Shigeru Umebayashi

My shipment arrived in about one week and I live overseas so it was a very exceptional delivery time

This is an excellent soundtrack. If you liked the movie you'll like the CD.

I truly enjoy this CD. The music is enchanting, emotion-evoking, and powerful. I love to listen to it in order to relax before going to bed. I recommend this CD to anyone.

"House of Flying Daggers" is one of my favorite Asian films from the past five years. One of the main reasons I love the film is the sumptuous classical film score by Shigeru Umebayashi. The classical score reminded me a great deal of the score for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". The operatic ballad by Kathleen Battle is stunning. I don't normally like most opera music but I definitely enjoyed listening to Kathleen Battle. This is a lovely cd to relax to with a hot cup of tea and a good book.

Not only was House of Flying Daggers a wonderful movie, but the music was breathtaking. If for no other reason purchase the CD and enjoy Kathleen Battle's rendition of Lovers.

All the passion, longing, and intensity of the film are supremely evoked by this soundtrack, particularly the two main themes, Yumeji by Shigeru Umebayashi and Angkor Wat by Michael Galasso. The cello solo in the latter will make you swoon.

The power of the film lies precisely in the fact that so much is NOT shown. Emotions are repressed. Touch is glancing. Yet desire practically oozes off the screen. It is Wong Kar-wai's directorial reticence that creates this palpability, a lesson American directors might learn from if they stopped blasting audiences with heavy breathing and boinking long enough to pay attention. (Yes, I know, Hitchcock understood the power of understatement, but he's obviously long since gone.)

Anyway, if you don't feel heat from this music, then honey, it's time to get your temperature checked.

This is such an amazing soundtrack. Every song puts you right into the movie. It's music stays with you for days! I highly recommend this soundtrack along with the movie. The mood of the music is like no other!

The soundtrack is really good; I didn't like some of the songs (the Chinese ones) but there are only 3 in the whole CD. The instrumental music is awesome making the soundtrack an average good.

In my opinion it`s the Bing Crosby-songs that makes this album worth buying, but these songs can be bought on compilations. The rest of the music is for people with special interest for backgroundmusic in films.

So beautiful and emotional, it makes you want to cry! The score for the film and the collection of music together is absolutely breathtaking....

Uno de los mejores soundtracks de los últimos años. Evocador, provocativo, sutil; en fin, una excelente oportunidad para escuchar buena música y recordar también un film maravilloso.

A talented mixture of very ethereal, dramatic & nostalgic music. Great ballroom dance tunes. Some variations on classical & even a little Opera. Super mix. When you can sit & really listen, this is what you'll want to play. Can't recommend it highly enough.

While I really enjoyed the film, I honestly think my favorite thing about it was the soundtrack. It's really haunting and beautiful. As soon as I finished the movie, I started looking for the score. It isn't available anywhere in the States so I ordered it from a seller who lived in Hong Kong and shipped it here. It was inexpensive, because of the exchange rate, and totally worth it. I'm a huge fan of film soundtracks in general and this is one of the best I've ever owned. The music is totally evocative of the film and it's a very eclectic, cool set of songs.

This is one of those soundtrack albums that can comfortably stand on its own feet. A movie within an album, or an album within a movie, any way you choose to see it. The sound Shigeru Umebayashi evokes in "2046" and the selection of additional tracks to surround his fantastic score bring to mind the fine work Alberto Iglesias has done for many of Pedro Almodovar's movies. This is an album and a score composer (Umebayashi) to be reckoned with for years to come.

I don't know much about that type of music but it's SO EXCELLENT!

Plenty of great fights scenes and gorgeous cinematography in what is supposedly Jet Li's last martial arts film. Definitely a DVD that you'll want to own, because you'll watch it again and again. The story provides a back drop to the unfortunate history of China's occupation by foreign governments and the susequent abuse of its people and resources. Jet Li's charachter is inspirational and fascinating to watch. Buy it and you'll be glad that you have a copy of your own!

One of the distinguishing marks of a great film is its score.
A great soundtrack is in itself beautiful and aids in telling the story, yet does not distract your attention from the events onscreen.

Fearless was aided by a diverse and appropriate film score, ranging from the haunting flute and strings of the main theme to the blood-stirring drums of the fight scene in Shanghai.
I was caught off-guard by several tracks on this particular CD that I had missed during the film, but which stand on their own as moving pieces of music.

The only problem with this particular soundtrack CD is that it seems to be plagued by bad recording or production.
The treble and bass seem to be off a bit, and I had to play with my equalizer to get a more balanced sound. Also, the volume seems to cut in and out a bit with some tracks.
Not enough to be entirely disruptive, but enough that you may notice it.
For example, where the drums at the Shanghai fight scene should be loud and deep, they turn out a bit soft and treble-y.
This can be mostly remedied by adjusting your equalizer, but for this reason I only gave the product 4 stars.

With that caveat, I highly recommend this CD to everyone who enjoyed the film.

Although the title of this item seems confuse, this is the soundtrack of the film Daisy by composer Shigeru Umebayashi (In the mood for love, House of flying daggers, Spirit). Nice and melodic soundtrack with beautiful moments of piano.

I didn't have time to go and watch the film....
I bought the CD, a few weeks ago...."blindfold", because I'm conviced so far, that Asian composers are doing a terrific job, when they are composing music for films.
What I'm trying to say is... scores like... The 7 Swords, Fearless,
Crouching Tiger-Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of Flying Daggers, have very high dose of
that "magic and exotic", music scale of Far-Eastern music! (music scale is a progression of notes in a specific order).
The score becomes "sonic explosive" with the additional touch of Epic music-structure. This "mixture" also contains, great chorals and great solo china-flute "passages" from a live flute master-player......or it's a Japanese "shakuhachi"???
Great China-gongs, drums all over with the final result.... to be simply amazing!
We are used in the western world, to hear scores that sound almost alike.
Is it because the western composers, have no more "ideas"?
I don't know what is wrong, but one thing is for sure.....
Trust the Asian composers!
Buy this CD!
It's excellent with a lot of China "flavor"!!!
A big Bravo to the composer!

PS: Please read the comments below..... By the way.... Many thanks to Eriko Kawahara.
I was informed my Eriko Kawahara that the composer is Japanese!!!

I have to say that i had the chance to watch the movie in China, and the sountrack is great.

If you like films of Zhang Yimou, with enormous battles, tragic stories (chinese drama), you will like this soundtrack, but watch the movie first.

Also has a some ballads, very soft, as usual in chinese cantopop style. Those songs rigth now are in the top of chart of MTV China.

This soundtrack is just for those crazy for China as I.

From the south of the world

Carolina

This is my favorite film of 2007! Oh it's so good. Story is complex and I love the twists and turns. I cannot wait for this movie to come out on DVD.