The Great Wall

The Great Wall Analysis

​🎶 Sonic Ambition: The Score and Sound Design (Part 13/20)

​Ramin Djawadi's Epic Soundscape
​The musical score for The Great Wall was composed by Ramin Djawadi, an Iranian-German composer widely known for his powerful, high-octane scores for massive productions, most notably Game of Thrones and Iron Man. Djawadi was tasked with creating a soundscape that could match the film's ambitious visual scale while respecting its East-meets-West duality.
​Blending East and West Musically
​Djawadi's score skillfully weaves together traditional Western orchestral might with distinct Chinese musical elements, mirroring the film’s co-production identity:
​Western Orchestral Power: The battle sequences are driven by intense percussion, sweeping brass, and driving string arrangements, providing the epic, adrenaline-pumping foundation expected of a Hollywood blockbuster.
​Traditional Chinese Instrumentation: Djawadi incorporates instruments like the erhu (a two-stringed fiddle), pipa (a Chinese lute), and various Chinese percussion. These elements are strategically used to underscore moments of Chinese cultural pride, emotional depth, and the solemn duty of The Nameless Order.
​The Tao Tei Theme: The music associated with the monsters is characterized by dark, abrasive tones and unsettling, repetitive rhythms, effectively heightening the sense of an ancient, unstoppable threat.
​The Importance of Sound Design
​Beyond the score, the film's sound design is crucial in selling the scale of the conflict:
​The Roar of the Tao Tei: The distinctive, echoing roars and screeches of the monster horde—particularly their coordinated sonic attacks driven by the Queen—are engineered to convey an overwhelming, almost geological threat.
​The Mechanism of the Wall: The sounds of the specialized weaponry—the creaking of the Crane Troop’s descent, the heavy thud of the siege engineers' machinery, and the distinct hiss of the defensive traps—add layers of gritty reality to the fantastical setting.
​The sonic component of The Great Wall thus acts as a powerful, unsung partner to Zhang Yimou’s visuals, effectively communicating the scope and cultural fusion of the epic.