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Rating:  -
I really loved Ottman's work on "X2" so him taking on "Superman" should have resulted in something special. Unfortunately what we get is less than stellar, and we get to hear a pretty poor treatment of Williams original "Superman" material.
A lot of the music we get is all themes from Williams original score which should have been a good thing, but Ottman decided to update it for the 21st Century, and apparently the best way to do that is to add choir to everything and try to make the music as sappy as possible. The Main Titles is almost note for note Williams' work but fans of Williams will notice how flat it sounds. Williams' march was thick and full, where as Ottman's version is dry and a slightly faster tempo than the Williams version. I know it sounds like something that shouldn't matter, but if you're fan of the original score it just sucks you feels so shallow
One of the many criticism that is usually thrown at Ottman is the fact that you can feel the temp music in his movies and in this score not only do you feel it, but it completely sucks you out of any enjoyment there is to be had since you keep asking yourself which Goldsmith score you first heard a certain cue on the album from. Much like Elfman John Ottman is a huge filmmusic geek and also like Elfman he does little homage to his biggest heroes all the time. Be it the late great Goldsmith, Horner, or in this movie a lot of Williams. There's nothing wrong with doing a tip of the hat to your favorite composers, but when you get so close to them that it becomes difficult to tell where your original score begins and theirs end, that's when we have a problem.
Another thing that bothered me about the score was the overuse of the choir. Every little thing in the movie requires choir which is just silly. When the camera pans from left to right we hear some pretentious boys choir, and when Superman is flying around we hear loud male choir. Ottman used the choir perfectly in "X2" but here he just goes way overboard. The one thing about the choir that drove me nuts was how he infused with the infamous Superman march. It just makes it sound cheesy that you cringe when you hear it. The music he plays when Superman is hovering above the earth, and for the moment when he is recharging also borders on pretentious and melodramatic. Hopefully Ottman will get it right next time
If this is your first musical intro in the world of "Superman" then you'll probably applaud the score, but if you're familiar with Williams brilliant score to the first, then it's best to stay as far away as you can from this. Ottman has seen better days that's for sure
Rating:  -
Most of my points have been iterated here already, but hey, repetition improves the breed...
(1). Ottman made the right choice in borrowing, tweaking, and adding to Williams' existing body of work. In much the same way that "Returns" director Bryan Singer continually pays homage to the original 1978 film (e.g., Lois' inability to spell, Clark ultimately resisting his desire to tell Lois the truth about his dual identity, Lois' smoking and Superman's gentle nudging to kick the habit), Ottman makes liberal use of the themes that Williams composed (e.g., the Planet Krypton, The Flying Sequence, and of course, the March). The best track in the lot must be number 6, "How Could You Leave Us?" which takes Williams' "The Flying Sequence" and turns it into the height of pathos. In the first film, Lois and Superman are essentially on their first date, so to speak, and Williams' piece seems to telegraph that - the whole piece is light, airy, and fun. In "Returns," Ottman has altered the cadence of the theme, the instrumentation, and the overall tone, mirroring the latent, but now forbidden, love between Superman and Lois, who is now happily engaged to someone else. I really could listen to this track all day.
(2). Some of the other tracks are really not up to par. In particular, track 3, "Rough Flight," is almost atonal at times, and in the end, completely unmemorable, which is unfortunate, considering that it is supposed to support the best action sequence in the film - Lois' rescue from the Genesis space shuttle. See "The Battle of Hoth" from The Empire Strikes Back for an example of an orchestral track during an frenetic action scene that still manages to develop and maintain clear and memorable themes.
(3). So some tracks are studs, and some duds. If that was The End Of The Story, I could accept that, be happy, and move on. HOWEVER, Rhino, in their infinite wisdom, has treated this release like so many other publishers who seem clueless about soundtracks (e.g., Back to Future III, Apollo 13, Gladiator). Not only are the tracks NOT in chronological order (per the film), the CD does not even contain all the music from the movie! The most egregious and obvious example is the cue "The Planet Krypton," which is the somber trumpet solo that opens "Returns" during the title card. This track, originally written by Williams, is available on the 1978 "Superman" soundtrack, but for whatever reason, Rhino chooses not to include it here. Is it a royalty/legal thing? Is it incompetence? Is it general sycophantic toadying and maliciousness? Who knows? Who cares? Bottom line, the soundtrack is hosed.
In the end, then, 3 stars for the composer, and 0 stars for the publisher. I'm sure we'll see some sort of "Complete Unabridged Score" type product released in the next few years. Until then, though, you'll have to remain happy with this or wait for some intrepid soul to cobble together a bootleg score on UseNet.
Rating:  -
This is a sequel score that for once more than lives up to the original.
John Ottman's music is simply superb.His action sequence cues are all
excellent(the final battle scene is especailly outstanding).The highlights
are his beauftiful love theme and the themes for Superman and Lois.But the best feature of the score is his brilliant use of the original classic
John Williams themes.Overall,this is one of the year's best soundtracks.
Rating: -
Let me first state that the album is very well mixed and the orchestra sounds great. The themes are incredible and I really enjoyed the album. My only gripe and the reason for giving it 3 stars as opposed to 5 is because of the LENGTH of the album. We know from the composers own words that 2 hours of music was recorded for this film, however the soundtrack is only 54 minutes. Anyone who is a fan of soundtracks/movie music will know that that means that there will be ANOTHER version of the album released maybe a year or two from now that contains additional music, or if the producers are exceedingly greedy release yet another album that contains ALL of the music recorded for the movie. I believe all of the main themes can be heard from the movie, however certain trumpet solos, most noticeably the opening heard in the first trailer for Superman Returns is missing from the soundtrack. This is my first Superman album so I am not as familiar with the music from the movie series as other works by Williams, however Ottman does a fantastic job. In my opinion much better than X-men 2 which I also enjoyed but am STILL waiting to hear the theme from the original X-men cartoon series which was incredible. All in all, this was a great album but not long enough. Anyone reading this review with the power to release this FULL version of this album, PLEASE do it sooner than later! Thanks! :)
Rating: -
I loved the music. How can you go wrong with John Williams as the original composer. I think this music is spectacular. It compliments Williams' score from 1978 and brings it into the current movie wonderfully. I highly recommend it.
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