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Orchestrated by:
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Arthur Morton
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Album Produced by:
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Ford A. Thaxton
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Release Date:
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April, 2000
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Availability:
Limited and numbered release of 3,000
copies; available only through specialty outlets.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Goldsmith | |
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The Challenge: (Jerry Goldsmith) After reviving such middle-era Goldsmith
scores as Breakout and Contract on Cherry Street this past year,
the Prometheus label next provides a score that borders between the same
experimental stage of Goldsmith's career and its (more popular) modern era.
Tackling a values-based film of Japanese influence, Goldsmith was called upon to
do something new for The Challenge: compose a score of Japanese character
without charging that ethnic influence from a hostile or intentionally foreign
direction. Such had been the case with Goldsmith's only previous score of
primarily Japanese instrumentation, Tora!, Tora!, Tora!.
While coming at a period in his career when eye-popping orchestral action
(ethnic or otherwise) was at the forefront for Goldsmith (i.e. the Rambo
films, Poltergeist, and even Under Fire, to an extent), The
Challenge, while it could have easily fallen into the same straight action
genre, required a different approach. Rather than scoring the film with a
thematic intensity surrounding a character, Goldsmith scored the underlying
values instead. The result is a listless and floating set of shakuhachi flute
performances with a low and shifting wash of strings --with a string motif very
similar to the build-up sensation of Poltergeist's middle to end
sequences. And while that theme does not occupy the spotlight of the score, its
restrained and controlled attitude, especially in the dry woodwind performances,
does dominate. The Challenge is not an overbearing action score, nor is
it a particularly sensitive one (until, perhaps the "Stay with Me" track near
the end). Rather, it is a statement about the Japanese culture that has been
orchestrated with just enough Western consistency that makes the score
accessible to the intended, American audience.
All of this said, The Challenge is really unlike any other Goldsmith
score of that era as a whole. Shorter on traditional action than First
Blood, more restrained on the outward ethnic instrumentation than Under
Fire, and less emotionally involving than Poltergeist, the score is a
more delicate and restrained effort. It has received a very positive fan
response, probably due to a combination of its relative obscurity until now, as
well as the incredible popularity of Mulan a few years ago. As a fan of
Goldsmith's ethnically diverse scores, I enjoyed The Challenge. Yet, in
the end, I found myself craving those ethnic Goldsmith scores that are less
influenced by Western instrumentation, such as Tora!, Tora!, Tora! or
Under Fire. In any case, The Challenge, with its newly mixed sound
quality, is still a good score for any Goldsmith fan to obtain on album. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Main Title (4:55)
• 2. The Wrong Sword (3:50)
• 3. Over the Top/Fish Market (5:20)
• 4. Half an Equal (2:54)
• 5. Lonely Road (1:57)
• 6. "Let's Talk" (2:16)
• 7. Interlude (1:02)
• 8. "Can't We Do It?" (5:12)
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• 9. The Pit (4:48)
• 10. Double Cross (5:50)
• 11. Bamboo Forest (0:30)
• 12. The Traitor (3:22)
• 13. "Stay with Me" (4:25)
• 14. "I Will Go" (1:20)
• 15. Surprise Visitor/Forced Entry (6:17)
• 16. "As You Wish"/End Title (5:49)
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Insert contains lengthy
notes about the movie and score by Gary Kester.
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