"Dawn Of The Dragonslayer" by Panu Aaltio
A remarkable score created for a film with such low budget . Massive job well done for newbie Panu Aaltio
Score: 9/10
Paladin's Theme (Search For The Dragon) 5/5
You're Doing It All Wrong 4/5
A Paladin's Journey 5/5
The Dragon Kills 4/5
In Training 5/5
Will And Kate 4/5
Dragon At The Castle 4/5
The Search For Kate 4/5
The Dragon Lurking 4/5
Forbidden Love 5/5
The Battle 4/5
Alone In The Cold 4/5
Rise Of A Paladin 5/5
The Duel And The Dragon 5/5
A Triumphant Return (Suite From Dawn Of The Dragonslayer) 5/5
This is the first time I hear something from Panu Aaltio and it's pretty hard to expect anything especially for a B rated film that probably had even more limited money for music. But who ever decided the composer and the film to have this kind of score should be congratulated. I've watched the film which was ok and nothing more but I think if it wasn't the music this film would have been terrible. It's amazing when you realize the effect of the score for a film. The Paladin's Theme is perfect in every way. It's amazing and heroic just like the character in the film needs. It starts brilliantly in 'Paladin's Theme (Search For The Dragon)'(1) with the brass section blowing this fantastic fantasy sound which would have done even more wonders to an amazing film. It's one of those scores that rely on the theme and it's a great example how it's done properly. The amazing theme is also featured in 'A Paladin's Journey'(3) and even more expanded to a more wonderful journey of listening with the sweetness of the strings. In 'In Training'(5) the the theme is featured with faster pace and an action interpretation in the background. And in 'Rise Of A Paladin'(13) at the mere end it's featured again ending another great cue from the soundtrack. But it's not all of this theme. Another theme is feature in some of the cues and it's the romantic theme. The romantic motive is first shown in 'Will And Kate'(6) with some snippets of the paladin's theme. The romantic theme is involved in 'The Dragon Lurking'(9). It's used as a pad for the Paladin's Theme. The Dragon in the film involves a few dark cues like 'The Dragon Kills'(4), 'Dragon At Castle'(7) and 'The Dragon Lurking'(9). They all have the action interpretation with the brass and percussions and at the same time with the choir which was a really smart thing to do. The involvement of the choir expands every cue that has it even the Paladin's theme feels more heroic than it is when the choir is involved. At the end we have the cue 'A Triumphant Return (Suite From Dawn Of The Dragonslayer)'(15) which contains the suite of the Paladin's theme remarkable for listening.
In conclusion this is a massive job well done by Panu Aaltio. It's remarkable what score he created for a film with such low budget so I hope he'll be involved with projects with more money so he could include a bigger orchestra to bring even more epic sound from himself.
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