National Treasure

Disney's attempt at making a historical thriller in the vein of Indiana Jones didn't work out too well with 2004's National Treasure. Nicholas Cage starred in the leading role of the overblown, but fairly thoughtful, project. For the music, Disney decided to turn to action composer Trevor Rabin.

National Treasure can easily be split in two halves. The first half is the typical Media Ventures/Hans Zimmer style of writing that Trevor Rabin is good at. It features noisy electronics and heavy rock style chase music that is somewhat annoying in context. For the tone of the film it does not fit at all. The second half of the score could be considered the bold and heroic orchestral themes that actually DOES managr to fit the tone of the film. Alot of this still sounds very much like Zimmer, though.

I personally enjoy Trevor Rabin's work when it contains his more established themes and not just the constant pounding synth work. Sadly, he still hasn't managed to find a true voice in terms of music. National Treasure is a good example of Rabin being a bit more tuneful, but even then alot of the music sound like a Media Ventures/Hans Zimmer hybrid. A fun score at times, but nothing to really reccommend.