- Composed by Michael Richard Plowman
- MovieScore Media / 2011 / 39:16
Age of Heroes is a film about the 30 Commandos Unit in the Second World War (the pre-cursor to Britain’s Special Forces – whose formation was overseen partly by Ian Fleming, of whom you may have heard). Sean Bean stars as the unit’s commanding officer. The music is provided by Michael Richard Plowman, a British composer who has been extremely prolific in television over the past 15 years or so. I believe this is his first CD release and it comes courtesy of MovieScore Media, who have given exposure to a number of “new” composers over the years. Interestingly, this music is very unlike what the label usually puts out, which tends to be rather cerebral material – Age of Heroes on the other hand is pure entertainment, sometimes straying rather close to the Trevor Rabin sound (which has had many adjectives thrown at it over the years, but as far as I know “cerebral” isn’t one of them).
I don’t want to give the wrong impression – you won’t find any electric guitars – but the way the orchestra is augmented with synths, and the power anthem vibe which comes to the fore – that certainly seems Rabinesque. The themes are unashamedly big and bombastic – it’s not often one can say that these days! – but to be honest they feel a little disposable, certainly not sticking in the memory. But there’s no denying one thing and that’s how enjoyable it all is. Like Rabin’s best, it is undemanding but so easy to listen to, it’s a lot of fun. It might even allow this fine label to find a different kind of audience for itself. ***
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Sounds like the big action sequences were temped with Gregson-Williams’ Narnia battle music.
As you say, the score is good fun, but I haven’t felt the need to return to it yet since I first listened to it.