The Terminator Salvation soundtrack. Originally director McG wanted to hire Gustavo Santaolalla (responsible for the soft guitar in Babel and Brokeback Mountain) to work on the human themes, using instruments that sounded like they could have survived a nuclear holocaust, and bring in Thom Yorke (Radiohead) for Skynet’s mechanical themes. But in the end he took the easy route and hired Danny Elfman instead.

You might ask why Terminator Salvation isn’t being scored by Brad Fiedel, the man behind the iconic soundtracks for Terminator and Terminator 2. Well unfortunately he became increasingly disgusted with the behind the scenes politics of the film business and retired from composing movie scores in the late 90s.

Danny Elfman is generally considered a composer who’s past his prime. He came to light as Tim Burton’s right hand man, with the likes of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Beetle Juice, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. The two were so closely interlinked you could tell a Tim Burton movie just by hearing the score. In the 80s and 90s Elfman composed unforgettable classics like Batman, The Simpsons and Men In Black. But these days it’s all starting to sound a bit generic. He hasn’t done a memorable thematic score since Spider-Man in 2002, and the likes of Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Hellboy 2 were not what they could have been.

Listening to what we have of the Terminator Salvation soundtrack, it’s clear this is no T2. T2, for one thing, had a lot of horror in its score (such as the T1000 theme) but the atmospheric menace seems to have been swamped by grand sweeping music that I suspect will play too big for the movie. It would appear this is another one heading for the not-very-memorable pile.

You can buy it on cd here
Or as mp3s here

Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (Score) – Track Listing
1. Opening – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (6:01)
2. All Is Lost – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (2:45)
3. Broadcast – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (3:19)
4. The Harvester Returns – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (2:45)
5. Fireside – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (1:30)
6. No Plan – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (1:43)
7. Reveal/The Escape – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (7:44)
8. Hydrobot Attack – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (1:49)
9. Farewell – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (1:40)
10. Marcus Enters Skynet – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (3:22)
11. A Solution – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (1:44)
12. Serena – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (2:27)
13. Final Confrontation – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (4:14)
14. Salvation – Terminator Salvation Soundtrack (3:05)
15. Rooster – Alice In Chains (6:16)

Leave your thoughts on the Terminator Salvation soundtrack in the comments.