CD REVIEW - NINJA


Ninja
Music by Stephen Edwards
MovieScore Media MMS10019
19 Tracks 50:29 mins

Stephen Edwards has scored many an action picture in his career and his latest effort is for Isaac Florentine's martial arts adventure Ninja. His score mixes Japanese and Western elements, utilising standard orchestra, as well as wailing electric guitars and rhythm section, with ethnic instruments such as shakuhachis and taikos.
The album opens boldly with the noble and heroic "Main Title" theme, which then appears in a sad and subdued arrangement in the following "Fight Ejection," and goes on to appear in snatches throughout the score, most notably in the elegiac ""Namiko's Waltz," before returning in its full glory in the "End Credits."
Of course there's a deal of action-packed writing to be found throughout tracks like "Sensei Killed," "Police Station Melee," "Whoopass Latte," and "Casey the Ninja," as well as some tension and menace, but there are also plenty of quiter, more introspective, and sentimental moments like "History Lesson," "Painful Past," "Mother Theme," and "Casey's Solemn Duty."
Go to www.moviescoremedia.com/ninja.html for samples, a trailer for the film, and of course full details of how to obtain your copy of the album on CD or as a digital download.