Soundtrack Review: The Incredible Hulk by Craig Armstrong (2008)
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This is a review of the motion picture score for The Incredible Hulk by Craig Armstrong.
“It isn’t a bombastic score with lots of Horner-like moments with powerful strings or even a John Williams-esque grandeur hero theme”
There are heroes, there are superheroes, then there’s The Incredible Hulk (Not Hancock as you might have guessed). Hulk has always been a bit incredible and different from the pact. The 2003 movie directed by Ang Lee and starring Eric Bana as Hulk wasn’t a big success and the score by Danny Elfman was quickly forgotten by most. Louis Leterrier, Edward Norton and Craig Armstrong are here to save the day as this new movie seems to have everything the first movie didn’t if you read the various movie reviews. Ed Norton and Craig Armstrong was a bold and successful move by the people putting this together. Out of the shadows rise The Incredible Hulk and Craig Armstrong, step forward. This is the track list to The Incredible Hulk:
Track List
CD1:
- The Arctic
- Main Title
- Rocinha Favela
- A Drop Of Blood
- The Flower
- Ross’ Team
- Mr. Blue
- Favela Escape
- It Was Banner
- That Is The Target
- Bruce Goes Home
- Ross And Blonsky
- Return To Culver University
- The Lab
- Reunion
- The Data_The Vial
- They’re Here
- Give Him Everything You’ve Got
- Bruce Can’t Stay
- First Injection
- Is It Safe?
- Hulk Theme
CD2:
- Saved From The Flames
- Grotto
- Arrival At The Motel
- I Can’t
- Abomination Alley
- Bruce Found
- Bruce Looks For The Data
- NYC Cab Ride
- The Mirror
- Sterns’ Lab
- Bruce Darted
- I Want It, I Need It
- Blonsky Transforms
- Bruce Must Do It
- Harlem Brawl
- Are They Dead?
- Hulk Smash
- Hulk And Betty
- A Tear
- Who’s We?
- The Necklace
- Bruce And Betty
- Hulk Theme (End Credits)
Out With The Old
As you might have guessed from the track list we are dealing with a 2CD release! 45 tracks with a total play time of 1 hour and 51 minutes. Has the exec’s finally gone mad as a bag of snakes or are they maybe on to something here? In the last couple of weeks, this score has been on top of the Amazon sales chart for movie scores and at the time of writing is the 105th best selling album of all kinds of music. That is quite a number! Even Atonement didn’t beat that when it was popular. Congratulations to Craig Armstrong first of all, which I think is a top composer who deserves a bit of attention. Speaking of Craig Armstrong, as you might have guessed, it is quite a different score from the first movie by Danny Elfman. This is all very good, not that there was much wrong with Elfman’s effort. I feel a bit for Danny Elfman who used to be the Batman guy, the Spider-Man guy and the Hulk guy. All of those privileges has been taken away, and this time it’s been given to Craig Armstrong.
Heroic, Not Superheroic
I am happy that Craig didn’t go for the superhero sound. Hulk has always been a bit different, and he gets the music on this soundtrack which suits the main character quite well. It isn’t a bombastic score with lots of Horner-like moments with powerful strings or even a John Williams-esque grandeur hero theme. Hulk isn’t a hero, he has always been a powerful force of nature, a Frankenstein-like figure who in the end fights the good fight. The 2 CD’s doesn’t go to waste as every track brings something to the legend of The Incredible Hulk. The Hulk Theme starts of a bit Godzilla-like in a way, but Hulk is not only a monster, but also a man and the theme is humanized as the theme goes on. Craig Armstrong, Hollywood producers, whoever you are who made this 2 CD release possible, thank you so much. I hope we can see more 2 CD releases in the future. The Dark Knight will get a limited edition and even a vinyl release. At least for the big movies we get to see something special. Long may it continue (as long as the scores are as great as this one) Listen to The Incredible Hulk by Craig Armstrong below:
Film Review for The Incredible Hulk
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(1 votes, average: 9 out of 10)
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Comments
I agree with you about the theme. It is a nice theme, but not exactly memorable. It isn’t easy to make a memorable theme to be fair. It’s been a while since John Williams or Alan Silvestri (Back To The Future) has made memorable themes. Interesting observation. Today’s film music is definitely more generic. Maybe it’s not the music, but the movies themselves that has changed. Perhaps the “new” generic music fits better and it’s probably a lot easier to make than creating a new theme. It’s probably the time pressure that the composers have as well. They don’t get much time to create that “masterpiece” so they take the easy way out. Anyway, just a few theories from my side.
I loved your review of TIH. I’ve been a fan of Craig Armstrong for a year now (I fell in love with the music from “Elizabeth:TGA” and WTC) and I’m glad you liked this score! I’m glad that the theme is more obscure and perhaps not as memorable. The recent superhero films don’t have a memorable theme either (Batman Begins, Spidey, etc) There is a theme, though, and the whole tone of the score is consistent and works well within the film and as a separate listen. And….I LOVE THE 2 CD release! (I would like pressed CDS more, but I’ll take the CDR’s if it means that I get more of the music!)
Ooh, a fellow Craig Armstrong fan! I love Elizabeth:TGA and WTC too, great scores. Interesting take on the theme discussion. As a movie score fan, I will of course remember part of it as I do Spidey and Batman Begins, and even though I do miss more memorable themes, it might not be what every movie needs. There’s definitely a theme in here, memorable or not. I am glad you liked the review and score. More 2 CD releases please!
THe more I listen to TIH, the 3-note theme DOES stick in your head! Do you know what Armstrong’s next score is? I read that he’s going to go classical music for a while.
I think you need to add a 1/2 star to your review! LOL.
I agree it’s not quite 5 stars, but it’s better than four!
Hehe, the beginning of The Hulk Theme is definitely easy to stick in your mind, but after that it gets a little blurry. I have no idea what Craig is doing next. He is keeping us all in the dark. He doesn’t do many scores, but he does them so well. Hope he continues making scores for movies for a long long time.
Hmm, 4.5? How about 4.25? lol
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It is a very nice soundtrack - much better than the cookie cutter Bruckheimeresque Iron Man music - but it lacks the all important thing that every single one of the Marvel movies has also lacked: a memorable theme. Where are the composers capable of producing instantly classic movie themes? John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith between them produced more than virtually everyone else combined - Superman, Star Trek, Star Wars, Indy, First Blood. Film music these days seems far more generic than it used to. Elfman endlessly recycles himself, except, oddly, in the first Hulk movie for which he produced a wonderful, quirky score totally different to his usual “superhero” style. I like this new Hulk soundtrack, but it just doesn’t have that hook that will stay in the consciousness. The Raiders march, anyone?