Search - Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard :: The Dark Knight (2 CD Special Edition)

The soundtrack that Gotham needs but not the one it deserves

Dave Cordes | Denver, CO | 12/09/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Less than 6 months after the release of the original motion picture soundtrack, a 2-disc "Special Edition" is released obviously to cash in on the film's unprecedented box office success earning $530 million domestically and almost $1 billion worldwide making The Dark Knight the second highest grossing (unadjusted) film in history since the mighty Titanic.



The teaming of James-Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer is the perfect synthesis of orchestral and electronic scoring and together they have created a bold, epic masterpiece that was edited and missing several cues on its initial soundtrack album and it was apparent that they were holding out some material for an inevitable expanded release further down the road. Surprisingly, we didn't have to wait very long for it.



While it is marketed as a "Special Edition" (not to be confused with the The Dark Knight Limited Edition digi-pack of the original release") such wording can be misleading by giving the buyer the impression that they are getting the "complete" uncut score and for the price one would expect nothing less than the kind of exemplary release demonstrated by The Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring (The Complete Recordings) with correct arrangements and alternate versions. Some may be disappointed that all of the unreleased cues appear entirely on Disc 2 while Disc 1 is a straight reissue of the original album that most fans probably already have and not in the proper sequential arrangement of the film. For example Bank Robbery (Prologue) is track 1 on Disc 2 and "We Are Tonight's Entertainment" (Disc 2 track 9) should precede "A Little Push" (Disc 1 track 7), etc. I prefer to listen to film scores in their linear film arrangement so if you want to listen to both CDs in their proper film sequencing it will require some daft "re-editing" since several tracks contain cues that were edited together such as "I'm Not A Hero" which follows the Bank Robbery scene but contains music from the Hong Kong scene appearing later in the film.



This is a solid 5-star score and one of the most memorable film scores I have heard in a long time. All of the previously unreleased cues are compiled onto the second disc and the 4 bonus electronica remixes are interesting but just seem more like filler material for the rest of the second disc. I'm surprised they didn't just release these on a separate album entirely marketed as "Music Inspired By The Dark Knight." I would have preferred to hear composers' outtakes or alternate versions of the score instead and most importantly have them completely un-edited and arranged correctly. On the other hand, the hardbound collector's booklet and the slipcase packaging are nice and help to give it "a little push" for collectors to have but it's kind of a tossup. If you haven't already bought the original album, this is the obvious choice to buy but for those who already purchased it it's kind of a sneaky double-dip dilemma worthy of Two-Face himself, but a choice you'll have to make if you're a fan.



This CD deserves a better class of soundtrack."

You gotta be kidding me . ..

JM in LA | Los Angeles, CA United States | 12/18/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is a 2 disc set and Disc 1 is EXACTLY the same as the "regular" Dark Knight score which as of this writing costs $14 new. So for a cost of $42 you get one disc you probably already own and a second disc with 14 tracks thrown together. And four of those 14 are remixes. Yawn.

Why don't they simply put all the music from the movie in the same order it plays in the movie and put that on two discs? That would be of value. But paying so much for so little doesn't make sense. Unless you are a superfan, buy the regular soundtrack (which is still not in chronological order. UGH!)"

Nice set, but a tad disappointing

Peter E. Raber | Colchester, CT USA | 12/12/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I knew this was coming out. They even said so on their website for the soundtrack, but the music was just so good that I had to pick up the initial release knowing full well I would double-dip when this set came out.



I enjoy all the extra tracks, but like the other reviewers have stated, I was bothered by them just being thrown upon the disc rather than being placed in order. It would have been great and made the set worthy of 5 stars had they just taken the time to do that: rework the first disc and place all the tracks in order. It's not like they didn't have the time. They stated they were going to release this before the movie even came out.



It's not a deal-breaker, but it does drop the set to 4 stars. I know a lot of soundtracks have the score out of sequence, but not usually when the entire score is released. I felt a bit cheated with the fact that disc 1 of this set was just a straight dupe from the original release. If they had taken the time to re-arrange this it would have been a no-brainer purchase.



I was also a touch disappointed with the 40 page booklet that accompanies the set. It really has no redeaming value. The whole book is just photos (nice photos to be sure) from the movie and credits with a 1 page commentary from director Christopher Nolan which was also on the original release. I would have loved it had they added a page or two from each composer on their thoughts regarding the development of this score, but alas, nothing like that appears.



Finally, the rubber stoppers that are supposed to hold the disc in place in the book are horrendous. Too fat. When you put the disc back in after straining to get it out the first time the rubber flakes off a bit and you need to really work at it to get the disc to sit properly.



5 stars easy for the music, but 3 stars for the packaging and for not arranging the music in order makes it overall 4 stars for me."