Produced by James Fitzpatrick

Release Date: May 25th, 2004

           Silva Screen Records

     As the 60th Anniversary of the landings on Normandy Beach approached, Silva Screen released this massive four disc collection of World War II movie themes to commemorate the event. With a grand total of no less than fifty-three selections available on this set (fifty-two films represented in all) your favorite war movie theme is bound to be on this collection...as long as it's World War II-based that is. All other wars before or since need not apply for this set.

     Like most Silva Screen compilations, your tolerance for the performances here are based on your more-than-likely already established opinion on the City of Prague Philharmonic (who, naturally, provide most of the performances here). There are differences from the originals as is usually the case, though the audio quality is top-notch, and the performances seem zesty enough to these ears (at least for the pieces I'm familiar with already which are surprisingly few on this collection). The typical selections from Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day, Patton, The Great Escape, and so on are here, but there are also more arcane pieces like The Dam Busters, The Eagle Has Landed, and 633 Squardron. The latter is very interesting as the Ron Goodwin composed piece sounds suspiciously like a lot of Horner's action writing. Or vice-versa as it were.    

     For World War II movie/soundtrack buffs who don't mind the non-originals, this is a well-stocked set. Though at a hefty forty dollars in cost, only true diehards need to have this Ultimate World War II Movie Theme Collection.

Disc 1

1 - The Longest Day (4:42)
2 - Attack On The Iron Coast (3:12)
3 - Band Of Brothers - Prelude (4:52)
4 - Band Of Brothers - Theme (4:31)
5 - Battle Of Britain (3:53)
6 - The Battle Of The Bulge (3:18)
7 - The Blue Max (7:50)
8 - Das Boot (3:36)
9 - The Bridge At Remagen (2:30)
10 - The Bridge On The River Kwai (4:05)
11 - A Bridge Too Far (1:51)
12 - The Caine Mutiny (2:26)
13 - The Captive Heart (4:10)
14 - Casablanca (5:21)

Disc 2

1 - Coastal Command (8:29)
2 - The Cruel Sea (5:32)
3 - The Dambusters (3:53)
4 - The Diary Of Anne Frank (3:26)
5 - The Eagle Has Landed (2:22)
6 - Empire Of The Sun (5:01)
7 - The English Patient (4:05)
8 - Fear And Desire (5:54)
9 - Force Ten From Navarone (3:26)
10 - Gallipoli (8:05)
11 - The Great Escape (2:17)
12 - The Guns Of Navarone (9:40)

Disc 3

1 - Hanover Street (4:55)
2 - The Hindenburg (3:04)
3 - In Harm's Way (2:26)
4 - Is Paris Burning? (3:50)
5 - King Rat (3:13)
6 - Lawrence Of Arabia (9:40)
7 - Lifeboat (3:03)
8 - Macarthur / Patton (5:29)
9 - Malta G.C. (5:27)
10 - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (4:41)
11 - Midway (4:32)
12 - The Mountain Road (6:23)
13 - 1941 (4:25)

Disc 4

1 - The Naked And The Dead (2:19)
2 - The Night Of The Generals (3:54)
3 - Paradise Road (2:26)
4 - Paths Of Glory (2:51)
5 - Pearl Harbor (3:47)
6 - Saving Private Ryan (6:02)
7 - Schindler's List (4:02)
8 - Sergeant York (5:44)
9 - The Sharkfighters (11:27)
10 - Sink The Bismarck! (4:24)
11 - 633 Squadron (3:00)
12 - Where Eagles Dare (3:22)
13 - The World At War (3:56)
14 - The Longest Day (4:44)