An Aural Adventure, 02 Apr 2002
I came to Amazon.co.uk to look for a replacement CD of "Adventure!" as a replacement for my old tape copy (EMI-Columbia TC-SCX 6091).

This was published in 1966 and contains many instantly recognisable film themes and other tunes.

From the bombascity of the themes to "633 Squadron" and "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines", to the tranquil sobriety of "Girl with a Dream" and "Under the Linden Tree", the album provides a perfect aural backdrop for a leisurely journey through the joyous and serene.

The conduction of, and performances from, Ron Goodwin's orchestra are faultless, as is George Martin's production. Various recordings have been used in other contexts to those originally composed for, such as "The Trap", famously used by BBC Sport as their theme to coverage of The London Marathon.

A very easy-to-listen to album, but with plenty of drama and pace to punctuate the dreamier platitudes. I shall look forward immensely to being able to listen to this on CD, which will no doubt bring a whole new lease of life to the album.

An Aural Adventure, 02 Apr 2002
I came to Amazon.co.uk to look for a replacement CD of "Adventure!" as a replacement for my old tape copy (EMI-Columbia TC-SCX 6091).

This was published in 1966 and contains many instantly recognisable film themes and other tunes.

From the bombascity of the themes to "633 Squadron" and "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines", to the tranquil sobriety of "Girl with a Dream" and "Under the Linden Tree", the album provides a perfect aural backdrop for a leisurely journey through the joyous and serene.

The conduction of, and performances from, Ron Goodwin's orchestra are faultless, as is George Martin's production. Various recordings have been used in other contexts to those originally composed for, such as "The Trap", famously used by BBC Sport as their theme to coverage of The London Marathon.

A very easy-to-listen to album, but with plenty of drama and pace to punctuate the dreamier platitudes. I shall look forward immensely to being able to listen to this on CD, which will no doubt bring a whole new lease of life to the album.

The most comprehensive package of cinema music on offer, 18 Nov 2006
Cinema Century: A Musical Celebration of 100 Years of Cinema offers you the the most comprehensive package of the greatest musical songs to embrace their names in cinema history. This is a landmark celebration. In music retailing, you will not get any package that you offers the best and unique choice of high callibre music featured in movies. This takes some beating if you get what I mean. It is great value for money.

Cinema Century: A Musical Celebration of 100 Years of Cinema features three CDs of all the cinema songs which are a pleasure to listen and you can relive the magical and special moments of the greatest movies of all time. The list ranges from Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, Taxi Driver,Gone with the Wind, Out of Africa, A Passage to India, Chariots of Fire, Raiders of the Lost Ark and many more.

If you love classical music, then this is an album which is well suited to your musical taste. It is real treat for anyone who loves smoothing and relaxing music.

Play it Again...?, 24 Nov 2004
Probably not. What a shame, given the excellent range of titles on this 3 disc package. It was very disappointing to discover that these re-recordings based on the original film scores are no match for the original soundtrack recordings. To give just three examples: Max Steiner's - of all composers - 'Gone with the Wind' is weak and lacks all the pace, fullness, vigour and drama of the original soundtrack recording. And the same can be said of '633 Squadron' which has none of Goodwin's almost breathless pace; 'The Great Escape' can only be described as plodding. Unfortunately, this lack of energy in the scoring is identifiable virtually throughout the collection. There is a lot to be said for original soundtrack recordings, because the studios put a huge amount of effort into the orchestrations to get them spot on to the mood of the film, so my advice has to be go for original soundtracks every time - digtally re-mastered or not.

Very good, 19 Jun 2004
To be honest it is hard to review this box set. I can understand Andrew_mcp's point of view, and often find myself irritated by conductors playing around with the original material, or as Andrew wrote, when a small orchestra is used. In the case of these CDs I was not actually disappointed. I think with enough volume the recordings sound as good as the originals (though of course with a new orchestra and conductor). There are a lot of songs here for not a lot of money, which is good news, and in general the songs are great. I think I've rated this four and not five stars because I feel that potentially the song choices could have been better. For example, there is a lot of John Barry here, but it would have been nice to have varying themes as opposed to the very similar Dances with wolves, Born Free, and Out of Africa themes (though these are excellent). I also feel that there is more music from films like the Mission that I would have liked to hear rather than just the one theme. To be honest though I am being picky, and this is worth buying for unique tracks like the stroke of genius that is Where Eagles Dare, not to mention the likes of Zulu and Colonel Bogey. The more classical tracks are evened out with things like Mancini's Pink Panther and Fiedel's Terminator. This is well worth it for anyone who likes classic films.

Disappointingly "thin" versions, 11 Nov 2003
I was hoping for the full orchestral experience, but compared to the original soundtracks (ok, my memory of them), many of these versions are distinctly uninspiring... or recorded on a day when half the orchestra was off sick.

The playing as such isn't at fault, and 3 CDs for the price has to be good value for money. But I honestly can't recommend this.

You get a lot for your money!, 21 Mar 2003
This CD arrived this morning and already I've listened to most of it and love it - music from some of my favourite films such as "The Godfather" all on the one compilation! Even though I haven't seen most of the films I still love listening to the music. I bought this along with another film music compilation, "The Classic Score" and with these two CDs I've got a bit of everything!

A notable absence is "Titanic" but because I've heard the Titanic music so much, I was actually rather pleased to see it had been missed out! I was very pleased to discover that the track from "Bridge On the River Kwai" is the fun marching tune that all the soldiers whistle to on the film!! There are some real cinema classics on here, such as "Lawrence of Arabia", "Ben Hur", "Jaws"... the list is endless! So, three CDs, over 3 1/2 hours of great film music - you can't go far wrong with this!

This album is part of the series devoted to classic film music recorded by Charles Gerhardt in the 1970s and early 80s. Most albums featured particular composers but several concentrated on music written for the great Hollywood stars. There are albums for Errol Flynn, Bette Davis and this musical tribute to Humphrey Bogart, centred on a suite of Max Steiner's endlessly evocative music from Casablanca. Gerhardt brilliantly distils the essence of the classic wartime romance, capturing the most famous, timeless moments, before presenting music from a further 11 of the star's films. In fact the album is almost as much a homage to Steiner as Bogart, for he scored seven of the 12 featured films, and makes a particularly powerful impression with suites from Key Largo and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The much under-rated composer Frederick Hollaender is represented by Sabrina, followed by Victor Young's memorably moving love theme from The Left Hand of God and Miklós Rózsa's fiery "Main Title" from Sahara. Finally, there are two films scored by Franz Waxman: To Have and Have Not leads to a superbly crafted suite of his intensely dramatic music for The Two Mrs. Carrolls. With excellent sound, fine performances and informative notes, the album is ideal for anyone with a love of the classic sound of Hollywood.--Gary S. DalkinSome films grow more popular with each passing year. The appeal of Casablanca has been interpreted in hundreds of ways, but one easily agreed-upon factor is its memorable soundtrack. Steiner's underscore is rich with melody and positive feeling. Naturally, the immediate musical association anyone makes is to the song "As Time Goes By". To this Steiner cannot lay claim. It was written by Herman Hupfeld for a 1930s Broadway show. Through endlessly inventive arrangements within the score, Steiner still makes it his own however--and that's where this album comes in. It's a loving restoration of something that was unthinkably almost lost. From the Warner archives, the score cues have been slotted in-between stretches of dialogue lifted off a print of the film. The chronological presentation of this method effectively turns this into an experience akin to having the picture turned off and just listening to the film. It wouldn't work for most films, but as its popularity grows, more and more people now have this chance to play it again. --Paul Tonks

An Aural Adventure, 02 Apr 2002
I came to Amazon.co.uk to look for a replacement CD of "Adventure!" as a replacement for my old tape copy (EMI-Columbia TC-SCX 6091).

This was published in 1966 and contains many instantly recognisable film themes and other tunes.

From the bombascity of the themes to "633 Squadron" and "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines", to the tranquil sobriety of "Girl with a Dream" and "Under the Linden Tree", the album provides a perfect aural backdrop for a leisurely journey through the joyous and serene.

The conduction of, and performances from, Ron Goodwin's orchestra are faultless, as is George Martin's production. Various recordings have been used in other contexts to those originally composed for, such as "The Trap", famously used by BBC Sport as their theme to coverage of The London Marathon.

A very easy-to-listen to album, but with plenty of drama and pace to punctuate the dreamier platitudes. I shall look forward immensely to being able to listen to this on CD, which will no doubt bring a whole new lease of life to the album.

The most comprehensive package of cinema music on offer, 18 Nov 2006
Cinema Century: A Musical Celebration of 100 Years of Cinema offers you the the most comprehensive package of the greatest musical songs to embrace their names in cinema history. This is a landmark celebration. In music retailing, you will not get any package that you offers the best and unique choice of high callibre music featured in movies. This takes some beating if you get what I mean. It is great value for money.

Cinema Century: A Musical Celebration of 100 Years of Cinema features three CDs of all the cinema songs which are a pleasure to listen and you can relive the magical and special moments of the greatest movies of all time. The list ranges from Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, Taxi Driver,Gone with the Wind, Out of Africa, A Passage to India, Chariots of Fire, Raiders of the Lost Ark and many more.

If you love classical music, then this is an album which is well suited to your musical taste. It is real treat for anyone who loves smoothing and relaxing music.

Play it Again...?, 24 Nov 2004
Probably not. What a shame, given the excellent range of titles on this 3 disc package. It was very disappointing to discover that these re-recordings based on the original film scores are no match for the original soundtrack recordings. To give just three examples: Max Steiner's - of all composers - 'Gone with the Wind' is weak and lacks all the pace, fullness, vigour and drama of the original soundtrack recording. And the same can be said of '633 Squadron' which has none of Goodwin's almost breathless pace; 'The Great Escape' can only be described as plodding. Unfortunately, this lack of energy in the scoring is identifiable virtually throughout the collection. There is a lot to be said for original soundtrack recordings, because the studios put a huge amount of effort into the orchestrations to get them spot on to the mood of the film, so my advice has to be go for original soundtracks every time - digtally re-mastered or not.

Very good, 19 Jun 2004
To be honest it is hard to review this box set. I can understand Andrew_mcp's point of view, and often find myself irritated by conductors playing around with the original material, or as Andrew wrote, when a small orchestra is used. In the case of these CDs I was not actually disappointed. I think with enough volume the recordings sound as good as the originals (though of course with a new orchestra and conductor). There are a lot of songs here for not a lot of money, which is good news, and in general the songs are great. I think I've rated this four and not five stars because I feel that potentially the song choices could have been better. For example, there is a lot of John Barry here, but it would have been nice to have varying themes as opposed to the very similar Dances with wolves, Born Free, and Out of Africa themes (though these are excellent). I also feel that there is more music from films like the Mission that I would have liked to hear rather than just the one theme. To be honest though I am being picky, and this is worth buying for unique tracks like the stroke of genius that is Where Eagles Dare, not to mention the likes of Zulu and Colonel Bogey. The more classical tracks are evened out with things like Mancini's Pink Panther and Fiedel's Terminator. This is well worth it for anyone who likes classic films.

Disappointingly "thin" versions, 11 Nov 2003
I was hoping for the full orchestral experience, but compared to the original soundtracks (ok, my memory of them), many of these versions are distinctly uninspiring... or recorded on a day when half the orchestra was off sick.

The playing as such isn't at fault, and 3 CDs for the price has to be good value for money. But I honestly can't recommend this.

You get a lot for your money!, 21 Mar 2003
This CD arrived this morning and already I've listened to most of it and love it - music from some of my favourite films such as "The Godfather" all on the one compilation! Even though I haven't seen most of the films I still love listening to the music. I bought this along with another film music compilation, "The Classic Score" and with these two CDs I've got a bit of everything!

A notable absence is "Titanic" but because I've heard the Titanic music so much, I was actually rather pleased to see it had been missed out! I was very pleased to discover that the track from "Bridge On the River Kwai" is the fun marching tune that all the soldiers whistle to on the film!! There are some real cinema classics on here, such as "Lawrence of Arabia", "Ben Hur", "Jaws"... the list is endless! So, three CDs, over 3 1/2 hours of great film music - you can't go far wrong with this!

One of the best music scores in Hollywood cinemas, 02 Feb 2001
Casablanca the movie and its music has always been popular since the movie first released several decades back. The whole essense of the music was romance, mystery and the fear of war in the back ground. As time goes by, will always remain as classic.

An Aural Adventure, 02 Apr 2002
I came to Amazon.co.uk to look for a replacement CD of "Adventure!" as a replacement for my old tape copy (EMI-Columbia TC-SCX 6091).

This was published in 1966 and contains many instantly recognisable film themes and other tunes.

From the bombascity of the themes to "633 Squadron" and "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines", to the tranquil sobriety of "Girl with a Dream" and "Under the Linden Tree", the album provides a perfect aural backdrop for a leisurely journey through the joyous and serene.

The conduction of, and performances from, Ron Goodwin's orchestra are faultless, as is George Martin's production. Various recordings have been used in other contexts to those originally composed for, such as "The Trap", famously used by BBC Sport as their theme to coverage of The London Marathon.

A very easy-to-listen to album, but with plenty of drama and pace to punctuate the dreamier platitudes. I shall look forward immensely to being able to listen to this on CD, which will no doubt bring a whole new lease of life to the album.

The most comprehensive package of cinema music on offer, 18 Nov 2006
Cinema Century: A Musical Celebration of 100 Years of Cinema offers you the the most comprehensive package of the greatest musical songs to embrace their names in cinema history. This is a landmark celebration. In music retailing, you will not get any package that you offers the best and unique choice of high callibre music featured in movies. This takes some beating if you get what I mean. It is great value for money.

Cinema Century: A Musical Celebration of 100 Years of Cinema features three CDs of all the cinema songs which are a pleasure to listen and you can relive the magical and special moments of the greatest movies of all time. The list ranges from Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, Taxi Driver,Gone with the Wind, Out of Africa, A Passage to India, Chariots of Fire, Raiders of the Lost Ark and many more.

If you love classical music, then this is an album which is well suited to your musical taste. It is real treat for anyone who loves smoothing and relaxing music.

Play it Again...?, 24 Nov 2004
Probably not. What a shame, given the excellent range of titles on this 3 disc package. It was very disappointing to discover that these re-recordings based on the original film scores are no match for the original soundtrack recordings. To give just three examples: Max Steiner's - of all composers - 'Gone with the Wind' is weak and lacks all the pace, fullness, vigour and drama of the original soundtrack recording. And the same can be said of '633 Squadron' which has none of Goodwin's almost breathless pace; 'The Great Escape' can only be described as plodding. Unfortunately, this lack of energy in the scoring is identifiable virtually throughout the collection. There is a lot to be said for original soundtrack recordings, because the studios put a huge amount of effort into the orchestrations to get them spot on to the mood of the film, so my advice has to be go for original soundtracks every time - digtally re-mastered or not.

Very good, 19 Jun 2004
To be honest it is hard to review this box set. I can understand Andrew_mcp's point of view, and often find myself irritated by conductors playing around with the original material, or as Andrew wrote, when a small orchestra is used. In the case of these CDs I was not actually disappointed. I think with enough volume the recordings sound as good as the originals (though of course with a new orchestra and conductor). There are a lot of songs here for not a lot of money, which is good news, and in general the songs are great. I think I've rated this four and not five stars because I feel that potentially the song choices could have been better. For example, there is a lot of John Barry here, but it would have been nice to have varying themes as opposed to the very similar Dances with wolves, Born Free, and Out of Africa themes (though these are excellent). I also feel that there is more music from films like the Mission that I would have liked to hear rather than just the one theme. To be honest though I am being picky, and this is worth buying for unique tracks like the stroke of genius that is Where Eagles Dare, not to mention the likes of Zulu and Colonel Bogey. The more classical tracks are evened out with things like Mancini's Pink Panther and Fiedel's Terminator. This is well worth it for anyone who likes classic films.

Disappointingly "thin" versions, 11 Nov 2003
I was hoping for the full orchestral experience, but compared to the original soundtracks (ok, my memory of them), many of these versions are distinctly uninspiring... or recorded on a day when half the orchestra was off sick.

The playing as such isn't at fault, and 3 CDs for the price has to be good value for money. But I honestly can't recommend this.

You get a lot for your money!, 21 Mar 2003
This CD arrived this morning and already I've listened to most of it and love it - music from some of my favourite films such as "The Godfather" all on the one compilation! Even though I haven't seen most of the films I still love listening to the music. I bought this along with another film music compilation, "The Classic Score" and with these two CDs I've got a bit of everything!

A notable absence is "Titanic" but because I've heard the Titanic music so much, I was actually rather pleased to see it had been missed out! I was very pleased to discover that the track from "Bridge On the River Kwai" is the fun marching tune that all the soldiers whistle to on the film!! There are some real cinema classics on here, such as "Lawrence of Arabia", "Ben Hur", "Jaws"... the list is endless! So, three CDs, over 3 1/2 hours of great film music - you can't go far wrong with this!

One of the best music scores in Hollywood cinemas, 02 Feb 2001
Casablanca the movie and its music has always been popular since the movie first released several decades back. The whole essense of the music was romance, mystery and the fear of war in the back ground. As time goes by, will always remain as classic.

A Welcome Reissue of an Acclaimed Complete Score Recording, 20 Oct 2007
This issue on Naxos is a reissue of an out-of-print 2001 Marco Polo release which can still be found online but generally at inflated prices. It features almost the complete score of Max Steiner's music for the classic combination film noir and Western, 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre', surely one of the finest American films, certainly one of the finest films directed by John Huston. It won him two Oscars. His father, Walter Huston, also won an Oscar for best supporting actor. And who can forget Humphrey Bogart's increasingly paranoid 'Dobbs' in B. Craven's story of lust for gold and its effect on the mental balance of those greedy souls who go after it? The score, as I say, is almost complete and certainly much more complete than previous recordings of 'suites' from the score. The only things missing are a few brief repetitious cues. At the end of the CD are three extra cues -- for the theatrical trailer, the alternate main title and the alternate finale.

Max Steiner's film music is a known quantity, sometimes now thought to be a bit old-fashioned in its use of luxurious orchestral textures utilizing a style he learned in his native Vienna. And there are those who feel that this score is a bit over the top. But anyone who has seen the film and paid particular attention to the use it makes of Steiner's score will agree that it is extraordinarily effective. Some argue that the 'Mexican' music actually sounds Spanish, and that is probably true (although I find that the 'Texas memories' cue does in fact sound at times more Mexican than Texan!). Still, this is vintage Steiner and worth preserving.

The score has been reconstructed by the redoubtable John Morgan, the noted film music expert. In his booklet notes he pays particular attention to the contribution made by Steiner's orchestrator, Murray Cutter, and I say bravo to that! The score is played beautifully by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, often used in Marco Polo/Naxos film score recordings, and they are deftly conducted by William T. Stromberg, surely one of the best in this field.

Recommended for those who know and love the film, and for those who enjoy film music per se.

Scott Morrison

An Aural Adventure, 02 Apr 2002
I came to Amazon.co.uk to look for a replacement CD of "Adventure!" as a replacement for my old tape copy (EMI-Columbia TC-SCX 6091).

This was published in 1966 and contains many instantly recognisable film themes and other tunes.

From the bombascity of the themes to "633 Squadron" and "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines", to the tranquil sobriety of "Girl with a Dream" and "Under the Linden Tree", the album provides a perfect aural backdrop for a leisurely journey through the joyous and serene.

The conduction of, and performances from, Ron Goodwin's orchestra are faultless, as is George Martin's production. Various recordings have been used in other contexts to those originally composed for, such as "The Trap", famously used by BBC Sport as their theme to coverage of The London Marathon.

A very easy-to-listen to album, but with plenty of drama and pace to punctuate the dreamier platitudes. I shall look forward immensely to being able to listen to this on CD, which will no doubt bring a whole new lease of life to the album.

The most comprehensive package of cinema music on offer, 18 Nov 2006
Cinema Century: A Musical Celebration of 100 Years of Cinema offers you the the most comprehensive package of the greatest musical songs to embrace their names in cinema history. This is a landmark celebration. In music retailing, you will not get any package that you offers the best and unique choice of high callibre music featured in movies. This takes some beating if you get what I mean. It is great value for money.

Cinema Century: A Musical Celebration of 100 Years of Cinema features three CDs of all the cinema songs which are a pleasure to listen and you can relive the magical and special moments of the greatest movies of all time. The list ranges from Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, Taxi Driver,Gone with the Wind, Out of Africa, A Passage to India, Chariots of Fire, Raiders of the Lost Ark and many more.

If you love classical music, then this is an album which is well suited to your musical taste. It is real treat for anyone who loves smoothing and relaxing music.

Play it Again...?, 24 Nov 2004
Probably not. What a shame, given the excellent range of titles on this 3 disc package. It was very disappointing to discover that these re-recordings based on the original film scores are no match for the original soundtrack recordings. To give just three examples: Max Steiner's - of all composers - 'Gone with the Wind' is weak and lacks all the pace, fullness, vigour and drama of the original soundtrack recording. And the same can be said of '633 Squadron' which has none of Goodwin's almost breathless pace; 'The Great Escape' can only be described as plodding. Unfortunately, this lack of energy in the scoring is identifiable virtually throughout the collection. There is a lot to be said for original soundtrack recordings, because the studios put a huge amount of effort into the orchestrations to get them spot on to the mood of the film, so my advice has to be go for original soundtracks every time - digtally re-mastered or not.

Very good, 19 Jun 2004
To be honest it is hard to review this box set. I can understand Andrew_mcp's point of view, and often find myself irritated by conductors playing around with the original material, or as Andrew wrote, when a small orchestra is used. In the case of these CDs I was not actually disappointed. I think with enough volume the recordings sound as good as the originals (though of course with a new orchestra and conductor). There are a lot of songs here for not a lot of money, which is good news, and in general the songs are great. I think I've rated this four and not five stars because I feel that potentially the song choices could have been better. For example, there is a lot of John Barry here, but it would have been nice to have varying themes as opposed to the very similar Dances with wolves, Born Free, and Out of Africa themes (though these are excellent). I also feel that there is more music from films like the Mission that I would have liked to hear rather than just the one theme. To be honest though I am being picky, and this is worth buying for unique tracks like the stroke of genius that is Where Eagles Dare, not to mention the likes of Zulu and Colonel Bogey. The more classical tracks are evened out with things like Mancini's Pink Panther and Fiedel's Terminator. This is well worth it for anyone who likes classic films.

Disappointingly "thin" versions, 11 Nov 2003
I was hoping for the full orchestral experience, but compared to the original soundtracks (ok, my memory of them), many of these versions are distinctly uninspiring... or recorded on a day when half the orchestra was off sick.

The playing as such isn't at fault, and 3 CDs for the price has to be good value for money. But I honestly can't recommend this.

You get a lot for your money!, 21 Mar 2003
This CD arrived this morning and already I've listened to most of it and love it - music from some of my favourite films such as "The Godfather" all on the one compilation! Even though I haven't seen most of the films I still love listening to the music. I bought this along with another film music compilation, "The Classic Score" and with these two CDs I've got a bit of everything!

A notable absence is "Titanic" but because I've heard the Titanic music so much, I was actually rather pleased to see it had been missed out! I was very pleased to discover that the track from "Bridge On the River Kwai" is the fun marching tune that all the soldiers whistle to on the film!! There are some real cinema classics on here, such as "Lawrence of Arabia", "Ben Hur", "Jaws"... the list is endless! So, three CDs, over 3 1/2 hours of great film music - you can't go far wrong with this!

One of the best music scores in Hollywood cinemas, 02 Feb 2001
Casablanca the movie and its music has always been popular since the movie first released several decades back. The whole essense of the music was romance, mystery and the fear of war in the back ground. As time goes by, will always remain as classic.

A Welcome Reissue of an Acclaimed Complete Score Recording, 20 Oct 2007
This issue on Naxos is a reissue of an out-of-print 2001 Marco Polo release which can still be found online but generally at inflated prices. It features almost the complete score of Max Steiner's music for the classic combination film noir and Western, 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre', surely one of the finest American films, certainly one of the finest films directed by John Huston. It won him two Oscars. His father, Walter Huston, also won an Oscar for best supporting actor. And who can forget Humphrey Bogart's increasingly paranoid 'Dobbs' in B. Craven's story of lust for gold and its effect on the mental balance of those greedy souls who go after it? The score, as I say, is almost complete and certainly much more complete than previous recordings of 'suites' from the score. The only things missing are a few brief repetitious cues. At the end of the CD are three extra cues -- for the theatrical trailer, the alternate main title and the alternate finale.

Max Steiner's film music is a known quantity, sometimes now thought to be a bit old-fashioned in its use of luxurious orchestral textures utilizing a style he learned in his native Vienna. And there are those who feel that this score is a bit over the top. But anyone who has seen the film and paid particular attention to the use it makes of Steiner's score will agree that it is extraordinarily effective. Some argue that the 'Mexican' music actually sounds Spanish, and that is probably true (although I find that the 'Texas memories' cue does in fact sound at times more Mexican than Texan!). Still, this is vintage Steiner and worth preserving.

The score has been reconstructed by the redoubtable John Morgan, the noted film music expert. In his booklet notes he pays particular attention to the contribution made by Steiner's orchestrator, Murray Cutter, and I say bravo to that! The score is played beautifully by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, often used in Marco Polo/Naxos film score recordings, and they are deftly conducted by William T. Stromberg, surely one of the best in this field.

Recommended for those who know and love the film, and for those who enjoy film music per se.

Scott Morrison

Misleading title?, 24 Dec 2008
When I bought this I thought that the recordings would be from the original soundtracks - be careful they are not - some are but some are from albums made over the years on the CBS RCA and Sony labels.

Its not bad value but may not be quite what you think it is.

An Aural Adventure, 02 Apr 2002
I came to Amazon.co.uk to look for a replacement CD of "Adventure!" as a replacement for my old tape copy (EMI-Columbia TC-SCX 6091).

This was published in 1966 and contains many instantly recognisable film themes and other tunes.

From the bombascity of the themes to "633 Squadron" and "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines", to the tranquil sobriety of "Girl with a Dream" and "Under the Linden Tree", the album provides a perfect aural backdrop for a leisurely journey through the joyous and serene.

The conduction of, and performances from, Ron Goodwin's orchestra are faultless, as is George Martin's production. Various recordings have been used in other contexts to those originally composed for, such as "The Trap", famously used by BBC Sport as their theme to coverage of The London Marathon.

A very easy-to-listen to album, but with plenty of drama and pace to punctuate the dreamier platitudes. I shall look forward immensely to being able to listen to this on CD, which will no doubt bring a whole new lease of life to the album.

The most comprehensive package of cinema music on offer, 18 Nov 2006
Cinema Century: A Musical Celebration of 100 Years of Cinema offers you the the most comprehensive package of the greatest musical songs to embrace their names in cinema history. This is a landmark celebration. In music retailing, you will not get any package that you offers the best and unique choice of high callibre music featured in movies. This takes some beating if you get what I mean. It is great value for money.

Cinema Century: A Musical Celebration of 100 Years of Cinema features three CDs of all the cinema songs which are a pleasure to listen and you can relive the magical and special moments of the greatest movies of all time. The list ranges from Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, Taxi Driver,Gone with the Wind, Out of Africa, A Passage to India, Chariots of Fire, Raiders of the Lost Ark and many more.

If you love classical music, then this is an album which is well suited to your musical taste. It is real treat for anyone who loves smoothing and relaxing music.

Play it Again...?, 24 Nov 2004
Probably not. What a shame, given the excellent range of titles on this 3 disc package. It was very disappointing to discover that these re-recordings based on the original film scores are no match for the original soundtrack recordings. To give just three examples: Max Steiner's - of all composers - 'Gone with the Wind' is weak and lacks all the pace, fullness, vigour and drama of the original soundtrack recording. And the same can be said of '633 Squadron' which has none of Goodwin's almost breathless pace; 'The Great Escape' can only be described as plodding. Unfortunately, this lack of energy in the scoring is identifiable virtually throughout the collection. There is a lot to be said for original soundtrack recordings, because the studios put a huge amount of effort into the orchestrations to get them spot on to the mood of the film, so my advice has to be go for original soundtracks every time - digtally re-mastered or not.

Very good, 19 Jun 2004
To be honest it is hard to review this box set. I can understand Andrew_mcp's point of view, and often find myself irritated by conductors playing around with the original material, or as Andrew wrote, when a small orchestra is used. In the case of these CDs I was not actually disappointed. I think with enough volume the recordings sound as good as the originals (though of course with a new orchestra and conductor). There are a lot of songs here for not a lot of money, which is good news, and in general the songs are great. I think I've rated this four and not five stars because I feel that potentially the song choices could have been better. For example, there is a lot of John Barry here, but it would have been nice to have varying themes as opposed to the very similar Dances with wolves, Born Free, and Out of Africa themes (though these are excellent). I also feel that there is more music from films like the Mission that I would have liked to hear rather than just the one theme. To be honest though I am being picky, and this is worth buying for unique tracks like the stroke of genius that is Where Eagles Dare, not to mention the likes of Zulu and Colonel Bogey. The more classical tracks are evened out with things like Mancini's Pink Panther and Fiedel's Terminator. This is well worth it for anyone who likes classic films.

Disappointingly "thin" versions, 11 Nov 2003
I was hoping for the full orchestral experience, but compared to the original soundtracks (ok, my memory of them), many of these versions are distinctly uninspiring... or recorded on a day when half the orchestra was off sick.

The playing as such isn't at fault, and 3 CDs for the price has to be good value for money. But I honestly can't recommend this.

You get a lot for your money!, 21 Mar 2003
This CD arrived this morning and already I've listened to most of it and love it - music from some of my favourite films such as "The Godfather" all on the one compilation! Even though I haven't seen most of the films I still love listening to the music. I bought this along with another film music compilation, "The Classic Score" and with these two CDs I've got a bit of everything!

A notable absence is "Titanic" but because I've heard the Titanic music so much, I was actually rather pleased to see it had been missed out! I was very pleased to discover that the track from "Bridge On the River Kwai" is the fun marching tune that all the soldiers whistle to on the film!! There are some real cinema classics on here, such as "Lawrence of Arabia", "Ben Hur", "Jaws"... the list is endless! So, three CDs, over 3 1/2 hours of great film music - you can't go far wrong with this!

One of the best music scores in Hollywood cinemas, 02 Feb 2001
Casablanca the movie and its music has always been popular since the movie first released several decades back. The whole essense of the music was romance, mystery and the fear of war in the back ground. As time goes by, will always remain as classic.

A Welcome Reissue of an Acclaimed Complete Score Recording, 20 Oct 2007
This issue on Naxos is a reissue of an out-of-print 2001 Marco Polo release which can still be found online but generally at inflated prices. It features almost the complete score of Max Steiner's music for the classic combination film noir and Western, 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre', surely one of the finest American films, certainly one of the finest films directed by John Huston. It won him two Oscars. His father, Walter Huston, also won an Oscar for best supporting actor. And who can forget Humphrey Bogart's increasingly paranoid 'Dobbs' in B. Craven's story of lust for gold and its effect on the mental balance of those greedy souls who go after it? The score, as I say, is almost complete and certainly much more complete than previous recordings of 'suites' from the score. The only things missing are a few brief repetitious cues. At the end of the CD are three extra cues -- for the theatrical trailer, the alternate main title and the alternate finale.

Max Steiner's film music is a known quantity, sometimes now thought to be a bit old-fashioned in its use of luxurious orchestral textures utilizing a style he learned in his native Vienna. And there are those who feel that this score is a bit over the top. But anyone who has seen the film and paid particular attention to the use it makes of Steiner's score will agree that it is extraordinarily effective. Some argue that the 'Mexican' music actually sounds Spanish, and that is probably true (although I find that the 'Texas memories' cue does in fact sound at times more Mexican than Texan!). Still, this is vintage Steiner and worth preserving.

The score has been reconstructed by the redoubtable John Morgan, the noted film music expert. In his booklet notes he pays particular attention to the contribution made by Steiner's orchestrator, Murray Cutter, and I say bravo to that! The score is played beautifully by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, often used in Marco Polo/Naxos film score recordings, and they are deftly conducted by William T. Stromberg, surely one of the best in this field.

Recommended for those who know and love the film, and for those who enjoy film music per se.

Scott Morrison

Misleading title?, 24 Dec 2008
When I bought this I thought that the recordings would be from the original soundtracks - be careful they are not - some are but some are from albums made over the years on the CBS RCA and Sony labels.

Its not bad value but may not be quite what you think it is.

"Since You Went Away" A Steiner Masterpiece, 25 May 2004
As the composer of household titles like "King Kong," "Gone With the Wind" and "Casblanca," not to mention the esteemed author of the superb scores to "The Informer" and "Now, Voyager," it is ironic that Max Steiner's most beautiful score is the one he penned for the little-known "Since You Went Away," for which the Maestro won the third of his three Oscars. Deftly weaving some themes formally employed in "A Star is Born," the swelling cadences and unabashedly emotional phrases in the opening tracks are gorgeous to hear; they give way to walzting passages and lilting lyricism, that shows the composer at the peak of his form. The CD is unforgettable, and should no doubt, rekindle interest in this highly-regarded but little-seen film.