Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

After the controversial score Klaus Badelt composed for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (which Hans Zimmer wrote the themes for) people were at a point that they couldn't decide to love the coolness of it or detest the electronics of it all. Then came Dead Man's Chest, the middle portion of the trilogy and people saw Hans Zimmer's name on the CD along with his companions of ghost writers. People still detested the electronics and came in contact with nothing they ever heard in a pirate film before, namely electric guitars. My god! And yet the Kraken never sounded more cooler than that and for all that synthesized music, Dead Man's Chest was a better listen and a more diverse one than the first. Now we reach the end At World's End and the end of the Pirates trilogy. Mr. Zimmer is again on board and the only question is, which toy would he unleash now upon the community so they could detest it even more? The easy answer would be, themes that simply are awesome. I simply wanted Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End to be equally fun as the others but contain an extra asset of quality so that it could end the series with the bang. Yet this I didn't expect at all. Because the truth is it simply rocks from top to bottom. It simply is the score everyone wanted to hear yet nobody expected to hear in the end. And for you Zimmer haters out there, of course the style is still saturated in the sound of the previous. Of course people will detest it because its not orchestral like a John Debney's Cutthroat Island. And then these guys are simply not thinking clearly. Again I'm telling ya, the sound and the tone of the scores was set and changing it now would completely ruin the tone of the movies in general. And yet Hans Zimmer changed the tone of the score in At World's End because its more orchestral than ever before (especially with solo instruments) and that it has themes I literally never dreamed off hearing in the POTC universe. Starting over with a dared attempt to actually bring in a pirate song in the genre. And yet 'Hoist the Colours' fails a little bit and works a lot. You have to see it in context of the whole picture and then the vocals work their piraty charm upon you. In 'Singapore' that pirate tune immediately turns up in soft ethnic sense, until the first part of the action is heard with some ethnic instruments and a lot of oomph's and the inevitable Jack Sparrow theme, the big one and not his comical one. What's missing sadly is the continuation of the action music because that literally cooked big balls of fun in the movie. And this is sad.

However as said Zimmer wrote 4 new themes, and the best 2 of them are heard now in 'At Wit's End' and this is the start of the goodie period. The at world's end theme whispers first quietly its charm upon you until after some solo vocals it explodes literally on screen with a mind boggling performance, I'm talking about the love theme which is too good not to fall in love with it. The effect I had was like hearing for the first time on screen Across the Stars of Star Wars 2: Attack of the Clones, it just is so perfect for the picture itself. It has that longing effect and that quality that you just want to hear more of it each time. However the track isn't over yet and it reinstates the music box love theme of Davy Jones, both soft and bombastically and when we reach the apocalyptic end of it all, you'll know where we face ourselves on screen. One of the peculiar scenes holds also the most peculiar music of the series. But 'Multiple Jacks' simply works so spot on the scene that it is another proof how well Hans Zimmer understands what music goes for which scene, a hypnotizing moody atmosphere honors Jack's comical theme with a rocking attitude and a rhythmic ticking sound that you must hear because I can't describe it any other way. Its extremely effective. What's effective but above all amazingly fun on screen and now entitled already as one of the most fun tracks of the year is 'Up is Down'. Again how Zimmer wrote a spot on the money theme for such a scene is unbelievable because if you see the scene you understand the music behind it. And here is where at world's end theme just grows from simple jigs and woodwinds to a full mind blowing version with added choir for good measure. Ladies and gentlemen: if you're not dancing with this one I don't know what else can make you dance. 'I See Dead People in Boats' has the amazing love theme so softly but beautifully and after some underscore its heard again, but now much more powerful and more explosive. And in the next tracks a bit of everything is instated, like Jack's theme and a soft pirate main theme statement in 'The Brethren Court', a total homage to Ennio Morricone's Once Upon a Time in the West and specifically the man with the harmonica. However 'Parlay' is not like Bates 300 ripping, this is using your own themes in the Morricone version so that you can find yourselves in both of them. And apocalyptic choir is used for the rise of 'Calypso', watch also out for Tia Dalma's theme, and then you'll understand.

And then you wonder where the true fun begins. And that my friends is with 'What Shall We Die For' where a new pirate theme is born, another power anthem that receives a bombastic rise with choir, you gotta love those ex MV composers and their choir. Sadly the best part of the action music is again missing, like in the begin the most fun music is not heard in the track 'I Don't Think Now is the Best Time' but before it in the film. This covered the most original music and above all a truly astonishing at world's end performance but alas this one doesn't come here. What this 10 minute cracker does hold is themes mixed together in the MV sense. There is choir, we have Jack's theme, the pirate song theme with choir, the at world's end theme, a dance sequence where he shines the duel with his love theme and also more Pirate music that we heard in the first score. This is what I'm referring to as original one because the action music before it carried more new material. But this track still is an example of Zimmer throwing everything together in a rip roaring mix of beauty meets testosterone. And you'll know here that Pirates goes over the edge with both scenery as musicality. In 'One Day' we receive Jack's action theme (on choral support) and the beautiful expanding love theme. Jesus it still listens so good with those gliding strings creating such a magical longing sense, no better understood than here. And in the end credit 'Drink Up me Hearties' you get a mind blowing mix on the biggest power level yet, the main pirate theme, the at world's end theme and the love theme in 4 minutes of mind-blowing music. Its a roller coaster ride, its an achievement of how to finish of a saga in the most powerful sense imaginable. This is the version that must end Pirates of the Caribbean. And if you look at the whole picture you see nothing but expanding quality. The first was fun and a guilty pleasure but it lacked originality. In the second we reached daredevil tricks of guitars and kraken'us coolness with more diverse themes. And for Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End Zimmer throws epic themes to it that just couldn't come at a better time. And as for me? I can't stop listening to tracks 5 and 13! Because they are the most fun cues I heard all year through. And isn't Pirates supposed to be fun? So if people still think less of this score I think they have a serious condition. That they can't stand open for new music. I would have been thrilled to hear an Alan Silvestri reach for that John Debney epic'ness that he created in Cutthroat Island, I really would have loved that. But if you consider where the tone of the first one has started with, and where the third has ended with you can only say that Mr. Zimmer ended the POTC saga with the most spectacular score imaginable. Arghhh Suck that up you hearties.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Hoist The Colours (1.31)

2. Singapore (3.40)

3. At Wit's End (8.05) Excellent Track

4. Multiple Jacks (3.51)

5. Up Is Down (2.42) Excellent Track

6. I See Dead People In Boats (7.09)

7. The Brethren Court (2.21)

8. Parlay (2.10)

9. Calypso (3.02)

10. What Shall We Die For (2.02) Excellent Track

11. I Don't Think Now Is The Best Time (10.45) Excellent Track

12. One Day (4.01) Excellent Track

13. Drink Up Me Hearties (4.31) Excellent Track

Total Length: 55.57

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=== Link to Composer Site: Hans Zimmer ===