Composer James Newton Howard's evocative score was one of the many highlights of director Gary Ross' 2012 big-screen adaptation of author Suzanne Collins' dystopian, young adult blockbuster The Hunger Games.
Tense, melodic, and brimming with cues that invoked the tale's rustic Appalachian roots, it helped to ground some of the film's more fantastical elements.
For the much anticipated sequel, 2013's Catching Fire, Howard skillfully adapts those themes to a more urban environment, offering up an ethereal mix of stoic melodies and bold action cues that dutifully convey the second film's darker tendencies, while maintaining an undercurrent of soulfulness that reflects the emotional journey of its increasingly complex heroine.