 |
|
| Horner |
|
|
Apollo 13: (James Horner) An impressive critical
success across the board, 1995's
Apollo 13 arguably remains
director Ron Howard's most respected film. It examines the events of the
near disaster of Apollo 13's mission to the moon from the perspective of
the Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton), and Jack Swigert
(Kevin Bacon), their friends and family, and mission control. Not often
does a film with all the traits of a historical documentary stir up such
popular interest, but a remarkable collection of cast performances,
outstanding special effects, and a variety of awards recognition
assisted
Apollo 13 in its journey to mainstream acceptance. One
of the film's more obvious elements was its music, with an intelligent
collection of 1960's pop songs selected for inclusion in the film. Above
and beyond that source usage, James Horner's rather short
Oscar-nominated score (clocking in at about an hour in length) served as
patriotic inspiration for many of the film's more exciting scenes. The
year of 1995 was a most impressive one for Horner; fresh off of the
overwhelming popularity of the superior
Legends of the Fall, he
produced two above-average scores for children's films,
Balto and
Casper. Next came his two Academy Award nominated gems,
Braveheart and
Apollo 13, and while the legacy of
Braveheart has persisted and eventually overshadowed
Apollo
13 to a great extent, debates continue within the soundtrack
community about which of the two is actually a better fit for its film.
In this regard,
Apollo 13 triumphs, partly because it works while
restraining its understated patriotism so well, and partly because of
the film's vastly more intelligent design. There is really no way to
appreciate Horner's music fully without also appreciating the high
quality of the film itself. The composer's heroic theme epitomizes the
patriotic American spirit, and its sincerity and raw, dedicated, and
serious power drives the score with the perfect feel of a respectful
historical documentary.
Several motifs are utilized by Horner in
Apollo 13,
but one primary theme defines most of the score. Aside from the
inevitable comparisons to Aaron Copland that some listeners will force
upon this theme and its noble trumpet sub-motif (in some scores, these
complaints are valid, but here they're a stretch), Horner's attitude is
distilled with reverence. It never dances and twirls, nor does it try to
get cute or bloated, as many believe a score like
Independence
Day to be. As Horner stated in early 1995, "If you start off with a
big score, it sets an audience up for just another sci-fi movie...
except
Apollo 13 is a documentary; you know where it's going to
end. What I'm trying to get out of the story is the idealism." And the
distinction between fantasy and stark reality is very strong in
Apollo 13. There are indeed moments of whimsical wonder for the
dreams of great space exploration, but the score never deviates from the
dark and occasionally frightening realities that the dangers of space
travel present. The main themes, led by a lonely and simple seven-note
rising and falling fanfare for NASA, are dominated by brass, which is
appropriate for the American spirit of adventure. Aside from the
launching sequence and heroic climax of the astronauts' return, the
noble NASA motif and primary theme are performed mostly with solitary
trumpet solos by veteran Tim Morrison. The brass represents the
far-reaching aspirations of NASA, though maintains the vast and solitary
plight of a small space capsule in such an enormous void. The horns
often echo off into the distance (in fact, it's built directly into the
main theme), which also signifies the vastness of space. The momentous,
massively orchestral mounting of theme during the launch sequence can
send shivers up a person's spine when combined with the awesome visuals
on the screen. The final climactic return to that grand theme unfolds
when the capsule emerges from radio silence and the crew is discovered
alive. The short choral statement of the theme during Hanks' epilogic
dialogue is pure magic.
Beyond the two primary themes exist many other ideas hard
at work in
Apollo 13. Every part of the orchestra is utilized to
its best talents, using the soloists of the ensemble much like mission
control collecting ideas during the height of the film's panic. As a
brilliant move, Horner employed the voice of Annie Lennox to perform
classy wordless vocals twice in the score. Lennox's voice itself has
almost a historical significance alone in American culture, and her low
tone enhances the dramatic and dark aspect of the score for one crucial
cue, "The Dark Side of the Moon." Her voice seemingly represents the
moon itself, inviting and beckoning the astronauts towards her, yet
forbidding and cold at the same time. The solemn cue lures Tom Hanks'
Jim Lovell into a dream-like state, where the heroic brass theme starts
to build in his fantasy; as reality sets in, only Lennox's bittersweet
voice remains. She returns for a rousing and very enjoyable performance
of the title theme at the opening of the end credits (over a powerful
synthetic rhythm). Combined with a choir and electronic base, the format
of this presentation will remind many listeners of
Glory. The
synthetic elements and choir are both used with great effect in the
score. The pulsating electronics build the momentum as the launch
sequence nears lift-off, and represents the technically sophisticated
nature of what we are watching. It also establishes the strong beat and
determination that the marching snare drums cannot achieve alone. The
snare, as in many other Horner scores, is used to a great degree in
Apollo 13; it is perhaps more appropriate in this film than a few
of the others considering the militaristic and governmental influences
in the story. On the other hand, Horner's typical use of a children's
choir is always entertaining. This was a period in time when Horner was
using the choir in almost all of his scores, and it creates a perfect
fantasyland for the
Apollo 13 astronauts. Its light, whimsical
touch floats like the weightlessness itself, beginning as the crew
members take off their helmets in space for the first time and
concluding during the slow-motion finale of the film, as to foreshadow
future expeditions into space by the Apollo missions.
The score does take a while to get jumpstarted, with the
songs chosen for the film dominating early scenes. Once the launch
sequence pushes the score into gear, the songs are largely confined to
short bursts on the astronauts' tape players (by the start of the
landing sequence, the songs are completely absent). Two parts of the
score that are rarely discussed are Horner's ideas for tension and
panic. The tension is palpable when watching the film, and Horner
contributes to it by understating his suspense cues. The "Docking" cue
uses a synthetic choral effect along with a slowly marching timpani,
string, and wood block rhythm to build to an elegant but subtle climax.
The uneasy trumpet solos in this cue are a perfect representation of the
balance of confidence and nervousness in the capsule during the scene.
The rhythm adds great suspense and even dread to the tricky task of
aligning and attaching the two space vehicles; the rumbling holds its
breath in a single, pulsating note until the docking is completed, at
which time the timpani suddenly quits. In the latter half of the score,
Horner pulls out a variety of lightly tapping percussion to accompany
mission control and the astronauts during their thought processes. In
the cues "Into the L.E.M.," "Carbon Dioxide," and especially "Four More
Amps," Horner's slight, but effective use of wood block, snare, and the
tingling of cymbals represents the transferring of an electrical
current. This interesting technique is expanded upon for the score's one
panic cue, "Master Alarm," in which Horner makes the most the crashing,
descending piano motif that he introduced a few years earlier (in scores
like
The Pelican Brief) and would extend into
Titanic. The
continued tapping of wood block, snare, and cymbal signifies the energy
trickling out of the damaged spacecraft, while the frantic bursts from
the piano accompany the wildly pitching craft. The cue appropriately
ends as suddenly as it began, as Lovell's discovery of the horrifying
truth of the situation sinks in. An extension of this sound is more
unorganized in the later "Manual Burn" cue, easily the weakest two
minutes of the score.
Aside from the music itself, the CD releases of this
score are complex enough to make a man's head spin. In sum, there were
four official
Apollo 13 releases in 1995 and 1996. Universal
apparently decided that the quality of the film was so great that its
dialogue and sound effects should be mixed into the score and songs for
all of its commercial soundtrack releases. Any substantial fan of the
film will admit that this decision makes the albums a worthy souvenir,
and the superior production quality of the audio in the film is quite
interesting to enjoy along with the score. But the score has its own
merits that demand attention (apart even from the source songs), and
most potential listeners wouldn't be well served by Universal in the
end. The regular release (which was the only one available in most
stores) contains a frightening amount of dialogue and songs, with little
untouched score. There's no reason at all to purchase this product. A
"gold edition" edition features practically identical contents, but the
music, dialogue and sound effects were digitally transferred into Dolby
surround sound on a gold-plated disc similar to the label's treatment of
the scores for
Schindler's List and
Dances With Wolves.
Although this was a limited pressing, it was readily available for a few
years at regular retail stores (finding it online thereafter is your
best bet). If you seek the regular version of the music, complete with
all the dialogue, sound effects, and songs, go with the gold edition
(unless you don't have the equipment to appreciate it, of course). When
pumped through a surround system, the sound of the gold presentation is
simply spectacular, especially during the launch sequence. With any
luck, your neighbors will be calling the police because of the sound of
the rocket rumbling through their living room. The reverb on the "Blue
Moon" song by the Mavericks is stellar as well, mirroring the song's
prominent and equally echoing mix late in the film. There was also a
2-CD release of
Apollo 13 in Australia in 1995, though it
contains nothing new; the first CD is identical to the American regular
release and the second one only offers more songs from the era.
For die-hard film score and James Horner fans, though,
nothing less than the promotional release will do. The promo is the
typical Academy "for your consideration" treatment of the score, with 15
minutes of extra music and the rest thankfully dialogue free. At an hour
in sum, it is blissfully unadulterated, and it's highly recommended if
you can get your hands on a copy, regardless of whether it was a real
pressing or one of the numerous bootlegs that has spawned from it. The
sound quality on the promo, though obviously less impressive than the
surround sound version, of course, is crystal clear. The only downside
of the promo is that the "End Credits" cue is a slightly different mix
than that heard on the other albums. An extended version (by a minute)
likely matching the film's presentation, the key of the orchestral
sequence that follows Annie Lennox's base-enhanced portion at the start
is incongruous. For listeners familiar with the mix heard on the
commercial albums, it's a bit distracting. Those who make their own
compilations of the score may be advised to copy all tracks from the
promotional album except for "End Titles," for which the commercial
versions are superior. For more information on the differences between
all of the various releases of the score, including the ways to
determine if you have a genuine promo copy, see the notes section at the
bottom of this page. In summary,
Apollo 13 is both a classic film
and score, the latter leading a very strong field of film scores in
1995. Like
Glory and
Legends of the Fall before it,
Apollo 13 captured the attention of many casual movie-goers at
the time of the film's release, bringing an awareness to both film music
and Horner's career that would eventually bubble over with
Braveheart and
Titanic. There is no doubt that this was
Horner at his very best; he has produced great scores in the following
dozen years, including
The Mask of Zorro and its forgotten
sequel, but rarely has he hit the nail on the head as squarely as with
Apollo 13. Parts of it are certainly underwhelming, and its short
length is a necessary side effect of the film's extensive use of songs,
but Horner addresses each need of the film with masterful respect. This
score is easily among the best of the 1990's.
Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download
Score as Heard in Film: *****
American/Australian Albums: ***
Gold Edition Album: ****
Promotional Album: *****
Overall: *****
| Bias Check: | For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.13 (in 98 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.25
(in 184,725 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
