Film Score Friday 8/17/01

Big news for Goldsmith fans from Bob Townson at Varese Sarabande:

THE OMEN
The Deluxe Edition
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Academy Award-Winning Score
Composed by Jerry Goldsmith

The classic films THE OMEN and THE EXORCIST are the two parents that gave birth to the entire modern horror film genre. One of director Richard Donner's (Lethal Weapon, Superman) earliest films is a horror masterpiece that spawned two theatrical sequels (Damien: Omen II and The Final Conflict).

The story is well known. When Kathy Thorn (Lee Remick) gives birth to a stillborn baby, her husband Robert (Gregory Peck) shields her from the devastating truth and substitutes and orphaned infant for their own -- unaware or the child's satanic origins. The horror begins on Damien's fifth birthday when his nanny stages a dramatic suicide. Soon after, a priest who tries to warn Damien's father is killed in a freakish accident. As the death toll mounts, Robert realizes his son is the Antichrist and decides he must kill the boy to prevent him from fulfilling a cataclysmic prophecy.

The scores for all three films were composed by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith. For The Omen, Goldsmith created one of his greatest, most famous and most imitated masterpieces. His Satanic choral chants and driving rhythms even earned Goldsmith an Academy Award for Best Score of 1976.

To continue Varese Sarabande's "Deluxe Edition" series of re-mastered and expanded versions of some deserving and best-selling soundtracks, we present The Omen: The Deluxe Edition. Featuring music never before been available from this historic score, new artwork to tie this special edition in to a newly reissued DVD being released by Twentieth Century Fox in time for Halloween as well as new liner notes, The Omen: The Deluxe Edition will be a must-have for horror fans and Jerry Goldsmith fans alike.

Catalog #: 302 066 288 2
 

THE FINAL CONFLICT
The Deluxe Edition
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Music Composed by JERRY GOLDSMITH

REMASTERED FOR DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED SOUND!

The Final Conflict is the dramatic conclusion to The Omen Trilogy.

Damien Thorn (Sam Neill) has helped rescue the world from a recession, appearing to be a benign corporate benefactor. When he then become U.S. Ambassador to England, Damien fulfills a terrifying biblical prophesy. He also faces his own potential demise as an astronomical event brings about the Second Coming of Christ.

Determined to thwart his holy arch-nemesis, as well as a group of priests intent on killing him, Damien begins his most destructive rampage yet. It's the story of a modern-day Armageddon with a riveting and shocking end!

The scores for all three films were composed by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith. For The Omen, Goldsmith created one of his greatest, most famous and most imitated masterpieces. For The Final Conflict, the master composer topped himself.

To continue Varese Sarabande's "Deluxe Edition" series of remastered and expanded versions of some deserving and best-selling soundtracks, we present The Final Conflict: The Deluxe Edition. Featuring dramatically improved sound with music never before been available from this masterful score, new artwork to tie this special edition in to a newly reissued DVD being released by Twentieth Century Fox in time for Halloween as well as new liner notes, The Final Conflict: The Deluxe Edition is a must-have for horror fans and Jerry Goldsmith fans alike.

Catalog #: 302 066 289 2

Both The Omen and The Final Conflict will be out on October 9th. There was a laserdisc a few years ago The Omen featuring an isolated score track, but it will be great to get a proper CD. As for The Final Conflict, this is one of Goldsmith's best scores but it suffered from pinched, unpleasant sound on the existing album.

In case anyone is wondering, Varese is not doing Damien: Omen II because the rights to that score rest with a different record label.

From: Sean O'Neill <emerging@home.com>

Hey, just a little bit of Hans Zimmer news for your Film Score Friday:

The VISTA Series DVD of Pearl Harbor will contain multi-angle version of the 30mins attack on Pearl Harbor with multiple audio tracks, including a music only track. So, there's Hans' 3/4 metre air combat :)

Thanks Sean!

The Recording Academy is offering a music and film seminar in New York City in September. Tell them you saw the info at Film Score Monthly and get in for the $20 Affiliated Organization rate.

Composing for the Features: Music and Film with GRAMMY, Oscar & Pulitzer Prize winner (The Red Violin) John Corigliano, Oscar Winner (Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon) Tan Dun and Dick Hyman (composer of eight Woody Allen films) presented by the New York Chapter of the Recording Academy.

Thursday, September 20, 2001
6:30 sharp - 8:30
Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th Street (at Lincoln Center)
$15 Recording Academy & ASCAP Members
$20 Affiliated Organizations/Students
$25 General Public
FREE Plus 50% off of membership dues ($125 total value for $50) if you join the Recording Academy at the door or in response to this offer +

Limited Seating/Reserve Early 212.245.5440 or newyork@grammy.com

Here is an assortment of letters on various topics. As always, please feel free to start a discussion about anything film music-related on our message board.

From: ED REILLY <oneand334@yahoo.com>

I just came across some back issues in Tower Records (one of the few shops over here that stocks your mag). I'd just like to say a few words in defense of last year's most neglected score - namely X-Men. Micheal Kamen's work is tremendous - richly textured, resonant and haunting. It is infinitely superior to any of his previous scores. Certain tracks such as 'Deathcamp' and 'Magneto's Lair' send shivers down my spine no matter how many times I hear them (and that's saying something). I feel this score was sorely underrated by most critics and its time Kamen got the praise he deserves.

From: "Randy Derchan" <rderchan@visualdatainc.com>

re: Planet of the Apes: So to save my sanity I listened to the score of the original and I have to say that Goldsmith's music for it is everything the new one isn't: fresh, inventive and original. I had a feeling the new score wouldn't be as good but I didn't think it would be as bad as it is, either. My cats are playing with the CD when I left for work since none of my friends wanted it. I even offered to give it away but they don't really like Elfman, either.

In response to a recent Planet of the Apes review:

If you think the score is bad, wait till you see the film -- the worst in recent memory. Burton must be on drugs because he's out of control. He's a sloppy filmaker, I think, and Elfman's scores for his movies are just plain orchestral noise. Even your cats knows better.

From: "Paul W. Conway" <pconway@nyc.rr.com>

I recently watched "Rear Window" for the first time in at least 20 years and (I'm probably way behind in mentioning this :) was surprised and amused to hear Waxman's "Elephant Walk" theme w/lyrics as one of the source music cues.

Too bad this score has never seen a CD release! Most enjoyable throughout.

From: Alex, Al77964@cs.com

In reference to Williams' scoring Attack of the Clones, in all likelihood, Williams will write the score for Clones next, record it in January/February and then work on Minority Report. Clones has completed filming but Minority Report has just starting filming.

From: Arthur Lintgen <ablintgen@home.com>

My present understanding of the super new formats is as follows: DVD-A can only be programmed with on screen programming, and DVD-As from different companies will likely be set up differently. You therefore in most cases cannot do anything with them without on screen programming. This is, in my mind, a fatal defect for two channel audio listeners. SACDs cannot at this time be track programmed, but they all play without needing ons creen programming in a two channel system. They are therefore a viable pure audio format now, two channel or multichannel. SACD hybrids (as with Telarc) are retro compatible with standard cd machines. The Sony SACDs are not hybrids, and require a machine with SACD capability to play. Both formats are clearly superior to standard cds, but you need a very sophisticated system to hear a meaningful difference.

Music from the Movies has assembled a pretty comprehensive list of upcoming movies and their composers as well as upcoming soundtrack albums. See http://www.musicfromthemovies.com/pages/news.html.