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| CD Reviews: Caveman and Magnum Force |
| Posted By: Nick Joy on August 9, 2005 - 10:00 PM |
CD Reviews: Caveman and Magnum Force
by Nick Joy
Caveman *** 1/2
LALO SCHIFRIN
Aleph 032
10 tracks - 56:02
"Fun" is the key word when describing Lalo Schfrin's score to Carl
Gottlieb's fantasy dinosaur comedy. Released in 1981, this prehistoric
caper featured former Beatle Ringo Starr, a very young Dennis Quaid and
an even younger looking Shelley Long as they tackled prehistoric
creatures, in the vein of One Million
Years B.C. and When
Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. The movie was slight yet enjoyable,
and kudos to the composer's own record company, Aleph, for unearthing
another worthy curiosity from his music vaults.
Jon Burlingame's authoritative liner notes shed a few tasty background
facts on the production, not least being that the producers initially
hired Lalo to predominantly score the movie's dinosaurs with "weird
sounds" (like The Hellstrom
Chronicles). But the final product was a more conventional
slapstick comedy, leading to a more conventional slapstick score.
The ten- and-a-half minute main titles are a great, lengthy
introduction to the score, though don't be fooled into thinking they're
one single epic piece; the track is actually a series of joined cues
beginning with the jaunty, rhythmic main melody. The suite finishes
with the amusing scene where the cavemen discover music by accident.
This marks the genesis of the theme that we heard at the beginning of
the track, complete with Neanderthal vocal "ugs" and groans. This
opening sortie is a great taster of what's to follow: a symphonic score
that makes dramatic bold statements with action cues, and then throws
in comedy antics to soften the tone.
This might sound like it's a patchy listening experience, but it's not.
Plodding dinosaur motifs are followed by tribal rhythms, and then a
variation on Ravel's Bolero or
the William Tell Overture is
thrown in to the mix. It shouldn't work, but it does. The inevitable
variation on 2001's Also Sprach
Zarathustra and the Colonel Bogey march from Bridge on the River Kwai are also
integrated into this eclectic brew.
Caveman is one of six scores
credited to Schifrin in 1981, and yet there is no suggestion that this
was either production-line or rushed into an already tight schedule.
The musical references are well-chosen and appropriate, and it's
intriguing that the obvious Hammer targets for mimicry (Nascimbene's When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth and
One Million Years B.C.) are
avoided.
While unlikely to sell in Magnum
Force numbers, Caveman will
inevitably be on the shopping lists of any Schifrin fan, and it's also
a rewarding experience for the casual soundtrack buyer who wishes to
experience a well-rounded symphonic score, fully-laden with
affectionate homages and clever classical influences. For years, Caveman has been predominantly
remembered as the movie where Ringo and Barbara Bach got it together
(and are still married 20-something years later). With Aleph's release
we now have another lasting reason to remember the
film.
Magnum Force ****
LALO SCHIFRIN
Aleph 033
22 tracks - 50:40
A big thank you to everyone who picked up Aleph's expanded Dirty Harry release last summer,
because without those sales we wouldn't have this expanded score for
its sequel, Magnum Force, and
the news that the third in the series, The Enforcer, is in the works. Lalo
Schifrin's own record label has again delivered the goods with a CD
that features not only expanded cues, but those that were written for
the movie and never made the final cut.
The main title music is arguably one of the '70s most memorable themes
-- an explosion of driving percussion, female voices chanting
violently, jamming guitars and big brass; surely the definition of '70s
cop flick cool. While still violent, Magnum
Force is not as sadistic a film as its predecessor, and this
(relatively) lighter tone comes through in some of the loungier/ jazzy
cues ("Warm Enough?" and "Last Dance in Sausalito"). In Dirty Harry, Schifrin set up two of
Harry's themes: an action motif and a sad lament. They both reappear in
Magnum Force, though expanded
and integrated into other cues, thus providing musical continuity to
bridge the movies, particularly in "Harry's Ostinato and Finale."
One of the most effective musical devices in Dirty Harry was the use of haunting
vocals over dissonant wails to represent the killer's deranged mind.
Callahan's opponents in this sequel are a death squad from within the
LAPD, and they are represented musically by militaristic drum rolls and
electronic sampling. Another highlight of the first film was the way
that some of the cues started off as calm underscore before kicking
into gear as Scorpio struck ("Floodlights" and "The School Bus"). The
same effect is used here in "The Crooks," "The Pimp" and "Palancio,"
with the cues blazing in to life mid-cue, to spectacular effect.
Nick Redman's liner notes are useful in highlighting which cues are new
or were cut in the movie, and we should be grateful to Schifrin for
holding on to the full recording tapes for the last 30 years -- the
transfer is nice and crisp. Add some packaging that complements last
year's Dirty Harry and you've
got the second in an ongoing collection of Harry discs that should appeal to
not only the serious collector and Schifrin-philes, but anyone with a
passing interest in '70s action music. Schifrin truly was at the top of
his game, and it's a shame that he was unable to score Magnum Force's follow-up, The Enforcer (he was tied up on Voyage of the Damned, and passed
the scoring duties to Jerry Fielding). However, The Enforcer is still a cracking
score in it own right, and a worthy addition to the canon. Start
lobbying now for Sudden Impact
and The Dead Pool.
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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Today in Film Score History:
April 25 |
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| Alec Puro born (1975) |
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| Brian May died (1997) |
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| David A. Hughes born (1960) |
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| Franz Waxman records his score for Stalag 17 (1952) |
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| Gary Hughes died (1978) |
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| Georges Delerue records his score for L’Homme Qui Revient De Loin (1972) |
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| Heinz Roemheld's score for Union Station is recorded (1950) |
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| John Williams begins recording his score for How to Steal a Million (1966) |
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