Uploaded March 2011 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
There can be no discounting of the ongoing popularity of the film Braveheart, even more than a decade after its debut. The Mel Gibson epic, telling a romantic version of the Scottish legend William Wallace and his people's fight for territorial freedom, was an outstanding success at the time of its release in 1995, although the true sign of the film's legacy is its continuing, almost cult-like following many years later. Despite its graphic violence, disturbing methods of killing, and themes of romance lost, the film's quirky sense of humor combined with arguably Gibson's career performance to float the legacy with a maddening stream of interest. The same crowds that flock to the film's bandwagon often discover James Horner's score along the way, and these Braveheart junkies have caused the composer's music to reach phenomenal sales levels on two commercial albums. Profits from Horner's score on the Decca/London label outweigh all three of Horner's concurrent 1995 album releases on MCA Records (Apollo 13, Casper, and Balto) combined. And yet, the two most interesting aspects of Horner's music for Braveheart is its general lack of masculinity in the gravity of its performances and the systematic, obvious statements of typical "Hornerisms" with greater frequency, arguably, than many of his other works. The lack of genuine power in this score, especially compared to a work like Legends of the Fall, is a more nebulous curiosity, but the repetitions of style are as blatant as ever. As he has clearly stated, Horner is inspired by traditional Celtic and Scottish influences in his works (sometimes inserting them when not necessary, and some of his fans have become downright sick of particularly the Irish elements in non-related situations). Naturally, Braveheart would give him the opportunity to pour the latter ethnicity on with all of his romantic power, though the composer continued to blur the lines between cultural sounds, successfully counting on the fact that most listeners won't realize the inappropriateness of the application. After all, if Jerry Goldsmith could use pan pipes for Under Fire (set in Nicaragua), then Horner may as well pull from the Andes region as well and insert a Kena flute into William Wallace's fight for freedom. In the end, does it really matter?
Both mainstream listeners and a healthy portion of Horner fans will argue that Braveheart is the composer's best work of 1995 and thus deserved to win Academy Award that year. Horner's supporters split their votes between this score and the more inspirational Apollo 13 that year, thus allowing the likeable but inferior Il Postino by Luis Bacalov to steal away the statue. Debates about the merits of Braveheart and Apollo 13 will continue, pitting patriotism versus romanticism. Technically and dynamically, Apollo 13 is the more memorable work. On album, Braveheart suffices as a strong background listening experience, with several lengthy passages of lush, but subdued underscore. The first Decca/London album contained a full 77 minutes of Horner's most significant material from the film and continues to be a sales juggernaut. As mentioned before, the final three cues are the main attraction, with Horner's suite of material for the "End Credits" often performed by orchestras around the globe.
(filmtracks.com/titles/braveheart.html)
There can be no discounting of the ongoing popularity of the film Braveheart, even more than a decade after its debut. The Mel Gibson epic, telling a romantic version of the Scottish legend William Wallace and his people's fight for territorial freedom, was an outstanding success at the time of its release in 1995, although the true sign of the film's legacy is its continuing, almost cult-like following many years later. Despite its graphic violence, disturbing methods of killing, and themes of romance lost, the film's quirky sense of humor combined with arguably Gibson's career performance to float the legacy with a maddening stream of interest. The same crowds that flock to the film's bandwagon often discover James Horner's score along the way, and these Braveheart junkies have caused the composer's music to reach phenomenal sales levels on two commercial albums. Profits from Horner's score on the Decca/London label outweigh all three of Horner's concurrent 1995 album releases on MCA Records (Apollo 13, Casper, and Balto) combined. And yet, the two most interesting aspects of Horner's music for Braveheart is its general lack of masculinity in the gravity of its performances and the systematic, obvious statements of typical "Hornerisms" with greater frequency, arguably, than many of his other works. The lack of genuine power in this score, especially compared to a work like Legends of the Fall, is a more nebulous curiosity, but the repetitions of style are as blatant as ever. As he has clearly stated, Horner is inspired by traditional Celtic and Scottish influences in his works (sometimes inserting them when not necessary, and some of his fans have become downright sick of particularly the Irish elements in non-related situations). Naturally, Braveheart would give him the opportunity to pour the latter ethnicity on with all of his romantic power, though the composer continued to blur the lines between cultural sounds, successfully counting on the fact that most listeners won't realize the inappropriateness of the application. After all, if Jerry Goldsmith could use pan pipes for Under Fire (set in Nicaragua), then Horner may as well pull from the Andes region as well and insert a Kena flute into William Wallace's fight for freedom. In the end, does it really matter?
Both mainstream listeners and a healthy portion of Horner fans will argue that Braveheart is the composer's best work of 1995 and thus deserved to win Academy Award that year. Horner's supporters split their votes between this score and the more inspirational Apollo 13 that year, thus allowing the likeable but inferior Il Postino by Luis Bacalov to steal away the statue. Debates about the merits of Braveheart and Apollo 13 will continue, pitting patriotism versus romanticism. Technically and dynamically, Apollo 13 is the more memorable work. On album, Braveheart suffices as a strong background listening experience, with several lengthy passages of lush, but subdued underscore. The first Decca/London album contained a full 77 minutes of Horner's most significant material from the film and continues to be a sales juggernaut. As mentioned before, the final three cues are the main attraction, with Horner's suite of material for the "End Credits" often performed by orchestras around the globe.
(filmtracks.com/titles/braveheart.html)
