Local Hero (1983 Film)

This soundtrack (along with Ry Cooder's for Paris, Texas and Ennio Morricone's for Once Upon a Time in America, to name two other examples) is the kind of music that CDs were made for. Some of it is so delicate, so quiet, that it could disappear underneath the rumble and noise of a vinyl LP. You'd never know this was the score to a comedy--even a gentle wisp of a comedy like Bill Forsyth's picture. Some of it could pass for Scottish- flavored ambient music by Brian Eno. "The Rocks and the Water" seems to rise up like the tide with electronic calls that suggest the music of whales or dolphins. The sound of the sea whispers behind several atmospheric tracks, but Knopfler's guitar is also featured up-front some of the more overtly melodic tunes. The overall impression is luminous and evanescent as the Northern Lights. --Jim Emerson Amazon.com

not all of the music from the film is on this CD

Great movie.
However, if you liked the music as it was played by the little band featured in the movie, you will not find that music on this CD.

And that is what a soundtrack should be.
All of the music, esp. if it's good, from the movie on a CD.

This soundtrack is more a Mark Knopfler CD and not the complete soundtrack from the movie "Local Hero".

A good example of a great soundtrack CD is the Tom Petty music from the movie "She's the One".
That CD has all of the music from that movie without exception.

The other reviewers here talking about the great "scottish folk music" on this CD are just wrong.
In the movie "Local Hero" there are fine examples of it, but on this soundtrack, there are only little snippets of it. April 14, 2007

I have paid for the product, but not received it

I got the message that it was shipped for a month ago, but it has not arrived. January 21, 2007

Local Hero

This track captures the spirit and essence of Ireland and its Celtic atmosphere. The sound of seas crashing on rocks and shore and roar of distant thunder. Although there is a variety of different themes with each track the haunting traditional Irish themes are just so powerful and moving. I loved this CD. The music is fabulous. I am a great fan of Mark Knopfler. He is so talented. August 23, 2006

only good if you like the film

I have always loved this movie. The theme...would you give up your materialistic and safe world for passion, simplicity, honesty, etc? Have we created a perfect world that once we leave it and view from it the outside, may not be that perfect? Would you leave it all behind to live on a coastal Scottish town? Is killing yourself for the imposed luxuries really worth it?

Knopfler's theme to the movie re-creates the utopian vibe of the movie. The theme is done in a variety of styles and tempos.

I would imagine that anyone that owns this is in a somewhat cult of enthusiasts for this beautiful yet quirky film. August 19, 2006

One of the best soundtracks... EVER

In 1983, at the height of the Dire Straights' reign of pop music ("Money for Nothing"), Dire Straights lead song writer Mark Knopfler scored the soundtrack of a delightful "little movie that could" called Local Hero.

"Local Hero" (14 tracks, 43 min.) creates the atmosphere of the Scottish scene in which the movie is set, in which a US expat is sent to convince a small seaside town to sell their interest in a beach so that a "big bad" US oil company can explore ir for oil. The mostly instrumental soundtrack is superb from start to finish, creating a wonderful mood. The opener "The Rocks and the Water" sets the stage, just superbly brought of what the Scottish seaside is like. Knopfler's guitar virtuoso gets a workout in a couple of tracks, but it never deteriorates from the overall mood. Other outstanding tracks include "The Mist Covered Mountains", gently bringing in a local band playing a sorrowful yet hopefull tune, and "Stargazer", in which you can just see and smell the open Scottish sky. There isn't a single weak track on the album, frankly. This album remains a soundtrack by which others should be measured by.

The best known track remains the very last one "Going Home (Theme of Local Hero)", which is as close as you'll get to the Dire Straights' sound, and it inevitably appears on Dire Straight live and compilation CDs. But it is the anamoly on this gorgeous soundtrack. This album was originally released in 1983, when I bought it on vinyl, and I bought it when the CD came out in 1990. Isn't it about time for a re-release on remastered sound? March 14, 2006

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