The 13th Warrior (1999) was a catastrophic commercial and critical disaster. With critics citing every problem from pacing to convoluted storytelling, The 13th Warrior became the standard by which all failures were to be judged. It didn’t happen overnight. The director, John McTiernan, had a vision. The producer/writer Michael Crichton (of Jurassic Park fame) had another. McTiernan’s vision received a negative reception from a test audience, so Crichton went to work dismantling it and reshooting scenes to fit a more classical Hollywood formula- forcing McTiernan to resign out of frustration along the way. The original score by Graeme Revell was scrapped before even being heard and a new score, by famed composer Jerry Goldsmith, was used to replace it. The title was changed from “Eaters of the Dead” to the safer, more marketable “The 13th Warrior”. The result? An overbudget, inconsistent, critically panned box office bomb. But then something happened. People looked back at it and realized it wasn’t actually bad. In fact, it was pretty derned good. The cast was impressive, the visuals and atmosphere were exceptional, the action scenes were thrilling, the characters were likeable and their progression enjoyable, and the score was downright award worthy. The concern of the 90’s Hollywood executive that a muslim arab would not be welcomed by audiences proved to be wrong. The contrast between the arab poet with a strong muslim faith and the warlike northmen with pagan faith was delightfully charming and even helped illustrate the character and mindset of the characters- perhaps never better demonstrated than by the prayer scene before the battle finale, which remains one of my favorite moments in cinema history. But even while the movie was being torn down, the one thing that stood out as untouchable was the rousing score by Jerry Goldsmith. And now as we look back with a kinder eye, how much more we can appreciate this fantastic score! Please join in me in enjoying Jerry Goldsmith’s brilliant score from The 13th Warrior: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Tracks listed below:
1. Old Bagdad
2. Exiled
3. Semantics
4. The Great Hall
5. Eaters of the Dead
6. Viking Heads
7. The Sword Maker
8. The Horns of Hell
9. The Fire Dragon
10. Honey
11. The Cave of Death
12. Swing Across
13. Mother Wendol’s Cave
14. Underwater Escape
15. Valhalla/Viking Victory
16. A Useful Servant