The Dark Knight Rises may have a master director at the helm in Christoper Nolan, but it also has a master craftsman under the hood in composer Hans Zimmer (Gladiator) – both ending their love affair with the bat in this, the final film of Nolan’s trilogy.

In a real treat, 30-second samples from the 15 track score have been released – and you can listen to them here! Zimmer has once again produced a soundtrack that is both haunting and stirring for us to enjoy.

(Note: Despite only being samples, these may still be spoiler’ish – and the link does contains people’s comments.)

Zimmer’s score is exactly what you’d hope for. Favourite samples for me include the wintery “Mind If I Cut In?” and the spine-tingling finale “Rise”.

Did you pick up any possible influences on the tracks? Total Film think “Gotham’s Reckoning“ sounds Terminator-esque; Slash Film suggested Zimmer may have been listening to the Drive soundtrack while composing “Underground Army“.

What do you think of these samples? What’s your favourite Hans Zimmer score?

 Eight years after The Dark Knight, the terrorist leader Bane arrives in Gotham City, pushing it and its police force to the limits, forcing its former hero Batman to resurface after taking the fall for Harvey Dent.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises stars Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Nestor Carbonell and Matthew Modine.

The Dark Knight Rises on July 19, 2012