Elliot Goldenthal’s score for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within – opinions?

What do FF fans think of Elliot Goldenthal’s score to FF:TSW? I’m not really a knowledgeable fan of the musical world that Umenstau created for the games, but for the movie, I must say that Goldenthal got it absolutely right. The movie is a much different animal than the games, and required a much more dark and slightly gothic score. The scary parts ‘Toccato and Dreamscapes’ are contrasted with the great love theme (which makes a wonderful performance in ‘Adagio and Transfiguration’).

Moved to Anime and Video Game Music.

elliot goldenthal is jew and sux!! n00buo >>>>>>>>>>>>> him.

boring and generic. perfect for the movie.

nobuo uematsu was asked to create the music but he didn’t know if it was a serious offer. than after the movie was done mr sakaguchi said why didn’t you do the music for me!

haha. what stupid story. it’s amazing what you can miss if the connection drops during a skype call.

haha stupid story is stupid

the movie is ok, but soundtrack sucks. not worth even a dollar. 🙁

The soundtrack won’t cater to melody-driven anime music fans, but in terms of composition skills showcased of the composer it is top-notch. remains as one of my favorite film soundtracks. it is more about a vast surreal soundscape than development of the motif. Anyway it is up to one’s taste, I guess most people who are into film or classical music will appreciate it more. imo it fit the atmosphere of the movie perfectly although sometimes can be a lot too serious and avent-grade. The plot of the movie really suffers from naive amine characters and failed in contrast to the music and the realistic CGI. I don’t think nobuo uematsu has the skill set to compose for serious movies, the music would sound too simplistic like these found in FF AC.

Here I quote from Wikipedia:

The soundtrack to the film was released on July 3, 2001 by Sony Music.[33] It was composed by Elliot Goldenthal, with the performing orchestra conducted by Belgian composer Dirk Bross�. Director Hironobu Sakaguchi opted for the acclaimed film composer instead of Nobuo Uematsu, the composer of the Final Fantasy games’ soundtracks, a decision met with mixed opinion as Goldenthal was completely unknown to many of the game’s fans.[34] The film’s soundtrack was recorded in the United Kingdom at the Watford Coloseum and the London AIR Lyndhurst Hall. It was mixed at the Manhattan Center Studios in the United States.[35] In the liner notes to the album, Goldenthal describes the soundtrack as combining "orchestration techniques associated with the late 20th-century Polish avant-garde, as well as my own experiments from ALIEN 3, and 19th-century Straussian brass and string instrumentation."[36]

The album was met with extremely positive reviews. Neil Shurley from Allmusic, who gave the album 4 out of 5, stated the album would probably have been nominated for an Oscar if the film itself had been more popular,[33] as did the reviewer from Soundtrack-express.com, who gave the soundtrack 5 out of 5.[37] Tracksounds.com gave the soundtrack 10 out of 10, stating the feel of the album was "expansive and majestic".[34] Filmtracks.com gave the film 4 out of 5, calling it "an easy album to recommend", adding "parts of it will blow you out of your seat."[38] Dan Goldwasser from Soundtrack.net also gave the film 4 out of 5, calling it a "must have".[39]

The album peaked at No. 19 on Billboard’s Top Soundtracks list and No. 193 on the Billboard 200 on July 28, 2001.[40] The track "The Dream Within" was nominated for "Best Original Song Written for a Film" at the World Soundtrack Awards.[41]

All music composed by Elliot Goldenthal, except where noted.

The plot of the movie really suffers from naive amine characters

Ah ha ha! Naive amine characters!!