects
musicmanblue1975 | 05/07/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Jurassic tracks and Terminator theme/Cybergenesis are subwoofer killers. Those warnings are for real."
The perfect movie theme collection
Mark Thonssen | Friendswood, TX USA | 08/16/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have a good number of Kunzel CDs, but this one could easily be called "Mark's Favorite Movie Themes." It doesn't matter that I have many of these repeated on other CDs; it saved me the trouble of having to burn my own 'faves' disc. It's good to see Basil Polodouris' "Conan" and "Red October" themes, he's often overlooked as a film composer, in my book, and regardless what one might think of the movie, the Conan score is still probably the best thing he's ever done. And the hard-to-find "Terminator" theme is hard NOT to listen to, with its highly unusual rythmic motif. I enjoy all the music selections, but having James Horner's sublime theme from "The Rocketeer" was well worth the price of the CD by itself. This is what a movie themes CD should be, and it helps that I happen to like Kunzel's choice of selections, for once. The sound effects that typically accompany these CDs are generally annoying, but I like the sonar segue into "Red October," and the T-Rex roar that precedes "Jurassic Park" is useful for scaring kids at Halloween."