This is a fantastic score from Horner. The American Civil War epic is a true masterpiece, its passing at the Oscars is a travesty. With elements that were later utilised in Apollo 13 and Braveheart, it is a crying shame that it did not win. It has a wonderfully noble theme that is supposed to be reminiscent of Prokofiev, but I don't know for sure. The choir perform superbly and enhance the music no end. Some of the choral parts are similar to The Abyss, but are obviously far less mysterious, but are more passionate evoking the travesty of war. The mixture of the choir with the snare drum and orchestra is quite splendid indeed. Charging Fort Wagner is a wonderful choral track that bounces along very nicely with a trumpet in counterpoint to the choir. It is truly one of the most emotional action cues I have heard in a long time. It is also one of Horner's most well rounded scores, it flows effortlessly between cues and everything fits wonderfully into place. It is a patriotic score in the same manner as Apollo 13, but is not annoyingly patriotic in the way that Independence Day is. This is a certainly a must buy for any Horner fan and I wish I had heard it a long time ago.
Rating ~ 