Once
again the team of Devlin and Emmerich have taken a good concept and twisted
into something far inferior then what it should have been. Don’t get me
wrong, I liked both Stargate and Independence Day even though
they also had their fair share of flaws. Godzilla was an okay movie,
but instead of making a true “popcorn movie” like they claimed, the
laughable and absurd character situations that should have been left on the
floor really brought the movie down. And wouldn’t have been much cooler if
Godzilla was totally outraged and stormed through the city tearing
everything apart instead of running away from everything like a scared
kitten?
In spite of the flaws, David Arnold delivered another fantastic score
for the film. Due to the less-than-stellar box office performance, however,
there was no proper CD release. An album did appear which contained two
tracks from Arnold, but that was not good enough by far.
The only way to obtain a score CD is through Internet auctions, Ebay
in particular. This release by Concord contains approximately forty-nine
minutes of music and was mainly produced for the purposes of the Academy
Awards. The linear notes are very basic, and there are no other credits
listed other than the one for David Arnold. The sound quality is good, but
the volume is on the soft side compared to other score releases. You’ll
find yourself turning up your stereo often, especially during the action
cues.
While the score maintains the same style that Arnold struck gold with
in Independence Day, he doesn’t directly pull any material from his
previous work (instead he reused some portions from Godzilla in The
World is Not Enough). The tone is aptly set within the first track.
The main theme is grand, yet menacing, with a choral section that rivals the
intensity of those from ID4. The theme is interweaved throughout the
score, along with numerous sub-themes. While the action cues are very good
(especially with the Lost World like jungle sounds that are great
fun), the music really succeeds in its quieter, character-building moments
(totally unlike the film). This really makes me yearn for Arnold to compose
for something other than action films.
This is another great score by Arnold, and if you’re a fan of his
music, you should really make the attempt to obtain a copy of this one.
While Independence Day still rules as the best Arnold score, Godzilla
manages to come in at a close second. *****
