Hero

Tan Dun straddles the very different worlds of concert music and film scores, winning admirers in both. He’s perhaps best known for his score to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which shares with Hero a visual poetry that transcends the sword-filled action film genre. In Crouching Tiger, Tan Dun’s music was often striking. In Hero he often lapses into repetition and cliché, a failing compensated for by several appealing cues. The Overture, for example, begins with the mournful wail of ancient Chinese instruments set against pounding drums, a promising start that evokes ancient China and the struggles to come. There’s a mournful soprano vocalise in “Gone With the Leaves,” and the “Warriors” cue recalls Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky. The plucking of the ancient Chinese lute in “In the Chess Court” evokes a timeless, peaceful mood, contrasting with the thrilling kodo drummers showcased in “Swift Sword.” Itzhak Perlman gets cover billing for violin solos any competent studio fiddler could have handled. Tan Dun’s admirers will want this, and audiophiles will love those kodo drummers. –Dan Davis

Customer Review: A Heroic Performance!!

First of all, you’ll want to watch the movie before purchasing this, which is a good thing because the movie is also excellent! A good soundtrack mesmerizes the audience, filling them with the emotion of the scene before them. This soundtrack performs admirably, probably better than any I have ever heard. One would be hard pressed not to be affected by this powerful performnce. It has something to offer most anyone’s taste as far as emotion goes, from action, to romance, to tragedy, all done at an epic scale using plenty of traditionally Chinese themes and instruments. So basically, its great, and receives my highest recommendation.

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