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 Dracula 2000 is the seventh film I've worked
on with Marco Beltrami. Starting back on the first Scream,
we've worked together on Scream 2, Scream 3, Mimic, Halloween
H20 and 54. And as much as I've loved the unique work he's
done in the past, I believe his work on Dracula 2000 surpasses
them all. It's an amazing blend of Middle Eastern, Gothic,
contemporary and traditional styles, blended to flawlessly
compliment (and frequently surpass) the images on
film.
It's common notion that a movie's score
is its heart, the emotional drive, the very pulse of each
character's journey. Marco is a true master of this, in all
his previous work culminating in Dracula 2000, his most
thematic score. From the haunting yet delicate strain's of Mary's Theme, to Dracula's descending
signature, to the Thieve's groove, to the Hunter's fanfare and
the tragic Arabic wail of Judas Iscariot, Marco gave us so
much more than we deserved on Dracula 2000 - a musical odyssey
where every character is marked thematically, where each
dramatic event is accentuated to exact perfection. Enjoy this
collection of cues, each demonstrating Marco's talent and the gift he gives this and every film
he lends hist talents to.
- Patrick Lussier (director, editor),
February 2001
 Like
many of Mike Mignola's ardent fans, I've been infatuated with
his stories and images for years. Even now, after much toil in
Los Angeles, Prague and San Francisco on the Hellboy motion
picture, I have the aficionado's insatiable craving for
more.
Marco Beltrami is part of the reason. The
score that he created for our film reaches into the heart of
the characters and brings them to life, renewed and with
wonderful emotion. From the start, it was my ambition to mix
spooky adventure with personal drama and I knew that Marco
would respond to a broad spectrum of
moods.
So now, in leafing through my Mignola
library, I have a new pleasure... background music! The
enclosed score supports not only a movie, but any number of
Mignola epic tales as well, allowing Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Liz
and the others to provoke goosebumps, thrills and the
occasional tear. It's my fond hope that my fellow HELLBOY
enthusiasts will deepen their attachement to his world through
magical music to be found on this CD.
- Guillermo Del Toro (director, writter),
Skywalker Sound, California - March, 2004
 We've
traveled a long and often bumpy road making I, ROBOT, the
movie. Each step of the way Isaac Asimov has inspired us with
his wondrous tales of sparkling future worlds filled with
magnificent robots and mechanical men. Doctor Asimov forever
changed the way robot stories would be told with his 3 Laws,
he had a profound effect on science fiction literature and
science, influencing the generation that put mankind into
space, and no doubt the one that will make artificial
intelligence a reality. It was a dream come true for me to be
able to bring some of the great writter's ideas to the screen,
and to try in any small way I could to honor doctor's vivid
spirit of imagination that has so enthralled me since I first
read his stories.
And as Asimov's worlds guided
the movie from the very beginning, Marco Beltrami's haunting
and emotive score also inspired us in the last few months of
post production as we dashed to the finish line of a marathon
journey.
Marco is without doubt a
truly great composer and it was a thrill to work with him.
When I saw the movie with Marco's music I felt I was watching
it for the very first time. His music seemed magically to
breath with the movie we had made, and elevated the story and
characters to new heights. I believe great scores can be
listened to without the accompanying images and still be
enjoyed. That's a rare thing in movies these days, but Marco's
score stands up to that ultimate test. I found myself
listening to the rough mixes, and strangely that experience
took me right back to the reason I had first wanted to make
the film. It somehow brought back the excitement of reading
those stories for the first time.
So put
this CD to your stereo, crank up the volume, and turn on your
imagination (preferably with a good Asimov book in front of
you). And imagine sparkling visions of the future, filled with
robots and mechanical men. You won't be sorry.
- Alex Proyas, Los Angeles, June 11,
2004
 The
first time I tuned in the Fred Dryer series Land's End, I was
expecting a by-the-numbers action show like "Hunter goes to
Mexico" or "Cabo-Five-O." I was not expecting the best series
produced for television in more than a
decade.
For one full season, Land's End was the
most delightfully unpredictable program on the tube. Because
the series was not locked into a specific formula or agenda,
the stories could spin out in the most unexpected and
outrageous directions. A stark drama one week, a screwball
comedy the next, the show dared to push the television
boundaries on a regular basis. The standard car chases, fist
fights and romantic trysts were not to be found in any
Land's End scripts.
The adventures of four
expartriate Americans living in Cabo San Lucas, Mike (Fred
Dryer), Willis (Geoffrey Lewis), Dave (Tim Thomerson) and
Cortney (Pamela Bowen), often involved reclusive movie stars,
bad lounge singers, treacherous mercenaries, buffoonish
dancers, intellectual parrots and bumbling con artists. No
idea was considered too off beat for this series. But it was
the enduring friendship of Mike and Willis and Dave and
Cortney that formed the heart and soul of the show. It was one
constant in an otherwise unpredictable universe known as
Land's End.
Helping the series to set the
scene and move the action was the remarkable music of Marco
Beltrami. A classically trained composer from New York,
Beltrami approached his first scoring assignment with passion
and abandon. His bold, sweeping themes were charged with
exciting Mexican rhytms that gave the show a truly unique
feel. Always avoiding the dry synthesized sound heard in most
contemporary television programs, Beltrami wrapped Land's End
in a warm acoustic sound that colorized the locations and
humanized the characters.
I have been writing in
past tense because, sadly, Land's End was cancelled after one
exceptional season. Crippled by studio politics and buried in
midnight time slots, the series was doomed from the beginning.
But despite the lack of advertising and the dismal scheduling,
the show performed well in many U.S. markets and developed a
sizable cult following. For those of us who found the show and
understood the show, the 22 episodes of Land's End represent
the best that television can offer when the creative artists
refuse to compromise their talent. To the cast and crew of
Land's End... a job well done. Hopefully, this CD of Marco
Beltrami's music will be a lasting reminder of a great
television show.
- Steve Harris, album
producer
 I love
music. Movie Music. The first record I bought was The
Godfather LP. I even learned how to play the main theme on
piano with one-fingered mastery. But, you see, in a pre-video
age owning the music was the only way to really go back. To
replay the film in the dark theater of your
mind.
Because of movie music, at its best,
services the tale being told, it becomes its voice. A voice
that talks directly to your heart. Touching you deep inside in
a place only reached by image and sound. Marco Beltrami has
the voice. And both the clarity and the foresight to service
the tale in a way that few people do. Some dusty scholars
debate whether movie music, like children, should be or not be
heard... Whether it should be noticed...
Well,
screw them. Marco's music stands tall, willing to take the
stage, like Herrmann or Korngold or Tiomkin would. His music
is both textured and constructed, but also willing to be
emotional. It screams, cries or sing a twisted lullaby.
Whatever it takes to grab you by the heart and take you
places. Because movie music should tell you tales, and now and
then, when the partnership is right, it should help you tell
them right back. The tale thanks you Marco. And so do
I.
- Guillermo Del Toro
 One of the greatest
pleasures of doing a trilogy as opposed to a film and two
sequels is that there is an inherent continuity of character
and story. Each springs from the lives of a core of evolving
characters. To remain true to this unique format, it's vital
those behind the camera remain constant as
well.
Same director, same Producers, same
Production designer and same Cinematographer. And of course,
the same composer. So I am delighted to say that Marco
Beltrami has been a part of SCREAM from the very beginning.
His music has in many ways defined the very heart and soul of
the story and its characters - the off-beat charm of Dewey
Riley, the brass of Gale Weathers, and the complex beauty,
mystery and strength of Sidney Prescott. Oh, and that
haunting, mocking, chilling darkness behind the mask
itself.
Without Marco's genius, SCREAM would have
been little more than a whisper. Thanks, Marco!
- Wes Craven, 1/30/2000
 When I began my
search for a composer for T3, I knew that the film needed
someone who was gifted at writing a wide range of music.
Depending on the particular sequence, we needed to underline
suspense, intimate emotion, mystery and driving action. I
wanted to give the film an identity of its own, so I sought a
musical style that would be fresh and unique. And because I
believe film music should make an audience feel the emotions
of the characters, rather than simply comment upon them, I
wanted a composer who wasn't afraid of writing extremely bold
and visceral music.
I quickly zeroed in on Marco
Beltrami because I felt he possessed the talent and range to
achieve an ambitious score. What I found particularly striking
about his prior work was that he was able to achieve dramatic
tension in a way that sounded unlike anything I had heard
before. Not only was his writing extremely original, but his
orchestrations were also highly unusual and daring. Just from
listening to CDs of his other scores, I realized that he was a
composer willing to take chances. When we met for the first
time, I sensed an instant connection. Like me, he was early in
his career and hungry to make his mark on a high profile film.
I knew that he would be willing to go the extra mile to
achieve something truly special.
What
made Marco such a wonderful collaborator was his extraordinary
ability to listen to his own music and never lose critical
perspective. Whenever I asked him to go back to the drawing
board on a cue, rather than react with disappointment, he
welcomed the challenge as an opportunity to do something new.
And always, he came up with a solution that both of us liked
better.
I am convinced that Marco Beltrami will
soon rank as one of the most important composers in our
industry. I consider it a tremendous privilege to have worked
with him on T3.
- Jonathan
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