Terminator: Dark Fate (soundtrack)

Holkenborg took nearly a year on writing the film's music.[3] While composing for Dark Fate, he recreated Brad Fiedel's original "Terminator" theme but infused it with acoustic guitars and brass to reflect the ethnicity of Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes).[4] He added "the Terminator coming from the future, even though he's played by a Latino actor, he's still a robot, so I thought it was less appropriate for him. And the same with Sarah Connor and the Terminator character, Carl. In this case, that's the name of Arnold in this movie. He renames himself Carl. So I thought it was less important for them. I was able to really show, on the score, the roots of where this girl is coming from."[5] That cue was written within eight weeks. He also recreated few themes from the second instalment, Judgment Day (1991), as Dark Fate was considered as the direct sequel to the film after James Cameron returned to creative control as an executive producer.[5] To prepare for Dark Fate, Holkenborg studied about The Terminator and Judgment Day, before working on the score and felt that "he wanted the music of Dark Fate to be an homage to composer Brad Fiedel’s original work, but also the natural progression of this story over the last 25 years."[4]

Holkenborg discussed with Miller on the film's music, with the latter received notes from Cameron via the production team and sent it back to him. He used minimal orchestra and added more sound design, blending to the percussion instruments to "make the music emotional". He also subtly used the orchestra with a minor reduction in the tempo, and also used Arnold's theme in adagio which was the "crowning moment". He mentioned on crafting the musical language of the Rev-9 Terminator, a challenge, as "the Rev-9 is a combination of a synthesizer bass line accompanied with brass and strings that bend up" and coupled it with the "very threatening sound design and that became the Rev-9’s fingerprint".[4] He used a blaring prison alarm for the action sequence in an immigration detention center as he wanted it to be a part of the music, and when the cue was delivered, which was included in the film. He described his score as being "way more aggressive" than Fiedel's.[5]

Holkenborg used approximately 15 instruments while composing, majorly includes cello, bass, electric guitar, bass guitar, Spanish guitars, percussion, drum kit, along with synthesisers. He also used the sound of an anvil, kitchen sink and washing machine, which were sampled and treated to "re-purpose sounds that we know in our daily lives into musical instruments", which he described it as "fun to create such music and stress-free".[5]

Zanobard Reviews wrote "Tom Holkenborg’s score for Terminator: Dark Fate is absolutely superb. He’s always rather been in his element with dark and dramatic action music, and so he feels right at home as a composer here. Said cues here are of his typical loud and thrilling style, and hearing Fiedel’s Terminator theme alongside them at various intervals just makes them even better (see For John). The softer side of the score is also pretty good, with cues like My Name Is Dani and You Saved Me being great examples of how Holkenborg isn’t just good at composing fast-paced orchestra. However, the score could actually have done with a couple more action cues, along with a few more appearances of the original Terminator theme as well as the composer’s new Dark Fate motifs."[6]

Filmtracks.com wrote "you have to commend Holkenborg for returning to Fiedel's established themes, samples, and modes. Enthusiasts of the franchise's vintage, metallic thrashing for action scenes will appreciate the bare and raw carnage that Dark Fate extends. Many casual moviegoers will also appreciate the better enunciation of the five-note concept rhythm of coolness and Sarah's main theme in the closing scenes. But the actual spotting, rendering, and placement of this score is oddly dissatisfying throughout. There are better fan-made tributes to Fiedel's original material than what we hear from a composer paid significant money to produce generally the same thing, and Balfe's arrangement of the Judgement Day end titles remains superior."[7] Jonathan Broxton wrote "With the exception of the lovely acoustic guitar writing for Dani, most of Holkenborg’s action music treads a fine line, sometimes coming across as competent but workmanlike, but much too often being overly-raucous, overly-belligerent, and overly-irritating. Absent of Fiedel’s theme, this would be a score I would avoid like the plague, but Holkenborg’s contemporary updating of the piece, and its clever interpolation into the body of the score, allows me to give it a hesitant recommendation."[8]

Credits adapted from CD liner notes.[9]