The Lost World:
Single Sequels (as of 1997):
The Lost World:
This score (and film) has come under very heavy criticism. Some consider
it to be Williams' first major sequel flop. I believe it to be weaker
than most of his sequel scores (and far inferior to Jurassic
Park), but not a major flop. It has some excellent action sequences
(especially in the San Diego portion of the film). It's original theme is
not vey exciting, though, and Williams' use of the themes from the first
film is poor --the brass coming in at awkward times and the main theme
only coming in at the end shortly. See the review below for more
info.
Full Review:
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (expanded edition)
Fierce Creatures:
Jon du Prez's score for A Fish Called Wanda was effective
comically, with a reasonably good love theme. He was originally set to
score the sequel, too, but Universal called in veteran Jerry Goldsmith to
boost the film with a funky, low-budget score. And it worked: Goldsmith's
sequel score is nothing outstanding, but has a jazzy, light-hearted
nature that accompanies Cleese's silly film nicely.
Full Review: Fierce
Creatures
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York:
I felt ripped off by this score, for Williams re-used far too much
material from the first film for my comfort. A few of the tracks are
nearly identical between the two scores, and the Christmas carols on the
sequel score are not as heart-felt as those in the original. There's one
track where Williams had to compose some strange key signature changes in
order to use exact score segments from Home Alone.
Full Review: Home Alone 2:
Lost in New York
Terminator 2: Judgement Day:
I find Brad Fiedel's work to be weak in general, with the use of
low-budget, synthesized rythyms. The score he wrote for The
Terminator had an awesome theme --which was used nicely as a love
theme. Any other other composer, however, could have taken that theme
and done wonders with it (it shows up on compilations many times). The
sequel only used the theme twice (three times, if you include the small
bit in track #9). The opening credits had the original electronicly
bombastic version of it, which easily grows tiresome. The highlight of
T2 was the cue for the scene in which the T100 Terminator lowers
himself into the molten steel tank. The Terminator theme bursts
into the score for one final time, and it really works well. It's too bad
the rest of the score is such trash.
Full Review: Terminator 2:
Judgement Day
Conan the Destroyer:
Three themes return from the classic original: The main theme, the love
theme (briefly), and the "Riders of Doom" theme. Unfortunately,
Poledouris used a much smaller and weakly-talented orchestra for the
sequel score --or at least it greatly seems that way. The performance
does not do the themes justice, and therefore I must recommend only
Conan the Barbarian. Filmmakers wanted Poledouris to seperate the
two films as much as possible, but perhaps that seperation is what caused
this score to be weaker. Sound quality on the sequel score release by
Varese leaves more to be desired, too.
Poltergeist II: The Other Side & Poltergeist III:
Carol Anne's Theme returns for another fight against those nasty
poltergeists. Goldsmith, after receiving endless praise for the first
score, wrote a significantly impressive score for what turned out to be a
dud of a film (not to mention the fact that most of the actors crumped).
There have been several releases of this score, mostly by Intrada
Records, and they have gotten progressively better. For more information,
check out the review below.
Full Review: Poltergeist
II: The Other Side
The Fly II:
I love the first few tracks to this score. It's unfortunate the rest of
the score is drab. Young's theme is perfect for the horror genre, using a
full orchestra to reincarnate the theme from the first film. As a score,
it may not hold up, but the first track is worthy of any fantasy/horror
compilation.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch:
The cute Gremlins theme returns as Goldsmith has fun with wacky rythyms
and sound effects in this score. All the elements from the first score
return, and many of them are improved upon. It's a rather enjoyable
comedy score, although eccentric in places.
Full Review:
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time:
This is a rare case where a sequel is released almost ten years after the
original. Lee Holdridge scored the first one, with a grand theme that
hasn't, to my knowledge, been released in its original recording. A
rendition of it can be heard on Erich Kunzel's "Fantastic Journey"
compilation with the Cincinnati Pops. The sequel is one of Robert Folk's
better action scores. Although the original theme doesn't surface in its
entirty from the first film, Folk uses a grand orchestra to produce a
wonderful listening experience.
Full Review: Beastmaster
2: Through the Portal of Time
Boy, Chris Young can write some strnage horror music sometimes. The main
Hellraiser theme is really a lot of fun, as it is huge and thematic. This
score also has a love theme... however in between the rare glimpses of
synchrony with the orchestra, there's a good deal of psychotic electronic
noises. There's one track in there --I think it involves a hall of
mirrors but I can't recall-- that is beyond anything that I've ever heard
before in the horror genre. It's definitely effective music for the
films, though!
Page created 5/21/97, updated 5/29/97.
Version 1.1 (FilmTracks Publishing)
Copyright © 1997, Christian Clemmensen
(tyderian(at)best.com/tyderian(at)filmtracks.com/tyderian(at)selway.umt.edu)
The "Moon and Sword" logo is Copyright © 1995, Clemmensen. All
rights reserved. "Real Audio" logo and .ra are Copyright © 1997,
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"Academy Awards" and the Oscar statue are ® AMPAS, 1996.