James Horner's WINDTALKERS (2002) - NEW! 2023 3-CD Intrada Records

[Jay 35,045]

Intrada has the last word on this one. Coming August 8.

 

https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=151837&forumID=1&archive=0

 

 

[Bespin 7,890]

It seems that I'll get that one too!

 

James Southall's review here --> http://www.movie-wave.net/windtalkers/

[Jay 35,045]

There's an interesting post in that FSM thread that explains why the OST album is the way it is:

 

The OST is an unspeakably horrible release. There were all kinds of delays and stoppages in production on the movie and the sessions for the second half were long after the first because of the production woes. The OST that was released was basically just the slow suspense music from the first half with all but a few snippets of the action music missing. At the time it was received as low key, generic, and boring. But that's just because the music that was released was just that from a specific subset of the sessions covering the music that is, by its nature, less interesting. I fully expect this expansion is going to cause people to seriously reevaluate this as a score and highly suggest people go in with an open mind and not use the OST to judge it.

[Brónach 1,275]

interesting

[crocodile 7,679]

Oh cool. Looking forward to this. 

 

Karol

[Richard Penna 3,208]

Interesting to know, although I don't remember the album coming across as all 'underscory', just not really my thing. Sometimes JNH's JH's extended melodramatic 9-minute explorations are interesting (Deep Impact), but very often they just meander. I think this is one of those cases for me.

[A. A. Ron 1,378]

JNH’s 9 minute explorations?

[Stark 243]

If the album really is that terrible maybe I spoke too soon with my apathy in the other thread!

[Edmilson 6,119]

1 hour ago, Richard Penna said:

Sometimes JNH's extended melodramatic 9-minute explorations are interesting (Deep Impact), but very often they just meander. I think this is one of those cases for me.

I didn't know JNH recorded a score for Deep Impact! Is it as good as Horner's score for the same movie? 

[Richard Penna 3,208]

I'm way more used to mentioning JNH than Horner 

[JTWfan77 1,650]

Wow, if that's what Windtalkers sounds like I will need to get this. I have the album but never got around to listening to it, nor have I seen the film despite owning the DVD. I always expected this to be more synthy and sound designy.

[crocodile 7,679]

46 minutes ago, JTWfan77 said:

Wow, if that's what Windtalkers sounds like I will need to get this. I have the album but never got around to listening to it, nor have I seen the film despite owning the DVD. I always expected this to be more synthy and sound designy.

Well, the first half of the trailer is not on the album. The melody you hear is the main theme. That segment is on the album. This is two of my favourite tracks from the old disc. And, yes, while not the most striking Horner it is definitely orchestral all the way through.

 

 

 

Karol 

 

 

 

[pete 816]

I clicked on the video and thought "What the hell is that first piece of music... and why is it playing in an ad for the Windtalkers score?

[DangerMotif 985]

What score’s better, this or Gorky Park?

[crocodile 7,679]

They are nothing alike! It's like doing a Angela's Ashes vs. The Phantom Menace poll!

 

In Horner’s body of work, Gorky Park might be a more interesting entry but that doesn't mean you'll enjoy it more.

 

Karol

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,331]

Really looking forward to this score. I always thought the album wasn't doing justice to Horner's work. I wonder though why it needs 3 CD (perhaps an alternate album presentation of the composer like featured on Apollo 13)

[GerateWohl 3,679]

Seems the guy playing the snare drum has a lot of work in this score.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,113]

5 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

What score’s better, this or Gorky Park?

 

Are you kidding?!

GORKY PARK stamps all over any Horner score, since 1986.

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,331]

What about Apollo 13, Balto, Casper, TASM and Living in the Age of Airplanes, those are among the best scores ever

[Naïve Old Fart 9,113]

I wholeheartedly agree, my friend, but I like none of them as much as I love GORKY PARK 

[Jay 35,045]

9 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

What score’s better, this or Gorky Park?

 

If you're asking because you currently have a small Horner collection and are looking to grow it, there's probably 20 Horner specialty label titles I'd recommend before either Windtalkers or Gorky Park.

 

If you already have a decent Horner collection and just don't know either of these scores at all, you're in luck!  Gorky Park's OST album is free on any streaming site, and someone put the Windtalkers OST on youtube

 

 

 

 

So you can listen to those to see if you feel like you want to own expansions of them.   But note that for Windtalkers, it appears the OST album only had music from half the film, so the new expansion might be a total revelation that causes everyone to re-evaluate his score.  The samples that go up on Tuesday should start to tell the new story!

[Edmilson 6,119]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

someone put the Windtalkesr OST on youtube

It's utterly idiotic that the Windtalkers OST is only available to stream on YT thanks to fans and not due to it being officially released there. The same goes for The Patriot OST.

[Mr. Who 868]

Really looking forward to this and Gorky! This year is great for Horner fans when it comes to expansions!

[JTWfan77 1,650]

Bye bye money

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,331]

3-CD premiere of massive James Horner WWII action score! John Woo directs, MGM presents in 2002, Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Christian Slater, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Storemare lead the cast, Joe Batteer, John Rice script. Due numerous schedule issues during production and post production editorial changes, James Horner manages to score and record some two hours of original music including alternate cues. Significantly, large amount of material focuses on action, battle sequences, more than composer typically records. Also significantly, much of this frenzied and aggressive writing did not make it onto the RCA album from 2002, offering 66 minutes of music… admittedly all strong cues nonetheless. Director Woo examines challenges Cage has in readjusting to combat after losing his squad in an opening battle sequence. Other primary story line focuses on pair of Navajo code talkers, the Native Americans being trained to transmit radio messages in codes that Japanese could not break. Key dramatic point: Should any of the code talkers be captured, they were not allowed to be caught alive. Since they become friends with the soldiers, this creates the dramatic emotional weight of the story. A sizable task for the composer to address with his music. Horner responds with incredible weighted music packed with dynamic action writing, balancing with richly emotional Americana vernacular, including numerous soaring military solos for trumpet in upper register. Main theme first appears during opening “Navajo Dawn” as bus arrives, picks up Navajos who part with family members. Interestingly, this important thematic introduction was missing entirely from RCA album that featured earlier version of cue which went quickly into combat material instead. Both versions appear on Intrada restoration of complete score, mastered from two-track stereo session masters made by Simon Rhodes at Todd Scoring in Los Angeles across July and August 2001, with rescoring sessions held in January and February 2002. Numerous action cues appear in this release for the first time but also several warm, sensitive cues underscoring emotional underpinnings of powerful film. After some two hours of music plays across discs 1 & 2, original 2002 album plays on CD 3. Informative booklet notes by Frank DeWald plus dramatic graphic design work by Kay Marshall complete exciting package. Orchestrations by J.A.C. Redford, James Horner, Randy Kerber, Steven Bernstein, Carl Johnson. James Horner composes, conducts. Intrada Special Collection 3-CD set available while quantities and interest remain!

 

And here's the tracklist

CD 1 01. Navajo Dawn (Revised) – Film Version (4:23) 02. Solomons (4:13) 03. Hearing Test/Code Test (1:44) 04. A New Assignment #1 (1:12) 05. A New Assignment #2 (4:27) 06. Joe Looks At Birds (Revised) (1:00) 07. An Act Of Heroism #1 (With Synth) (2:36) 08. Saipan: Crazy Joe (2:33) 09. Saipan: Bazooka Ox (1:16) 10. Taking The Beachhead/Saipan:      First Radio Call (Version #1) (4:36) 11. Taking The Beachhead/Saipan:      First Radio Call (Version #2) (2:11) 12. Saipan: Satchel Charge (2:01) 13. The Night Before (3:32) 14. First Blood Ceremony (2:24) 15. Yahz Explains Ceremony To Joe (1:49) 16. Sharing Smokes (0:45) 17. Wounded Man (With Synth) (1:41) 18. Wounded Man – Version #2 (2:12) 19. Marine Assault – Part 1 (2:56) 20. Marine Assault – Part 2 (10:17) 21. Ghost Cemetery (5:20) 22. Entering Village (1:05) 23. Joe Draws In Flour (0:57) 24. Invitation To Navajo Country (0:49) 25. Village Attack (3:00) 26. An Act Of Heroism #2 (1:55) CD 1 Time: 73:36

CD 2 01. Losses Mounting (5:00) 02. Drive To Minefield (1:44) 03. Ambush (1:24) 04. Friends In War/Death Of Hjelmstad (8:00) 05. Reveal Jap Guns (0:44) 06. Capture The Radio (2:14) 07. A Sacrifice Never Forgotten (Revised) (7:56) 08. Calling To The Wind (Revised) – Film Version (10:36) CD 2 Score Time: 37:45 THE EXTRAS 09. Navajo Dawn (Original) (7:46) 10. Joe Looks At Birds (Original) (1:00) 11. An Act Of Heroism #1 (Without Synth) (1:27) 12. Wounded Man (Without Synth) (1:41) 13. A Sacrifice Never Forgotten (Original) (7:47) 14. A Sacrifice Never Forgotten (Alternate) (7:38) 15. Calling To The Wind (7:57) Total Extras Time: 6:28 CD 2 Total Time: 74:25

CD 3 Original 2002 Soundtrack Album 01. Navajo Dawn (7:54) 02. A New Assignment (4:38) 03. An Act Of Heroism (5:59) 04. Taking The Beachhead (6:17) 05. First Blood Ceremony (2:09) 06. The Night Before (3:32) 07. Marine Assault (5:40) 08. Losses Mounting (5:06) 09. Friends In War (7:56) 10. A Sacrifice Never Forgotten (7:11) 11. Calling To the Wind (10:33) CD 3 Total Time: 66:55

[JTW 1,208]

It’s not a cheap set. It’s €49.95 at Music Box Records.

$35.99 at Intrada, that’s without shipping + customs. 

Collecting soundtrack CDs has become a pricey hobby.

[Jay 35,045]

Wow, this looks awesome!  Can't wait to own this!

[crocodile 7,679]

Listening to the set.  OK, there is indeed a lot of new stuff on here. I really liked the old album already, which had some good action music, but it is really surprising to experience this material in the context of the entire score. Some of the new stuff is way more aggressive than what we've heard before. Let's put it this way: the old CD felt like one of those anguished Horner drama scores, the new expanded set pushes it more into the action territory. It almost feels like something you would hear in a Medal of Honor video game. I think a lot of people will be really surprised by this shift. If anything, definitely a significant upgrade.

 

Karol

[Levraibond 5]

It's a total discovery for me. I had never listened to the 2002 album before getting the complete presentation from Intrada. Based on the history behind this release I thought it would be a must have. And boy it is!

 

The action pieces are, indeed, quite fierce. I think the next and only Horner score to be that aggressive was Avatar with the "War" cue.

 

The dynamic range is huge. Intrada says in the liner note they didn't use any dynamic compression and gave us what the sessions sounded like. They delivered! 

 

A must have for Horner fans.