When I heard that David Arnold was working on the score to Wing Commander it would have been an understatement to say that I was ecstatic. First of all I am a major fan of the Wing Commander game series that the movie was based on. Secondly, David Arnold is quickly becoming one of my favorite composers. He is the man who wrote the hugely popular score to Stargate and is the same man who brought John Barry's style of music back to the James Bond film series with his score to Tomorrow Never Dies. I was looking forward to hearing his interpretation of the Wing Commander universe when I heard that director Chris Roberts wouldn't be using game score composer George Oldiezy. I was not disappointed. But that fact is not solely on account of David Arnold. Kevin Kiner did more than his fair share as well.
Arnold contributed the main theme to the score. It is the first track on the CD and is reprised again and again on almost every track. It is appropriately patriotic and hints at some of the patriotism sought for his score to Independence Day. From there, Kevin Kiner takes the reins. Kiner had worked off of material written by Arnold before when he adapted Arnold's score from Stargate for the spin-off series Stargate SG-1. The movie was disappointing but the score kept moral up with its bravado and machismo.
As in his previous efforts, Arnold uses a choir quite beautifully in several tracks however, don't think that that means the score is by anymeans subdued. Far from it. It is one of the few scores out there that has no trouble being heard at normal volume. A particularly fun track is Hot Dogs which accompanies Maniac and Rosie's wild flight through space in the movie. Clever use of synthesizers and orchestra make this a worthy listen. The fact that I bought the score before seeing the movie speaks volumes. If you like David Arnold, check this one out. I think you'll like it.
Total time: 38:30
1: Overture (3:36)
2: Pod Scene (1:53)
3: Torpedo Kilrathi (3:31)
4: Pilgrims (1:50)
5: Rescued (0:55)
6: Into the Quasar (2:45)
7: Bad Decision/Blair (1:27)
8: Angel's Story (1:47)
9: The Fleet (1:07)
10: Briefing/Tricked (2:15)
11: Hot Dogs (1:21)
12: Diligent Arrives (2:34)
13: The Gift/Skipper Missile (3:26)
14: Kilrathi Battle (1:40)
15: The Big Battle (2:27)
16: Kilrathi into Scylla (2:28)
17: Big Damn Ending (2:09)