The trend in Hollywood continues with releasing movies with a strong focus on drawing the audience in with nostalgia. The latest example is Gladiator II, the sequel to Gladiator from 2000. One of the challenges for these kinds of movies is what should be done with the music. Especially for Gladiator II is this challenge quite interesting, since the score, written by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, is very well-received to this day. I have experienced orchestras performing the music to live picture and heard suites from the Gladiator during many film music concerts. The first thing that would come to mind for many people – including me – is if Hans Zimmer would be available, but apparently, he declined according to an interview. He was confident that Harry Gregson-Williams would bring his ‘A’ game for this film. Gregson-Williams has worked with director Ridley Scott a couple of times already, including writing magnificent music for The Martian and Kingdom of Heaven. So, with that resume and the high stakes of writing the music for a sequel to Gladiator, I was curious what that ‘A’ game would be.
To see what kind of approach Gregson-Williams took for the sequel can be heard right at the beginning of the film, as can be found in “Gladiator II Overture.” It starts with familiar music from the first film but transitions into something new, with original melodies and different ethnic instruments and voices. Gregson-Williams came up with new themes for Gladiator II, meant for various characters, with, for example, a powerful heroic theme for general Acacius, a wonderful voice texture for the love between Lucius and Arishat, an ominous low melody line for Macrinus, but also amazing themes for Lucilla and Lucius that needs to be talked about. For both themes, you can hear similarities with the themes for Commodus and Maximus from the original movie, with “Now That I Have Found You” as a great example where the low theme for Lucius blends very well with the high-sounding flute sounds for Lucilla.
There are hints to the original themes, but they are rare and only used in spots where they truly matter, with Gregson-Williams’ version of “Strength And Honor” and “I See Him In You” as perfect examples. The most magnificent example is found in “The Dream Is Lost,” in which the theme for Lucius transitions into a glorious orchestral version of the Maximus theme.
In addition to the original themes, I also need to mention how the battle sequences are scored. Examples of music for these scenes can be found in the second half of “Lucius, Arishat And The Roman Invasion,” “Angry Baboons” and “War, Real War.” While those kinds of sequences in Gladiator were musically supported with magnificent melodic pieces with a clear start and finish, these examples by Gregson-Williams are more based on rhythmic patterns with musical outbursts from choir chants or ethnic instruments.
The soundtrack to Gladiator II is a tricky one to judge. When you hear the music for the first time, you may dismiss it as not as good as the original. I even had those thoughts and had to listen to the film music multiple times in addition to watching the movie before I started to understand what Gregson-Williams had done. When I began analyzing the music in more detail, after seeing the movie and knowing what the characters were representing in relation to the original, it started to click more. The world in Gladiator II is very different from the first one. It is darker and more sinister, and this is reflected in the music, but I love the fact that while the music sounds different in general, if you listen more carefully, there are still a lot of ties to the first score.
I also want to mention that film music has changed dramatically, especially for action movies. It has become more accepted for the music to have a more supporting role for the scenes in the background and not be over the top thematic as in the days of the first Gladiator. I would have liked to see it differently, but I also came to terms with it. I do not see a world where I would hear the music from Gladiator II at many concerts 24 years from now, but that does not mean the music is not good. Harry Gregson-Williams understood what this movie needed in this day and age and wrote an excellent score for it.
Listen or buy
- Buy this soundtrack from Amazon or Apple Music
- Listen to this soundtrack on Spotify
Tracklist
The highlights are in bold.
- Gladiator II Overture (3:00)
- Lucius, Arishat And The Roman Invasion (8:34)
- I’ll Wait For You (5:50)
- Ostia (4:11)
- Angry Baboons (2:00)
- Strength And Honor (3:21)
- Acacius Returns (1:26)
- City Of Rome (1:55)
- Defiance (0:55)
- I See Him In You (2:58)
- Acacius In The Colosseum (6:43)
- Let The Gods Decide (4:07)
- Macrinus’ Plan (3:33)
- I Need You To Do This (3:51)
- Smooth Is The Descent (4:21)
- Now That I Have Found You (2:43)
- Echoes In Eternity (2:15)
- War, Real War (3:29)
- The Dream Is Lost (2:45)
- Now We Are Free (4:17)
Total length: 1 hour and 12 minutes
Universal Music Classics (2024)
