Martin Tillman, David Campbell, Gavin Greenaway, Heitor Pereira, Tim Pierce, Johnny Mori, Michael Fisher, Julia Migenes, Bruce Fowler - Pearl Harbor

According to a Hollywood tradition that stretches all the way back to From Here to Eternity, there's never been anything quite so romantic as the idyllic days and hours before torpedo and dive bombers from the Japanese Imperial Navy blew the bejesus out of the unsuspecting U.S. fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor. Far be it for producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay to, er, rock the boat. Just as Bruckheimer and Bay did with Armageddon (where romance blossomed in the idyllic days and hours before a Texas-sized asteroid threatened to blow the bejesus out of Earth itself), they've again turned to über-hitmaker Diane Warren to set the tone; as sung by Faith Hill, "There You'll Be" strikes the perfect balance of apocalyptic bathos, as instantly inviting--and ultimately hollow--as an 89-cent chocolate bunny. Composer Hans Zimmer fares a bit better, though his piano dirge and orchestral score occasionally get mired in the syrup as they build toward the inevitable. The action sequences themselves are somewhat subdued (especially by previous Zimmer standards), with "December 7th" even echoing Platoon and Barber's Adagio for Strings. Crucially, Zimmer evokes the tragic loss that goes hand in hand with heroism, often no mean feat in a modern computer-effects-laden, megabudget blockbuster-in-waiting. --Jerry McCulley Amazon.com

If God were a composer

It's been years since the release of the film, and I still hesitate to leave home without tracks from this CD. Whenever I get a new Mp3 player, some of these songs are the first to be transferred. This may seem a bit extreme, but just give it a try, and I think you'll find the pieces on this soundtrack to be so beautiful that they deserve a perminant place in your life. (For those instramental music fans, you'll understand what I'm saying - these are the kind of songs that apply to you always, no matter where you are and what you're going through, and they touch you all the more deeply because of it.) They are simply beautiuful and emotional, and that's that.

While all have a great stillness about them, tracks 2-5 begin the CD with a mellower sound; the mood picks up at track 6, and continues through 9, in such a way that you feel you have been on a journey, as cliche as that sounds. But this is certainly why Hans Zimmer is my favorite composer. He's brilliant!

But please don't get me wrong -- all of what I'm saying has nothing to do with "Pearl Harbor" the movie. In fact, you'd be better off to wipe the entire movie out of your mind while listening. Don't let the fact that there are only 9 tracks turn you off, because I hope you can tell by now that it's worth its weight in gold.

The ONLY flaw with this soundtrack is track #1, Faith Hill's "There You'll Be." It's got no business being with the others; send it to its own pop album. But get this soundtrack, go to a quiet place, close your eyes, and enjoy. June 13, 2008

Schmaltzy

The soundtrack to Pearl Harbor is movie music at its schmaltziest. I've not seen the movie, but if the music on this CD is any indication, it must be like attending a funeral. This is quite possibly the most sentimental soundtrack I've ever heard. We can, I suppose, all use a little maudlin music from time to time, although I would have preferred a little more variation in tone from track to track.

In considering my rating, I opted for 4 stars rather than 3 because there are some really nice tracks here. I've purchased many soundtracks that are all noise and percussion with limited music. This, at very least, does not fail in that regard. In the end, I will likely mix this album with other soundtrack files for a little more variation than what is provided here. Still, I liked it well enough to recommend it. March 17, 2008

pearl harbor

I bought this CD for Faith Hills song and hoped the rest of it would be good also. For a movie like this, and an event like this, the music just doesn't fit.There should be some very big, building music here and there isn't. It could have been much better. May 23, 2007

He needs to come up with some new ideas

Zimmer mostly just rehashes past themes from other films he's done, then throws in a track collaborated on with Faith Hill and some generic period-type music. Big deal. The film stunk and the uninspired score just had me thinking how much better the other films he's worked on were. Zimmer's better than this. The same can be said for most of the directors he usually works with. Perhaps it was just a paycheck to him...who knows. August 27, 2006

help me

hey i was wondering if anyone knew the name of the piece played after josh hartnett (danny) had died and ben affleck (rafe) and the girl had had the child called danny? does anyone know wat that piece is called and where i can find piano notes to it. thnx email pink_diamond99@hotmail.com thnx pplz i really need it ok. thnx. January 19, 2006

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