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Posted: |
Feb 22, 2002 - 4:02 PM
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By: |
Jeron
(Member)
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As some of you may know, Percepto Records has just put out an extremely limited, official pressing of Bruce Broughton's flighty, incredibly melodic score from The Boy Who Could Fly. For those who already own the scarce Varese disc, toss that one aside. Percepto's disc features 63:24 from the original tracks, a gracious thing compared to Varese' original 34 minute disc (which is a re-recording, if you weren't aware). Taylor White has also put together a great booklet, featuring something like 24 pages of liner notes and stills from the film. If you haven't heard the score, trust me when I say it's something that belongs in every film music lover's collection. It's a score that I personally rank right up there with Young Sherlock Holmes... and it's availability has been unfortunate up until now. I'm delighted that we've gotten both this and YSH in the same month, much less the same year! Broughton fans should be ecstatic.
Here's the kicker: Percepto has only produced 500 of these discs... and they're going fast. If you plan on purchasing one, now's the time... it's a rare opportunity to be able to own such a terrific score, so make your move while there's still time.
For more info, visit the Percepto (www.percepto.com) website...
Jeron
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Can anyone tell me how to get in touch with Percepto regarding shipping rates? I emailed their contact address, but it was returned undelivered.
NP: DEEP RISING (Jerry Goldsmith), loud.
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I received my copy of THE BOY WHO COULD FLY over the weekend, and I wanted to mention the sound quality. The sound quality on this release is absolutely incredible. I thought the Varese re-recording had really good sound, but the Percepto release absolutely surpassed that album and then some! It is beautifully remastered. If you haven't ordered one, PLEASE DO SO! You will love it, unless you don't care for Broughton's music. The booklet is wonderful as well. A+ all the way! Thanks Percepto!
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Posted: |
Feb 28, 2010 - 12:37 PM
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By: |
dogplant
(Member)
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Not sure how I missed this, as I started reading FSM in 2001, but I regret not picking up Percepto's release of this score, especially after finally seeing this film for the first time last night. It was released in 1986, so it only took me 24 years to get around to it! I have owned and loved the Broughton soundtrack since friends sent me the vinyl as a birthday gift back in the day. I missed the theatrical release and, on an impulse, rented the DVD this weekend. What a charming film!
In a way, the movie is a classic of its time, made during the post-"E.T." era where filmmakers were looking inward to their tender fantasy side, like John Carpenter with "Starman" and Joe Dante with "Explorers". John Carpenter even appears in a cameo with his Bowling Green Orchestra playing at the high school fair, presumably as a favor to writer-director Nick Castle, also in the band, who co-wrote "Escape From New York" and most famously played Michael Myers aka 'The Shape' in "Halloween". You'd never guess that "The Boy Who Could Fly" was written by a serial killer!
For anyone who's never seen it, the film is essentially a fantasy that walks a fine line between domestic melodrama and a lyrical conceit that an autistic orphan can will himself to fly. Perhaps that's what put me off seeing it for years, because it sounds like it could be mawkish, but it's not. Lucy Deakins is a revelation, only 15 years old when she filmed this, one of her few starring roles as the heartbreakingly pretty, mature-beyond-her-years elder sister to a pre-teen Fred Savage, while their recently bereaved mother (Bonnie Bedelia) struggles to become the breadwinner in their new household. Deakins only acted in a handful of films and, per Wikipedia, she is now an attorney, practicing in Chicago. She is beautiful as Milly, who falls in love with Jay Underwood as Eric, the boy who spends most of the film perched on rooftops and window sills. The film takes its time, and I found that to be one of its strengths: Nick Castle makes us see Eric through Milly's eyes as she gets to know him, and it's not until she starts to fall for him that we actually see them take flight, quite literally, in a lyrical dream sequence that we are not sure is a dream.
Which brings me to Bruce Broughton's music. That, for me, is where the movie really takes flight. What a gorgeous, tender piece of writing. A very simple score, one theme played with variations expressing Eric's crippling shyness, Milly's curiosity and her sense of adventure, then finally soaring to take wing as the two kids find each other and draw each other out. Beautifully done! It was surreal hearing Broughton's cues come alive in the film, and I could name them as the scenes played out: 'Oh, it's 'Milly's Science Project'!' So it all had the nostalgia of something familiar from another time, but it was something new. For anyone who has not seen this, I won't spoil the ending [warning: do not watch the DVD introduction first!] but I will say I greatly admired how Nick Castle and Bruce Broughton played with audience expectations and then allowed their gentle little fable to come to its fruition. Not an easy thing to do, but they do so with grace and wit, and for me they succeeded in delivering an emotional punch while suspending disbelief.
A very fun, sweet movie; and a tremendous score. The Percepto release is long gone, priced at $359 from resellers at Amazon. The original Varese release is available for $10 on iTunes. Needless to say, I have new appreciation for my vinyl album. One of Broughton's best. Highly recommended.
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I wish we had more films like this. The 80's did give us a good number of smaller films like this that, I think are always worth watching from time to time. I have both CD's Varese and Percepto and they both have their pluses. I like the Varese for the fact it's a bigger orchestra, least it sounds like it, and the sound is crisp and sharp. It's a GREAT 32'ish minute album, all the good stuff is in there. Of course when Percepto put out their ORIGINAL film cues, I of course was one happy child of the 80's that slapped down my $19.95 and snatched it up.
All the characters play their part and play them quite good. The music fits the movie just perfectly.
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Unfortunately this disc was released at exactly the wrong time for me, and I was unable to get it.
I caught the film on cable several years ago; I didn't know what the title was, it just kept my attention. This movie had a quiet sweetness to it that managed somehow not to be cloying.
Broughton's score is... well, it's Broughton. And this movie was such a perfect fit. Heartfelt, with just the right amount of magic.
I hope that this score gets revisited by another label someday. I have the iTunes download of the Varese recording, but I much prefer physical (and lossless) media.
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Fun seeing this old thread. Also surprised to find a couple of my old posts in it with an alternate username (Dr. Know)... must have been linked to an old email address. Anyway, how could I forget the day that Young Sherlock Holmes (Intrada) and Boy Who Could Fly (Percepto) arrived in the mail. That was a very good day. It would be nice if both of these get re-released someday so more people can enjoy them. And while we're at it... Glory and Honor!
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Posted: |
Apr 6, 2014 - 11:58 AM
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By: |
dogplant
(Member)
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A very fun, sweet movie; and a tremendous score....
Quoting my own review, a few years later, after meeting Mr. Broughton at yesterday's "Young Sherlock Holmes" Creature Features signing. He was inundated with fans, each wielding fistfuls of CD liner notes and DVD inserts for him to sign, and he kindly autographed my old vinyl album from 1986, my favorite of his scores:
https://flic.kr/p/mQ96K8
Thanks, Bruce, Taylor and Doug for making this happen.
Oh, and Intrada's new release of "Young Sherlock" is spectacular.
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....
