The Dark Knight Rises (soundtrack)

The Dark Knight Rises: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, which is the sequel to Christopher Nolan's 2008 film The Dark Knight. The soundtrack was released on July 17, 2012. The CD edition of the album contains an exclusive code to unlock three bonus tracks, titled "Bombers Over Ibiza (Junkie XL Remix)," "No Stone Unturned," and "Risen from Darkness". Two additional bonus tracks, "The Shadows Betray You" and "The End," are digital-download exclusive tracks. The soundtrack was officially released online for streaming purposes on July 10.

Additional cues were released through an iPhone app titled The Dark Knight Rises Z+ App Origins Pack. The app contains four original suites by Hans Zimmer ("Wayne Manor," "Selina Kyle," "Orphan," and "Bane") that were created during the early stages of development for the film.A complete soundtrack has also been posted on YouTube with 54 tracks.

The main themes were composed and arranged by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, but Howard did not return to the series to score this film and was not credited as a composer. Regarding his departure from the franchise, Howard said: "I just really felt that I had made what I felt like I could contribute to that series, and I always felt that... Hans... was the mastermind of those scores. I mean, they really sounded the way they sounded because of him. His conception of the scores was really brilliant. It's not that I didn't add a lot, I did, but I don't think I added the aspects of the music that really defined the character of those movies."

Just like Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, the main motif for Batman consists of just two notes, played by horns and accompanied by strings, representing the character's pain and guilt.

In many tracks, Batman's main action theme ("Molossus") is reprised, which was also used in the first two movies of the trilogy.

The score won in the category "Best Original Score" at the Denver Film Society, while it was nominated in other events, including the Grammy Awards and the Saturn Awards. At the Brit Awards, Zimmer won as "Composer of the Year" for his work on the scores of The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel.