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Avatar | 
| Creator: James Horner
Label: Atlantic
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $9.90
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Rating:  74 reviews
Sales Rank: 55
Format: Soundtrack
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 521681
UPC: 075678957611
EAN: 0075678957611
ASIN: B002P5XXR0
Release Date: December 15, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | 'You don't dream in cryo....' | | • | Jake enters his avatar world | | • | Pure spirits of the forest | | • | Night iridescence | | • | Becoming one of 'The People' Becoming one with Neytiri | | • | Climbing up 'Iknimaya - The Stairway to Heaven' | | • | Jake's first flight | | • | Scorched earth | | • | Quaritch | | • | The destruction of 'Home Tree' | | • | Shutting down Grace's lab | | • | Gathering all the Na'vi clans for battle | | • | War | | • | 'I See You' |
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Product Description
Atlantic Records has announced the upcoming release of AVATAR Music From The Motion Picture Music Composed And Conducted By James Horner the official score album companion to 20th Century Fox's hugely anticipated 3-D sci-fi action-adventure. The album, which features music composed and conducted by Academy Award-winner James Horner (Titanic, A Beautiful Mind, An American Tail), will be released physically on December 15th. Avatar arrives in theatres everywhere on December 18th.
Written and directed by Academy Award-winner James Cameron (Titanic, Aliens, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, The Abyss), Avatar takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. Cameron first conceived the film 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, Avatar delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.
Avatar stars Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation), Zoë Saldana (Star Trek), Michelle Rodriguez (Lost, Fast & Furious), and Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Galaxy Quest). The film is produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau.
Album Description
Original soundtrack to the 2009 major motion picture composed and conducted by James Horner (Titanic, A Beautiful Mind, An American Tail). Written and directed by Academy Award-winner James Cameron (Titanic, Aliens, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, The Abyss), Avatar takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. Avatar stars Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation), Zo‰ Saldana (Star Trek), Michelle Rodriguez (Lost, Fast & Furious), and Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Galaxy Quest). The film is produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 74
 Cameron and Horner are back with another powerhouse December 21, 2009
soundtrackgeek (Norway)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
Easily one of the most anticipated scores to come this year amongst some big contenders. James Horner has worked his ass off for years to make a great score for James Cameron's epic sci-fi movie about the Na'Vi world and the (mostly) evil humans and their avatar characters. It has been hyped up by just about everyone and it's supposed to be an epic orchestral score of massive proportions. First I got hold of part of a cue from Avatar, then 1 minute previews of all the tracks on the score. We can't wait any longer! James Horner is back ladies and gentleman so sit back and enjoy the ride.
Every single time James Horner releases new work, the same criticism and discussions arise about him re-using his stuff. It never fails, and it used to be amusing, but now I just find it annoying. If the music is good, then it's good, it's not rocket science folks. If the music is bad (and it happens, even for Horner), then fair enough, but don't say you hate it because he uses the 4 note danger motif or any other strange reason to hate him. Another funny thing I've read on forums is that some people get disappointed because he spent so long on this. What has that got to do with anything? The fact is, James Horner is king when it comes to fusing what's going on in the movie with a great piece of emotional music. There's simply no one better at it today, and I stand by that remark.
As for the score itself, after we all heard the various previews and some got excited, some didn't. I firmly place myself in the excitement camp. I admit, I have put Avatar on a pedestal, expecting James Horner to shine more than he has ever done before. This of course leads to extremely high expectations and Horner almost succeeds in meeting them. The first part of the score is much more calm than the second part. There's some jungle rhythms in there and there's also the use of ethnic vocals. Now clearly, if you don't like either of these things, this one will be hard to truly enjoy. The main theme heard in a number of cues is not Horner's greatest work, but it does work in the movie itself. The movie has gotten great reviews and several have commented on how great the score works in the movie. Those who know James Horner, weren't surprised by this as it is his main strength.
According to other sources, this score was supposed to be hugely epic and orchestral. Is it? Yes... to a degree. There's certainly traces of electronica in cues like The Bioluminescence of the Night, but it's hardly the main thing here. Voices are a big part of the score, to the innocent boy chanting along in the beginning of Becoming One of "The People" Becoming One With Neytiri'. It really works great. More vocals in Climbing Up "Iknimaya - The Path to Heaven". It's a beautiful cue mostly based on a choir singing with hypnotic jungle percussion in the background. The fact that it sounds like Glory, makes it even better in my mind.
You can't have a Horner score without the hated Rachmaninoff 4-note motif of doom of course, and yes it is here as well. Stay away from the cue The Destruction of Hometree if you hate it, because it will be repeated without remorse at the end. Personally I have no problem with it. It was brilliant when Rachmaninoff wrote it, and just because Horner uses it, doesn't make it less brilliant. It propels the action and when you see it on screen within the context of the movie, you'll love Horner for it.
James Horner loves to make those long cues, and I love him for that. It seems like him and Hans Zimmer are the ones consistently doing it. The last cue War is a wonderfully epic and choral ending cue. It is 11 minutes and 22 seconds long , and every second of it is great. One of the best action cues this year for sure. It sounds like a trailer song to be honest, starting with a violent epic choral section that represents the humans with their war machines. At 0:50 it changes to a more soft, but still epic theme with horns and some choral bits as well to represent the Na'Vi heroes. It changes back and forth as the humans and the Na'Vi advance. The humans have an evil sound, which almost reminds me of the Nero cues from Star Trek by Michael Giacchino. It's beautifully put together with the epic scenes that unfold as machine meets nature in one of the most epic battles ever produced on screen. The Na'Vi sections of the cue are heroic in nature with horns, making it a perfect representation of the good guys. This cue is war, and it never lets go of you until the very end, where war finally ends. It is one of those cues that makes you go "wow!" every single time you play it. Pure gold from Horner and I wouldn't be far off the mark if I say that this cue is one of the best cues he has ever made.
There isn't much negative to say about this score, unless you get stuck counting the Horner-isms and similarities with other work by certain composers. I just listen to this score as music, and music can be interpreted in many ways. For example, the opening cue You Don't Dream In Cryo... is clearly lifted from Trevor Rabin's play book which you can clearly hear from 1:40 to 2:32. At first listen, you might think that it sounds like a Hans Zimmer or a Remote Control Productions score, but that feeling goes away after the second listen, at least it did for me. It's James Horner all the way for better or worse.
Conclusion
I could probably say a lot more about this score and James Horner and I'll say this much. James Cameron has got the perfect score for Avatar, even though the score itself is not perfect. James Horner has spent over a year making this, but that doesn't matter in the end. Hans Zimmer created Lion King in about 3 weeks, so it can work for you or against you, when you spend a lot of time on something. In this case, this is his best score since Beyond Borders in 2003. I wanted to give this a 10, but it's not a 10 score overall due the following: The main theme doesn't do it for me. I love James Horner's themes, and the theme in Avatar is quite good, but I was expecting a lot more. The year is coming to an end and I feel this is one of the best scores this year. People are whispering about Oscars due to the immense success of the movie. Who knows? I would personally be surprised to see Horner's name when the nominations are released. Oscar-worthy or not, it's a solid score worthy of the praise the movie has gotten so far.
Excellent score! December 28, 2009
J. Kent Layton (New York, USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I grew up listening to James Horner music -- "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock," "The Rocketeer." They were favorites before I even knew who "James Horner" was. When James Cameron and James Horner collaborate (as in "Aliens" and "Titanic,") it seems to bring out the best in Horner. The Cameron/Horner duo strike well again with "Avatar." In fact, I wasn't too hyped about the film, but was interested in the score. After hearing the score, I'm actually more interested in seeing the movie. The Leona Lewis song is a very good one (she's terrific talent) and although I'm not sure I like as much as the song for "The Mask of Zorro," it's terrific.
At times, James Horner tends to repeat motifs. He has done this for many years, and the subject is a touchy one which is hotly debated. At certain points on this CD, I am reminded of other Horner works, but this is certainly one of his freshest scores in many years. If you like Horner music, this is a "must-have."
Fantastic Musical Journey January 4, 2010
Aleksandar Gospic (Zadar, Croatia)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
When James & James (Horner & Cameron) collaborate result can't be nothing short of fantastic! Music is very important part of Avatar movie and Horner managed to get the emotions right. From start to finish this is beautiful musical journey through the movie. It is hard to pick some tracks because this is one body but opening track is one of my favorites, mood is just fantastic as we arrive to mystic world of Pandora, to which we are introduced through beautiful tracks of 'Jake Enters His Avatar World' and 'Pure Spirits Of The Forest'. The most beautiful moment of the score comes at 1.55min mark of 4th track 'The Bioluminescence Of The Night'! Oh, that is just incredible piece of music. Main theme of the movie, which is present in many tracks at certain moments, is very beautiful. First two notes remind of Titanic but after that it goes its own way. Mid section of the score is happy, as is the movie, while Jake gets to know the Na'vi, and 'Climbing Up Iknimaya - The Path To Heaven' and 'Jake's First Flight' shine here! Than comes the sad and dramatic part of the score in which you feel the drama through 'Scorched Earth' and 'Quaritch' and pain of Na'vi through 'Destruction of the Hometree' and 'Shutting Down Grace's Lab'. In the later battle part of the score 'War' is just amazing track, so beautiful and so bombastic at the same moment, love those drums which shake my room. All in all Avatar score is one incredible journey from start to finish, and I can't get enough of it since I first laid my ears on it. Hope it will get deserved Oscar!
Beautiful, amazing. January 2, 2010
A. Beattie (Orlando, Florida)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
This movie was the best piece of escapism I've seen in a long time.
I don't understand all the harsh reviewing about this movie. You'd seriously have to have a sharp stick up your backside to dislike such an interesting movie. People are saying this movie is the same as Dances With Wolves, so, sure... the scenario is similar. But then, Dances With Wolves is a lot like the scenario from the story of Pocahontas. So then, Pocahontas could have come from Romeo and Juliet, too?
And how many times do we have to see the vampire and the human fall in love? Lestat, Armand, Edward, Angel...
Scenarios for movies can and should be played with again and again, so they can be molded different ways with different sounds and looks.
The music was beautiful, and no way too much like Titanic or Braveheart. It was dramatic music for a beautifully made movie. It had both sad and upbeat tribal chanting and singing,with gorgeous drums accompanying. I personally love Jake's First Flight, and I See You by Leona Lewis.
I've listened to this for 3 straight weeks January 14, 2010
John M. Roling (Colorado Springs, CO)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
It's been awhile since a great score has been produced for a movie. The only complaint I have is that it sounds a little like the works James Horner has produced before, specifically Titanic and Braveheart.
The beautiful use of a choral blends well with the tranquil string and French Horn solos. All the songs are great except for "Quaritch" and "Scorched Earth". These two songs are too bland. "Jake's First Flight" and "Iknimaya-The Path to Heaven" are great choral pieces and make your heart feel heavy with adventure. The "Bio-Illumniescense of the Night" and "Becoming one of the People" are very mysterious and have great string parts with a great blend of brass. Lastly, the song "I See You" will grow on you like you wouldn't believe, and Leona Lewis did a great job with it. I just wish she wouldn't use as much vibratto in her singing.
Overall, a great album, and a must buy.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 74
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