CD Reviews: Extra Reviews of Final Fantasy and A.I.
by Josh Gizelt
Sure, we've reviewed them already, but we received multiple reviews
and these are scores worth revisiting...
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within ****
ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL
Sony SK 89697
18 tracks - 56:26
Final Fantasy was a mixed bag. While the film takes its time
to develop its premise and story, the characters are so thinly drawn (in
the dramatic sense) and the story is so badly conceived that despite the
fact that watching it is such an amazing visual experience, one's patience
is often tested. Recycled material from Aliens and Forbidden
Planet only add a sense of deja vu to the proceedings.
One element of Final Fantasy that makes no mistakes, however,
is its exciting and vibrant score by Elliot Goldenthal. In his liner notes,
Goldenthal describes how he felt the need to emphasize the humanity of
the digitally created characters with heartfelt melodies, and it is the
lyricism of this score that may make it appeal not only to Goldenthal's
fans, but also those who have often considered his music to be overly intellectual.
Fans need not fear, however. The score itself remains firmly in Goldenthal's
trademark postmodern territory with all of his angry brass, busy strings,
mounting repeating figures and electronics.
The opening cue of the album, "The Spirit Within," immediately establishes
the epic scope of the score. Although it opens with a choral soundscape
one might associate with Gyorgi Ligeti, it doesn't take long for Goldenthal
to introduce his monolithic brass figures and swirling strings. Interesting
mysterioso textures characterize such tracks as "The Kiss," "Music for
Dialogues" and "Flight to the Wasteland," while Goldenthal's experimental
nature allows his action music to be more blistering and exciting than
any amount of electronic overkill one often finds in action films these
days. Bold and unconventional percussion characterizes such cues as "Toccata
and Dreamscapes." Throbbing electronics under epic French horns drive "Dead
Rain." The hypnotic "Zeus Cannon" opens with a series of trumpet fanfares
then opens them out with the choir to impressive effect, a sound which
is followed through with in "Blue Light."
The love theme is heard several times, a beautiful piece that is vaguely
reminiscent of the "Adagio" from Alien 3, in such cues as "The Kiss"
and "Adagio and Transfiguration." The love theme also has lyrics, by Richard
Rudolph, which are heard in "The Dream Within," the penultimate track on
the album. Although the melody is heard in the score, the transition from
the previous 48 minutes to a song of this type is somewhat jarring, despite
a smooth performance by Lara Fabian. The song is worthy, heartfelt, and
close to the score, however.
Performed with great panache by the London Symphony Orchestra (as you
can imagine, their lauded brass section is a perfect match for Goldenthal's
brass writing) and London Voices conducted by Dirk Brosse (what happened
to Jonathan Sheffer?) and recorded in gloriously spacious sound by Joel
Iwataki, the score's production is as compelling as the music itself. This
CD is a must have, full of music that is as smart as it is exciting. If
there is a complaint to be had about the album, it would be that perhaps
the music is a little too powerful for a single sitting...but that would
be nit-picking. [The exciting "Race Through Old New York" is nowhere to
be found in the film, so you'd better enjoy it on the album.]
--Josh Gizelt
A.I. *** 1/2
JOHN WILLIAMS
Warner Sunset 9 48096-2
13 tracks - 70:07
Steven Spielberg's characteristically obtuse liner notes for this album
mention that this score is "organically emotional." One has to wonder which
score he was talking about, as John Williams' A.I. music remains
noticeably neutral throughout most of the film. Certain cues have a superficial
similarity to E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind,
but tend towards the intellectual rather than the emotive.
In many ways, it seems that Williams took his cues more from Stanley
Kubrick's dark concept and Haley Joel Osmont's masterful performance than
from Spielberg's confused direction. Even the ostensibly playful cue "Hide
and Seek" flirts with tonality in subtly unsettling ways. Surprisingly,
the scores with which this one has the greatest relationship to are not
for Spielberg films, but rather for John Badham's Dracula and Barry
Levinson's Sleepers, a fusion of the orchestration from both, with
a strong kinship between Dracula's secondary theme and the mecha
theme (heard in "The Mecha World" and "Rouge City"). Textures are more
important here than thematic material, with "Replicas" showing off wonderfully
expressionistic music. A real shock, however, is the rock-infused sequence
in the otherwise symphonic "The Moon Rising."
"Monica's Theme" is a bit of an anomaly in the score, as it is more
expressive than its surrounding material. Furthermore, it provides the
basis for a saccharine song, "For Always," with lyrics by Cynthia Weil.
This appears twice on the album, once as performed by Lara Fabian, then
as a duet with Fabian and Josh Groban. The syrupy vocals and electronic
backing do not fit the complex and dense musical approach Williams brings
to the rest of the album, and are best programmed out. Most of the appearances
of the theme in the film are grouped together in "Stored Memories and Monica's
Theme" and the subsequent tracks, "Where Dreams Are Born" and "The Search
for the Blue Fairy."
As usual with a John Williams album, the running order is a mishmash
of material from all over the film. In this case, however, it still works
well and is compelling and interesting listening.
--Josh Gizelt
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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