This site was conceived as a side project by a "tekkie" friend of mine who suggested I use my journalistic experience to write about something I love. We bandied about some ideas before settling on this one - largely because I had collected movie soundtracks for much of my life and thought I could write about them. We wanted the site to be user friendly, well-written and reliable.
Over time, I hope to attract other writers keen to contribute to the site, who don't mind foregoing the financial benefits they may be used to in the short-term for something that may, or may not, be profitable further down the line.
The gradual demise of the cd format, re-emergence of vinyl, along with the expansion of blu-ray dvd and downloads translate to an ever-changing market place; despite this, most of us still buy cd's and dvd's and I hope that you will use the Amazon links on this site to buy online.
We have also included mini YouTube video links that accompany the reviews, so that you can listen to your favourite theme music while watching a related trailer or clip from the movie; because film is a visual medium, there seems no better way of presenting it.
Finally, a note on the type of soundtracks featured. Though purists generally view albums such as "Top Gun", "Flashdance" and others like them, as unworthy of coverage on a film soundtrack site, preferring instead to focus on orchestral scores, we have taken the view that these albums have earned their place based on their continued saleability and affection with a large section of cinema-goers. We wanted to reach as broad an audience as possible and have developed the site with this in mind, without forgetting those fans for whom composers such as Bernard Herrmann and Jerry Goldsmith, among many others, are considered on a par with the master composers. We hope you can find your best movie soundtracks on this site.
To Kill A Mockingbird.
1962, Universal.
Elmer Bernstein.
Verese Sarabande, CD, 1998, VSD-5754. Rating:
Elmer Bernstein’s outstanding score to the film adaptation of Harper Lee’s highly thought of novel, is a master class of a movie score, perfectly in sync with the film’s central theme about two youngsters coming of age in the American deep south, as their lawyer father (Gregory Peck) defends a black man charged with rape. Bernstein claimed that he used instruments such as piano, bells and harp to evoke memories of childhood (‘Main Title’); his ability to incorporate the films darker undertones (‘Lynch Mob’) is just as masterful. Despite this, the score has been unavailable for many years and its first CD release was marred by poor sound quality; this re-recording puts this right, with crisp sonics and expanded liner notes. Excellent. To Kill A Mockingbird Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track Listing:
1. Main Title.
2. Remember Mama.
3. Atticus Accepts The Case/Roll In The Tire.
4. Creepy Caper/Peek-A-Boo.
5. Ewell’s Hatred.
6. Jem’s Discovery.
7. Tree Treasure.
8. Lynch Mob.
9. Guilty Verdict.
10. Ewell Regret It.
11. Footsteps In The Dark.
12. Assault In The Shadows.
13. Boo Who?
14. End Title.
This spoof disaster movie proved a good opportunity for Elmer Bernstein (also responsible for writing scores for comedies ’Ghostbusters’ and ’Trading Places’) to poke affectionate fun at the music that accompanied the originals, including the ‘Airport’ series and ‘Jaws’. While he manages to raise a few chuckles, particularly in cues ‘Resolution/Tag’ and the ‘Jaws’ inflected ‘Main Title’ however, this is largely a functional score written to accompany on-screen action, with plenty of bite sized cues that provide little cohesion. ‘Lisa/Farewell/Takeoff and ‘Zip/Eggs/Roger, Take Off’ bring it up a few notches, along with some exciting and effective action cues but there aren’t enough of these to do the score as a whole justice. This may be a definitive edition, packed full of material, including some cues not used in the final film, but as a complete listening experience it remains a hit and miss affair with only Bernstein’s ample abilities to keep its head above the clouds. Airplane Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track Listing:
1. Airplane! Main Title
2. Kiss Off
3. Ambulance Arrives*
4. Hari Krishna/Ticket/Nervous**
5. Lisa/Farewell/Take Off**/ Another Meeting
6. Fighting Girls
7. Love Theme from Airplane!
8. From Here to There
9. Head/Memory
10. Shimmer/Molumbo
11. Zip/Eggs/Roger, Take Over
12. Wild Violins/Sickness/Idea 
13. Thar She Blows!/Flash/Panel
14. “Where the Hell is Kramer?”*/Trouble
15. Mayday
16. Punch-Up/Kramer
17. Clumsy
18. Dog Fight/Failure/Pep Talk/ Notre Dame Victory March/Master
19. News
20. “Runway is Niner”*/”The Gear is Down and We’re Ready to Land”*
21. Crasher
22. Resolution/Tag
23. Notre Dame Victory March
24. Tavern
25. Everything’s Coming Up Roses*
26. Instruments
27. Disco**
28. Kiss Off (Alternate)*
29. Fighting Girls (Alternate)*
30. From Here to There (Instrumental)
31. Molumbo (Alternate)*
32. Zip (Original Version)
33. News (Alternates)*
34. Dog Fight (Short Version)
35. “Runway is Niner” (Alternate)*
36. “The Gear is Down and We’re Ready to Land” (Alternate)*
37. Tag (Instrumental)
* track not contained in film
** contains music not used in film
An offbeat, contemporary film noir, ‘The Grifters’ stars John Cusack as a petty conman, drawn into the complex and dangerous life of his estranged mother (Anjelica Huston) who works for the mob. Elmer Bernstein created an offbeat score, with woodwind and piano and punctuated it with electronic high notes, particularly effective in the film’s main theme ‘The City’ and the darker ‘To The Hospital’. ‘School For Grifters’, melancholic and lonely, flickers with underlying threat, while ‘Roy Gambles’ is a jaunty reminder of the films darkly comic origins. Arguably one of Bernstein’s finest later scores, if you discount the terrible pop track tacked on the end. The Grifters Movie Soundtrack. Review: Tim Mowbray.
Track Listing:
1. The City.
2. The Racetrack.
3. Roy In Trouble.
4. School For Grifters.
5. To The Hospital.
6. Troubadour Race.
7. Lilly’s Argument.
8. Bobo.
9. Carhumba.
10. Roy Gambles.
11. Madness.
12. Myra’s Blues.
13. Roy And Lilly.
14. Chase.
15. Fright And Flight.
16. Endings.
17. Credits.
18. Do Ya, Do Ya Love Me? (Dream World).
