Category: Soundtracks (CD’s)

SUMMARY:                          RUNNING TIME: 3:04 Min.

As Track #11, this instrumental helps narrate Kevin Costner’s Eliot Ness and his team charging on horseback for a Canadian border raid to intercept Al Capone’s goons. Composer-conductor Ennio Morricone’s orchestra isn’t identified. 

Note: As clarification, the same-titled Track # 1 (the film’s end title) is essentially a full-length reprise of Track # 11.  

REVIEW:

Bringing Eliot Ness and his squad’s quest soaring to virtuous life, Ennio Morricone is at the peak of his storytelling powers.  Think of it this way: “Al Capone” (Track # 2) and this track define both sides of the movie’s battlefront.  The ominous main title: “Strength of the Righteous” (Track # 8) then pits them against one other.  For instrumental and soundtrack enthusiasts, this one (and/or its end title version) is absolutely worth adding to a favorite playlist.  

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                          9 Stars

SUMMARY:                          RUNNING TIME: 3:45 Min.

As Track # 3, this Ennio Morricone instrumental narrates how ‘The Untouchables’ quietly await to intercept an illicit liquor shipment crossing the U.S.-Canadian border.  The orchestra, however, isn’t identified. 

REVIEW:

Its suspenseful sound probably doesn’t merit a solo download, as “Waiting at the Border” isn’t a distinctive cue.  Yet, it’s still an effective transition into one of the film’s best audience pay-off sequences.  

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                6 Stars

SUMMARY:                             RUNNING TIME: 2:10 Min.

As Track # 6, this Ennio Morricone instrumental narrates how the tide has finally shifted against Robert DeNiro’s Al Capone and his army of thugs.  The orchestra isn’t identified. 

REVIEW:

The track isn’t remarkable, but its miscellaneous bits and pieces are cohesive building the story’s narrative.  “Victorious,” in that sense, sums up the gutsy tactics Eliot Ness and his squad deploy as the so-called ‘Untouchables.’  For fans of the films, perhaps the best element of this segment is when its recurring heroic motif unmistakably soars.      

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                    6 Stars

SUMMARY:                              RUNNING TIME: 3:12 Min.

Oddly appearing as Track # 1, the film’s send-off theme is an instrumental by composer-conductor Ennio Morricone.  The orchestra isn’t identified. 

Note: As clarification, this track is essentially a full-length reprise of the same-named Track # 11, which narrates the mob-busting heroics of Elliot Ness and his squad earlier in the film.  

REVIEW:

The magic of this instrumental endures.  Bringing Eliot Ness and his squad’s virtuous quest soaring to life, Ennio Morricone is at the peak of his storytelling powers.  Courtesy of Morricone, “Al Capone” (Track # 2) and Track # 11 define both sides of the movie’s battlefront.  The ominous main title: “Strength of the Righteous” (Track # 8) then pits them against one other. 

Ultimately, this reprise spells out which side prevails, no matter the personal cost.  For instrumental and soundtrack enthusiasts, this one (and/or as Track # 11) is absolutely worth adding to a favorite playlist.  

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                    9 Stars

SUMMARY:                             RUNNING TIME: 2:45 Min.

As Track # 9, this Ennio Morricone instrumental portrays Kevin Costner’s Eliot Ness as a soft-spoken and happily-married family man with a young daughter.  The orchestra isn’t identified. 

Note: For the film’s dramatic purposes, both Patricia Clarkson’s Catherine Ness and the daughter (portrayed by Kaitlin Montgomery) are fictional.    

REVIEW:

Presenting the soundtrack’s only blissful piece, the track works exactly as it’s supposed to.  “Ness and His Family” doesn’t necessarily merit a solo download so much, but it’s vital to the film’s narrative backbone.  With a classical-like lilt, this thoughtfully low-key and poignant track should appeal to instrumental enthusiasts – it’s a kindred spirit reminiscent of 1980’s Somewhere in Time.   

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                    7 Stars

SUMMARY:                                   RUNNING TIME: 7:01 Min.

As the concluding Track # 13, this music box-like Ennio Morricone instrumental narrates a pivotal, slow-motion train depot shootout late in the film.  The orchestra isn’t identified. 

REVIEW:

As macabre as it is, one must credit some brilliant storytelling to Ennio Morricone.  Juxtaposing a children’s music box lullaby to rising dramatic tension, “Machine Gun Lullaby” is pitch perfect for this near-silent sequence late in the film. 

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                  9 Stars