My film music odyssey began in January 1994. It started with a John Williams obsession but within a few years it was Jerry Goldsmith's music that caught my fancy more than any other. I don't remember the first Goldsmith score I bought but it was a beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.
Today's Film Score Friday is an all Goldsmith affair.
Rio Conchos (1964) - Jerry Goldsmith had the good sense to reclaim the Western from Copland imitators in this terrific little score.
Planet of the Apes (1968, Oscar nominee) - Mmmmm...12-tone + Stravinsky + Bartok. Yummy.
Patton (1970, Oscar nominee) - This might be one of the most intellectual scores ever written.
The Wind and the Lion (1975, Oscar nominee) - Jerry goes swashbuckling.
The Omen (1976, Oscar Winner) - Jerry dances with the devil in the pale moonlight. This movie is nearly unwatchable without his score.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979, Oscar nominee) - The subtitle of ST:TMP should have been: Jerry Goldsmith Saves Our Crappy Boring Film.
Legend (1985) - Damn you, Sid Sheinberg for taking Jerry's score off the American release of the film.
Total Recall (1990) - A great score, one Jerry was really proud of. He swore off action movies after this because there was almost no critical response to his score.
First Knight (1995) - According to an interview done in the mid-90s, one of Jerry's personal favourites among his scores. Kind of strange since the movie stinks. Good music from top to bottom though.
Star Trek: First Contact (1996) - The Pikey's list made me realise I hadn't listened to this in a while so I pulled it out. I almost forgot how good it is.
Air Force One (1997) - Lean. Muscular. Hyperpatriotic. I'm glad Jerry only swore off action films for the time he did.
The 13th Warrior (1999) - I have nothing to add to the gagillion times I've written about this before. It's just awesome and great composition to boot!
This gives me an idea for another post...
9 comments:
I want to work in your office.
I miss Jerry. Who's scoring the new Star Trek movie?
Since it's being directed by J.J Abrams I'm guessing Michael Giacchino. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that, but Giacchino is Abrams' guy and his Mission: Impossible III score was serviceable. For Star Trek, though I don't want serviceable. I want fan-effing-tastic.
However, you know how twitchy studio heads can be and they'll probably have James Horner waiting in the wings to write a last-minute replacement score.
Well, at least Horner has done a Star Trek film before. One and a half, really.
I got a great Polaroid of it, it must be one and a half.
I'm just worried that in the studio's attempt to reinvigorate the franchise, NO ONE is going to like it. Give us familiarity AND freshness.
"Jerry Goldsmith Saves Our Crappy Boring Film."
That is AWWWWWESOME.
As much as he could anyway.
Regarding the next one, Basil Poledouris' orchestrator once told me the following: "Familiarity breeds content." It will simply have to have a certain level of familiarity. The problem will be with the fanboys-types who work their minimum-wage jobs at the local comic book store and still live in their parents' basement at 30 who will crap all over it before it even gets a fair shot.
In short I simply don't see Abrams making a bad one. It's like the idea of Bryan singer making a lousy X-Men film.
One of the wonderful things about being sick is that the neural sarcasm inhibitor in my positronic net gets temporarily reset to "stream of consciousness". It's quite fun.
Hmm... let me qualify my statement.
Familiarity AND freshness...
Familiarity in that you don't alienate your built-in fan base TOO much, or else you simply won't make any damn money. Freshness, because we already have a crapload of Star Trek to watch if we feel so inclined. Ten movies, five TV series... there's a lot there.
Personally, I would really like to see a preplanned trilogy that takes places after everything else, not a prequel. Something big and exciting, so non-fans will be willing to get into it, and the real fans will be bombarded with "Easter Egg" references. Heck, it doesn't have to be a trilogy, it could be a pre-planned quadrilogy/tetralogy. Just so long as it's huge and epic and incorporates ALL the key players/races/ships/planets. Sort of like The New Jedi Order, but for Star Trek. All bets are off. Anything could happen--the eradication of an entire species, deaths of main characters, the annihilation of Starfleet Headquarters itself... who knows. My point is, if Star Trek is going to die, it might as well go with a bang. But nobody would go for this idea, because the producers want to think small with it, and they don't have the balls to try and make the longest-standing franchise into the next epic trilogy. No, episodes only. That's why so few people care about the movies--they're too timid, almost completely inconsequential.
Julio and I brainstormed about this hypothetical trilogy one time in the car... I wish I could remember some of our specific ideas.
Who would score this final Star Trek saga of mine? That's a good question...
I wonder what a Howard Shore Star Trek epic score would sound like.
Hell, we could score it!
word verification: selac
I think that should be a character in your saga.
I will feed you to the selac. There, you will find a new definition of "pain and suffering" as you are slowly digested over a thousand years...
Ahhh, crap.
Seriously, though. I don't mean to hijack your blog and go on a Star Trek diatribe, but Jerry Goldsmith WAS the Star Trek composer. How do you replace that quality?
You don't replace someone of that quality. The last person you hire is his son Joel. I'm sure his music for the SG-1 series is good but he doesn't really seem to have the sense of scope required.
I tell you what, I'd be alright with it if someone saw fit to hire Cliff Eidelman again. His score for The Undiscovered Country is terrific.
I thought you would like my subtitle for TMP.
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