The music of the animated direct-to-video feature films based on the Bionicle toy line by Lego was composed by Nathan Furst and John D'Andrea. Furst composed the scores for the first three films released by Miramax & Buena Vista Home Entertainment – Bionicle: Mask of Light (2003), Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui (2004), and Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows (2005) – while D'Andrea composed the music for the fourth film, Bionicle: The Legend Reborn (2009), which was released by Universal Studios.

Though the soundtracks were initially unavailable for purchase, the original scores for the first three films were released as digital albums in 2017 (over a decade after the film releases) through the label Rising Phoenix Records. There has been no official release of the fourth film's music and there are currently no known plans for one.

Aside from Cryoshell's debut album (which includes some songs originally composed to promote the toy line), the Bionicle score soundtracks are the only full-length albums of Bionicle-related music that have been commercially released.

Composition

Nathan Furst's preferred musical style of grand orchestra and electronica was what the producers of Mask of Light were looking for in a composer. During the film's production, Furst was approached by sound supervisor Tim Borquez, who facilitated communication between Furst and producer Sue Shakespeare about a potential job as composer. Furst was subsequently hired after presenting a track that the filmmakers reacted favorably to.^[1]

Furst was initially unaware of the Bionicle toy line and started reading about the universe on the official website before beginning the composition process. When writing the music, he worked mainly off of scene concepts and discussions with the crew regarding the tones they were aiming for, and was given extensive creative freedom by the filmmakers on what he could write. The first film's score combines an overall grand orchestral style with tribal and ethnic elements, taking inspiration from African, Polynesian, and Eastern European styles of music to emphasize the film's island-based setting.^[1]

For the second film, Furst integrated electronic and techno sounds to accommodate the futuristic style, while the third film's music relies more on standard orchestral elements.

As The Legend Reborn was produced by a different crew than the original trilogy, Furst was not asked to return to score the film and the job went to John D'Andrea instead. Furst attributed this decision to the studio's desire to not retread old ground. Furst's music was, however, used as inspiration for the fourth film's score.^[2]

History

The reason for the delayed release of the film scores is not fully clear. Nathan Furst went back and forth regarding the possibility of soundtrack releases for several years, at one point announcing plans for an album containing re-recorded themes from the trilogy^[3][4] (a project he later revealed was scrapped)^[5] and at another point stating that most of the score would not be released for a number of undisclosed reasons.^[6] Furst also said that he was unable to locate the scores in his archives and that the Legends of Metru Nui score had been lost in a hard drive crash for years, though he later revealed that it was eventually recovered.^[7][8]

Prior to the 2017 releases of the soundtracks, only a few pieces of stand-alone music from the films were available. A number of excerpts from the second and third films' scores were available for streaming on Nathan Furst's website (now only accessible through a web archive),^[9] and Furst himself occasionally uploaded complete tracks to SoundCloud and YouTube.^{[10][11][12][13]}

To date, there has been no release and no known plans for a release of the score from The Legend Reborn.

Albums

The soundtrack albums for the first three films are available in digital music stores such as iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play. They collectively contain almost all of the original music from the trilogy. Furst has stated that there are currently no plans for physical releases due to the lack of demand for physical media.^[14][15]

While the original tracks are largely identical to their in-film counterparts, several of them do contain differences, particularly in the second and third soundtracks. For example, the electronic elements and drum beats in some cues from Legends of Metru Nui are slightly de-emphasized, while those in other cues are absent. Several tracks from Web of Shadows also omit certain musical sounds that are present in the film variations.

Reception

The music of the first two films received favorable notes from some who reviewed the DVD releases.^[23][24] Furst's work on Legends of Metru Nui also earned the film a nomination for Best Original Score at the 2004 DVD Exclusive Awards.^[25]

David Molina, co-director of the first three films, gave praise to Furst's work on Web of Shadows, saying that "watching the picture with his music for the first time is an amazing experience. The story is suddenly alive and emotional".^[26]

Furst himself has described the Bionicle scores as some of the best music of his career, citing the creative freedom granted to him by the filmmakers.^[2][27]

Bionicle trilogy concert

In 2018, Furst expressed interest in organizing a concert in which highlights from the first three film scores are performed, and asked for input from fans who would be interested in such an event.^[28]

References