From the makers of the hit Ice Age series comes Rio, a comedy adventure about taking a walk on the wild side. Blu (Jesse Eisenberg. The Social Network) is a domesticated Macaw who never learned to fly, living a comfortable life with his owner and best friend Linda (Leslie Mann, Knocked Up) in the small town of Moose Lake, Minnesota. Blu and Linda think he's the last of his kind, but when they learn about another Macaw who lives in Rio de Janeiro, they head to the faraway and exotic land to find Jewel (Anne Hathaway), Blu's female counterpart. Not long after they arrive, Blu and Jewel are kidnapped by a group of bungling animal smugglers. With the help of street smart Jewel, and a group of wise-cracking and smooth-talking city birds, Blu escapes. Now, with his new friends by his side, Blu will have to find the courage to learn to fly, thwart the kidnappers who are hot on their trail, and return to Linda, the best friend a bird ever had.
K**S
Another Fantastic Animated Fare From Powell
Ah, another John Powell score to pleasure the senses. Hopefully this time his music won't be overlooked like it was with Mars Needs Moms, which was one of the most terrible bombs in motion picture history. While John Powell's score there was masterful it was chained to a sinking ship. This time John continues his collaboration with Blue Sky Studios, which is the studio behind the Ice Age films and Horton Hears A Who. I state this with every John Powell review I do. John Powell is not capable of composing a bad score. The talent he has to hone in on every emotional beat of the story is amazing. His animation scores all have the same structure presented in a new way every time. There is always a lot of quirk and character in the themes especially his central motif which carries the weight of the emotion.Rio reminds me of Bolt in many respects in that the theme echoes a sense of loneliness at the beginning and transforms into a full sweeping melody that swells up in the heart of the listener. The body of the score consists of your standard Powell brilliance. The journey we go on is extremely fun and Powell lends his signature percussion to achieve that Brazilian sound. In fact Powell fans may be a bit disappointed that the score is not as percussive as they thought it would be. Fear not though because Powell also arranged all the songs on the song album like he did with Happy Feet, which was released separately. If you're hankering for that Powell sound you love I highly recommend the song album because there are a couple on there that are pure Powell. Back to the score though I really enjoyed this as a smaller and more intimate work. The music is not as big as How To Train Your Dragon or Mars Needs Moms, but it still has all the emotional punches that come standard with any John Powell experience.I've been listening to John since he started out. I had his first score to Face/Off before I knew who he was. All I knew is I liked what I heard and it resonated with me in a huge way. Today I look forward to every Powell score with grand anticipation. He is truly a master storyteller and movies are better because of him. I can't wait to hear him team up with Hans once again for Kung Fu Panda 2 next month.
C**P
total disappointment
This CD is a total disappointment. It has the songs sung and danced in the film, especially the first song to start the movie and the song of the party before the attack of the monkeys. I do not understand what made ''this CD if you have the important songs.
S**M
This is the SCORE (without vocals) – Nascimento is here, but mostly in the background.
As other reviewers before me have pointed out – or those who bought this CD and found no vocals on it learned – Sony has released both the “songs from Rio 2” and this – The “original score” from the film. (Note that it does not say “soundtrack”; it is the orchestral score from the film.).Others here may be more familiar with composer John Powell’s work than I am but I had a hard time finding anything really special here. Granted, I have seen the film yet (it just opened 4 days ago) so I may feel different after I see it. I was excited to see that one of my favorite Brazilian Artists, Milton Nascimento, was featured and Sergio Mendez name is listed as the Executive Music Producer. But What I heard as I played it was LOTS of strings, and some small vocalizing in the background. It didn’t give me the feeling of Rio or Brazil as much as I hoped.The Cd comes with a 12 page booklet contains a 2-page essay by Powell and a center spread with the names of every member of the “Hollywood Studio Symphony” orchestra. The print is minuscule but it sure looks like about 30 violins and another dozen violas, 10 celli and 10 basses. So I guess it is a “string thing”.If you are a big fan of Powell’s film scores, you’ll probably want this, as you know what to expect. I just can’t say the 55-minute score stood on its own, without seeing the film.I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.Steve Ramm“Anything Phonographic”
M**N
AWESOME!!!!
I am a big fan of John Powell and so I couldn't wait to purchase "Rio" and "Mars Needs Moms" which are his latest works. Rio is a MUST HEAR soundtrack!! Powell never ceases to amaze me with his ability to compose such strong themes for movie soundtracks. I must say that Rio is not as good as Powell's 2010 "How To Train Your Dragon" soundtrack. None the less this is diffidently a CD that all of you Powell fans should add to your collection. I also purchased the soundtrack to "Mars Needs Moms" and it is not nearly as good as Rio. I think the reason for this is because in Mars Needs Moms the main theme is not easy to hear until close to the end of the soundtrack, which makes the music sounds rather sketchy with no thought put into it. The main them to Rio on the other hand can be strongly heard only 28 seconds into the first track, and it is a powerful theme that plays throughout the soundtrack. Some really good tracks to look forward to if you buy this, include: Track 1 "Morning Routine" Track 2 "Meet Tulio" Track 8 "Bedtime Flyers" Track 13 "Bird fight" Track 14 "Birds Moved" Track 18 "Flying"I don't know if this Soundtrack is going to win an Academy Award for Powell but again i must say that this is diffidently music worth listening to. For those of you who like to hear original orchestration in Powell's music rather then synthesizer music, Rio is the way to go!! Track 18 listed above (which is the final track done by John) explodes into the main theme 26 seconds in for the last time,and with the strings soaring with the melody followed by the rest of the orchestra carrying the harmony and background music, it is sure to give the listener goosebumps. Rio takes the cake above "Mars Needs Moms" and I highly recommend it!
T**R
Five Stars
SUPER!!!
C**D
Five Stars
great for trip away
C**.
no es lo que buscaba
Es una muy buena banda sonora orquestal pero no tiene las voces con las canciones. No encuentro una alternativa en vuestra página.
M**S
Nice score, good transaction
The package arrived in estimate date. Item received perfectly as described. New in mint condition. A recomended seller and soundtrack.
R**T
rien a voir...c'est entendu !
rien a voir avec le film... musique guimauve, saveur fade ! la couverture n'est qu'une opération marketing pour vendre de la musique d'ascensseur brésilien !
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