Though the cue is a nice piece on its own I can easily see why Cameron cut it: it’s just way over the top for the slowly building tension that continues from the arrival of the ship to the first alien attack. It also interrupts the flow of the rest of the score in that part of the film - you want to save your biggest musical fireworks for the battle to come. The neutral snare drums work better in context.
It is too bad that the concert production company that worked on the 'film with live orchestra' concert of ALIENS-LIVE back in 2016 didn't do what you did, Mutant--restore as much music as possible to scenes that would drop the music later in post-production and have that transcribe onto the score pages. The audiences at these concerts would have gotten a big kick out of it.
Great work. It proves the cue Horner was commissioned to write is much too cheerful, a justified replacement. I just wish there had been an opportunity for Horner himself to write a more subdued track. The use of melody in this track gives the score as whole more body, I think.
I think Combat Drop works really well. It’s underscoring the positive and upbeat attitude of the Corps. Horner hailed it, lending the film a false sense of security.
I have seen this track placed against the actual drop itself and never thought it worked. But this version presented here is a keeper.
Would definitely love to see the film with the score restored completely.
I think Combat Drop works really well. It’s underscoring the positive and upbeat attitude of the Corps. Horner hailed it, lending the film a false sense of security.
I have seen this track placed against the actual drop itself and never thought it worked. But this version presented here is a keeper.
Would definitely love to see the film with the score restored completely.
I think Combat Drop works really well. It’s underscoring the positive and upbeat attitude of the Corps. Horner hailed it, lending the film a false sense of security.
I have seen this track placed against the actual drop itself and never thought it worked. But this version presented here is a keeper.
Would definitely love to see the film with the score restored completely.
Me too. I really dislike that bland drum roll used in the film.
Futile Escape was one of my favorite cues in my pre-FSM days, but after reading Lukas and maybe Jeff bagging on the Capricorn One influence, I started to be ashamed of my enjoyment and haven't listened to it a whole lot over the past 20+ years. Watching it against picture now reminded me of why I liked it in the first place - the first half sounds so interesting from a performance standpoint. Thanks, Mutant, for opening my mind.
Futile Escape was one of my favorite cues in my pre-FSM days, but after reading Lukas and maybe Jeff bagging on the Capricorn One influence, I started to be ashamed of my enjoyment and haven't listened to it a whole lot over the past 20+ years. Watching it against picture now reminded me of why I liked it in the first place - the first half sounds so interesting from a performance standpoint. Thanks, Mutant, for opening my mind.
It's a fascinating study of what works musically vs what works "filmically". I love this Combat Drop cue, it's one of my favorite cues from this score and an amazing discovery when the expanded edition was released way back when. Seeing it against picture, I love how Horner catches specific edit points musically, whether it's the boot hitting the wall or the door opening on the APU, with either dropping the strings or starting a new melodic line, but the cue never loses its focus or pace or feels like a purely composed piece.
That being said... I kind of understand why Cameron might have preferred instead the stripped-down, bare snare drum riff. The original cue is almost too much emotion this early in the film and introducing some of the "Ripley's Rescue" action material in "Combat Drop" might have been letting the audience in on too much of the chaos about to happen. This cue might have worked better in middle or end of the movie, but perhaps here Cameron felt it was too broad and melodic and he simply wanted a pace, a pulse to the sequence but no emotional component.
^ Exactly my opinion as well. It's super great as a standalone piece and was a revelation when that original "version" came out prior to the Varese Deluxe Edition.
Nice work, Mutant! Combat Drop is my favourite piece of music from the score. But it seems like most here i agree it should have been, er, dropped. I love it though and listen to it loads.
I find it much more effective than the dull, droning snare drums, which are little more than white sound.
Horner's original cue creates an actual mood and sense of anticipation, and establishes motifs which will be heard in later scenes (and thus, if used, would have given the film a stronger dramatic arc).
Futile Escape was one of my favorite cues in my pre-FSM days, but after reading Lukas and maybe Jeff bagging on the Capricorn One influence, I started to be ashamed of my enjoyment and haven't listened to it a whole lot over the past 20+ years. Watching it against picture now reminded me of why I liked it in the first place - the first half sounds so interesting from a performance standpoint. Thanks, Mutant, for opening my mind.
X2, I went through this as well....sort of.
Oh for the naive pre-Cap one/Gayane days....
I still am able to differentiate ALIENS from the Khacturian & Goldsmith pieces, but ignorance was definitely bliss...
