One movie from 2000 was a commercial and critical bomb for an acclaimed filmmaker, but its soundtrack is still a ten-out-of-ten. John Carpenter is one of Hollywood’s greatest film directors, with masterpieces like Halloween, The Thing, and Escape from New York to his name. However, his career fell off in the late ’80s.

By 2000, John Carpenter wasn’t putting out as many movies, and those he did direct were not met with much fanfare by critics or even by his own fans. However, Carpenter didn’t change the way he looked at making movies, and this included keeping a тιԍнт grip on the music in his films and mostly scoring it himself.

The Ghosts Of Mars Soundtrack Is Much Better Than The Actual Movie

Ghosts of Mars is not a movie with many fans. While this was Jason Statham’s first action role, the film itself left many fans disappointed. The film is a loose remake of an earlier Carpenter movie, ᴀssault on Precinct 13, which itself was a remake of Rio Bravo, with Western themes and the protection of a base from overwhelming odds.

Critics hated it, awarding it a 23% Rotten Tomatoes score, and it bombed at the box office, with a $14 million worldwide take on a $28 million budget. However, one thing that critics loved was the musical score, which is not unusual for a John Carpenter movie.

John Carpenter put the soundtrack together and brought in some amazing metal musicians to record the music. This included the band Anthrax, guitarists Steve Vai, Robin Fink, and Buckethead, and even Carpenter himself on keyboards. Carpenter composed all the music that the musicians performed.

With such iconic metal musicians playing his music, John Carpenter’s music score easily outmatched Ghosts of Mars’ story, which never had a chance of matching the great music on display. Even if the high-octane action disappoints, the music is enough to keep a viewer entertained.

Music Has Always Been A Vital Part Of John Carpenter’s Films

This is also not unusual. John Carpenter has always put a lot of attention into his music. To make sure the score is exactly how he envisions it, he prefers to compose the music himself, and in many movies from the past, performs it all with his keyboards.

Anyone who has watched the Halloween movies knows how great John Carpenter’s music scores are. Carpenter composed and recorded the score when test screenings indicated it wasn’t that scary. Using his synthesizer and organs, he created a music score that remains iconic in horror movie history. Carpenter told Dazed it saved the movie:

“I remember the audience really responding to it. I knew that it was a combination of things – it was the movie, yes, but also the music that was helping it. As I had that earlier screening with the executive, I guess that was the moment when it occurred to me that the music worked pretty well with it. I was relieved.”

It is impossible to watch movies like Escape From New York, The Fog, and Christine without immediately recognizing the signature sound of John Carpenter’s keyboard mastery and his demand for musical perfection. His work is so respected that Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl asked him to help score Studio 666.

Source: Dazed