Soundtrack - 300
(2007)

Review by Toby Hillard

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Hollywood soundtracks are usually good for one thing. Coasters. Sure, at first you will listen to them endlessly - taking you back to all those classic moments from Ten Things I Hate About You, or that part in Ferris Buellers Day Off where the principal gets on the school bus. But at the end of the day, as soon as you're sick of the flick, the soundtrack gets the flick.

It wasn't until I purchased the soundtrack to Gladiator (you can hate Rusty Crowe all you want, but nothing will deter me from the fact that it's a near flawless popcorn movie) in about Year 9 that I realised just how good film scores could be. No, I'm not talking about the Soundtrack to She's The Man with it's pop-rock tunes! I'm talking some classical instrument explosions.

300, as a movie, is basically dividing audiences. On one end, you have the uppity film critics saying that "It's devoid of script or plot", while on the other - you have about $150 million worth of viewers voting with their feet. The soundtrack is pretty much in the same situation.

Written and produced by Tyler Bates (the guy behind the scores for films such as Dawn of the Dead, The Devil's Rejects and Get Carter) has basically put himself in a bit of a bind. The score is fantastic - it's epic, it's loud, it's beating pace is what drives the majority of the film itself. So from the punters end - it's all pretty damn good.

However, the "uppity music industry" aren't exactly in agreeance. You see, it seems that young Mr. Bates has been using various other scores to "influence" him - and the composers within the industry are none-to-happy!

Bates' soundtrack has been accused of borrowing large portions from Elliot Goldenthal's 1999 soundtrack for Titus, which caused some major controversy within the film composer community (I'm assuming they all sit in a tiny room holding batons). It's claimed that Remember Us is identical in parts to the end of Titus's Finale. Also, it seems, that Returns A King has been heavily "influenced" by Titus's Victorious Titus.

To add insult to the "Composer Baton Inflicted" wound, there are further beliefs that the song Message For The Queen has the same melody as the Macedonian folk song Zajdi, zajdi jasno Sonce [Set, set bright Sun]. The song has been included in numerous anthologies and has been interpreted by a number of Macedonian star singers, including Aleksandar Sarievski, Zafir Hadzimanov, and Toshe Proeski (I'm sure Shannon Noll with be doing a cover version soon).

Controversy aside, this is a pretty fine bit of work. Much like Hans Zimmer's Oscar Winning score for Gladiator, 300 uses a variety of sounds, instruments as well as the fantastic vocals of Azam Ali.

The battle scenes are the most impressive, with thumping drums and primeval beats. If you've had a bad day at work and you finally get on the freeway, be sure to turn up No Mercy - it will definitely get the adrenalin pumping. For those who like their scores with a little less grunt, Tonight We Dine In Hell is softly sweet - if not slightly foreboding.

If you enjoyed the flick, more likely than not, this will do it for you. It has nowhere near the impact of Gladiators soundtrack, and at times is a little self important and grandiose, but all in all this ain't half bad.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5

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