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  General Discussion: The Package (1989) - James Newton Howard   Last Post 
 Posted:   Apr 4, 2010 - 4:02 PM   
 By:   First Breath   (Member)

I just saw this film. I was surprised about the great amount of good synth stuff in the movie, as I always had heard that this should be JNH's "first orchestral score".

Interesting to notice that Howard did the exact opposite of what, say, Zimmer did the same year with Black Rain. Zimmer melded the electronic and symphonic elements together, JNH was either totally electronic or totally orchestral. I find busy pure orchestral action-music like this (the end credits for instance) quite uninteresting and without much personality, to be honest, but that's a different discussion...

Is the CD the complete & chronological score?

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 5, 2010 - 5:57 AM   
 By:   Tobias   (Member)

I just saw this film. I was surprised about the great amount of good synth stuff in the movie, as I always had heard that this should be JNH's "first orchestral score".

Interesting to notice that Howard did the exact opposite of what, say, Zimmer did the same year with Black Rain. Zimmer melded the electronic and symphonic elements together, JNH was either totally electronic or totally orchestral. I find busy pure orchestral action-music like this (the end credits for instance) quite uninteresting and without much personality, to be honest, but that's a different discussion...

Is the CD the complete & chronological score?


I remember when Mikael Carlsson (of Moviescore Media) had his own printed film music magazine here in Sweden about 15-20 years ago (I was a subscriber).

Anyway around the time when James Newton Howard had been nominated for an Oscar for his score to The Fugitive he had an article about unreleased scores that should been released on CD and one of them was The Package. He said something like this: "I don`t get all the excitement for his score to The Fugitive because here we have a superior (action) score...and it is not even released".

(To Mikael. Om du läser detta så bör du veta att jag var för lat för att hämta själva tidningen och därmed citerade jag direkt ur minnet så därför kanske det inte stämmer exakt ordagrant).

 
 
 Posted:   Apr 5, 2010 - 7:33 AM   
 By:   Ford A. Thaxton   (Member)

Is the CD the complete & chronological score?

As I recall, it was...


Ford A. Thaxton

 
 Posted:   Dec 14, 2013 - 10:37 AM   
 By:   Solium   (Member)

I remember seeing the film and was quite taken by the score. I was ecstatic when the soundtrack was released. Though after listening to it, this is an awkward score. I love the orchestral stuff. Vintage JNH. The synth stuff sounds completely out of place and ruins the flow. I don't think they meld together to well. Also the synth stuff reminds me to much of Robocop, which is distracting.

 
 
 Posted:   Dec 14, 2013 - 12:00 PM   
 By:   Hurdy Gurdy   (Member)

My thoughts on this CD can be found in this thread, from The Long Ago.

http://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=12014&forumID=1&archive=1&pageID=1&r=472#bottom

 
 Posted:   Dec 15, 2013 - 2:50 AM   
 By:   Gold Digger   (Member)

I remember seeing the film and was quite taken by the score. I was ecstatic when the soundtrack was released. Though after listening to it, this is an awkward score. I love the orchestral stuff. Vintage JNH. The synth stuff sounds completely out of place and ruins the flow. I don't think they meld together to well. Also the synth stuff reminds me to much of Robocop, which is distracting.

Same for me. Many years ago I got sent just the orchestral elements of the score and only listen to this now. It maybe shorter but plays much better. Still I was very thankful that Prometheus got this score released for the fans. It contains some stunning JNH orchestral action.

 
 Posted:   Dec 15, 2013 - 8:20 AM   
 By:   Solium   (Member)

I remember seeing the film and was quite taken by the score. I was ecstatic when the soundtrack was released. Though after listening to it, this is an awkward score. I love the orchestral stuff. Vintage JNH. The synth stuff sounds completely out of place and ruins the flow. I don't think they meld together to well. Also the synth stuff reminds me to much of Robocop, which is distracting.

Same for me. Many years ago I got sent just the orchestral elements of the score and only listen to this now. It maybe shorter but plays much better. Still I was very thankful that Prometheus got this score released for the fans. It contains some stunning JNH orchestral action.

Agreed. For me (nowadays) it's about the quality of the listening experience not the totality of the music. So I routinely cut cues and even move cues around until I find the playlist that works best for me. I don't like to abandon a score because a third of it doesn't work. My playlist was cut down to 38 minutes and I enjoy it a lot more. In other cases I'm happy if I get 30 minutes of great music out of a score.

 
 Posted:   Dec 15, 2013 - 8:42 AM   
 By:   Shaun Rutherford   (Member)

Please post your 38 minutes. I am far too lazy to find out what tracks are supposed to be good on this.

 
 Posted:   Dec 15, 2013 - 8:54 AM   
 By:   Solium   (Member)

Please post your 38 minutes. I am far too lazy to find out what tracks are supposed to be good on this.

I kept a few short electronic cues and I moved tracks around a bit.

(1) Main Title/Henke Arrest/The Chateau
(2) The Plot/Carlson Killing
(3) House Arrest
(4) Gallagher Escapes House Arrest
(5) Eileen Answers Phone/Chase Pt. 1/Chase Pt. 2
(6) Neo-Nazi Demonstration
(7) Boyette Leaves Safehouse
(8) Johnny Escapes Killer
(9) Chase Pt. 3
(10) Chase Finale - Pt. 1/Chase Finale - Pt. 2
(11) You're A Dead Man, Sergeant/End Credits

 
 
 Posted:   Dec 15, 2013 - 11:39 AM   
 By:   Ford A. Thaxton   (Member)

Please post your 38 minutes. I am far too lazy to find out what tracks are supposed to be good on this.

I kept a few short electronic cues and I moved tracks around a bit.

(1) Main Title/Henke Arrest/The Chateau
(2) The Plot/Carlson Killing
(3) House Arrest
(4) Gallagher Escapes House Arrest
(5) Eileen Answers Phone/Chase Pt. 1/Chase Pt. 2
(6) Neo-Nazi Demonstration
(7) Boyette Leaves Safehouse
(8) Johnny Escapes Killer
(9) Chase Pt. 3
(10) Chase Finale - Pt. 1/Chase Finale - Pt. 2
(11) You're A Dead Man, Sergeant/End Credits

And here is the great truth….

If we had just assembled an album like this, the many of the same folks would be bitching about it not being complete…

You are Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Ford A. Thaxton

 
 Posted:   Dec 15, 2013 - 12:13 PM   
 By:   Shaun Rutherford   (Member)

You're right, Ford. Thanks, solium. I just wanted someone else's highlights, and if I like this, maybe I'll (FINALLY) listen to the whole thing! Haha

 
 Posted:   Sep 15, 2023 - 2:55 PM   
 By:   Mike Esssss   (Member)

I just turned this on randomly in the background as I'm working and I guess I'd never paid much attention to it before because my ears perked up almost immediately. I was surprised at how robust it is orchestrally when urban thrillers like this of the time tended to get more contemporary scores. I wonder if maybe the early temping and spotting discussions mentioned the name Poledouris at all.

Suite:



Really dig that flourish starting around 7:27.

 
 Posted:   Sep 15, 2023 - 3:00 PM   
 By:   The Mutant   (Member)

Great score. It drives me nuts that the picture used for that suite is from a scene cut from the film that has never been included to my knowledge on any of the extra features.

Prometheus even used it for the cover of one of their versions.

I would love to know what the dialogue was in that scene because it appears to take place right before Jones escapes custody.

 
 
 Posted:   Sep 16, 2023 - 9:57 AM   
 By:   Thor   (Member)

Zimmer melded the electronic and symphonic elements together, JNH was either totally electronic or totally orchestral.

A bit like Silvestri on those early scores. Either completely electronic or completely orchestral -- within the same score. In any case, the clip above was nice enough; had some Goldsmith vibes to it. But I'm more curious about the electronic bits. Would definitely check this out if it were available.

 
 Posted:   Sep 16, 2023 - 11:33 AM   
 By:   Sean Nethery   (Member)

It is available on iTunes - in the USA anyway.

And some of the used prices are about what a new CD would cost (depending on where you live and shipping, of course).

I'm another who hasn't given this enough attention. I am enjoying it now, and wouldn't have thought of it without this thread being resurrected, so thanks!

 
 Posted:   Sep 17, 2023 - 9:33 AM   
 By:   CindyLover   (Member)

Really dig that flourish starting around 7:27.

Hence its inclusion in the end credits suite.

 
  General Discussion: The Package (1989) - James Newton Howard
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