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Another one off my Holy Grail list! Thought the tapes on this one were lost. Glad that proved not to be the case.
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C&C or not, this has already been ordered!
Thor ordering immediately?! I thought i'd never see the day.
Alex
I can. If it's Williams he hops like a trained seal and drops all previously stated objections. It's quite predictable...
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Been waiting for this release for years. People usually mark the beginning of Williams' move from lighter weight comedy scores to more dramatic fare with THE REIVERS, but the actual turn happened with this striking early effort. (This was hardly unexpected, as his TV work on KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATRE, CHECKMATE, WIDE COUNTRY, ALCOA THEATRE, etc. gave ample evidence of his dramatic chops.)
Anyway, thanks Lukas for scratching yet another grail off the list. Looking forward to hearing this Dan Wallin mix in stereo at long last.
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Posted: |
Oct 19, 2009 - 1:44 PM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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So I finally got around to this film as well.
I would say it's a mediocre film with certain values, but also lots of warts.
First of all, it's refreshing to have an even balance of screen time between the Japanese and the American soldiers (and even having the Japanese appear FIRST), much like they did with the LETTERS OF IWO JIMA / FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS combo, with which it is natural to compare. However, both groups have too many charicatures, from the goofy fisherman and nerdy Buddhist priest with the Japanese to the screaming G.I. Joe lieutenant with the Americans.
Also, much of the dialogue (and especially monologues) are WAY too literary and stilted. It's like Sinatra wanted this to be both his film opus AND literary opus at the same time. The arch example is when Sinatra tells the story of the captain's love story, but when even the Japanese C.O. talks like a character from a Jack Kerouac novel, it becomes too much.
On the plus side are a couple of nice setpieces, such as building the dam or the unnerving leg amputation scene.
I never really got bored, but I never really got that engaged either. Which is why mediocre is a fitting value judgement.
Williams' music, however, is very good. My favourite bits are the Rozsa soundalikes in the main titles, but there's a lot of interesting things in the action music too, which sounds like STAR WARS action music crossed with some of the more sturm-und-drang melodramaticism he wrote for the Irwin Allen TV shows. He taps into the oriental without making it hokey or clichéed. Except maybe for the scene that shows the Japanese and American parts of the beach, each with their own "do not trespass" sign....THAT actually reminded me a bit of his GILLIGAN'S ISLAND music! 
I'm very happy that FSM released this score (C&C or not), as it's one of his most serious scores in the 60's, and a definite sign of the things to come.
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Just received this today and yes, it's a fanTAStic release, a revelation.
(Btw, a short-form I'm unsure of on this thread: Does "C&C" mean "complete & chronological"?)
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Posted: |
Oct 19, 2009 - 2:57 PM
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By: |
Dana Wilcox
(Member)
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Williams' music, however, is very good. My favourite bits are the Rozsa soundalikes in the main titles, but there's a lot of interesting things in the action music too, which sounds like STAR WARS action music crossed with some of the more sturm-und-drang melodramaticism he wrote for the Irwin Allen TV shows. He taps into the oriental without making it hokey or clichéed. Except maybe for the scene that shows the Japanese and American parts of the beach, each with their own "do not trespass" sign....THAT actually reminded me a bit of his GILLIGAN'S ISLAND music!
I'm very happy that FSM released this score (C&C or not), as it's one of his most serious scores in the 60's, and a definite sign of the things to come.
I was just listening to NBTB in the car today and was considering "bumping" this thread back up to express my appreciation of this release -- thanks for saving me the trouble! Great minds etc. I agree with your characterization of the music (including the "Gilligan's Island" reference), however I must depart from your comments on one point. The main title "soundalikes" as you refer to them seem strikingly "Previnesque" to me (I'm not the first to mention this), and don't remind me in any way of anything I've ever heard from Rozsa. You've got me scratching my head on that one! Did you have a particular Rozsa score in mind?
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The main title "soundalikes" as you refer to them seem strikingly "Previnesque" to me (I'm not the first to mention this), and don't remind me in any way of anything I've ever heard from Rozsa. You've got me scratching my head on that one! Did you have a particular Rozsa score in mind?
Listen to the "Main Titles", from 0:39 to 1:01, in particular. In my ears, this sounds like it could have been pulled right out of BEN HUR or some other Rozsa epic.
I'm intrigued now, Thor. I'm going to do some comparing. I think you mentioned that there are some cues in STAR WARS that sound alike some of NBTB. Definitely the first 11-note passage of the Main Title reminds me of STAR WARS.
I can see what you mean about the 0:39 to 1:01 of the Main Title, too. I guess it has a bit of Rozsa flavouring to it.
The sound on this is absolutely stellar, at least as far as I've gotten.
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Posted: |
Oct 19, 2009 - 4:04 PM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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I'd compare it more to something Bernsteinian, like a snippet from THE TEN COMMANDMENTS... The opening brass figures (repeated throughout the main title) were the Previn-like features to which I referred in my previous message, but I get your "Biblical spectacle" impressions from that sequence. I had never made that connection, but I "hear" what you mean.
Yeah, Bernstein's 10 C touches some of the same territory too, although that one is surprisingly "English" in nature here and there, almost like Elgar or Britten. I don't know, that snippet from NBTB just reminds me in style of tracks like "Adoration of the Magicians" (from 1:23 especially) or "Ring of Freedom" from BEN HUR, incidentally my favourite music from that film (I'm not so keen on the rowing and battle music). I love that kind of "religious music", as you know.
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