Gods and Generals - Amazing Movie Music

This post is quite overdue. Between sickness and business, there has not been  very much time to get on blogger to post or read. My apologies to all.


Ever since reading an article written by: Ben Botkin on his blog, I have become exceedingly interested in movie music. Now, on the rare occasion that I actually watch a movie, I sometimes get more caught up in the music than I do in the movie. One of my all time favorite movies as far as content + music goes, is "Gods and Generals." It is a Civil War movie that mainly follows the lives of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in the South, and Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Chamberlain in the North. It is a great movie and I would highly recommend it to anyone!
So anyways, I have the movie soundtrack, which Daddy picked up for us while book shopping, and I thought that I would really enjoy listening to it. Funny thing is, I was a little disappointed because it wasn't as exciting to listen to as I thought it would be. (Personal opinion- it is nice music.) Just a couple days ago, we watched the movie and I sat there listening to the music and thinking about how absolutely perfect the music was. When put together with the film, this music is simply AMAZING! Every bit of it is so perfect; the sweet, delicate tune played whenever Anna and Thomas Jackson are together, the grand, regal music played when honorable officers take center stage, the bagpipes during the Battle of Fredericksburg...Oh, the bagpipes!..., the song played at the beginning with all of the flags flying, it's all so perfectly written and placed. It just wouldn't be the same movie without the music.
There is one particular part that gets to me every time. During the Battle of Fredericksburg, there is a scene where the Northern Irishmen are fighting their way across the field to where a group of Southern Irishmen are shooting behind a stone wall. The Northern men are being killed left and right and it is nearly crushing the Southern men to continue shooting. The bagpipes start playing and, oh my, is it heart wrenching, especially for me because I have Southern Pruitt blood running through me on my Mom's side. The Pruitts were Virginian Irishmen, and I can't help but imagine that they were some of the men behind the stone wall crying for their brothers and cheering at the top of their lungs after they successfully drove the Northerners back. I can guarantee that I would not have this connection if it were not for the music. As soon as the bagpipes start playing the whole scene becomes real to me. Can you tell I enjoy this movie?
Aside from the phenomenal music, there is a lot of rich Southern religion seen throughout the movie. General Jackson was a strong follower of Christ and this is clearly seen throughout the whole movie even to his death. Oops! Did I just spoil the end? :-) Don't ever ask me to tell you about a movie you have never seen before.

So, like I said, this is a great movie content wise as well as music wise, but don't take my word for it. See it yourself if you haven't already!

In Christ,

Kaila

Earth - The Score

Today for school we watched an amazing movie called "Earth." It was put out by Disneynature. We found out that Answers in Genesis actually said that Disney got it right for once, so we decided to watch it. It was incredible! From scene to scene the movie had us nearly crying for the little gazelle to laughing hysterically at a dancing rainforest bird. The fact is, it was the music that made the movie. I didn't even notice it that much until my sister started screaming as a little gazelle was being chased by a wolf. At that moment I really began to notice how much the music impacted the movie. There was another scene that had a tropical bird doing his little dance trying to get a girl. When the music started, I thought I was beholding a bird doing a cha-cha! I laughed and laughed. Needless to say, the girl was unimpressed but I sure was. :-) Of course the scenes that held laughter were not to be outdone by the scenes that depict the hard life of other animals. One of the scenes depicts the hard journey that African elephants must make in order to reach water. The background music had mostly strings with a main violin playing such a sad song that your heart ached for the little elephants that were lost in the sand storm or that could no longer stand from thirst. Okay, I know that I sound like an environmentalist, "Save the Earth" type of person right now, but really I'm not. I just have a tendency to be easily affected by music and this movie was filled with it. Of course, for every sad or horrific moment there was an equally funny one, like penguins tottering around with excitement, to chimpanzees trying to maneuver through water. Honestly, I've been walking around the house doing the "monkey move" all afternoon. Point being, what made these scenes what they were, was simply the music. I probably would have gotten board if I had tried watching it with the volume turned all the way down. Unfortunately, I could not find the soundtrack, which I would love to get a hold of.

Music has such a big effect that so often we bypass it unknowingly. Think about it. How many movies would you enjoy watching without music? For me, the answer would be none. Music makes things come to life. It adds emotions that we didn't know we had. Why else would my family and I be screaming and some of us crying because a wolf is chasing a gazelle on the other side of the world? I mean honestly, that gazelle has never done anything for us, we have no attachment to it and this kind of thing happens every day. Yet with the help of some music strategically written, we suddenly could care less what is happening around us. For the moment all we want is for that gazelle to "RUN FASTER!!!"

God has given man the amazing ability to write music. If we don't use this gift wisely we ruin something incredible. We can use music for His glory or we can use it for our glory. What I saw today was a prime example of what people can do if they decide to use music the right way.
"Earth" is a great movie. I would highly recommend it, especially to people who love good music. Just be careful, there might be some screaming and crying if you watch it with younger sisters.