Soundtrack Review: Sanctum (2011)
| Reviewer: JØrn Tillnes |
Sanctum Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the motion picture score Sanctum by David Hirschfelder.
"The fact is that this is another hit from David Hirschfelder who seems to be on his best run yet"
Based on a true story, Sanctum takes us deep into the earth. Pushed forward as a James Cameron project, it tries hard to sell on the hype. What could lie underneath is a movie about human exploration, mostly of themselves. A team of divers explore a massive cave yet unexplored by humans. Naturally there's no fun without danger and as the spirits are high, they are easily crushed. David Hirschfelder does the score and all ears are on him after an impressive run last year.
Track List
| 1. A Sacred Place | **** |
| 2. Espiritu Esu Ala | **** |
| 3. The Doline | ***** |
| 4. The Dive | **** |
| 5. Saint Judes Cathedral | ***** |
| 6. Listen! The River is Returning | **** |
| 7. Flow Stone Falls | **** |
| 8. Luko My Friend | **** |
| 9. Through the Restriction | *** |
| 10. We're Not Gonna Die | *** |
| 11. The Sacred River | **** |
| 12. I Can See You | **** |
| 13. Push On? You Decide | *** |
| 14. What About Carl? | **** |
| 15. Help Me Into The Water | **** |
| 16. Down to a Sunless Sea | *** |
| 17. Are We Home Yet? | ***** |
| 18. Sanctum Suite | ***** |
Ever since the release of "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" last year I have been anticipating the next release of composer David Hirschfelder who I must say has really risen to the challenge as of late. The challenge that is film music isn't an easy one, but Hirschfelder shows immense quality of orchestral scoring.
Sanctum is no Legend of the Guardians, but for a rather bland and uninteresting movie, the score tells a different tale. Starting from ancient chants in 'A Sacred Place' and the adventurous main theme in 'Espiritu Esa Ala' it goes on from strength to strength. The secondary theme is best heard from 2:27 in the cue 'Saint Judes Cathedral'.
Main Theme
Speaking of the main theme, it is a true representation of human nature. It is bold, brave, adventurous and stupid. It serves the movie right when it is played as they show great spirit and it's like nothing can stop them. It turns out there will be much trouble ahead, but not for David Hirschfelder who seems to have found the true spirit of adventure for the most part.
Of course it gets darker, a lot darker. It couldn't all be about bravery after all. When danger comes, the music follows. The second part of Saint Judes Cathedral it really goes dark. From 3:55 and onwards the music alone is enough to make you think that this is dangerous stuff. There's even something reminiscent of an action score is there. More action is heard in 'Listen! The River is Returning" from 3:20 and onwards.
Of course when there's too much darkness, both in human nature and regular nature, the score could easily become dull. I've seen it so many times, dark music is extremely hard to create. Luckily in Hirschfelder's case it only lasts for around 7 minutes.
It all ends in the perfect display cue on the soundtrack 'Sanctum Suite' that includes both the adventurous theme and secondary theme and a lot more.
Conclusion
The movie doesn't deserve such a good score to be honest, but this works wonders and when I watched the movie, I felt the music was just right. I also loved the fact that I could really hear the music, especially the adventurous main theme, that one was very apparent. The fact is that this is another hit from David Hirschfelder who seems to be on his best run yet. Anticipation levels are high yet again for Hirschfelder's next project.
CUE RATING: 80
Listen to the Sanctum soundtrack by David Hirschfelder below:
blog comments powered by Disqus
