Soundtrack Review: Terminator Salvation (2009)
Welcome back! Have you subscribed to my RSS feed yet? Make sure you don't miss anything by getting all Soundtrack Geek posts by Email. Also check out Soundtrack Fans, a new social network for soundtrack fans. Thanks for visiting!
This is a review of the motion picture score Terminator Salvation by Danny Elfman.
“As shocking at this might be, Terminator Salvation is my new favorite score in the Terminator universe”
Let me be the first to say it. When I heard that Danny Elfman was scoring Terminator I was very surprised to say the least. I didn’t see that one coming. Then I read that he replaced Gustavo Santaolalla which was McG’s first choice. That to me would have been more upsetting to the franchise and Santaolalla is no action guy. He was meant to do the humane sounds to be fair while Thom Yorke or Johnny Greenwood were supposed to do the Terminator sounds. One article mentions that they were trying to get Zimmer, but it landed in Elfman’s lap and as surprising as that was, there’s no bigger surprise than the score itself. Even Brad Fiedel, the composer of The Terminator and Terminator 2 was contacted, but only for inspiration as McG wanted to include that in the score.
Track List
- Opening (*****)
- All Is Lost (****)
- Broadcast (****)
- The Harvester Returns (*****)
- Freeside (****)
- No Plan (*****)
- Reveal / The Escape (*****)
- Hydrobot Attack (****)
- Farewell (*****)
- Marcus Enters Skynet (*****)
- A Solution (****)
- Serena (*****)
- Final Confrontation (*****)
- Salvation (****)
- Rooster (By Alice in Chains)
Blasphemy
McG has said in a few interviews that it will be very much inspired by Brad Fiedel’s work on the first two movies, but there’s very little evidence of that. Fan boys all over the net has a revolt going as the metal clanging sound of Brad Fiedel’s famous theme is not present. If you remember, Marco Beltrami, who did Terminator 3 included that theme. You could argue that the theme is Terminator and that you can’t have a Terminator movie without it. In a way, I can see their viewpoint but I won’t sign up for their crusade. Yes the theme is a great one and I was very disappointed when I read the first impressions of the score. The theme was not included… blasphemy! Blasphemy put aside, I wanted to listen to it both as a fan of the Terminator franchise and a film score fan. After all, I enjoyed Bear McCreary’s score to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and that didn’t include the Fiedel theme either so I couldn’t have any double standards here.
All About The Machines
It’s all about the machines with Danny (for the most part). This, apart from the lack of Fiedel-ism, is probably the biggest negative point about the score. Very few themes represent the humans and most are hard, action cues with lots of percussion banging away. The opening cue aptly called ‘Opening‘ represents the score perfectly. There’s massive action mixed in with a little soft guitar to represent the humane side. There’s even a hint of the Fiedel theme in there, but just a hint. I also like the way Danny has implemented the Terminator sound effect in there, the moaning bassy sound, which was mostly forgotten in T3, but very much used in the Sarah Connor Chronicles. The softer side of Terminator are again portrayed in the cues ‘Freeside‘ and ‘Farewell‘ represented by a somber guitar which perhaps isn’t enough, but I’m enjoying the action far too much to notice.
The cue ‘The Harvester Returns’ sounds perfectly Terminator-ish with the moaning bassy sound and heavy percussion to represent metal and mayhem. It’s one of my favorite cues on the score and like the massive ‘Final Confrontation’ gives exactly what any action buff needs. I really like the way Elfman compose the action cues. It’s part Elfman and part Remote Control Productions-type of scoring which doesn’t sound too good in all ears, but for me Elfman hits the sweet spot. It’s not a typical Elfman score and to me, the sounds he has created for Terminator Salvation is as surprising as his score to The Kingdom. It is said that Danny Elfman renews himself every 5-10 years and perhaps this is the new Elfman or perhaps he just gave what the movie needed. In any case, I truly enjoy the action cues, in fact I enjoy them a lot better than for example Wanted or Hellboy II.
Conclusion
The Terminator universe has been represented well by Danny Elfman. There’s hint of the Fiedel theme, there’s hard core percussion sounds, big bombastic horns and a moaning bassy sound and plenty to cheer about if you are a Terminator fan. The score is only 44 minutes + one song by Alice in Chains called ‘Rooster‘, so I feel that perhaps a longer score wouldn’t be a bad thing. I would like to hear more cues like ‘Freeside‘ or ‘Farewell’ that has a softer sound, but overall I got what I wanted or should I say craved. T1 and T2 by Brad Fiedel are still my personal favorites, probably more for nostalgic reasons. Marco Beltrami did a great job on T3 which is a better score than T1 and T2 overall and Bear McCreary created a great score for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. As shocking at this might be, Terminator Salvation is my new favorite score in the Terminator universe. Kudos to Elfman for creating such an entertaining score from start to finish, something I hadn’t expected. I haven’t been this excited for an Elfman score since his Burton days.
Listen to Terminator Salvation by Danny Elfman below:
Find more videos like this on Soundtrack Fans
Other articles of interest:
(21 votes, average: 7.14 out of 10)
Loading ...If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
To em is sucked, it’s so light. Not gritty enough to be Terminator material; not operatic enough to be good Elfman-opera
yeah, it was a disappointment for me. Honestly, I only like the Beltrami’s remake of Fiedel’s theme, that’s all about what’s Terminator universe score is 
Elfman did a try, but it’s not comparable to his Batman, nor Spiderman.
i have to agree everything what you said about the terminator salvation soundtrack jorn i thought the music was great sure it would be nice to hear the terminator theme lots of times but im sure elfman has a perfectly good reason why he didnt use the theme too much all in all great review and like you said not every score has to have a strong theme and i agree 100%
oops sorry for the misspell i meant jorn not john sorry about that
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
May 28th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Hehe no worries. When I lived in Ireland and England, everyone called me John 
Dreadful. Completely featureless, devoid of anything identifiable or memorable. This is bang-on-a-trash can-Goldeneye-bad. So bad in fact I deleted from my ipod. The cues gear up only to melt into a formless mush of horribly mis-judged and produced electronic metal clanging that is neither emotionally involving, horrifying or suspenseful — qualities T2 and Fidel had in spades. 0/10
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
May 28th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Don’t hold back. Tell us what you really think 
Ivan orozco Reply:
May 28th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
i think the terminator salvation soundtrack is great regardless what timothy E.RAW said
While the iconic Brad Fiedel theme is not present in its full form, I’ll point out that it appears in fragments, especially in the “Opening” cue where Elfman’s new theme pulls a couple of ideas and bits from the original, the most obvious reference being the usage of the descending three-note phrase that ends the initial statement of Fiedel’s melody. I’m a bit surprised by the absence of the “Terminator rhythm” which served as a baseline for the three previous entries and also was used so heavily in the trailers.
Personally, I would have liked to see more of Fiedels material referenced (and in a more fleshed out, orchestral way), but I don’t blame Elfman for trying out something new. What most surprised me about the music was how much a lot of the orchestra and electronic writing sounded like Danny Elfman got in a jam session with Hans Zimmer. The other comment I have is on the ukulele: I would have liked to hear it incorporated more into the overall soundscape of the score rather than being utilized as a solo instrument in only a couple of cues. While the usage of the instrument in this setting is an interesting concept, I think it could have been better executed to give the work a more exotic tone.
I liked this score alot Jorn, but I still think Marco Beltrami really brought the score to a new level for the third film, even if people don’t like the 3rd film as much as I did, it was quite powerful, especially the JC theme and the music building to the end with Judgement Day and the Rise of the MAchines about to occur…
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
June 7th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Beltrami did a fine job indeed. Wasn’t a fan of the movie, but the score was great.
I must say, I agree with E.RAW. This is one of the worst scores I’ve ever heard. Easily Elfman’s worst, and even much worse than Goldeneye. Terrible score for a terrible, terrible film.
Erics last blog post..Seinfeld Co-Creator to Star in Woody Allen’s ‘Whatever Works’
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
June 7th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
On an unrelated note. I actually liked Eric Serra’s Goldeneye. One of the (very) few I know…
come on guys the score for terminater salvation isnt that bad i already said goldeneye was worse sence whean did danny elfman made one bad score
Soundtrack Seek
I liked it for sure, but the lack of a defining personality for the machines left this score with only two serviceable but well-developed themes. To be great for me, the underscore and action material would have had to REALLY stand out (a secondary thematic reference would have been helpful), but instead most of it didn’t stick out. Good music, strong moments scattered throughout, and leagues better than anything else produced for the series, but I’ll be waiting for the sequel for any kind of musical salvation (bad pun quota for the day filled)
Reply
Jon Blough Reply:
May 27th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Okay, let’s redo my nonsensical second sentence. The underscore and the action were good in construct, with the relentless “final Confrontation” being the best. But they lacked a real personality. I’ll resist the “robotic” joke and just say that it felt a bit pedestrian for Elfman, especially with his stronger, more thematic action material for Wanted and Hellboy II coming only last year.
Reply
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
May 28th, 2009 at 4:12 am
I felt it had enough metal action to get me going and then some. Like I’ve said before, and this is purely a personal opinion, some scores don’t need a strong theme or “personality” to win in my book. There were so many cues here that just mashed with me in such a great way. It wasn’t Burton Elfman, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t great. I felt the change of pace and metallic structure of this score won me over in a big way. Most positive surprise of the year so far for me since I had already decided mentally that I wasn’t looking forward to this.
Reply