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| This is a comments thread about FSM CD: Logan’s Run (1976 Feature Film) |
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Posted: |
Apr 13, 2012 - 3:58 AM
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By: |
JSWalsh
(Member)
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The movie blows. As David Gerrold or someone said, it's yet another movie with a Meaning that boils down to: It's Not Nice To Kill People. Moviemakers--certainly not just Hollywood boobs--seem to think they have to lay that down and be Responsible, rather than assume the audience has a brain particle and can move beyond that a little.
The one element (other than the score) that works for me is the matte work, which is the only effects element that actually creates a sense of scale and wonder. While the 'futuristic' locations are actually kinda cool for what they are, they aren't enough to bring off the underfed world-building. I mean, this is one stupid movie, and I don't even want to get into details (I love the computer that, on hearing that Sanctuary doesn't exist, can't simply conclude that all the runners are now dead, but has a nervous breakdown that somehow ignites what appear to be explosive charges throughout the city).
The use of electronics here is is one of those cases where Goldsmith's ambition trumps his taste. The electronic flatulence is hilarious, and yet I appreciate that he was one of the composers back in this period who was attempting something different. (John Williams gets a pass because he wasn't writiing futuristic scifi scores but swashbucklers in SF clothing.) Goldsmith's score had to create a sense of otherness the sets and effects were failing to do in those scenes with the electronics, and from here it looks like a bit of a flop--and yet, those very elements are entertaining for the sheer weirdness.
Then we get to the outstanding early use of electronics for action music, which he wouldn't really expand on for years (the chase with that burbling synth, which is nowhere to be found on the original LP). It's as if once he used the electronics on that first scene of chasing the runner, he decided he'd set the scene, and returned to the sometimes brutal orchestral music for the action cues later on as a safer bet, not wanting to let electronics overwhelm what had to be a more people-oriented score. Goldsmith, as we know, scored much of the movie as a love story, and thank God for that, or the thing would have absolutely no resonance on the character level--he's really doing a lot of the heavy lifting for this thing.
There are of course a couple of 'chamber music' scenes, but there really isn't a lot of that. The orchestral material really starts pushing through once the chase is on, as Goldsmith strips back the electronics so by the time we and Logan see the sunrise (they missed a golden opportunity by not having Logan and Jessica scream 'Holy crap!' and "What the hell is that thing?!") he can really let loose. There are some lovely passages from that point on.
For me, though, this score will always be about the fight cue. This was one of the very first soundtracks I bought, and I thought it was okay, the love music a little sappy, but I was in grammar school. Then I flipped over the record and put the needle down on "You're Renewed" and had my mind blown. This wasn't anything like that cool STAR WARS score I'd been enjoying, this was...different. This wasn't "fun" action music, this was music for two guys trying to bash each other's head in. It was a real eye-opener about how music expressed its own character, could be used for different emotional states during physical action on the screen.
The FSM release is yet another example of how no film music composer benefits from expansions the way Goldsmith does. I don't get rid of the albums Goldsmith sequenced because they are cool expressions of the music in one way, but in every example of a complete score assembly for a JG score I enjoyed, the expansion trumps the original every time, and creates a new work. It's like the difference between seeing five pieces of a bicycle on the ground, then assembling them with the screws and bolts and the chain and the little pieces. They've both got the same major parts, but man, what a difference.
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You may think the THE OMEN score is less interesting and yet it's the score that propelled me into film score collecting. Nothing else did, that did.
(Okay, I was already a big fan of James Bond film music, but if it hadn't been for THE OMEN, I would probably be a classical music collector who owned some Bond albums, not a soundtrack nerd.)
And in terms of effect on screen, THE OMEN has the kind of immediate effect and creates the kind of immediate lasting impression that few film scores do.
That said, yes, THE OMEN is a relatively basic Goldsmith score while there are more 'clever' scores out there. Like LOGAN'S RUN. But, on screen, the LOGAN'S RUN score doesn't grab the audience like THE OMEN did.
Often, it's the simple scores that grab the audience, not the clever ones. And if grabbing the audience is the goal, that makes it a worthy way to do business.
Me, I think the mid-late 1970s is Jerry Goldsmith at his zenith. All my most favourite Jerry Goldsmith scores come from this period. And LOGAN'S RUN is one of them. I love it dearly.
Cheers
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Goldsmith fans must not miss this title. Because it shows the incredible range of what the composer could do for a film, even when it is a medium-weight sci-fi spectacle.
What I enjoyed most about this cd is that it showed me parts of the the score that I thought were sound effects were ACTUALLY music by Goldsmith. It also illuminates music that is very different from what appeared on the LP.
It's among my all time favorite film scores. The early electronic music was startling indeed, it's when Goldsmith was very experimental.
The entire score is also built extremely well, Goldsmith is a superb musical architect, and the music stand solidly on its own two feet. I was very disappointed in the original OST that it destroyed that musical architecture into something that resembled a cut and past suite of stand alone "highlight" cues. The FSM album was a dream come true. For years, I wondered how this one -- at 3000 copies -- just would not sell out? Heck, even BABY (a lesser score, when compared to LOGAN'S RUN) sold out in a day? Until it became clear that there weren't just 3000 copies, that explained a lot to me. :-)
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Oh, yes, you will be! LOGAN'S RUN is one of the worst "major" SF films ever made. It's right up there with BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES, DAMNATION ALLEY, THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR and WESTWORLD as examples of tired, trite and dumbed-down "Hollywood" SF movie junk food. If it wasn't for the Goldsmith score, I'd say burn every copy of LOGAN'S RUN. It's crap.
While I agree that LOGAN'S RUN isn't perfect, it is by no means THAT bad. It is still entertaining, clearly a 70s movie, with the future looking like a disco shopping mall, and the ideas of the movie were simplistic (and simplistically solved), but hey, at least it was a real spectacle in its day.
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The FSM release is yet another example of how no film music composer benefits from expansions the way Goldsmith does. I don't get rid of the albums Goldsmith sequenced because they are cool expressions of the music in one way, but in every example of a complete score assembly for a JG score I enjoyed, the expansion trumps the original every time, and creates a new work. It's like the difference between seeing five pieces of a bicycle on the ground, then assembling them with the screws and bolts and the chain and the little pieces. They've both got the same major parts, but man, what a difference.
Very well said, I feel the same way about the FSM release of LOGAN's RUN.
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This is a FANTASTIC score that I bought last year. I bought it along with FSM's 'Poltergeist,' listen to both often, and I often think, Wow, are these Jerry's two greatest works?!? Then I listen to 'Star Trek TMP' or 'Alien' or any number of others of his, and I'm just blown away at the musical genius I get to enjoy. 
Well, it may be coincidence... but the scores you mention:
LOGAN'S RUN
POLTERGEIST
STAR TREK
ALIEN
well, ts, ts, ts... yes, they are among Jerry Goldsmith's greatest work, that's just the way it is. I mean, he was a great composer, no question about it, but these scores are top drawer.... along the lines of:
PATTON (echoplex trumpets)
CHINATOWN (economical)
OUTLAND (if you're in the mood for LOGAN'S RUN in extra gloomy)
PLANET OF THE APES (if you want to get rid of melody)
HOUR OF THE GUN (or any other western)
PAPILLON (a personal favorite... heck if I know why none of our specialty labels ever tackled this one)
THE WIND AND THE LION (pure adventure)
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The movie blows....
The one element (other than the score) that works for me is the matte work, which is the only effects element that actually creates a sense of scale and wonder. While the 'futuristic' locations are actually kinda cool for what they are, they aren't enough to bring off the underfed world-building....
Really? From the cheesy model work for the opening scenes, to the fuzzy matte work for Washington, to the dated shopping mall locations, nothing about the "look" of the film ever transported me into this futuristic world: that was only achieved by Goldsmith's score.
Steven... how old were you when you saw the film for the first time?
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The reason I asked was because I was 15 when the film came out, and I absolutely loved it! I guess age makes a difference when watching films like that for the first time!
I will admit that Goldsmith's score was a huge reason why I loved the film, but being a 15 year old kid, I ate that film up! 
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