Marco Beltrami - Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (Score) / O.S.T (CD)

All Music Guide

In the world of science fiction the landmark television series Star Trek and feature film Star Wars became so popular and influential they took on lives of their own. They spawned sequels and various spinoffs (especially novels) tied to the established mythology that original creators Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas were only marginally involved with, if it all other than official approval. The classic 1984 film The Terminator, directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the titular cyborg and Linda Hamilton as the reluctant heroine, joined this exclusive scifi club. It was a lean and mean, highly effective movie in every way, and one of its best features was the haunting score by Brad Fiedel. Cameron, Schwarzenegger, Hamilton, and Fiedel teamed up again for the 1991 followup Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a boxoffice smash far exceeding the original's success. After a handful of commercial and critical failures, Schwarzenegger reprised his signature role in 2003's T...erminator 3: Rise of the Machines for a reported 30 million. Cameron declined to return and the film was directed by Jonathan Mostow. Fiedel was replaced by veteran Marco Beltrami. The film was a hit but it had a different feel; Mostow and Beltrami definitely put their own stamp on it. Whereas Fiedel's score especially in the original film relied heavily on synthesizers and keyboards, Beltrami's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines score is professional, rather standard orchestral work performed by a collective of session musicians credited as the Hollywood Studio Symphony. But some pieces do stand out such as "A Day in the Life," "Hooked on Multiphonics," "Graveyard Shootout," "Magnetic Personality," and "Terminator Tangle." Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines also includes the Hollywood Studio Symphony's arrangement of Fiedel's memorable original theme and the folkflavored pop bonus tracks "Open to Me" by Dillon Dixon and "I Told You" by Mia Julia. - Bret Adams, All Music Guide Read more Less