I enjoyed the film quite a lot, specially the first half of it, which is from my point of view the most artistic. Andrew Adamson was very sensitive to the spirit of the novel and did a great work. The scenes when Lucy first discovers and explores Narnia are a truly enjoyable piece of art. The second half is exiting and very well portrayed, and in general I think they did a very good job at adapting the novel to the script.

As for the score, I think it worked perfectly with the film. The music is very good, but after listening to it with the film you realize the huge power it has behind. It enriches the film in many aspects. I got the feeling that there are no misplaced cues. The orchestration was carefully done. I have to say that Gregson-Williams proved to have a good artistic intuition with his work at this film.

The leitmotif of the action/heroic sequences is beautifully and diversely orchestrated and fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the story. The theme is heroic and brilliant. However, it sounds pretty much like the “tested formula” of sweeping themes (a vi-IV-I-V chord progression, often used by the Media Ventures) and is quite similar to for example Basil Poledouris’ very original work with Star Ship Troopers or Trevor Rabin’s Deep Blue See. It fits very well with the film, but I wonder how other less traditional approaches would have turned out.

Something similar happens with the synthesizers cues, which work great for the film and add tension where tension is to be added, but I still wonder if it isn’t a simplistic solution. These cues are very enjoyable too though.

So, I could say I’m very satisfied with the way the score and the film worked together. Very good achievement, and definitely one of the best scores of the year.

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Originally posted by Kris:
I did however buy the score yesterday. I was surprised to see it in stores. I thought it would be released on December 12.

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Originally posted by rachmaninov:
Was that the Limited Special Edition?

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Come Tuesday, there may come something to knock into my Top 5 list.

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Originally posted by nuts_score:
Yeah, even the small orchestrations taken from KoH seemed to fit so perfectly.

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I think those small orchestrations weren't taken from KoH although the style is quite similar. I do think though they were probably temptracking with some KoH's ques.

Anyway, I agree with you; the music worked much better in The Chronicles of Narnia.

Lou, great to see you around too!

The song on the end credits was a feeble attempt to make this into something like the "Lord of the Rings" scores. It's too bad that G-W's "Kingdom of Heaven" scoring style could have been used here. There was just nothing to really grab you that felt connected with the images this time around.

And before I get banged around, I have been a growing fan of G-W's music for some time now. It seems like there was an attempt to go for something similar to Shore's scores for LOR without mimicking them and avoiding overt thematic music as in the Harry Potter films.

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Originally posted by Lancelot:
Anyone familiar with the Michael J. Lewis score for the animated version? (Excellent music--highly recommended) I ask because in Track 10 around the 1:00 minute mark, does it not sound like Gregson-Williams makes a little reference to the White Witch-motif in Lewis' score? Someone with me on this?

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*****SPOILER ALERT*********

I didn't like the fact that all the animals talked. I didn't like that Santa Claus came (and even brought gifts). I thought the two girls were totally pointless aside from being obnoxious and too smart for their age they didn't get to do a whole lot and the one with the bow didn't even get to shoot it apart from the target practice and the dwarf at the end.

*******SPOILER END*******

I thought the music was better in the movie also now that I'm hearing it at home.

Well at least my dad enjoyed it.

Here's my chunk: The score is fine, but passed up on a huge chance to be something great. A few musical moments left me wondering "why??" (the opening credits... vocal solo, electronic drumbeats... WHY?.... "ahhhs" and "oooohhhs" for Lucy's discovery of the Narnia winter wonderland... WHY??? Beautiful music and images for sure, but AHEM, winter in Narnia is the dark times, not the wonderous magical times.... it would have been incredible to have these gleaming scenes underscored by death and darkness, only to have glints of hopeful notes as Mr Tumnus is encountered). I did like the big theme (people have called it Peter's Theme, I don't agree) in the latter half of the movie and am glad it wasn't used earlier... it's a crucial divider between the kids as kids and the kids as prophets. As they became more destined to be the prophets they didn't want to be, the theme would grow stronger. Great stuff, but it didn't make up for the rest of it. In the end, tepidity. The film can be blamed somewhat because it was pretty flat, but we've heard lots of great scores for tepid films before.

The divisions in soundtrack reviews are fun to read. From blind praise like at soundtrack.net to endless verbiage of praise and criticism at FilmTracks to intelligentsia par excellence at MovieMusicUK and MovieWave.

I attempt to write about soundtracks for this site two-fold: to sell CDs, but to also have some dependable critique.

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Howard Shore's The Lord of the Rings trilogy of near-perfect scores certainly has raised the bar these days on what to expect from movies based on epic fantasy sagas by popular twentieth century British novelists. Harry Gregson-Williams' original score for this C.S. Lewis tale is unmistakably wondrous, magical and enchanting. Young children will enjoy reliving the movie through the The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe soundtrack (Disney Records), however, those of us at Edmund's age and older may not be enchanted (and might even throw a fit) over much of the bland and somewhat misplaced musical elements. The scary musical growl of the opening track ("The Blitz, 1940") is good, underscoring WWII's darkest manifestations. A short time later, however, the children are railed to the countryside to an uninspiring wordless vocal over a malapropos electronic beat. Things do get better, though, after Lucy discovers Narnia (with the help of the Hollywood Studio Ahhhhhhh Chorus) and meets Mr. Tumnus, who introduces a beautiful thematic musical moment playing his double-barreled Y-shaped flute ("A Narnia Lullaby"). Besides a few on-screen horn calls and the pounding drums seen in "The Stone Table" sequence, the omnipresent music resides off-screen and typically scores as it should: unsettling tones for the White Witch, epic music and chorus for the great battle, etc. A majestic theme for the splendor of Deep Magic and the world of Aslan provides an uplifting spirit, subconsciously ushering in the children's acceptance of their prophetic roles as Narnia's hoped-for sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. The handful of obligatory pop songs tacked onto the end of the movie and album interpret various Narnia perspectives on their own terms, succeeding in the ears that behold them.

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