A bee's stinger has a mind of it's own. Once left on your skin the stinger pumps the venom into you by itself....
ight imma thow up now...
Would anyone really mind if the world's bee population went extinct and was replaced by Jurassic Park bees, DNA-coded without stingers? I just might even adore the little buggers at that point, like ladybugs.
Bees are really very friendly insects, they don't sting unless threatened and usually show no interest at all in people. So they need their sting to defend themselves. Indeed, even the actual African "killer bee" (which exists) is only dangerous (note: nowhere near as dangerous as depicted in THE SWARM and most attacks are certainly not fatal) if its nest is directly threatened. Out in the field, they don't behave much different from any other regular bee. But of course, if you anger them, they may build a posse that hunts you down and follows and attacks you for half a mile or more, so that is no fun.
Wasps are far more annoying, as they enjoy a good picnic in the summer just as people to, flying around cakes and coke, trying to get some sugar. That is something bees normally do not do.
I may be a little biassed, but yes, I think it will sound better than the Prometheus album. For one thing, we handled the "LCR" 3-track as intended. The Prometheus release was mixed in a similar fashion to the 1994 Varese release of "The Cowboys", which swapped the center and right channel positions. Our release restores the proper stereo balance, as did The Deluxe Edition of "The Cowboys", which I recommend.
Beyond the mixing, I made sure the performances matched what was intended for the film and album takes. There were several differences between them. It's all detailed in the booklet.
As for MQA, this was a decision Bruce and I made. He's a big believer in the format. Many of the latest Doors re-issues have been released on CD in MQA, and they sound terrific. From my point of view, the CD standard is 40 years old, and is still locked into into a 44.1/16-bit world. But I've been working in resolutions higher than that for years and when I buy music I prefer buying the hi-res version. When I bought a new computer and upgraded my Pro Tools to do 192/24, I specifically wanted "The Swarm" transferred this way. All of our work was done at 192/24 as well. Once that was done, I wanted a way for people to hear this as close as possible. Now we know the specialty labels don't get digital rights (they'd be tough on this anyway), and collectors still want CDs. So what do we do?
MQA has found a way to encode hi-res data into a smaller container and put it on a fully compatible CD. And you know what? It sounds great! How do I know this? I spent time in Bruce's studio comparing our 192/24 Pro Tools session, MQA decoded disc and standard CD, all playing at the same time and level matched. I couldn't tell a difference between the 192/24 master and the decoded MQA track and the standard CD sounded really close to both. If this can withstand the scrutiny of Bruce's system, I know it sounds great. As one of my teachers at school said, "If it sounds good, it is good."
And if you store your music collection on a hard drive, the discs will rip just fine. I've done it in Apple Lossless and FLAC and haven't had an issue. I also uploaded them to Google Play Music which converted them to mp3 and they work fine there, too. So don't worry, this album will sound good with or without MQA decoding and I think you're really going to enjoy it.
Ordered this along with the Williams Disaster set. I never listened to the Prometheus version too much because I always found the sound a little harsh. Looking forward to hearing this new mix.
There are lots of bad movies, but what sets THE SWARM apart is that it is a star studded big budget production with lots of talent before and behind the camera. It was supposed to be a disaster-movie follow-up to Allen's box office hit THE TOWERING INFERNO, but instead turned out to be just a disaster. That's why it's so funny. It's plays like AIRPLANE, except it's not in on the joke.
The actors say the most ludicrous lines and keep a straight face, shows they are pros. Caine's character actually says stuff like: "There is no bee! Listen to me, there is no bee!" or "We've been fighting a losing battle against the insects for fifteen years, but I never thought I'd see the final face-off in my lifetime"...
WTF? You serious? You expect Armageddon to be the battle between mankind and insects? Without insects, life on this planet as we know it would cease to exist! They should have locked up this "let's skip that" lunatic in the opening minutes of the movie, but instead, they put him in charge.
Yet all these things make it tremendously entertaining, every time it's on somewhere, I bust out laughing.
Pilot: “Oh, my God! Bees! Bees! Millions of Bees!”
And my favorite exchange (every line is screamed hysterically):
Crane: “THESE BEES, GENERAL, ARE OF JOINT CONCERN, AND THEY ARE KILLING AMERICANS, WITHOUT REFERENCE AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAVE A SERIAL NUMBER AND ARE EXPECTED TO SALUTE YOU!!! SO THERE WILL BE NO AIR DROPS OF ANY KIND UNTIL I GIVE THE OK!!!”
Slater: “YOUR OK, HUH?! THEN JUST POSSIBLY I CAN PERSUADE YOU TO ATTACK THIS PARTICULAR SWARM, NOW THAT WE KNOW WHERE IT IS!!! ATTACK AND ELIMINATE IT!!!!!
Crane: “POSSIBLY!! IF YOU CAN EXPLAIN TO ME HOW YOU AIR DROP CHEMICALS, WITHOUT KILLING THE NATIVE INSECT LIFE!!!!!!!!!! IF YOUR CHEMICAL WILL KILL THE AFRICAN BEE, IT WILL ALSO KILL THE AMERICAN BEE, RIGHT????!!!!!”
Slater: “RIGHT!!!! AND BETTER A FEW AMERICAN BEES THAN A LOT OF AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!!!”
Crane: “THAT IS THE POINT, GENERAL!!!! THE HONEY BEE IS VITAL TO THE ENVIRONMENT!!!!! EVERY YEAR IN AMERICA, THEY POLLUNATE SIX BILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF CROPS!!!!! IF YOU KILL THE BEE, YOU’RE GONNA KILL THE CROP!!!!! IF YOU KILL THE PLANTS, YOU’LL KILL THE PEOPLE!!!!!! NO!!!!!! NO, GENERAL!!!!! THERE WILL BE NO AIR DROP, UNTIL WE KNOW EXACTLY, WHAT WE ARE DROPPING, AND WHERE, AND HOW!!!!! (pause) EXCUSE ME!!!!”
And, IMO, Irwin Allen saved the best for last with his disclaimer/acknowledgement (of the "good" US honey bee). Other than Goldsmith's fantastic score, it's the one thing that keeps the film in the memory. Even as a kid I thought that end bit was ridiculous.
It's remarkable to me that none of Jerry's fine 1977 scores were Oscar nominated in 1978 (I guess "Swarm" would have qualified the following year). How could "The Spy Who Loved Me" been chosen for a nom over "Islands in the Stream" (which Jerry, himself, considered one of his best scores) or "Damnation Alley?"
Pilot: “Oh, my God! Bees! Bees! Millions of Bees!”
And my favorite exchange (every line is screamed hysterically):
Crane: “THESE BEES, GENERAL, ARE OF JOINT CONCERN, AND THEY ARE KILLING AMERICANS, WITHOUT REFERENCE AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAVE A SERIAL NUMBER AND ARE EXPECTED TO SALUTE YOU!!! SO THERE WILL BE NO AIR DROPS OF ANY KIND UNTIL I GIVE THE OK!!!”
Slater: “YOUR OK, HUH?! THEN JUST POSSIBLY I CAN PERSUADE YOU TO ATTACK THIS PARTICULAR SWARM, NOW THAT WE KNOW WHERE IT IS!!! ATTACK AND ELIMINATE IT!!!!!
Crane: “POSSIBLY!! IF YOU CAN EXPLAIN TO ME HOW YOU AIR DROP CHEMICALS, WITHOUT KILLING THE NATIVE INSECT LIFE!!!!!!!!!! IF YOUR CHEMICAL WILL KILL THE AFRICAN BEE, IT WILL ALSO KILL THE AMERICAN BEE, RIGHT????!!!!!”
Slater: “RIGHT!!!! AND BETTER A FEW AMERICAN BEES THAN A LOT OF AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!!!”
Crane: “THAT IS THE POINT, GENERAL!!!! THE HONEY BEE IS VITAL TO THE ENVIRONMENT!!!!! EVERY YEAR IN AMERICA, THEY POLLUNATE SIX BILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF CROPS!!!!! IF YOU KILL THE BEE, YOU’RE GONNA KILL THE CROP!!!!! IF YOU KILL THE PLANTS, YOU’LL KILL THE PEOPLE!!!!!! NO!!!!!! NO, GENERAL!!!!! THERE WILL BE NO AIR DROP, UNTIL WE KNOW EXACTLY, WHAT WE ARE DROPPING, AND WHERE, AND HOW!!!!! (pause) EXCUSE ME!!!!”
Brad Crane: We've been fighting a losing battle against the insects for fifteen years, but I never thought I'd see the final face-off in my lifetime. And I never dreamed, that it would turn out to be the bees. They've always been our friend.
And, IMO, Irwin Allen saved the best for last with his disclaimer/acknowledgement (of the "good" US honey bee). Other than Goldsmith's fantastic score, it's the one thing that keeps the film in the memory. Even as a kid I thought that end bit was ridiculous.
Well, god forbid the bees should sue for slander. Irwin was covering his ass. Because...no one likes to get stung in the ass.
It was always reassuring to know that Michael Caine had "Cardio Pep Compound" in his van.
I recall that Richard Widmark played a Military General in THE SWARM and also played one that seemed pretty much alike in TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING. Both movies were nicely scored by Maestro Goldsmith to boot.
95 posts. And mostly to say how truly shite the film was. And Goldsmith scored some shite. Some of the biggest out there. What was the absolute worst film JG ever scored. I know it's all subjective. I read someone here the other day saying they enjoyed Damnation Alley!!! (I think I did when I was 12). Was The Swarm the nadir?