Soundtrack Review: The Aviator

When watching the movie, Shore's score is most notable during the flight scenes and moments of Hughes' great achievement. Apart from those scenes, the score never really gets a chance to make a lasting impression. The other jazz and popular songs from the period featured heavily in the movie are available in a separate soundtrack, Aviator: The Album. The score begins with a promising start with 'Icarus.' This is easily the most impressive cue on the score with its stirring theme performed with rich layers of violins, woodwind, flute and strings.The next two tracks 'There Is No Genius Without Some Form Of Madness' and 'Muirified,' although less lively than the first track, still retains the stirring and unsettled style but with more of a gloomy feel to it.The 'H-1 Racer Plane' theme, used during the first test flight scene in the movie, begins fairly light with an accompaniment of violins before it slowly begins to build up with its brass and percussion. This is the first of a number of times when we hear this victorious theme which gives a sense of glory and achievement. The theme is heard again later in tracks such as 'The Mighty Hercules' and 'Howard Robard Hughes, Jr' which both sound quite similar although not as boastful. Howard Hughes' strange behaviors are dealt with in tracks such as 'Quarantine,' 'The Germ Free Zone' and 'Screening Room,' which are unsettled, unresolved and help to convey moments of despair.A piece of Tchaikovsky which accompanies a reporter's live account of a test flight in 'Long Beach Harbor 1947,' a piano solo in 'America's Aviation Hero' and a guitar solo in '7000 Romaine' help to give the score some much needed variety.The score comes to an end with the track 'The Way Of The Future' which is the actual piece of music used in the film with the reporter's live account from 'Long Beach Harbor 1947.' The track once again uses the main theme introduced previously. Again we hear the same pattern, a slow build up of strings before we finally hear the main theme in its full form dominated by its use of brass and percussion.The Aviator is the kind of score that grows on you. Apart from the main theme, which is played most prominently during the tests flights in the movie, there aren't that many other memorable themes. What is given on the score is of a good standard, it's just that you are often left wanting something more. The moments of victory and glory throughout the score are somewhat diluted by the other tracks which separate them. When the moments of victory do appear they tend to sound quite similar to each other. The score does well in conveying Howard Hughes's troubled nature but these tracks aren't particularly memorable. Surprisingly, after hearing the brilliant opening track 'Icarus,' you never really hear anything else that is as rich or engaging. There's nothing particularly bad about this score which you can easily point out, but it's also not something you instantly fall in love with.