A moving film - Saving Private Ryan Reviews

Overall John Williams has come up with a subtle and nice score. I must be honest: I had heard some bad rap about this particular work by Williams, so I approached the purchasing of this score somewhat cautiously.... However when I got home and got a chance to listen to it a few times I really discovered that it was quite charming. I suppose it's wrong to say charming considering the weight of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. It definitely gets the point across. The music is used only where necessary in the film... a good call on part of Steven Spielberg. Williams reflects on the true heart and spirit of the soldier. In the first and last cues: HYMN TO THE FALLEN, and HYMN TO THE FALLEN (REPRISE) he evokes the kind of power and emotion that he's known for. The rest of the score after that takes somewhat of a dip though.... And this acts as my only type of criticism for this piece. It is a little anathematic at times supported only by slinky clarinets and low strings, a little boring in the middle, and that is only added to by the length of many of the cues. However in the end cues #9 and #10 are big pick ups for the score. #9 acts as my favorite cue reprising the main theme and adding a new twist to it, it's very interesting and has an ending that always gives me the Goosebumps... it's haunting in it's simplicity... which is how I can sum up the ENTIRE SCORE! "Haunting in its simplicity"