Soundtrack Review: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
Movie Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the motion picture score The Twilight Saga: Eclipse by Howard Shore.
“The Twilight Saga has definitely become a darker story and Howard Shore recognizes that”
The third installment in The Twilight Saga is here. This time it’s about choice. Bella has to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob. Destined for success due to the popularity of the books the most interesting thing I find with these movies is the music. Each of the three movies has had different composers which make it hard to really pin down what the music of Twilight is. In the first movie, Twilight, Carter Burwell wrote the score. In the second movie New Moon the assignment went to Alexandre Desplat and in Eclipse Howard Shore is the composer.
Track List
01. Riley (*****)
02. Compromise/Bella’s Theme (*****)
03. Bella’s Truck/Florida (*****)
04. Victoria (****)
05. Imprinting (****)
06. The Cullens Plan (***)
07. First Kiss (****)
08. Rosalie (****)
09. Decisions, Decisions… (****)
10. They’re Coming Here (*****)
11. Jacob Black (*****)
12. Jasper (*****)
13. Wolf Scent (****)
14. Mountain Tank (***)
15. The Kiss (****)
16. The Battle/Victoria vs. Edward (*****)
17. Jane (****)
18. As Easy As Breathing (****)
19. Wedding Plans (****)
I am happy to see Howard Shore composing a fantasy movie again. He should definitely do more of those instead of the thrillers he almost always end up doing.
A few weeks ago, the soundtrack to Eclipse was released and we got to listen to one track by Howard Shore called ‘Jacob’s Theme’. It was a teaser and the first thing that struck me was how similar it felt to Desplat’s New Moon theme, yet there was something different. It is slightly more sad and slightly darker which was a preview of things to come.
Darker
The Twilight Saga has definitely become a darker story and Howard Shore recognizes that adding a darker feel to it and also more action. If I were to compare the scores to Twilight I would put this closer to Desplat’s New Moon, than Burwell’s Twilight.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has more prominent themes than the previous movies, and he even wrote a brand new theme for Bella. I have to admit I am not a big fan of Burwell’s Twilight score, but one theme stood out for me and that was ‘Bella’s Lullaby’. I really enjoyed that theme, but Howard Shore’s version heard in ‘Compromise/Bella’s Theme’ and ‘Bella’s Truck/Florida’ is even better. It’s simpler and more elegant than Burwell’s theme and is easier to like (for me).
LOTR
Here’s a good reason Howard Shore should do more fantasy. In some cues like ‘Jasper’ you can clearly hear references to Lord Of The Rings which is always a delight. On a desperate note, I really hope the make The Hobbit now if only for the music.
‘Wedding Plans’ start out great, but then turns into a Miley Cyrus-like pop song with vocals from 2:37 and onwards. Took me a bit by surprise, and that’s where the “score” ends for me as far as I am concerned.
Conclusion
I’m not sure Eclipse is better than New Moon. New Moon had more energy, this is darker, has more action and themes. It’s certainly a welcome addition to the series and certainly make you wonder about the next movie. I really like Shore’s two main themes and the darker action stuff that reminds me of Lord of the Rings. It could always be better of course, but I was never worried that Howard Shore wouldn’t make it really good.
-> Get The Twilight Saga: Eclipse on Amazon <-
What did you think of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse? Let us know in the comments section.
Listen to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse by Howard Shore below:
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Comments
Great review! Not a fan of the Twilight films but I’m always interested in which composer they’ll choose for them. Howard Shore IMO is a great choice and its great to see him scoring higher profile movies again. Bring on The Hobbit!
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 8:22 am
Is it me or does the Twilight films get worse and worse? Still have the scores thought which gives me some happiness.
carl Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
New Moon was pretty awful, but I watched Eclipse and I thought it was decent and a lot better than the two predecessors… however, the music is still the best from these movies 
carl´s last blog ..The Omen – Jerry Goldsmith
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
July 11th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
I thought Eclipse was even worse than New Moon, but like you said, the music is the best part.
I really enjoyed this score a lot. Jacob Black is a great theme
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 8:23 am
It’s a good theme, but listening to Desplat’s New Moon theme yesterday I have to say it’s my favorite of the two.
Andres Vargas Reply:
July 9th, 2010 at 3:51 am
It’s hard to pick which is a better score. I think the best way to say is that both are better in their own way. For example, Shore delivers with the Dark, action mood he brought and Desplat delivered on the Emotion of his score. I guess it all depends on which appeals to people. For me, I like Shore’s because I tend to enjoy the Dark, action, and thematic approach he did over Desplat’s ( which I really enjoy as well).
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
July 11th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Yep, that’s pretty much it. Desplat might win it for me for the main theme, but only just. Shore delivers a darker, more dense experience which makes it a richer experience.
For me Desplat’s work is better than Shore’s although I love his work for Eclipse. New Moon has more passion and energy although Shore exceeds Desplat in writing action music. This is a crazy idea but probably both of them should work together on Breaking Dawn (imagine a score with passion like New Moon and action like Eclipse) just like the way Zimmer and Newton-Howard worked together on The Dark Knight. I love your review though.
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
July 11th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Thanks for the comment. I pretty much agree with everything you said here. Interesting idea to combine the two composers. It would be awesome but unfortunately I don’t see it happening.
ReuvenNathaniel Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Thanks, Jorn. But I am curious who will score the next installment.
David Reply:
July 16th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
In Wikipedia says that John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams will score Breaking Dawn. I hope it’s just a rumor.
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
July 18th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Well it’s Wikipedia, but every source usually have some merit to it. Maybe they were involved at some point and still are, although I doubt it. I’ll wait for some better sources
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Soundtrack Seek
I think the track 15. The Kiss also deserves the 5 stars… it’s romantic and sad and heartbreaking and is the closer this score gets to Desplat’s New Moon.
Overall, agree with the review (=
carl´s last blog ..The Omen – Jerry Goldsmith
Reply
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 7:57 am
Thanks for the comment Carl. I listened to New Moon last night and I am still undecided which is the best one, but I do know now that I like Desplat’s New Moon theme better than Shore’s Jacob theme.
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