Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard stepped up to the plate to compose the next Batman soundtrack for Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman Begins’ (2005). After Schumacher had seemingly killed the brand with his infamous ‘Batman & Robin’ (1997), Nolan and Co. set out to do something different. With that came a very different kind of sound for Batman and Bruce Wayne.


It wasn’t just the digital and atmospheric sounds that made Zimmer and Newton Howard’s Batman score different from previous ones; the dynamic duo took a totally different approach to the music style of the world. Parts of the Batman Begins score sound as though they are from a period drama, such as Ra’s al Ghul’s theme or parts of the Wayne theme. There are extremely differing styles within this one score alone that fit the movie , as it also contains many different styles and aesthetics.


Bruce Wayne is a character of many masks, even when he’s not in the bat suit, and as such, there are many different elements to his theme. It is constructed of a number of different leitmotifs that sometimes find their way into the Batman hero theme and sometimes do not. The leitmotifs are very loose and may not be too obvious to someone not paying attention. But once you have a grasp on them, they begin to become apparent in many of the film’s tracks. This theme is a deeply, deeply sad one. There is tragedy, longing, desperation, fear, loss, royalty and optimism heard throughout this suite that demonstrate Bruce’s character and journey with amazing complexity.


The tracks used in this suite are:

Barbastella - Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
Macrotus - Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
Eptesicus - Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
Meeting Falcone - Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
Tadarida - Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
Wayne Enterprises - Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
Corynorhinus - Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard

The images are from ‘Batman Begins’ and belong to Warner Bros. Entertainment.

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Batman Begins - Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard - Batman Begins (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard   / batman-begins-original-motion-picture-soun...