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Composed, Co-Orchestrated, Conducted, and Produced by:
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Brian Tyler
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Co-Orchestrated by:
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Robert Elhai
Dana Niu
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Solo Performances by:
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Charles Jacot
Brian Tyler
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Release Date:
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September 28th, 2004
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you enjoy the sustained style of tempo and cyclical
structure that Brian Tyler utilized in previous suspense scores such as
Godsend.
Avoid it... if you prefer the much flashier and more extroverted styles
of Tyler's action and science-fiction efforts.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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The Final Cut: (Brian Tyler) In yet another film which
attempts to merge introspective drama with a touch of science fiction, Omar
Naim's The Final Cut deals with the premise that people of the future
will have an memory chip implanted in themselves that will observe every
waking moment of their life. When a person dies, the chip is extracted and a
professional known as a "cutter" will surf through that person's memories
and produce a two-hour film containing all of the best moments so that the
family of that deceased person can enjoy the memories together. One of the
better "cutters" is Robin Williams' character, a detached and somber
individual troubled by his own memories, and The Final Cut allows
Williams to further explore the darker character genres he has seemed to
prefer in films since 2002. As a finished product, The Final Cut
suffers from the fact that it creates so many fascinating story lines,
theoretical possibilities, and intriguing questions without addressing even
a fraction of them. Without the action of the similarly themed The
Minority Report from a few years ago, this new Naim film has simply
failed to convince audiences and critics of its sincerity. The film did,
however, capture the interest of composer Brian Tyler, whose fascination
with the morbid subject matter thrilled the director and led to an amicable
and fluid relationship between the two. Despite his relatively newfound
position in the industry, Tyler has scored a fair share of suspense films,
including those in the most recent year. Both Godsend and
Paparazzi fall under this genre, though Godsend is far more
closely related to The Final Cut than the latter score. In fact, many
of the same underlying techniques relating to tempo and application of theme
are similar between Godsend and The Final Cut, and listeners
who enjoyed the first will likely find merit in the second. Their
listenability and interest levels are largely the same.
Less openly tense, perhaps, is The Final Cut, a
score that relies on intrigue more than thrill. Despite a few crescendos
that lead cues in The Final Cut to false conclusions, the mass of the
score is cyclical and minimalistic by nature. It relies on simple constructs
and repeats them at varying tempos with different sections of the orchestra
depending on the needs of the film. In these regards, Tyler's score is
definitely one of detail and interest; no one could easily claim that this
music is boring. But if there is a fault to this Tyler style, it is that he
establishes a set of motifs --or two themes, in this case-- and fine tunes
them throughout the score without ever giving us any advanced development or
direction to those ideas. The title theme heard at the start never compels
the listener more than it does at the outset, and a secondary theme in
"Rememory" (performed with considerable heart by solo woodwind, piano, and
cello) receives short treatment due to its resolution-related purpose. The
mass of underscore has the same characteristics of tempo, however, that keep
it as interesting as Godsend was. Tyler seems to be fond of always
maintaining movement in his music, no matter the number of layers or intent
of that music. A single instrument may be alternating between notes in a
distant corner of the sound stage at one moment, while in a cue such as "Eye
Tech," Tyler launches into fuller, fluttering John Williams-like movements
with piano (a la A.I.), string, and especially woodwind. Likewise,
the woodwind rhythms present in the performances of the title theme at the
start and end of the score compensate for a rather bland rendering of a
simple, though resounding brass theme. Tyler composed two source songs for
the film which appear on the album --one a lounge piece and the other a
heavy metal one-- and neither of these cues is particularly interesting. Nor
do they have any relation to the tone or structure of the score, leaving one
to wonder why they break up the score in two places rather than appear as
appendices at the end. A slightly dry mixing to the music brings the music
to the forefront of the soundscape, allowing for better appreciation of
individual instruments, but likely causing too flat of a sound for fans of
Tyler's Children of Dune. If you were to choose between either this
score or Godsend, the latter might be a slightly more interesting
choice, but the two are very similar in underlying style. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. The Final Cut Main Title (3:55)
• 2. Fletcher the Cutter (1:48)
• 3. Download Preparation (1:41)
• 4. Dreams (2:51)
• 5. Protestors (1:41)
• 6. Don't Touch (0:58)
• 7. Zoe Revelation (2:51)
• 8. Desperate Pursuit (1:58)
• 9. Absolution (1:17)
• 10. Enchanted Days - performed by Kathryn Bostic (4:03)
• 11. Eye Tech (3:06)
• 12. Bittersweet (1:23)
• 13. Tattoo Parlor (1:14)
• 14. Alan's Memory (4:39)
• 15. Hollow - performed by Ja Wah (3:31)
• 16. Enter Apartment (1:58)
• 17. Alan the Cutter (3:43)
• 18. Sin Eater (1:38)
• 19. Inversion (1:22)
• 20. Seeing a Ghost (1:49)
• 21. Violation (1:44)
• 22. Riga de Pichetto (1:13)
• 23. Outside Theater (0:42)
• 24. The Amazing Alan (1:05)
• 25. Journey Back (4:27)
• 26. I, Bannister (0:40)
• 27. Rememory (2:39)
• 28. The Final Cut End Title (3:01)
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The insert includes a short note about Tyler and the score from the director.
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