The Mask of Zorro

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

There are examples of James Horner ripping everything of. From his own work to the ones of others. And then there are scores where he simply brings difference, with only the basic style of the composer appearing for the fun of it. And The Mask of Zorro is luckily the latter one. James Horner just stepped of the Oscar pitch with both Golden Globe and Oscar, and more was enjoying the amazing success of the soundtrack Titanic. But with Martin Campbell's movie he was back on another challenge and easily surpassed our expectations with an enjoyable Spanish affair. This score has it all, flair, twist, energy, romance, speed, rhythm and adventure and therefore The Mask of Zorro still stands as a winner for most people. Its of course easy to know why, its very slim in borrowings and only die die die hard haters of Horner would comment that the score has rips from other scores. Its simply the own finesse and flair that does it for the soundtrack. And this is basically surrounded by two themes, the one is the adventure theme or simply Zorro's theme and the other is the love theme for either Zorro 1 (Anthony Hopkins and his wife Esperanza) or the growing romance between Zorro 2 (Antonio Banderas and stunning beauty Catherine Zeta Jones). Together, there is a constant shift between these two themes and its rhythm and flair makes the rest happen, together a winning combination.

The soundtrack lasts for 75 minutes and it was with Deep Impact, Titanic and Mighty Joe Young the start of the super long production score. Most scores by that time would fail to be completely interesting but The Mask of Zorro stays intriguing from start to the end. And this along with the fact that no real thefts have been made by Horner makes it a listen for the big soundtrack fanatic. 'The Plaza of Execution' still remains the best track of the score, with the handclaps setting the rhythm and the heroic fanfare of Zorro appearing over the entire piece, the shakuhachi with the theme at the end makes for a most powerful version in both film and score. 'Elena and Esperanza' captures the other theme of the soundtrack and is equally lovely to have, a romantic breeze with guitar and occasional shakuhachi and the romance is complete. And the track 'The Ride' that follows it is the action highlight of the score with a terrific theme to support the pace and the punch of the cue. Of course no Horner score could be without the evil four note motif and guess what, it appears here also. First in 'Elena's Truth' together with the love theme, and also in "Leave no Witnesses ...", a 13 minute cracker that produces interesting layers of action fanfares around the 7th minute with trademark Horner moments, such as the mysterious lonely strings of the opening of Aliens. 'The Fencing Lesson' uses the handclaps and Zorro's theme in a playful manner while 'Tornado in the Barracks' does it even more with energy, with the help of marimbas and guitar.

The track 'The Confession' brings back the emotional signs of Braveheart, and quite good too since its performed on the same manner as the flutes and strings did it in the romantic portions of that score. 'Zorro's Theme' is a wonderful short concert suite of both Zorro's as the love theme and 'Diego's Goodbye' is a rather subdued piece of again the love theme with final whistles of the shakuhachi like heard in Jumannji and Braveheart. The song version of the love theme at the end has been a normal affair with Horner's scores, naturally written by Horner and lyrics by "who else then" Will Jennings, its not smalthzy nor over the top but a rather good orchestral love version, with even whirling strings at the end. And then the rapport says that The Mask of Zorro is a great ride, both from musical point as from the originality factor. For Horner fans, its one of the best he composed in the last couple of years and for normal soundtrack lovers, its a score full of flair and rhythm, on both action as romantic style. Its not hard to really like it and even though the romantic versions or the non action moments aren't too thrilling after a while, its still the listening experience that remains the best part of the score. The Mask of Zorro is simply one of Horner's best creations, is very light on actual rips and apart from some moments of Titanic and Braveheart, its one of Honer's most beloved projects of the '90. And its easy to hear why.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. The Plaza Of Execution (8.28) Excellent Track

2. Elena And Esperanza (8.19)

3. The Ride (3.25) Excellent Track

4. Elena's Truth (4.11)

5. The Fencing Lesson (5.29)

6. Tornado In The Barracks (5.11)

7. The Confession (3.42)

8. Zorro's Theme (3.00) Excellent Track

9. The Mine (Montero's Vision) (2.59)

10. Stealing The Map (6.30)

11. "Leave No Witnesses ..." (13.20) Excellent Track

12. Diego's Goodbye (5.23)

13. I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You: M. Anthony & T. Arena (4.42)

Total Length: 74.48

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=== Link to Composer Site: James Horner ===