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ARTICLE
Music Review: Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, "The Dark Knight Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"
by R.J. Carter Published: August 4, 2008
At this writing, Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" has topped the domestic box offices for the third weekend in a row. People can't stop talking about what they've seen. And I wonder how many people attribute credit to the film's success based on what they heard (and I don't mean Heath Ledger's eminently quotable Joker lines).
Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard are a big part of the emotional impact the film had on viewers, something which can be more appreciated when the score is separated from the film, when the sound is segregated from the fury. Zimmer and Howard have crafted an industrial sound with driving, steam locomotive-like movements, that ratchet up the tension to near-unbearable levels. Similarly, several tracks have long, single-note strains that increase ever-upward in pitch, like the whine of a crashing plane or a teakettle about to explode. Both approaches keep the nerves jangled, the emotions on edge, creating the perfect receptive frame of mind for the epic on-screen battle.
Hans Zimmer and James newton Howard
The Dark Knight - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Track Listing
Why So Serious?
I'm Not a Hero
Harvey Two-Face
Aggressive Expansion
Always a Catch
Blood on My Hands
A Little Push
Like a Dog Chasing a Car
I Am the Batman
And I Thought My Jokes Were Bad
Agent of Chaos
Introduce a Little Anarchy
Watch the World Burn
A Dark Knight
The composers also take unusual advantage of silence. The track, "Agent of Chaos," has string movements so faint as to almost be a lullaby, and the disc's opening track, "Why So Serious?" has a long gap of absolute stillness which fools the listener into thinking the current action is over.
The tracks vary in length from about two minutes to the monster sixteen-minute "A Dark Knight." Throughout, you'll hear the repeated industrial themes, mixed with the more heroic bass lines that represent Batman's own foreboding presence.
As I've stated: separated from the film, you can get a better appreciation for how the music supported the film. However, separated from the film, you can also more easily see that it doesn't quite succeed on standing on its own; in the most plebian terms, you won't find the "hummable" strains that stand out so well in the Danny_Elfman, Kristopher Carter, or even the Thomas_Chase themes. But in terms of accomplishing what it was intended to do, this score succeeds, and exceedingly well.
