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Posted: |
Nov 24, 2008 - 11:49 AM
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By: |
ahem
(Member)
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Just watched both versions of the film the other day, so I thought I'd revive this post. I have to say that Goldsmith's score is simply terrible. It's huge and overblown and never feels like it is part of the film's world. It feels like a big Hollywood score pasted on with no regard for the tone of the film or the action of the film. I much prefer TD's score. It's a bit more 80s than I like, and some of the bits with the electric guitar are ridiculous (I much prefer their early 70s albums to their 80s film scores), but I think they "got" the film in a way that Jerry Goldsmith was perhaps incapable of.
I have to disagree with the original poster here in that I think this is best illustrated by the scene with the "dress waltz". Tangerine Dream's scoring here almost seems diegetic, as though the waltzing creature has a little clockwork calliope for a heart. It's what made the scene so eerie and effective to me as a child.
Alternately, Jerry's piece for that scene is ridiculously gigantic. It almost seems like it wasn't even written for the scene, and it's just extremely conventional and seems to be coming from nowhere. The scene and the music don't match in movement, and they don't match in mood (it sucks all the creepy seductive qualities out of the scene and replaces it with bland majesty).
And if anything, I think Jerry's score is more "accessible" and makes this just seem like bland popcorn fare like lesser 80s fantasy films like Willow rather than something with arthouse aspirations.
I prefer the TD version also, which was quite innovative for the time (now it just sounds like an Enya backing track for the most part). Goldsmith's however was his cliched action/genre scoring throughout the 80s and early 90s, i.e. Waxman influenced orchestra with a load of Yamaha DX7 presets creating twinkling, "otherworldy" sounds. It's still a rich and complex soundscape by all means, but more of the same in the SUPERGIRL/EXPLORERS/GREMLINS/TWILIGHT ZONE mold, and even people like Grusin on GOONIES were doing that sound too. It's generic, big budget, 80s Goldsmith, but of course that still smacks of quality compared to the next person.
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Both scores are just fine. Neither of them are outstanding in or out of the film, and neither of them rank high on Goldsmith or TD's list of greats (for me). However, Goldsmith's "Faerie Dance" piece is EXCELLENT and well worth having. I think TD's score may work better for the tone of the film, but the whole affair is so choppy that it's really difficult to get a strong sense of musical continuity in either version.
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overall, the Goldsmith score is superior.
but some of the TD stuff is good too.
overall, its a nice option to be able to see 2 versions of a movie with completely different types of score.
one synth, and one orchestral.
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I think TD's score is good. Unicorn Theme is a brilliant track, and there are several other good TD tracks on the score. Loved By The Sun (TD/Jon Anderson) is good too, and I love Bryan Ferry's song, although TD was not involved in that one. I have only heard bits of the Goldsmith score, and it sounded terribly syrupy. I remember a reviewer calling JG's score " a score of almost insulting banality by the ubiquitous JG". :-D
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If most '80s scores sounded like Jerry Goldsmith, we'd all be a lot better off.
Couldn't disagree more.
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Wow, what a great explaination you have there! No one and I mean NO ONE can refute logic like that!
That should be EXPLANATION.
See? EXPLANATION.
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I know some of the folks on
Hi Big Bear:
Everyone is entitled to his opinion so nobody should be outraged.
Like you I like both scores, yet for the film find Tangerine Dream better.
To listen to alone think Goldsmith's is a better album.
IMHO anyway.
...I like Tangerine Dream's score better than Goldsmith's.
No, wait... that's not entirely accurate. I think, as an album to be listened to away from the film, Goldsmith runs circles around the Dream. And certainly his "Dress Waltz" is leagues ahead of the circus calliope crap in the U.S. version. But on top of such a sumptuous film, Goldsmith's score seems on occasion to be too much frosting overpowering an otherwise richly flavorful cake.
There is a simplicity and directness to Tangerine Dream's score that, in my opinion, just suits Scott's fantasy textures better within the film. No, I don't really like the electric guitars much... and yes, I think it rather forces its overt "accessibility" at points. But on the whole, I think it serves the film better.
Now I think I am going to duck under my desk while all the Goldsmith fanatics sharpen their knives.
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Posted: |
Nov 24, 2008 - 7:46 PM
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By: |
Tom Servo
(Member)
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I can see both sides, actually...
When I picked up the deluxe DVD set and finally got watch the Euro version with Jerry's music, my ex-wife and I both noted that with his grand, operatic score the film becomes more of a theatrical stage presentation, such as what we might have seen at the Lyric Opera in Chicago. It could be argued that Goldsmith's score really works best as a standalone orchestral showpiece. As soon as first heard it back in '91, thanks to the 45min CD release in Europe, I immediately thought of Ravel's "Daphnes et Chloe" and how this is a similarly impressive achievement by Jerry, film or no film.
As for the TD score, I do like some it and I can see how due to the utter strangeness of the film, perhaps TD's synth score is actually a better marriage of sound and image...
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