The Punisher

Review by Paul Hildebrandt:

With both a dark anti-hero of the film noir days and small hints to the Italian spaghetti westerns, Italian composer Carlo Siliotto has crafted an excellent dark score to The Punisher. Boasting a massive 30 tracks by La-La Land Records this CD includes most if not all music from the movie making it an excellent release by La-La Land. Siliotto remarked in an interview that he hated all American movies but once he viewed a screening of The Punisher he understood what the movie was about and how it related to the movies made by Sergio Leone. Siliotto took this idea of the anti-hero western and crafted a most excellent score. Lets begin the analysis; 'The Punisher' main title is not your average super hero theme of bombastic brass and string but instead a well thought out theme with an almost sad sound to it, allowing the audience to connect with the idea of the punisher. 'Otto Krieg' however starts off with a heavy string line which I do believe fits the scene, a corvette drives up and the strings raise, for a shot that wasn’t suspenseful at all Siliotto made a mistake. After that the track moves on to a more natural light brass and string, then for the action and suspense he comes in with drums making it a much more enjoyable listen. From here on until 'The Massacre' the score is nothing special and more comparable to your average low budget TV movie score. 'The Massacre' brings in a small hint of the punisher action theme and some good suspense, but still nothing to write home about.

In 'God's gonna Sit This one Out' the first complete punisher action theme comes around with a repeating string / synth hit followed by an excellent brass rhythm that presents the suspense most effectively, this theme continues throughout the movie and works great. In my opinion the best track on the album is 'About Your Family / Setting a Trap' which uses the punisher action theme largely, adds heavy brass and strings and creates a great dark heroic theme, the movie offered little chance for Siliotto to expand his action talents up until now, but he finally proves what he can do. 'A Bomb for John Saint' continues with the punisher action theme, heavy brass and a drum roll which works well. 'The Thugs' is probably the best slow track on the CD but slows down to where I cannot enjoy it. 'She Took the Train / Punishment' again brings in the heavy string hit and brass with the punisher action theme which I have come to love so much. 'The Arrow' brings a new action theme and ends with some great drumming, something which a lot of modern film scores are missing today, the heavy drumming brings a great feeling of the dark action which the film was trying to create. 'Call Me "The Punisher"' ends off the score with the action theme and the main theme to bring the album to a close. In all The Punisher is no academy award winner but is definitely a score to be recognized, and I believe that the punisher action theme is one of the best themes for 2004.

\ตตต1/2/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. The Punisher (0.56) Excellent Track
2. Otto Krieg (3.14 )

3. Unusual Resurrection (1.40 )

4. Moving (3.09)

5. I Can't Believe I'm Home (1.23)

6. His Whole Family (1.27)

7. The Massacre (5.45)

8. Death And Resurrection Of Frank Castle (1.47)

9. God's Gonna Sit This One Out (3.57)

10. Ice Lolly And Meat (1.28)

11. You're Gonna Help Me (1.24)

12. Entering The Fort (1.58)

13. About Your Family / Setting A Trap (3.11) Excellent Track

14. A Bomb For John Saint (1.08) Excellent Track

15. Good Memories Can Save Your Life (1.13)

16. The Thugs (1.30)

17. The Torture (3.12)

18. Elevator And Headache (1.07)

19. A New Family / Joan's Suffering (3.34)

20. Quentin's Glass Home (1.32)

21. Killing A Best Friend (1.43)

22. You Don't Understand ... End Of A Dark Lady (2.34)

23. She Took The Train / Punishment (1.47) Excellent Track

24. The Arrow (1.48) Excellent Track

25. Both Of Them (1.32)

26. The Skull (2.34)

27. Castle's Loneliness (1.35)

28. Call Me "The Punisher" (2.23)

29. Jealous One: J.C. Loader (3.52)

30. La Donna E' Mobile: Peter Dvorsky (2.06)

Total Length: 65.37

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons