In a recent NPR interview, focusing on the score for A Beautiful Mind, composer James Horner said that he isn't interested in doing big, epic scores anymore. "They are a dime a dussin, anyone can do them and I have done my fair share of them", to paraphrase. And I cannot say I am surprised to hear that Horner is tired of doing these kind of scores, because he certainly has done his fair share of them. Maybe that's the reason Horner's score for Windtalkers seems to be so uninspired and derivate. And boring. This is not the work of an inspired and motivated composer.
The score is dominated by action music. No surprises there, since this is a score for war flick, but Horner who generally writes memorable action music fails do deliver the goods this time. Similar to the action parts of Enemy at the Gates, Windtalkers has a lot of dissonant, atonal and non-thematic moments. I remember when Horner wrote great, thematic action cues, for movies such as Braveheart, Legends of the Fall, Titanic and The Mask of Zorro. That’s the kind of action music I like. Still, Horner's early scores - Krull and Willow come to mind - were quite dissonant and chaotic when it came to action writing, so perhaps Windtalkers is Horner returning to his roots. Or something like that. Roots or no roots, the action music still isn't memorable or captivating. There are exceptions, of course. "Taking the Beachhead" and "Marine Assault" are two strong action cues, heavy with Horner's typical snare drum riff, brass fanfares and ostinato strings. But it could, and should, have been so much better.
To make things worse, the main theme is a complete bore. Horner, who is a master at writing excellent themes, has come up with a really simple and uninteresting theme that is repeated throughout the entire score, pretty much without any development or larger changes to talk about. Certainly nothing to write home about. And - surprise, surprise - the five note "danger motif" pays a visit in this score as well. Luckily, it's a very short visit. Not like Enemy at the Gates, where the same motif refused to leave. How rude. And annoying.
Horner uses Native American chantings and ethnic flutes to represent the Navajo portions of the story. It's used in the opening and closing tracks to great effect, but that's pretty much it. A more generous employment of this sound would have been welcomed. Instead, Horner relies on endless string lines, that don't seem to go anywhere, for the softer and more quiet parts. It's a technique he used in A Beautiful Mind as well and to be frank it's really quite boring.
I suppose it must sound like Windtalkers is a horrible score. It's not. It's just that we have heard this sound from Horner so many times before. And he has written scores in the same style that are so much better than Windtalkers. Horner clearly needs a break from scoring big budget action films. He has said many times that he wants to score intimate, personal dramas, and I think that's an excellent choice. Just think about his recent score for Iris. That's the Horner I like. And that's the kind of music I love.