Vintage Horner, Goblin on DVD, and even a touch of Eastwood

By: Randall D. Larson
Date: Saturday, September 22, 2001

During two weeks of tragedy and outrage, we are given a few eager diversions, filmusically, with which to rest, recuperate, and invigorate senses otherwise numbed by current events. A pair of early and long-awaited Horner scores see their first-ever CD release, while other new items include a few notable genre scores from the Sci-Fi Channel and a lavish job done on Dario Argento's Euro Shock DVD's, highlighting their music.

This Week's Recommendation

No, I am not recommending GNP Crescendo's first-ever-CD-issue of James Horner's BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS / HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP (GNPD 8075) because I was commissioned to write the liner notes for the release; in fact they are among the most inconsequential components of the package. But I do feel, quite objectively, that this release is the week's most notable, because for the first time these two seminal works of James Horner are available. Horner, through controversy and criticism, has nonetheless emerged as one of the decade's leading film composers and, thanks to TITANIC, is one of the few of them to become almost a household name.

At any rate, way back when he started out at New World Pictures scoring Roger Corman potboilers, he got the assignment to score Corman's ambitious combination of SEVEN SAMURAI and STAR WARS, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, and his lavish orchestral score was one of the best to follow in the STAR WARS wake of 1978. The score actually has more in common with Jerry Goldsmith than STAR WARS' John Williams Horner shares the same kind of percussive electronic twang-and-rhythm and energetic action motifs that Goldsmith employed in STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (and gained considerable criticism for it as well), and his stalwart main theme is thrilling. Even at this early stage in his career (at age 26), Horner had a good control over large orchestral forms (well, as large an orchestra as Corman would give him, anyway) and turned in a top notch and vibrant orchestral score for the picture that remains a notable genre effort even now. It's been among the most requested Horner scores, and GNP has done a fine job at transferring the source material (a combination of analog and vinyl sources; New World wasn't known for terrific preservation of its audio masters) and replicating the original Rhino LP into CD.

The CD is served with Horner's equally effective horror score for Corman's cheesy but charming beasts-bimbos-and-boobs effort from 1980, HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP. A subdued and eerily atmospheric score emphasizing strings and solo horn, you'll find a bit of ALIEN, PLANET OF THE APES, JAWS, STAR TREK: TMP, and half a dozen other scores, as well as a fair share of the young Horner's own exuberance as he puts it all together to underscore the malevolent prowling of these lasciviously libido'd humanoid sea monsters. Also eagerly requested on CD, GNP Crescendo's pairing of these two scores makes for a great package. Whether or not you read the liner notes, listen to the music. It's not only a pair of terrific scores, but also a notable example of a career-in-progress when compared to Horner's later work on STAR TREK, APOLLO 13, WILLOW, and COCOON.

SOUNDTRAX NEWS

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS concludes its

6-volume soundtrack run with a 2-CD compilation from Varese Sarabande (XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS - Volume Six, 306 066 255 2) that captures music from five episodes, plus an assortment of free-form ethnic dance cues, bonus and alternate compositions, and a collection of some of the best cues from the previous five CDs. Joe LoDuca is one of the genre's most underrated talents, and they were probably displayed best in the 134 hours of original scoring he provided for this series, which allowed him to create an eclectic and ethnically-varied sound design during its six year run. Varese's 6-volume soundtrack series nicely captured the show's musical vitality.

GNP Crescendo has

released the score to the TV movie and the subsequent TV series BLACK SCORPION (GNPD 8073). Kevin Kiner (LEPRECHAUN, CARNOSAUR 3, WING COMMANDER) scored the 1995 movie, while newcomer David G. Russell wrote the music for the 2001 TV series. Kiner's music is richer - with a fuller orchestra and synth and choir - and more expressive and internally supportive of the film's super heroine (as multi-layered as a costumed super hero gets) than Russell's synth score, which remains more schizoid, percussive, and vigorous - a neat main theme followed by decreasingly interesting incidental rhythms and riffs. But it's all nicely done and good hero music for this campy super heroine story. The CD contains 9 cues from the film, and cues from 13 episodes plus the series' main and end titles.

Jerry Goldsmith composed a short piece of music, specially adapted from his new action score from THE LAST CASTLE, in memory of those who lost their lives in New York and Washington last week. The piece, titled "September 11, 2001," was performed at the Hollywood Bowl by the Bowl Orchestra last weekend. The DVDs of TOTAL RECALL and BASIC INSTINCT released this week include brief interviews with Goldsmith included in their documentary extra features; the latter DVD also includes (isolated) the alternate version of the finale music.

John Debney remains the king of zany

science fiction comedy, with CATS & DOGS joining the ranks of the composer's INSPECTOR GADGET and MY FAVORITE MARTIAN as lively and kooky sci-fi scoring. The soundtrack CD (Varese Sarabande 302 066 278 2) proffers a baker's dozen of music cues that are both comic and adventurous. Rich in hokey charm ("The Neighborhood"), viciously exotic dissonance ("Kung-Fu Kats," "The Russian!"), and comic theatrical heroics ("Lou Saves the Day"), Debney is obviously at home in this kind of musical territory and relishes its challenges. The music is silly, sappy, engaging, and compelling, making the most of its synths and symphs and synth-choir to enliven this oddball story of battling alien house pets. His scoring and orchestration is adept and adroitly manages the film's many changes in style and scope, and the score survives mightily on CD with all its charm and histrionics intact. From the heroic symphonics of "Meet the Team" to the pseudo-MEN IN BLACK rhythms of "Tinkles Plots/Limo Ride" and the CHARLIES ANGELS-like "Blasting To Headquarters," Debney's CATS & DOGS literally rains with cleverness and verve. Debney will next score THE SCORPION KING, Universal's spin-off from its two MUMMY movies.

Expanding the awkward flavor of the 1997 Milan CD with three more composers and several more episodes, GNP Crescendo's Best of STARGATE SG-1 (GNPD 8074) compiles more than 70-minutes of music from nine episodes, plus the series' main and end title music. The Milan CD, for one reason or another, edited together Joel Goldsmith's cues from the TV series with David Arnold's cues from the feature film and never really presented Joel's music in proper form, or in the way it was composed for the show. Crescendo remedies this by properly segregating the themes (Arnold's material reserved for the Main Titles, where it appeared during the series; episode scores presented as extended suites). The result is a much more satisfactory and organized recording. Five episode scores and the End Titles are by Joel Goldsmith (son of maestro Jerry), others are composed by Dennis McCarthy (STAR TREK), Kevin Kiner (BLACK SCORPION), and Richard Band (PUPPET MASTER, THE RESURRECTED, etc).

SPACE COWBOYS did not generate a true soundtrack album outside of the collection of pop tunes used, a snippet at a time, in the film. None of Lennie Niehaus' score made it on the Warner song soundtrack CD just as virtually none of Niehaus' music for eight more Eastwood films (or anybody else's, for that matter) have ever found a decent home on LP or CD. It's time for a full-out collection of Niehaus' music from PALE RIDER, HEARTBREAK RIDGE, UNFORGIVEN, A PERFECT WORLD, and SPACE COWBOYS to see the laserlight of home stereo systems. A new compilation from Warner, Music for the Movies of Clint Eastwood (9 48060-2), gives us maybe half of that, including a share of tunes Eastwood composed (orchestrated by others) for films. One two-minute tune, a soft piano soliloquy called "Espacio," represents SPACE COWBOYS on this recording, which also includes a lot of other previously unreleased cues by Niehaus. Supplementing the OST material is a 10-part composition by Niehaus called "Clint Eastwood, An American Filmmaker Suite" which was written to accompany a PBS documentary about Eastwood.

Anchor Bay

has released a heavy 3-disc, limited edition collector's set of Dario Argento's seminal 1977 horror film, SUSPIRIA (DV11610) in a definitive uncut version with dts^® sound, a thick 25^th Anniversary booklet, and even a set of miniature lobby cards. The first disc contains the movie, the second contains a nearly hour-long set of interviews with Argento and his cast and crew, and the third disc is a CD containing the Goblin original soundtrack music. Goblin (DAWN OF THE DEAD, PHENOMENA, etc.) members (Agostino Marangolo, Massismo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli, and Claudio Simonetti) are well in evidence in the interview material, describing in detail their efforts on the score a miasmic, droning and hauntingly effective electronic-based composition and how they worked with Argento to achieve it. Drummer Marangolo perhaps sums it up the best when he says, "I think the secret of the music's success is within doing music that almost doesn't have anything to do with the scene, but to follow the scene endlessly with a rhythm that was almost violent. And it's a continuous rhythm that is almost annoying." Yet it works very well within the context of Argento's psychedelic, claustrophobic and visceral directorial style. Anchor Bay has also issued a 2-disc DVD edition of Argento's OPERA (DV11854) in which the second disc is a CD with Claudio Simonetti's original soundtrack music; he is also interviewed about the music in both the standard single-disc release (DV11853) and the deluxe double-disc edition. While there is no CD track listing on the package, if you put the CD into a PC and run Windows Media Player or another audio playback program you can get the track listing there. Incidentally, Anchor Bay has recalled all editions of OPERA due to a manufacturing error in some of the discs and will be replacing them soon (see http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com). The CDs included on the DVD sets contain the same music as the recent CD release, including bonus tracks but excluding "Markos" (an uncredited shortened version of Philip Glass' "Music in Similar Motion") see DRG's Goblin, Volume II 1975-1980: Hits, Rare Tracks & Outtakes From Profondo RossO, Suspiria, Contamination & Others CD for that.

John Carpenter's GHOSTS OF MARS has been released on CD by Varese Sarabande. One of the few directors to score his own movies, Carpenter has laced his films with effective electronic scoring since DARK STAR and HALLOWEEN, with occasional delegations to other composers (he had Morricone write a John Carpenter score for THE THING; Shirley Walker gave a softer edge to MEMOIRS OF THE INVISIBLE MAN; and he later worked with Shirley again to orchestrally embellish ESCAPE FROM L.A.), and his latest effort is no exception. Working with rock guitarists and experimental underground music demigods, Carpenter's GHOSTS score may prove to be a far (and far more up-front) cry than the haunting piano-and-synth riff from HALLOWEEN.

NEW SCORING ASSIGNMENTS

Randy Newman (TOY STORY, A BUG'S LIFE) unsurprisingly will score Disney/Pixar's MONSTERS INC. opening in November.

Howard Shore (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE CELL) will score New Line's lavish new three-part adaptation of LORD OF THE RINGS. The first film will also include a song by Enya.

Mychael Danna (8MM, BOUNCE, RIDE WITH THE DEVIL) has scored HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, Hollywood's latest Stephen King adaptation.

Trevor Rabin (THE 6TH DAY, DEEP BLUE SEA, ARMAGEDDON) will score THE ONE, the new virtual reality action fest from Glen Morgan and James Wong, starring Jet Li.

Brian Tyler (SIX-STRING SAMURAI, TERROR TRACT) will score Tommy Lee Wallace's VAMPIRES: LOS MUERTES, executive produced by John Carpenter, and also Bill Paxton's directorial debut, FRAILTY, described as a "Texas Gothic thriller."

Eric Serra (GOLDENEYE, THE FIFTH ELEMENT) along with rocker/remixer BT (a.k.a. Brian Wayne Transeau, DRIVEN, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS) will score John McTiernan's remake of ROLLERBALL. BT has also scored Ben Stiller's new comedy, ZOOLANDER.

German composer and Hans Zimmer protégé Klaus Badelt (who provided additional music for GLADIATOR, MI:2, HANNIBAL and PEARL HARBOR before getting the opportunity to branch out on his own with this year's EXTREME DAYS) will score Kurt Wimmer's futuristic drama, EQUILIBIRUM.

Soundtrax is our bi-weekly movie soundtrack column.