Recent comments on the message board along the lines of “I’ve never seen this movie or even heard of this movie so I don’t care about the score” got me thinking about some scores I took a chance on – and was greatly rewarded.

Atlantis: The Lost Continent

This one came as part of the Silver Age Charter Club. (For you kids too young to remember, this was a marvelous invention in which FSM mailed you their latest release every month, automatically.) I’d never heard of this film, had never heard of the composer and most certainly would never have purchased the CD if it hadn’t dropped into my mailbox. That being said, the music grabbed me from the delightful opening fanfare and main theme expressed in the first track. For some reason, I’d never seen (or heard the score from) The Time Machine, either, and so, at the time, didn’t know about the similarities that exist between the two scores. Having now seen and heard The Time Machine, I have to say that, unlike some commenters I’ve seen, I much prefer Atlantis. It’s full of silver age goodness and contains the bonus of a Rosza score to another movie I’d never seen or heard of, The Power. And that score, too, is great fun to hear.

Marco Polo

I was taken, somehow, by the cover. I’d see it in the album bin and loved the redness and simplicity of the design. I’d been intrigued by this NBC miniseries that had recently aired. I didn’t get to see a single episode but I bought and read the novelisation (by John “The Kent Chronicles” Jakes) and liked the snippet of music I heard during the promos. One day I finally took the plunge and bought the LP and it quickly became a favorite. Morricone’s Marco theme is lyrical, gentle and lovely and the whole thing became a soothing listen for me, something I liked to have on as background for writing or for staring out the window during a rainstorm. When the CD age came, I kept hoping for a release and was eventually rewarded with an expansion that provided even more variations on the Marco theme.

Masada

Another miniseries I didn’t watch. But I saw promos and watched the opening credits and really dug the vibe of the main theme I heard. Since I was also slowly falling for Jerry on the strength of Star Trek The Motion Picture, I kept picking up the album and considering it, for months, always nervous that I might not like it. But finally I bought it and immediately treasured it. The main titles build slowly into a rollicking march that, not having seen the miniseries, I could pretend had a Western feel to it.

The Omega Man

I’ve long wanted to see this one. It always seemed to me that there was a trilogy of great dystopian Charlton Heston films from the late sixties/early seventies, and I was missing out by only having seen Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green. Meanwhile, Ron Grainer’s Prisoner and Doctor Who themes had long cemented themselves in the upper pantheon of my favorite TV themes. So when FSM released the score, I was interested but couldn’t really make myself buy it, despite the many enthusiastic reviews. But when the low inventory notices started appearing, I listened again to the samples and finally placed my order. I found myself almost completely unable to stop listening to this score for a year and a half afterwards. What a joyous ride. I’m so happy that others can now experience the glory of Omega Man thanks to the new unlimited release.

Bandolero

Intrada announced it one night and I’d never heard of the film. I enjoyed the main titles to some of Jerry’s westerns but wasn’t as excited about the rest of the music so I was hesitant about ordering this one. I listened to the samples and, again, enjoyed the main titles, but didn’t know if I’d care about the rest of it.  Finally I went ahead and took a chance and I am utterly delighted that I did. The whole score is great and I particularly love the demo track of the main theme. This became a controversial release, if I recall correctly, because it was only 1500 units that quickly sold out and the Intrada guys actually considered doing a second run.  


Eye of the Devil and Dark of the Sun

These are two more releases that felt like really big risks that were ultimately worth the gamble. Both the composers and the films were completely unknown to me upon FSM’s release of their scores. But Dark of the Sun drew me in with the unusual sound of its main title and Eye of the Devil got such a warm, personal recommendation from Lukas himself that I just couldn’t resist giving it a chance. Both of them turned out to be terrific scores, for completely different reasons. Dark is full of unusual orchestrations and bombast while Eye is haunting and atmospheric. And I love them both.

So take a chance every now and then, people. I can’t promise you won’t end up with a dud every now and then, but what’s life without a little risk?