JAMES NEWTON HOWARD Vinyl & CDs

Review: Let's face it, Hollywood director Christopher Nolan broke the mould with his re-envisioning of Batman. Taking things closer to the original comic books, themselves forced to 'go soft' by censors in the early-1950s, his films payed direct tribute to the saga's direction from the mid-1970s onwards. A trilogy of movies that were visually arresting, tonally dystopian, and viciously unhinged. It's not clear if we'll ever get a superhero (or anti-hero) film series of that class and calibre again, the world on screen so immersive you quickly feel like a Gotham native. A big part of that universe-building comes through the music, which enlists two of the greatest names in the history of soundtracks to help weave the tales. Hans Zimmer has composed for more than 150 films, James Newton Howard in excess of 100. This compilation of their shared caped crusader efforts proves why they're so well respected.