Soundtrack Review: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the motion picture score Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time by Harry Gregson-Williams.

"In short, this score fails on the biggest test of all, the 'do I give a damn?' test."

Another year, another "big" score by Harry Gregson-Williams. Two years ago it was Prince Caspian, last year it was X-Men Origins: Wolverine and this year it's the live action movie based on the video game Prince of Persia. It's called The Sands of Time and is directed by Mike Newell and stars Jake Gyllenhaal. Of course, this movie is cursed as all game to movie conversions are, but hey at least it's not Uwe Boll! It has potential and I have to say and I am excited to see Harry Gregson-Williams doing the score, which I'm sure, if Μβ given the time that the looming release dates of summer tent pole films never allow, he could have made this really great. That is my wishful thinking, and I really wish this to be nothing less than spectacular. Then reality sets in...

Track List

Where's Harry?

I want to report a kidnapping and a robbery. Where is the Harry Gregson-Williams that excited us with Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas? Where is the themes that excited us in The Chronicles of Narnia? Yes it seems like even the great Harry Gregson-Williams has succumbed to what seems to be a most dangerous trend in film music, and that is, film music just to exist as such. What I mean by that is the seeming lack of anything besides just normal action music. Maybe something is wrong with me because last year I praised Brian Tyler for his great action scores, but now my standards are higher. Sometimes, like in the cue 'Hassassin Attack' I forget that it's Harry Gregson-Williams I am listening to and not Brian Tyler. Listen from 1:25 and you'll see what I mean.

So what about the themes? Yes, there is a theme here, heard in 'The Prince of Persia' which is a very simple Arabic sounding theme which I have heard so many times before, in fact I am sure I have, just can't put my finger on it. It isn't all bad though. The score is quite exciting at times, and it's certainly better than Harry's previous effort, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The cue 'Ostrich Race' is a fun, albeit childish and adventurous effort, but it seems to be the only flash of old adventurous Harry peeking through.

In short, this score fails on the biggest test of all, the "do I give a damn?" test. It's one of those scores that will mesh right in some library action cues, but fails to make an impression as a standalone score.

Conclusion

I was listening to Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas which has boldness, adventure and great action that doesn't sound like it's been meshed through a lot of filters. This is Harry just doing what he loves to do. I think that there's a lot of pressure on Harry Gregson-Williams and I'm quite sure he didn't get the time he wanted. It does seem hurried, a little bit meshed up and put together for a hungry audience. Unfortunately all but one cue excited me and that was 'Ostrich Race', but the action parts throughout (some of it) was fairly enjoyable.

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Listen to the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time soundtrack by Harry Gregson-Williams below: