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It should have been part of the Superman box set.
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In fact, there has been quite a few comments having digs at the Midnight Express score.
At the time, it was fresh and unusual. It was a powerful film in the cinema in 1978 and the music hit you like a train. Even kids who didnt notice film scores went out and bought it. The subject matter was quite adult, prison brutality, gay scenes, etc; I saw it aged 16-17 and from memory I thought it got an AA rating in the UK not an X but I may have that wrong.
The problem with synth scores from that period and into early 80s is that they date very quickly - one minute they're fresh, the next, after a few years, they're cringeable! In this case I think the main theme still stands up very well and is very evocative of the film and especially the freeze frame at the end.
I also think Sarge is right, like too many film scores, the music used in the film was more edgy and raw, not smoothed over like the soundtrack. I even had a 12-inch single of the Main theme and Chase. DJs used to play this music at club nights at the time, often for the light/laser show etc.
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I far prefer the film version and would buy a CD of the orgiinal tracks instantly.Excellent movie, excellent score.
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I could be wrong, I should really try it, but I have a feeling that if you take tracks like the 'Main Theme' from the CD release, and remaster them with a different echo mix and more bass, change the dynamics, you could very well get a version that sounds much more like the film version. Maybe double-mix the track?
There's an ominous quality to the OST that's not on the album.
The film was a classic 'transformation' myth thing, but Turkey was very unhappy re the actualite. There's a full interview with Hayes on YouTube somewhere, where he actually claims the Turkish prison system in many ways better than in the West. Parker exaggerated many scenes greatly to compensate for the real horrors of long imprisonment, which aren't of course cinematic. In the same way that Van Gogh's stars in 'Starry Night' are made bigger to compensate for the limitations on luminosity on canvas, so Parker made the 'violent' episodes more violent to compensate for the fact that long hours of boredom aren't very good on celluloid.
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The film was a classic 'transformation' myth thing, but Turkey was very unhappy re the actualite. There's a full interview with Hayes on YouTube somewhere, where he actually claims the Turkish prison system in many ways better than in the West. Parker exaggerated many scenes greatly to compensate for the real horrors of long imprisonment, which aren't of course cinematic. In the same way that Van Gogh's stars in 'Starry Night' are made bigger to compensate for the limitations on luminosity on canvas, so Parker made the 'violent' episodes more violent to compensate for the fact that long hours of boredom aren't very good on celluloid.
Yeah didnt do wonders for the Turkey tourist board at the time. Although they seem to have made the country more tourist-friendly now.
However much it was exaggerrated, William, you aint catching me smuggling hash across the border just to see if their prisons really are something like a holiday camp!
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I've always loved this score -- but have never been crazy about the movie which has always seemed to me to be shamelessly manipulative and emotionally dishonest. But I'd also buy a release of the film version in a heartbeat. One of my favorite scores from that period. I'm also very fond of Moroder's score for "Electric Dreams" -- such a dopey movie but I love that music!
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Moroder's music becomes so integrated with the scenes that it's almost impossible to separate film and music. I cannot imagine Midnight Express and even Cat People without Moroder's contribution. I would definitely like to see the actual film score of Midnight Express released as well. Excellent film... excellent music! True classics on both accounts!
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However much it was exaggerrated, William, you aint catching me smuggling hash across the border just to see if their prisons really are something like a holiday camp!
True enough.
The 'escape' scene at the end, where he nicks clothes and just (amazingly?) walks out of the prison isn't how it actually happened, even though he did escape by boat.
That scene seems to have been inspired by Lawrence of Arabia's even more improbable account in the 'Seven Pillars' of how he escaped from the rape in the Turkish prison at Deraa by stealing clothes and just walking out. Lean and Bolt in their film had him thrown out in the mud. It's now been considered proven that the event never happened: Lawrence confessed to his friend George Bernard Shaw (who advised him on the manuscript) that he invented that whole scene to spice up the book, and in various previous drafts the story gets embellished and is even missing. Records show that he was at the seashore that day picking up a consignment of armoured cars, and the ship's logs show he was present. It's also on record that the Turkish officer (Jose Ferrer) was totally heterosexual. T.E. showed no signs of trauma or of injury after the supposed long desert ride to escape. It was a total fabrication. Apart from anything else he never explained why he, with a 'dead or alive' price on his head from the Turks, wouldn't be recognised, with his face famous! For all his talent and genius, he was disliked for a reason! He was an S&M fantacist and he liked tricking the establishment.
You can see why somebody like Parker tarting up a Turkish escape story might steal the story back for his own film.
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Posted: |
Sep 3, 2011 - 12:37 AM
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By: |
Miguel Rojo
(Member)
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Hang on, what you mean Harry and the Hendersons wasn't fact and could have been ...exaggerrated??!!
Dont tell me that, my illusions shattered forever!
Goodness, these hollywood film directors, you cant trust 'em!!
Seriously interesting stuff, william, about seven pillars. However, accurate fact or part-fantasy, its still a fantastic story and a powerful film.
Orrence I mean, not Harry and the Hendersons!
I was always put off going to Turkey - I expected Paul Smith to be waiting at the airport to batter my feet with a baseball bat.
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