Duration: 4:53

6,695 views

25

BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn is the fourth and final film of the BIONICLE series. In my opinion, it's also the best. The modeling, animation, voice acting, and action scenes are all far beyond that of the first three films.

Unfortunately, the film has its downfalls. Some of these (the occasional cheesy line, main villains who don't put up a fight, etc.) are faults of all four films. It's also arguable that BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui, which in my opinion is the best of the original three films, has better characterization and emotion than The Legend Reborn. But what is this film's single major downfall? Its soundtrack.

Back in 2001, Universal Music gave BIONICLE fans the first three songs for BIONICLE, which were three interesting techno songs. Templar Studios wrote soundtracks for the Mata Nui Online Games and the Wall of History, a wonderful and memorable soundtrack that blended techno and tribal styles. For the three original films, Nathan Furst was the best thing that ever happened to BIONICLE; his beautifully epic John Williams-style soundtracks made the first three films watching for the soundtracks alone. Bob & Barn composed various tribal tracks for BIONICLE: The Game, and Ian Livingstone composed a wide variety of styles for BIONICLE Heroes. These are the great composers of BIONICLE.

Then came John D'Andrea. Although Nathan Furst expressed interest in composing music for BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn, Tinsletown Toons turned him down in favor of starting the new film on a clean slate. John D'Andrea was invited to compose the music instead. And... well, there's the problem.

John D'Andrea is not a bad composer. In fact, he's got a number of interesting musical moments for The Legend Reborn, such as Mata Nui's theme, Tesara's theme, and the recurring motif heard toward the end of the Mata Nui vs. Tuma scene. Unfortunately, unlike Nathan Furst, his music is just... there. It's average in style, and not that noticeable. And, unfortunately, this detracts from BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn unbelievably. Without a proper soundtrack, fight scenes are slower-paced, characters unemotional, and the movie as a whole seeming far less epic than it could be.

So... if previous BIONICLE composers made better music than John D'Andrea... why not use their music instead? Would it enhance The Legend Reborn at all? The answer: Yes. Yes, it most certainly enhances the movie. While you cannot tell from these videos (unfortunately, I cannot use clips from the movie on YouTube, so I am forced to resort to using screenshots instead), fight scenes are faster-paced, characters have emotion, and the movie seems so much more epic. And you will experience this for yourself... in BIONICLE: The Legend Rescored.

THE MASK OF LIFE

00:00 -- 00:23 "Bionicle 2 End Titles" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)
00:23 -- 02:03 "Follow the Light / Mask of Time" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)
02:03 -- 02:32 "Prophecy of a 7th Toa" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE: Mask of Light)
02:27 -- 02:56 "Trust in the Mask" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE: Mask of Light)
02:38 -- 03:07 "Scene Selection" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)
03:07 -- 03:12 "Island of Mata Nui" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)
03:11 -- 03:13 "Faithful Matoran to Mighty Toa" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)
03:13 -- 03:20 "Tahu Ridicules Makuta" by Justin Lutcher (Mata Nui Online Game)
03:20 -- 04:01 "Bionicle 2 End Titles" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)
03:58 -- 04:04 "Faithful Matoran to Mighty Toa" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)
04:04 -- 04:17 "Follow the Light / Mask of Time" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)
04:16 -- 04:44 "Spoken Languages" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)
04:43 -- 04:52 "Follow the Light / Mask of Time" by Nathan Furst (BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui)

CREDITS

Music belongs to: Nathan Furst, Justin Lutcher
BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn belongs to: The LEGO Company, Universal Studios, Tinsletown Toons
Mata Nui Online Game music courtesy of: -Auron-
BIONICLE: Mask of Light music courtesy of: SPIRIT
BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui music courtesy of: SPIRIT, Nathan Furst
BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn screenshots courtesy of: BIONICLEsector01