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 Mostow