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Open Range (2003)
Composed by Michael Kamen
Hollywood Records
Rating: 8/10
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 Open
Range (361 kb)
Wounded
Button (296 kb)
On
the Porch (315 kb)
Holding
All My Love for You (320 kb)
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“ A difficult balance of Old West grittiness, epic
vistas, and intimate relationships is handled almost to perfection
by Kostner as director and by Kamen as composer. ”
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Home on the Range
Review by Christopher
Coleman
"It's probably one
of the things that
strikes you the most
in a Western - the
music. Whether it's
"The Big Country" or
"The Magnificent
Seven" ... the great
westerns have that
great music. It
immediately launches
you...places you."
Kevin Costner.
For a film that almost
didn't see the light
of a movie projector,
OPEN RANGE, was one of
the finest films of
2003...and one of the
finest westerns I've
ever seen.
For all of his
critics, Kevin
Costner, as a director,
does hit one out of
the park every once in
a while.
Featured in Costner's
2003 tale of a
rag-tag-group of freegrazers and their
struggles against the
powers-that-be in a
nearby town, is
composer Michael
Kamen's engaging
score. Filled with
grand themes, intimate
instrumentation, and
his own signature
sounds, OPEN RANGE is
one of composer
Michael Kamen's most
memorable works.
Kamen's score for OPEN
RANGE, like the film,
is filled with a
rugged-charm. A
difficult balance of
Old West grittiness,
epic vistas, and
intimate relationships
is handled almost to
perfection by Kostner
as director and by Kamen as composer.
With only a couple of
small projects since
his original work for
the HBO mini-series, BAND OF BROTHERS in
2001, OPEN RANGE
demonstrates Michael Kamen's command of
both the pen and the
baton. Sadly,
only a few months
after the release of
OPEN RANGE, the film-music world would lose
this great talent and
human being.
Thankfully, his work
lives on to forever
remind movie watchers
and film music lovers
of his great talent.
The film opens with
the grand title theme,
"Open Range," that is
classically Kamen.
The brass fanfare
grabs the listener's
attention as the
incredible visuals of
the prairies of the
plain-states (played
by Calgary, Canada)
woos us into wonder
and anticipation.
Accompanied by
scintillating strings
as well as guitar, the
audience is
emotionally hooked
right from the onset.
The
Open-Range-four-note-motif
pops up appropriately
throughout the
first-half of the film
and score, but as the
plot thickens, the
motif is used less and
less. The use of
the main theme is slow
replaced with another
wonderful, love theme
from Kamen. The
shift in theme
emphasis reflect a
couple of key points,
aside from the obvious
romantic interest.
First, a shift in
locale. The main
characters move from
scenes in the "open
range" to the confines
of the local town of
Harmonville.
Second, the change in emphasis
also reflects the
change of heart
happening within the
lead free grazers,
Duvall, but especially
Costner's character,
Charley Wait.
The lure of the great
open spaces of the
West fades in the
light of the security
and warmth of settling
in a small town.
On the soundtrack, the
main theme is
relegated to subtle
quotes or
rearrangements until
the final track (and
beginning of the end
credits), "Teapot"
(22) where it briefly
resumes it's grand
status.
Michael Kamen has
delivered his fair
share of romantic
themes from "Marion's
Theme" in ROBIN HOOD:
PRINCE OF THIEVES to
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS and
he adds to his
impressive list with
the love theme from
OPEN RANGE.
Innocently introduced
on the flute in
"Laudanum Dream" (11)
the theme quickly
gains steam in the
following track
"Charley and Sue" and
finally reaches its
potential in
"Proposal" (21).
The aforementioned
track "Teapot" knits
the two main themes of
OPEN RANGE together
beautifully and makes
for a fitting close to
the CD.
Speaking of the CD release by
Hollywood Records, it
starts differently
from the film.
While the grand
Open-range-theme
fitting begins the
film, the producers
chose to start the
soundtrack with the
lone pop tune - a
practice I am normally
vehemently against.
That said, the vocal tune,
"Holding All My Love
for You" performed by
Julianne Raye, is an
arrangement of Michael
Kamen's infectious
love-theme. As
much as I prefer such
tracks at the end of
the soundtrack, this is an
exception. Raye's, Sarah
Maclachlan-like-vocals
have the slightest of
"twang",
yet mesh well over Kamen's
theme, which has been massaged into
pop/country ballad.
As well as it works on
the front-end, it is
even more effective
over the end credits -
having had the love
theme fully
established through
the film.
OPEN RANGE features
more than these two
themes, of course. A
wonderfully, simple
theme for Buttons, the
orphaned, Mexican,
picked up and cared
for by "Boss" features
prominently in
"Wounded Button" (10)
but also again in the
climactic "Gunfight"
(18). In fact
iButton's theme is an
interesting variation
of the main theme,
played on guitar. The
"baddies" are well
represented in tracks
in pieces
like the dissonant "Spooks on the
Hill" (8), while the
conflict between the
cowboys and townies
is underscored with
pensive effectiveness
in tracks such as "Cat
and Mouse" (15), "Face
Off" (17) as well
as
"Gunfight" (18).
The soundtrack runs
just under 50 minutes
with many of the
tracks being under 3
minutes long.
Still, the soundtrack
is an easy listen,
start to finish.
While composer Michael
Kamen did have a
couple of projects
released after OPEN
RANGE none would go on
to rival his work for
OPEN RANGE.
While the score here
can be somewhat
mindful of some of
James Newton Howard's
works, OPEN RANGE
maintains its own
personality, clearly
signed by Michael
Kamen. He leaves
a great legacy of
quality film music
behind him and OPEN
RANGE is solidly a
part of that
legacy.
Rating:
8/10
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Track Listing and Ratings |
|
Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
Holding All My
Love for You |
3:16 |
**** |
|
2 |
Open Range |
2:36 |
***** |
|
3 |
Card
Game |
1:24 |
*** |
|
4 |
Wagon
Wheel |
1:58 |
**** |
|
5 |
Cattle
Drive |
1:15 |
**** |
| 6 |
Ride to Town |
3:27 |
**** |
| 7 |
Decade |
1:45 |
*** |
| 8 |
Spooks on the Hill |
1:21 |
*** |
| 9 |
Starry Night |
3:02 |
*** |
| 10 |
Wounded Button |
0:59 |
**** |
| 11 |
Laudanum Dream |
2:12 |
**** |
| 12 |
Charley and Sue |
1:44 |
**** |
| 13 |
Boss Convices Charley |
2:15 |
**** |
| 14 |
On the Porch |
2:33 |
**** |
| 15 |
Cat and Mouse |
4:09 |
*** |
| 16 |
Baxter Taunts Charley |
1:31 |
*** |
| 17 |
Face Off |
1:35 |
**** |
| 18 |
Gunfight |
3:35 |
**** |
| 19 |
Aftermath |
2:22 |
**** |
| 20 |
Charley Rides Off |
3:03 |
**** |
| 21 |
Proposal |
3:31 |
***** |
| 22 |
Teapot |
1:58 |
***** |
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Total Running Time (approx) |
49 minutes |
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