Corona | Coming Attractions

One of the factors that can make a good movie become great, and a great film become a classic, is the strength of its soundtrack. The 2009 release of The Dark Knight featured an unusual team-up between two A-list Hollywood composers, James Newton Howard and Hanz Zimmer. For The Dark Knight Rises, just Zimmer is returning to score the three-quel. And if you didn't want to wait until closer to the picture's July 20 release date before you could hear what the composer had made, here's your early opportunity to hear tracks from The Dark Knight Rises.

30-second preview of each of The Dark Knight Rises' 15 tracks can be listened to below thanks to the efforts of Batman-News. If you recall Hans Zimmer's work for Christopher Nolan's first Bat-movie, Batman Begins, then you'll know what you can expect to hear in his latest work. Zimmer returns to give us the pulsating drums, heavy strings and flowing orchestral score that he's delivered in the past two Batman movies. At the same time, the material that's new builds on the earlier themes. It sounds great.

Listen to the selected samples from Hans Zimmer's score for The Dark Knight Rises.

The Dark Knight Rises is Christopher Nolan's third and supposedly final Batman movie. Christian Bale returns for the third time to play the parts of Bruce Wayne and his caped anti-hero Batman, while Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway are introduced as the masked musclular villain Bane and the sultry and engimatic Catwoman, respective. Also returning are Michael Caine as Alfred, Bruce's butler and confidant; Gary Oldman as Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon; and Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman as Wayne Industries CEO Lucius Fox. Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who both worked with the director on Inception, also star in The Dark Knight Rises.