Avatar : The Score

『タイタニック』『ターミネーター』『エイリアン』等でおなじみ!巨匠ジェームズ・キャメロン監督作『AVATAR』のオリジナル・サントラ。タイタニック以来12年ぶりの監督作品。OSTの内容は基本James Horner(『タイタニック』、『エイリアン2』など)によるスコア。

James Cameron's film Avatar, to judge by its record-breaking commercial take, has managed to communicate with viewers on a basic level. Its story, even its critical defenders concede, is a mishmash of elements borrowed from a half-dozen earlier films, most notably Dances with Wolves, and the score by James Horner might be similarly charged. The segements relating to the Na'vi world, taken by themselves, are a uniquely unappetizing mixture of Debussy and Vaughan Williams; the scenes relating to the Earth's military invasion are, like so many other battle scenes these days, near-pure Carl Orff. The technological scenes are not too far off from futuristic television scores of the sort that Horner and others have written, with lots of slinky strings and quartal harmonies. The thing is, all this isn't a flaw, it's a strong point. Stop a dozen viewers coming out a showing of Avatar and ask them about the music; guaranteed, most of them will say they didn't notice it. That's one of the things that makes a good film score : they're supposed to operate at a subconscious level. Horner's score works precisely because it gets to you before you realize what's happening, because, despite the episodes of bombast, it actually stays out of the way of the action. Thus, it helps direct the listener's attention to the aspect of the film that is anything but trite: its awe-inspiring use of technology, which is seamless in its altogether original conception. Would Avatar have been a better film if Horner had experimented with organic patterns, Stockhausen, and German techno? Not a chance.

The score for director James Cameron’s epic 3-D sci-fi adventure Avatar was composed by longtime collaborator James Horner, who won an Oscar for his work on the director’s 1997 blockbuster, Titanic. Never one to shy away from familiar motifs, the vaguely wistful, mostly magical main theme that weaves its way throughout the film relies unapologetically on the composer’s Titanic love theme (try humming the first three notes of the chorus to the Horner-penned Celine Dion smash "My Heart Will Go On"), but the overall feel of the score owes more to Ennio Morricone's iconic work on The Mission, utilizing an atmospheric blend of native drums and choirs with lush, traditional adventure orchestration. The album is rounded out with Leona Lewis' torch ballad "I See You." ~ James Christopher Monger

『タイタニック』のチームが再び映画史革新の一作の音楽に挑む。

『アバター』（2009）
サウンドトラック

音楽　ジェームズ・ホーナー
監督　ジェームズ・キャメロン
主演　サム・ワーシントン、ゾーイ・サルダナ、シガーニー・ウィーバー、スティーヴン・ラング

キャメロンの『タイタニック』以来の長編は、自身も開発に関わった映像技術を駆使して作り上げた、人工映像の完成形とでもいいたい世界の中で描かれる、人間と異星生命体とのドラマ。音楽は『タイタニック』と同じく巨匠、ジェームズ・ホーナー。パーカッシヴで美しいコーラスも多用した壮大でダイナミックなオーケストラ。まさに、幻想的なスペクタクル・アドベンチャー・サウンド。ラストに収録の感動的な主題歌「アイ・シー・ユー」を歌うはレオナ・ルイス。作はホーナーと「マイ・ハート・ウィル・ゴー・オン」のプロデュースも彼だったサイモン・フラングレンとクック・ハレル。 (C)馬場敏裕