Whether Tom Cruise's portrayal of a 19th century American soldier cum samurai warrior will be remembered with the same pangs of pop-cultural bemusement that befell John Wayne playing Genghis Khan remains to be seen. But its musical soundtrack does mark an auspicious occasion: pop musician-turned-composer Hans Zimmer's 100th score since beginning his film career in 1988. A pioneer of fusing both the electronic and orchestral and the Westernized with the indigenous, Zimmer does both here with skill, drawing heavily on samples of the traditional Taiko (a massive Japanese drum) for its rhythmic action sequences, while constructing a melodic Western motif for Cruise's character that's both centrepiece and counterpoint for the score's transcultural intent. Aside from the brief, ominous thunder of the expected action/suspense boilerplate, Zimmer has constructed passages of gentle, Asian-inflected pastoralism that have parallels with much of his evocative work on The Thin Red Line. Those cues are the score's very soul, a canvas against which his more traditional themes reverberate all the stronger. --Jerry McCulley

I absolutely adore this film. I can still remember the evening I went to see it expecting to be presented with a mediocre Gladiator rip-off and, instead, walking out having been incredibly moved by a very poignant story. The music plays a big part in the overall tone of the film, with it only occasionally being the main focus. I think to write that sort of music, stuff which influences the audience's emotions without bombarding them with theme after theme, is very hard and requires restraint and a lot of compositional skill.

But I've just got to say this - There is a melody that is played on some sort of violin that comes in at 1.11 on the track 'A Way Of Life' that, for me, is the best thing I've ever heard from Hans Zimmer. He knows exactly what he's doing!

Zimmer's Gladiator is superb and I was looking forward to this CD, even more so after reading the reviews. It goes to show that a review is a matter of opinion and personal taste. I found it took a long time to warm up and the early tracks are relatively slow and gentle. When it did get going, it was good. Overall, I found it uninspiring and unexciting. At times I found it rather boring. It is a relaxing listen but comes nowhere near Gladiator for power and emotion. I was disappointed.

One of Zimmer's better works, and considering his unequivocal position as the best and most prolific composer of our time, that clearly says something. The easy blend of traditional, Japanese and electronic instruments makes for interesting listening. 'Way of the Sword' is undoubtedly one of the better tracks, opening with heartpounding, yet irresolutely sad, action music, moving on to emotional machine-gun sequence and closing with the quiet beauty of Katsumoto's seppuku. Other highlights include 'Spectres in the Fog,' which contains the first iteration of the Samurai's theme, a heroic yet grief-laden melody (consigned to the horns on this track), 'Red Warrior,' most famous for its much-criticised, yet strangely effective, shouting people, and 'A Small Measure of Peace.' Having said that however, nothing on this CD could qualify as a low point. It's beauty is utterly staggering, and the absence of a nomination from Oscar is inexplicable, far better as it was than Newman's 'Finding Nemo' and even Elfman's 'Big Fish.'

I loved the movie which is powerful anyway but with the soundtrack it is superb. I love Hans Zimmer's work in films generally but I think this is one of his best. If you like emotional music that moves you then you really can't better this.

When I learned Hans Zimmer was scoring The Last Samurai, I expected a re-use of his trend-setting vocals for 'Gladiator'. I was wrong. Then I expected a reworking of pulsing uber-anthems from his classic 'Black Rain'. I was wrong again. What Zimmer delivers here is sheer beauty. The main theme, which features prominently in 'A Way of Life', 'Idyll's End' and 'A Small Measure of Peace' is endlessly listenable and once it starts to take you on its tranquil road, you wish it wouldn't stop - easily one of the most beautiful Zimmer themes ever. The Samurai music 'Spectres in the Fog', 'Taken' and 'The Way of the Sword' is wonderfully percussive and exciting without sounding like an action score. Make sure your volume is turned up for the latter because the musical yelling of the Samurai 'choir' is something of an experience and cements further credit to Zimmer's exceptional technique. As with most of Zimmer's releases, the score is edited into long suites rather than individual cues and this doesn't put a foot wrong: the editing and presentation is perfect. Combine all this with excellent sound quality and you have a very fine CD indeed.