For its first soundtrack release of the new year, Intrada’s taking fans to the stars with a definitive release of the score to Apollo 13, as composed by the late, great James Horner.

Ron Howard’s blockbuster drama is based on the real 1970 mission to the moon, which turned into a race back to Earth when an explosion depleted most of the crew’s oxygen supplies. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton portrayed the mission’s crew, and the production team maintained a strong sense of accuracy and realism. Dialogue was lifted directly from crew transmissions (with the notable exception of the film’s most famous line: “Houston, we have a problem”), and NASA lent a reduced gravity aircraft for filming in, to simulate the weightlessness of space. Apollo 13 received nine Oscar nominations including Best Picture, and won two (for Best Sound and Best Editing).

Horner, who’d previously scored the fantasy epic Willow for Howard in 1988, created a bold, stately score – one which Howard praised as possessing “absolutely brilliant professionalism and quiet nobility.” (Listen closely to the end credits for a powerful, wordless vocal by Annie Lennox!) The composer received his fifth career Academy Award nomination for his work.

For this expanded release from Intrada, the film’s score (over an hour of orchestral music and nine minutes of electronic work) is presented together for the first time, taken from 24-bit/192 kHz high-res transfers of the original 1/2″ stereo masters, as mixed by engineer Shawn Murphy and overseen for this release by Mike Matessino. A second, bonus disc includes Horner’s original hourlong soundtrack assembly, excerpted briefly alongside ’70s pop music and film dialogue for a commercial album and later released as a promo-only disc for Oscar voters.

Add in detailed liner notes by John Takis and package design by Kay Marshall (including two cover designs, one on each side of the booklet) and you’ve got a soundtrack that will take you over the moon – and start the new year off right for film score enthusiasts. You can order Apollo 13 from Intrada right now at the link below!

James Horner, Apollo 13: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Intrada ISC 415, 2019 – original film released 1995)

Disc 1: orchestral film score (1-16) and electronic cues (17-23)

1. Main Title (Film Version)
2. Lunar Dreams
3. A Son’s Worries and Simulator Crash
4. Night Visitors
5. All Systems Go – The Launch
6. Docking
7. Master Alarm (Film Version)
8. Into The L.E.M. (Film Version)
9. The Dark Side Of The Moon
10. Carbon Dioxide
11. Manual Burn
12. A War Story
13. Four More Amps
14. L.E.M. Jettison
15. Re-Entry and Splashdown (Film Version)
16. End Credits (Film Version)
17. Marilyn’s Nightmare
18. Canister Explosion
19. Reactant Valves
20. Out Of Control
21. Power Off
22. A Square Peg
23. Cosmic Connection

Disc 2: composer’s soundtrack assembly (released as MCA Records promo album MCA3P-3432, 1995)

1. Main Title *
2. Lunar Dreams
3. All Systems Go – The Launch *
4. Docking
5. Master Alarm *
6. Into The L.E.M. *
7. The Dark Side Of The Moon *
8. Carbon Dioxide
9. Manual Burn
10. Four More Amps
11. Re-Entry and Splashdown *
12. End Credits *

* tracks or edits thereof also released on MCA Records MCAD-11241, 1995