Apollo 13 (soundtrack)

Apollo 13: Music From The Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 1995 film Apollo 13 featuring an original score composed, conducted and producer by James Horner. The soundtrack was released on June 27, 1995 by MCA Records that compiled seven tracks of score, eight period songs used in the film, and seven tracks of dialogue by the actors at a running time of nearly 78 minutes.

Apollo 13: Music From The Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by
ReleasedJune 27, 1995
GenreSoundtrack
Length77:41
LabelMCA
ProducerJames Horner
James Horner chronology
Braveheart
(1995)
Apollo 13
(2019)
Jade
(1995)

The score was a critical success and was nominated for Best Original Dramatic Score at the 68th Academy Awards, along with Horner's other score for Braveheart, released at the same year. In 2019, the full score was released by Intrada Records at an expanded edition along with the original release, and remastered editions of Horner's full score.

Track listing edit

All music is composed by James Horner, except where noted

Apollo 13: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No.TitleLength
1."Main Title"1:32
2."One Small Step"0:42
3."Night Train" (performed by James Brown, written by Jimmy Forrest, Lewis Simpkins and Oscar Washington)3:27
4."Groovin'" (performed by The Young Rascals)2:26
5."Somebody to Love" (performed by Jefferson Airplane)2:55
6."I Can See for Miles" (performed by The Who)4:09
7."Purple Haze" (performed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience)2:48
8."Launch Control"3:28
9."All Systems Go/The Launch"6:39
10."Welcome to Apollo 13"0:38
11."Spirit in the Sky" (performed and written by Norman Greenbaum)3:50
12."House Cleaning/Houston, We Have a Problem"1:34
13."Master Alarm"2:54
14."What's Going On?"0:34
15."Into the L.E.M."3:43
16."Out of Time/Shut Her Down"2:20
17."The Darkside of the Moon" (performed by Annie Lennox)5:09
18."Failure is Not an Option"1:18
19."Honky Tonkin'" (performed and written by Hank Williams)2:42
20."Blue Moon" (performed by The Mavericks, written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart)4:09
21."Waiting for Disaster/A Privilege"0:43
22."Re-Entry & Splashdown"9:05
23."End Titles" (performed by Annie Lennox)5:34

Reception edit

Tom Demalon of AllMusic gave four out of five stars and wrote "The orchestrated score manages to capture the drama of the events in a manner that ranges from quietly stirring to sweepingly epic, with Eurythmic Annie Lennox adding her distinctive, ethereal vocal accompaniment to several of the cuts."[1] A review from Filmtracks.com gave five-stars to the album ranking "easily among the best of the 1990's".[2] Writing for Tracksounds, Christopher Coleman rated 9/10 to the album and summarised "This score obviously inspired David Kneupper's work for the Apollo/ Saturn V Exhibit and who could blame him.  Horner's score, like the story of the Apollo 13 mission, has inspired countless and continues to inspire today."[3]

Zanobard Reviews rated 9/10 to the album and commented "James Horner’s score to Apollo 13 is nothing short of “out of this world”. His expert use of instrumentation and vocals make the score the perfect accompaniment to the film, and his near masterful use of tone and emotion is what gets the music to truly stand out from the crowd. The main theme is fantastic, setting an appropriately heroic and patriotic tone for the score while at the same time keeping up tension and drama when they are needed. I do feel that the motif is perhaps a tad overused at times, which makes its appearances at critical moments in the film somewhat less impactful than they should be, but honestly this is a nitpick more than anything else."[4] Music critic Jonathan Broxton wrote "Apollo 13 reveals Horner’s genius in both conception and execution, a score which inspires, rouses, yet also frightens us."[5] James Southall of Movie Wave wrote "It is respectfully heroic and noble but still carries a real dramatic thrust and the emotional climax is wonderful.  In the film, every note of the music is perfectly judged; away from it, a constant source of pleasure."[6]

Sean Wilson of MFiles wrote "Horner really hit his peak in the mid-90s with scores such as Apollo 13. Titanic may have scooped the Oscar glory a couple of years later but this is arguably a far more accomplished work, having to bridge the dialogue heavy sections of the movie with graceful verve, and without reducing the film's narrative to the level of tawdry melodrama. In an outstanding year for film music, Horner's work on Apollo 13 soared with the best of them."[7]

Live performance edit

Four years after Horner's death in June 2015, the American Youth Symphony orchestra performed the entire score live to picture (along with the special screening of the film) at the Royce Hall in University of California, Los Angeles on November 16, 2019.[8]

Limited edition edit

On January 15, 2019, Intrada Records released the expanded edition of the score album, containing Horner's full score for the film.[9]

Disc 1
No.TitleLength
1."Main Title" (film version)1:53
2."Lunar Dreams"2:40
3."A Son's Worries And Simulator Crash"4:37
4."Night Visitors"1:08
5."All Systems Go – The Launch"10:19
6."Docking"2:26
7."Master Alarm" (film version)3:31
8."Into The L.E.M." (film version)5:10
9."The Dark Side Of The Moon"5:18
10."Carbon Dioxide"5:45
11."Manual Burn"1:56
12."A War Story"1:06
13."Four More Amps"3:22
14."L.E.M. Jettison"1:37
15."Re-Entry And Splashdown" (film version)9:15
16."End Credits" (film version)6:55
17."Marilyn's Nightmare"0:58
18."Canister Explosion"0:24
19."Reactant Valves"1:09
20."Out Of Control"1:08
21."Power Off"0:57
22."A Square Peg"3:49
23."Cosmic Connection"0:44
Total length:76:07
Disc 2
No.TitleLength
1."Main Title"2:40
2."Lunar Dreams"2:41
3."All Systems Go – The Launch"10:21
4."Docking"2:26
5."Master Alarm"3:06
6."Into the L.E.M"5:10
7."The Dark Side Of The Moon"5:17
8."Carbon Dioxide"5:45
9."Manual Burn"1:57
10."Four More Amps"3:20
11."Re-Entry And Splashdown"9:15
12."End Credits"6:59
Total length:58:57

Personnel edit

Credits adapted from CD liner notes.[9]

Accolades edit

Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
1996 Academy Awards Best Original Dramatic Score James Horner Nominated [10]
[11]
[12]
Chicago Film Critics Association Best Original Score Nominated [13]
[14]
2019 International Film Music Critics Association Best Archival Release of an Existing Score – Re-Release or Re-Recording James Horner, Mike Matessino, Kay Marshall and John Takis Nominated [15]
[16]

References edit

  1. ^ Demalon, Tom. "Review: Apollo 13 [Music from the Motion Picture]". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  2. ^ "Filmtracks: Apollo 13 (James Horner)". www.filmtracks.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  3. ^ Coleman, Christopher. "Review: Apollo 13". Tracksounds. Archived from the original on April 1, 2009. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  4. ^ Zanobard (February 15, 2019). "Apollo 13 (Intrada) – Soundtrack Review". Zanobard Reviews. Archived from the original on July 30, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  5. ^ "APOLLO 13 – James Horner". MOVIE MUSIC UK. March 25, 2019. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  6. ^ Southall, James (August 18, 2013). "Apollo 13 soundtrack review". Movie Wave. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  7. ^ "James Horner - Apollo 13 original film score soundtrack review". www.mfiles.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  8. ^ Greiving, Tim (November 26, 2019). "Concert Review: 'Apollo 13' Revisited With Live to Picture Performance". Variety. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  9. ^ a b "APOLLO 13 (2CD)". Intrada Records. Archived from the original on May 24, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  10. ^ "The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMPAS. Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  11. ^ Welkos, Robert W.; Claudia Puig (February 14, 1996). "Gibson's Epic Gets 10, 'Babe' Ties for Third". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  12. ^ Weinraug, Bernard (February 14, 1996). "Oscar Nominations Are Just One Surprise After Another". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  13. ^ Caro, Mark (March 12, 1996). "Chicago Film Critics Don't Run With Pack". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  14. ^ Gire, Dann (January 15, 1996). "Chicago Critics Stand Own Ground with Film Nominations". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2014.(subscription required)
  15. ^ Anderson, Erik (February 6, 2020). "Hildur Guðnadóttir leads International Film Music Critics Association (IMFCA) nominations". AwardsWatch. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  16. ^ IFMCA (February 20, 2020). "IFMCA Award Winners 2019". IFMCA. Archived from the original on February 21, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.