Title – Score: A Film Music Documentary (2016)

Director – Matt Schrader (feature debut)

Cast – Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Tyler Bates, James Cameron, John Debney, Patrick Doyle, Danny Elfman

Plot – An insightful look into the art and process of creating cinematic scores, featuring some of the mediums most revered composers and artists.

“Music. It’s the one thing we all understand”

Review by Eddie on 20/09/2018

While it may be a little to niche for some casual cinemagoers, those that have always found themselves enamoured with the oft-underappreciated art of movie music will have a blast enjoying the musical snippets that Matt Schrader’s doco Score will provide.

Featuring some of our current generations finest musical talents such as John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman and many more, Score isn’t an extremely polished or in-depth musing on the beginnings of movie scores but it’s a good natured and highly watchable examination and discussion, that will have many film fan’s tapping their toes and unable to wipe the smile off their faces remembering and considering the score’s that have meant so much to them over time.

Score showcases that for many of these creative geniuses, the compositions they come up with for their various projects are extensions of themselves and a tool to become a story in themselves as they help complement and in many ways enhance the vision of the director’s they are working for, much like the scores found on our favourite film scores list.

Getting an insight in John Williams working with Spielberg on the seemingly minimalistic but pitch perfect score for Jaws or his rousing pieces on the Star Wars films is a pure delight while looks and chats with modern masters such as Hans Zimmer creating his boundary pushing scores for Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception is where Schrader’s film finds its undeniably cheery and feel-good groove.

It feels like one big love letter to an extremely important component to the reasons why films have become such a beloved artistic medium, enjoyed by billions of fans the world over and for that we can be thankful that Score has made us pause and consider why movie music is important to us all.

Final Say –

A small doco in many ways but one that is a sure-fire winner for cinephiles, Score is an easily accessible and entirely enjoyable experience that will inspire you to rediscover and appreciate your favourite film scores once more.

3 1/2 desert piano’s out of 5