Soundtrack Review: Braveheart (1995)
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This is a review of the motion picture score Braveheart by James Horner.
“Though it doesn’t capture my heart Braveheart still captures a fine sense of epic romanticism amidst superb integration of Celtic style”
No matter how well I reason my arguments, how poetically I articulate my beliefs, in the eyes of some there are some scores that I must be an absolute idiot for not giving the highest rating. How dare I not fall in love with Pirates? HANZ GREATEST 4EVER! Such is the life of a reviewer. So I’ll get this out right off the bat: just because Braveheart does not merit my top rating does mean I think the score is poor. Braveheart is a superb integration of Horner’s romantic sensibilities and his unabashed love of the bagpipes, and I sincerely recommend it for all. Actually, that probably won’t stop the outraged posters, so I’ll just get to the point.
Three Major Themes
Horner ties this epic around three major themes, two of which convey a fine epic nature. The first can be heard on bagpipes in the opening cue and superbly evokes both the sense of history and noble victory. Early on it plays for excitement, like the bouncy, celebratory feel in “Making Plans/Gathering the Clans” and the impending sense of battle in “Battle of Stirling”. Later in the score the slower, lighter takes on strings and bagpipes are exceptionally soothing. The second is more of a major epic statement (the soaring conclusion to “For the Love of a Princess”), though its romantic sensibilities are still quite obvious in the numerous woodwind takes like in “Gift of Thistle” (flute) and “Wallace Courts Murron” (oboe). The third theme is the more obvious statement for romance, prominent almost to the point of being repetitive in “Secret Wedding.” It suffers a bit because it’s not as grand as the other themes nor as sweepingly evocative as those from the previous year’s Legends of the Fall, but it still has some strong, saddening string work in “Betrayal and Desolation” and enrapturing use of choir in the end credits. Of the minor motifs left, the only standouts would be the two “rousing the troops” themes show up in “Sons of Scotland” and “The Battle of Stirling”, with the latter (3:30 in the first cue) being striking similarities in style and chord shifts to the second theme in Glory.
On the whole, all the themes are certainly fine and lush, but you rarely get the emotional punch that would make this score truly unique. Those moments can be found in the two following cues, which are the score’s finest. In “The Princess Pleads for Wallace’s Life”, both romantic themes are held on a flute solo and angelic choir amidst plucking string, harp, and minimal woodwinds (geez, it sounds like I’m describing a gourmet dish, but it is that tasty!). It truly ranks among some of the composer’s most beautiful cues. In “Freedom/The Execution/Bannockburn” the orchestral and Celtic elements have their most satisfying merger, with the primary rousing theme played on strings and bagpipes to grand heights at 1:50. Later in the cue Horner unleashes some thematic counterpoint, balancing the rolling “Glory”-inspired motif against the main theme on bagpipes for a rousing and memorable finale.
Bagpipes
Horner has taken a lot of flak for his love of the bagpipes in many scores, but here they avoid the potential pratfall of being gimmicky or generic. The bagpipes are superbly integrated, whether taking the lead in “Making Plans/Gathering the Clans” or helping with building up tension like in “The Battle of Stirling”. Various other instruments are littered throughout, with the flute in “Sons of Scotland” and “Freedom/The Execution/Brannockburn” being the only other standout player. And even opponents of party music will probably cave into the joyous spirit that opens “Wallace Courts Murron”. If you don’t…well, I question why you’re seeking out a score with such influences in the first place.
Conclusion
The action registers as a mild disappointment. While the love theme may reach a fine orchestral peak in “Attack on Murron” and “Mornay’s Dream” boasts some thrilling brass, “The Battle of Stirling” has a synth presence that undermines its strong mix of growling brass, bagpipes and thwacking percussion. Hurt more is “Revenge”, which loses some of its excitement by being highly (and oddly) similar in style and instrumentation to Legend of the Fall’s cue of the same name. That similarity would also be this score’s other weakness as a lot of the flowing string work could’ve come straight from Legends of the Fall, particularly in “Falkirk” and “Betrayal and Desolation”. Such overt similarities could have succeeded if Horner had elevated the material to a point where enjoyability overwhelmed familiarity, but instead I’m reminded of better scores while hearing the material. While that might prevent the highest rating, this is still one of Horner’s best of the 90s, and though it doesn’t capture my heart Braveheart still captures a fine sense of epic romanticism amidst superb integration of Celtic style.
Album Situation: A “More Music From Braveheart” CD exists but has only seven minutes of unremarkable unreleased material smushed between dialogue tracks (yuk!) and traditional pieces. Few like it (I don’t) and as such I will not dignify it with a tracklisting.
Original Album (77:16)
1. Main Title (2:51)
2. A Gift of a Thistle (1:37)
3. Wallace Courts Murron (4:25)
4. The Secret Wedding (6:33)
5. Attack on Murron (3:00)
6. Revenge (6:23)
7. Murron’s Burial (2:13)
8. Making Plans/Gathering the Clans (2:05)
9. “Sons of Scotland” (6:19)
10. The Battle of Stirling (6:07)
11. For the Love of a Princess (4:07)
12. Falkirk (4:04)
13. Betrayal & Desolation (7:48)
14. Mornay’s Dream (1:18)
15. The Legend Spreads (1:09)
16. The Princess Pleads for Wallace’s Life (3:38)
17. “Freedom”/The Execution/Bannockburn (7:24)
18. End Credits (7:12)
Listen to Braveheart by James Horner below:
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(10 votes, average: 9.50 out of 10)
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Soundtrack Seek
horner lifting from his own stuff? say it isn’t so!
based on what you wrote, i’d expect a 5 or 6, not an 8.
personally, had you asked me 10 years ago, i’d have called this score a 10 and questioned your sanity for anything less than that. but over the years i’ve kinda come around to feeling that a lot of the score doesn’t really hang together very well — and a cohesive narrative structure across multiple tracks to me is a hallmark of a great score. the 2 tracks you single out are undeniable the best on this album and go a long way to cementing the scores reputation as a great work, but the rest to me just seems kinda meh.
even when contrasted with horners OTHER seminal score from that year, apollo 13, i don’t think braveheart holds up as well (i’ve come around to liking apollo 13 more than braveheart, despite the fact that for the longest time all i had was one of those gold-pressed ‘ultra CDs’ — which sought to ’spruce up’ the score by interpolating snipets of dialog throughout the cues. my wife bought it as a gift and thus i cherish it on that level, but few things annoy me more than this sort of silliness. another score wrecked by that nonsense: ocean’s 11 — best cut has brad pitt acting ‘cool’. barf.)
Reply
Jon Blough Reply:
May 21st, 2009 at 6:38 pm
That’s the trouble of writing reviews to scores that are adored by the mainstream but that you just think are good/solid. Much of the review has to be spent clarifying what you thought was just decent so you feel insulated from the “how dare you not love this score?” rants.
You’re completely right on Apollo 13, both on it holding up better and on its commercial album being screwed by dialogue (thank god for the bootleg).
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Jorn Tillnes Reply:
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:37 am
It’s an interesting aspect of reviews isn’t it? At the end of the day, reviews are very subjective. Imagine if I gave The Dark Knight a 1. I wouldn’t hesitate to do it if I really hated the score but what a storm that would be.
I think it’s important to be honest to yourself and give the score you would give it as a person regardless of what other people think. I think 8 is fair. Like Kurt I would have given it 10 when it came out though.
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