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  4. The Matrix Score

  • The Matrix Score

    V
    V

    I saw The Matrix trilogy again recently and thought the score was really fantastic! I have earlier thought the same about this particular score and how underated it is. I thought it really got into the skin of the film and provided an excellent score......

    Its hardly ever talked about.....for some reason....Don Davis is using some great orchestration/writing (Nobody else has been credited with orchestration on IMDB) and avant garde techniques there....

    The blend of electronic music with the orchestra is also really great....great mix on the final matrix soundtrack too....

    Tanuj.
  • F
    F

    Try listening to John Adams's 'Doctor Atomic Symphony'. When I first heard it, I thought someone had arranged the score to 'The Matrix' in the style of Jerry Goldsmith.

    Also, there is a version of 'The Matrix' on DVD (the US two-disk boxed set with the first sequel, I think) that has an isolated music track, where Don Davis talks about the music in the gaps in the score.
  • M
    M

    I loved the score too. It also reminded me of John Adams - Harmonielehre in particular.

    Best,

    M

    P.S. - Also for those that didn't already know, Varese Sarabande released a deluxe edition of the score within the last year or so that's well worth getting.
  • Z
    Z
    I think its fair to say that it is a total rip-off of John Adams' style. I remember seeing it in 1999 and being totally distracted by the blatant theft by composer Don Davis. Interestingly his wikipedia entry does not shirk this fact and describes the Matrix scores as influenced by Adams work "a short ride in a fast machine" (a great piece by the way!).

    Speaking of originality, the work by Dane Davis and his team who did sound design for the Matrix is far more noteworthy!
  • L
    L

    I also love this score very much. And besides John Adams, I hear Witold Lutoslawski and aleatoric counterpoint, especially in the cue "Unable To Speak" in the first film.

    Don Davis is an incredibly underestimated film composer. He was chosen by John Williams himself to score Jurassic Park III - also one of my favorite scores. He has had to score some pretty awful movies as well, for some odd reason. And after Matrix he has been concentrating on writing an opera. He deserves to get some really good movies to score and fast.
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