Antz: Original Film Music [Soundtrack]

antz: original film music [soundtrack]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
It may seem extravagant for a film about a bunch of bugs, but soundtrack composers Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell engaged an 85-piece orchestra and 25-member chorus to perform the music for Antz. In the film, a worker ant with the voice of Woody Allen becomes a hero to his embattled colony and earns the affections of Princess Bala (the voice of Sharon Stone). Appropriately, the music is a mix of dramatic swells, romantic interludes, and celebratory jaunts, scurrying from sprightly jazz to classical dirge to Latin bounce--there are even allusions to "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and "Guantanamera." This surprising diversity makes the music from Antz lively enough for children and sophisticated enough for adults. --Richard Martin

Antz: Original Film Music,Harry Gregson-Williams,John Powell,Angel Records,Original Score,Pop,Soundtrack,Soundtracks & Film Scores

Antz: Original Film Music [Soundtrack]

Average customer rating:

The Start of a Great Collaboration!
A compositional wonder.
An antz in the pants great score
A wonderful, refreshing, tuneful score
A Suprisingly Great Score

Antz: Original Film Music
Harry Gregson-Williams , John Powell , and John Powell
Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
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Shrek 2

ASIN: B00000DG1P
Release Date: 1998-11-03

Tracks:

Opening Titles-Z's Theme
The Colony
General Mandible
Princess Bala
The Bar
There Is A Better Place
'Guantanamera'
The Antz Go Marching To War
Weaver And Azteca Flirt
The Death Of Barbados
The Antz Marching Band
The Magnifying Glass
Ant Revolution
Mandible And Cutter Plot
The Picnic Table
The Big Shoe
Romance In Insectopia
Back To The Colony
Z To The Rescue
Z's Alive

Amazon.com

It may seem extravagant for a film about a bunch of bugs, but soundtrack composers Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell engaged an 85-piece orchestra and 25-member chorus to perform the music for Antz. In the film, a worker ant with the voice of Woody Allen becomes a hero to his embattled colony and earns the affections of Princess Bala (the voice of Sharon Stone). Appropriately, the music is a mix of dramatic swells, romantic interludes, and celebratory jaunts, scurrying from sprightly jazz to classical dirge to Latin bounce--there are even allusions to "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and "Guantanamera." This surprising diversity makes the music from Antz lively enough for children and sophisticated enough for adults. --Richard Martin

Customer Reviews:

The Start of a Great Collaboration!.......2006-08-18

This was the first time John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams worked together, and thank heavens it wasn't the last. This is one of those brilliant scores that is hummable the first time you see the movie. It easily surpasses this duo's work on Shrek but doesn't quite exceed the simply perfect music to Chicken Run.

In short, this score's greatest strength is its diversity. The main character has a catchy cool jazz theme. The ant colony is a rollicking march with a steady pulse and a whistled melody. The villain has a moody choral piece. And then a sort of tango melody for Dan Akroyd's character. In anything but an animated film, this mish-mash of styles would seem out of place and obnoxious, but Powell and Gregson-Williams make every moment interesting. Repeatedly, the scores reaches emotional highs and adrenaline highs that can do nothing but satisfy.

What makes the music even more interesting is the various source music included. The dance club numbers and the "Ants Go Marching" rendition, far from disrupting the flow of the album, compliment the style and variety of this wonderful score. This is a must-own for any film score collector or fan of the film. There are beautiful sounds here, and I wouldn't be the least bit disappointed if know one but these two fine composers ever scored a Dreamworks animated feature.

A compositional wonder........2003-02-02

Anyone would be forgiven for dismissing this film from its looks as another kid's film, enjoyable but forgettable. But that would be an incredible mistake. The soundtrack is an absolute pleasure to listen, with catchy tunes and even spine-tingling action music. For someone who looks to movies such as The Rock, The Peacemaker and Gladiator for entertaining soundtrack music, this album was a surprise indeed.

A stand-out track would have to be The Colony. Its frenetic and instantly memorable tune is lively and very enjoyable. It captures the spirit of thousands of individuals such as an ants (or antz?) nest. However, my favourite track would have to be the next one - General Mandible. This track almost feels like it belongs in a much more serious movie - one with someone like Mandible's voice, Gene Hackman, in a more traditional full role. The music is fantastic, portraying a strong individual, full of military might and power.

Of course, being a movie directed at kids, it has fun tracks. Notable tracks include The Bar and the hilarious Guantanamera/6:15 Time To Dance. This latter track shows the difference between the monotonous life as an ant and the spirit showed by Z.

This movie is not only surprising that it can be enjoyed by adults as well as kids, but the scoring is great and the soundtrack has earnt a valued place in my collection.

An antz in the pants great score.......2002-11-23

With Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell teaming up scoring a film, great things usually happen and this is a great example of that. Antz is a fun and exciting score that is a joy to listen to because when it is good, it is really good. Several different themes are present throughout. One is found in "Z's Theme" which features lush string playing with some harmonicas and percussion. Another theme is found in "Princess Bala", which features the woodwind section of the orchestra. Another theme that can be found is a military style theme that is present in "General Mandible" and "Mandible and Cutter Plot". Some tunes that get up and make you want to dance like a moron are found in "The Colony" and "6:15 Time To Dance". The version of "Guantanamera" is dull and boring so don't pay much attention to it, unless you like it of course. The old civil war marching tune "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is parodied in the track "The Antz Go Marching To War" which is actually a great track and a highlight of the album. 3 excellent action cues are present including "The Magnifying Glass", "The Big Shoe", and the thrilling "Z To The Rescue". An all around great score that Dreamworks does an excellent job of doing. The sound on the album is outstanding and the orchestral performance is dynamite. Kudos to Gregson-Williams and Powell and their partnership, which is becoming one of the best in film music.

A wonderful, refreshing, tuneful score.......2001-02-14

For the movie Antz, Dreamworks assigned two composers from Hans Zimmer's Media Ventures team to score the film. One might think it odd that a group known mainly for action music would be good at scoring an animated film (Zimmer himself excepted, to scored both The Lion King and Prince of Egypt previous to this). However, John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams prove they have what it takes to make the animation come to life through music.

The score starts off right away with a wonderful jazzy piano theme representing Z. Then on to track 2, The Colony, we have 'The Colony', a piece I can listen to over and over. It's a great smaba-like piece with a melody that's - get this - whistled. The tune is wonderful and memorable. Both the above themes are interspirsed throughout the score in many incarnations

There are plenty of other highlights to this score. '6:15 Time to Dance' is especially notible, as it starts off with a very stately and mudane version of the song 'Guantanamela', and about halfway through goes into a fast, full force version that I really really love, andthen backs down again. 'The Ants go Marching to War' contains new lyrics to the ant version of 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home', and ends with a great battle music. And speaking of battle music, the score is littered with lots of it, and it really shines over most Media Ventures scores because it's played by a full orchestra.

Overall, Antz is the score that just keeps going. It's got everything I like about a good score -- wonderful melodies, a great variety of fast and slow music, colorful orchestrations, and new ways of manipulating music that makes it unique. I highly recommend this score to anyone.

A Suprisingly Great Score.......2000-12-04

Having the movie based on a colony of ants, one would expect a more mechanical, crazy sounding score. Suprisingly, you get a more rythmic, electronic score with some very catchy tunes. The themes in the score are all great in their own ways. Z's theme is a laid-back, and calm. The colony theme is rythmic, crazy, and one of the catchiest themes I've ever heard. General Mandible's theme sounds, well, military-like and is played by some exotic instrument. Bala's theme is short but also serves its purpose. The score has a lot of energetic moments in the score and never loses that energy, even at the explosive ending. Not being a big fan of electronic/orchestral scores, I found this one to be great and enjoyed the electronic, Latin style in the score. I highly recommend this score if you like happy, energetic, catchy music. Its sound is unique and is a highly underrated score.

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