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| CD Reviews: Starship Troopers 2 and The Enemy Below |
| Posted By: Nick Joy, Darren MacDonald on January 11, 2005 - 10:00 PM |
CD Reviews: Starship Troopers 2 and The Enemy Below
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the
Federation *** 1/2
JOHN MORGAN AND WILLIAM STROMBERG
Varèse Sarabande VSD-6581
38 tracks - 72:56
The prospect of a low-budget straight-to-video sequel to Paul
Verhoeven's Starship Troopers
didn't generally set any hearts racing with anticipation, particularly
with the news that Basil Poledouris was not returning to deliver more
of his blockbuster score. However, once the initial disappointments
subsided, good news started to filer through. The movie was going to be
directed by special effects supremo Phil Tippett, was written by Ed
Neumeier (screenwriter of the first Starship
Troopers outing) and the score was to be written by John Morgan
and William Stromberg. While unknown to the casual soundtrack listener,
the composers were already popular in specialist soundtrack circles for
their loving Marco Polo reconstructions of classic scores like The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and King Kong. They also went atomic
with their spectacular scores to Trinity
and Beyond, Nukes in Space
and Atomic Journeys.
Poledouris' score is actually used in the "Battle at Z.A." and "End
Credits" tracks, but that's where the similarities end. Wisely
resisting the temptation to re-cook the old themes, Stromberg and
Williams have instead opted to merely echo the style of his work before
leaping into some more familiar territory. When the "Special Thanks" on
the back of a CD include the names Bernard Herrmann and Max Steiner you
get a pretty good idea of what to expect, and the composers don't
disappoint. In much the same way that the first Troopers was essentially an
old-fashioned siege/war movie, its lower-profile successor plays on the
same field, dipping into the John Ford/ Steiner collaboration The Lost Patrol. However, there's
no special thanks to Hans Zimmer, which is strange when considering
that the opening track seems so beholden to the ever-popular Backdraft.
"Fortress Search" is a wonderful retro trip to Herrmann's fantasy
films, featuring the string work and brass flourishes of Mysterious Island or The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. It
doesn't take too much to recognize the descending strings of Cape Fear either. "Tail o' the Bug"
and "Kill Them All" are frantic, violent cues in stark contrast to the
heroics of "Dax's Last Stand" and the military bugles of "Reunion." By
the time the "End Credits" are pulsing from your stereo you'll be
humming that Zimmeresque Fed Net theme or getting ready to track back
to "Fortress Search."
Don't be put off by the number of tracks. Many of the cues might only
clock in at around the minute mark, but they are sequenced in such a
way that they the pace is maintained throughout and many neatly segue
into one another. The 90-piece Moscow Symphony Orchestra (Morgan and
Stromberg's orchestra of choice) perform with great gusto, and in the
resulting absence of AFM re-use fees, we also get a healthy running
time of nearly 73 minutes (which the composers stress is nearly every
minute of the score). This might be a case where less would've have
been more, but let's leave it to the soundtrack fans to make their own
decisions, and track out the excess material.
Given that this was releaed in a summer where one major project was
rejected for sounding "too old-fashioned," let's rejoice that the
Golden sound is still alive elsewhere. Next time though, I'd like this
duo to step out from the shadows of the masters and reveal just who the
real Stromberg and Morgan really are. -- Nick
Joy
The Enemy Below (1957) *** 1/2
LEIGH HARLINE
Intrada Special Collection Volume 15
19 tracks - 51:48
Despite having written one of the most recognizable tunes of the 20th
century ("When You Wish Upon A Star"), Leigh Harline is nevertheless
probably destined to remain in relative obscurity. So it's great to
have labels such as Intrada and FSM dedicated to the release of obscure
golden age film music. The World War II submarine thriller The Enemy Below is a welcome
addition to Harline's small catalogue.
"Charting Tables" prominently features one of the scores' recurring
ideas: the competition of the themes for the American destroyer and the
German U-boat. Harline leaves scenes of dialogue and exposition largely
unscored, instead focusing on the suspense of the confrontations
between the two vessels. "Target Waiting" provides chilling suspense
for the stealthy hunt, with extremely low pizzicato strings evoking The Enemy Below, the killer u-boat
biding its time, waiting to strike. "Target Safe" follows with
exploding brass clusters for the inevitable attack.
Harline uses vibraphone and other shimmering effects; these passages
almost give the impression of being written for a horror score, if not
for the martial fanfares associated with the American destroyer
interrupting the tension of the claustrophobic situation.
At 43 minutes, this is a very taut score, with Harline taking the
listener on a whirlwind ride. Nineteen minutes of nearly continuous
music from the film's climactic battle finally takes the listener into
the denouement. The CD is entirely in stereo and the sound quality is
great. The bonus tracks include a short suite of all the recorded takes
of the ethereal effects composed by Harline for the radar blip images,
which could be easily missed when mixed with the louder orchestral
tracks. -- Darren MacDonald
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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Today in Film Score History:
January 19 |
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| Bjorn Isfalt died (1997) |
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| David Shire records his score for the Amazing Stories episode "Moving Day" (1987) |
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| Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Life Support” (1995) |
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| Don Costa died (1983) |
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| Gerard Schurmann born (1924) |
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| Jerome Moross begins recording his score to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960) |
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| Jerry Goldsmith begins recording electronic cues for Logan's Run (1976) |
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| John Williams records his score for The Ghostbreaker (1965) |
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| Michael Boddicker born (1953) |
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| Recording sessions begin for Cyril Mockidge’s score to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) |
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| Stu Phillips born (1929) |
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