Buy it... if you could be satisfied with an IMAX score that maintains a low level of atmospheric activity, therefore allowing the film's visuals to speak for themselves.

Avoid it... if you expect your IMAX scores to soar with energy and explode with melodramatic statements of theme.

McNeely

Ghosts of the Abyss: (Joel McNeely) It seemed in 2003 that director James Cameron's obsession with the Titanic shipwreck continued to occupy his every artistic endeavor. After his monumental, super-popular film Titanic in 1997, Cameron assembled the equipment and expertise necessary to produce an elegant, 3-D IMAX tour of the sunken ship. Six years after his first journey to the wreck, Cameron anchored teams of Russian and American scientists, the world's foremost Titanic historians, and actor Bill Paxton (who seems out of place despite his connection to the 1997 epic) above the site of the tragedy. With his immense funding of the project, Cameron set out to use the most advanced digital technology to film (and thus preserve) the sunken ship in the picture quality worthy of such a massive screen presentation in 3-D. Thrown into the documentary were animated re-creations and some footage of ghostly live action that made Ghosts of the Abyss a more dramatic experience. The film (sometimes awkwardly) balances the enormity of the disaster's size with the tragedy of September 11th, 2001, which occurred during the filming process. Cameron had collaborated briefly with composer Joel McNeely for the title theme and pilot score to the director's "Dark Angel" television series, though they did not have an established big-screen partnership. McNeely had, to the frustration of film score collectors who recognized his potential in the industry, been involved in mostly television and straight-to-video films and series at the time, sparingly assigned to a feature project of significance. In 2003, however, McNeely was very active, with four feature film scores to his credit. His work for Ghosts of the Abyss obviously put him in an awkward spot, with the James Horner score for Cameron's 1997 blockbuster residing as one of the best-selling albums of all time. McNeely would have to capture the same dramaticism, classicism, and ethnic variety that Horner had accomplished and do it without allowing the music to bumble along as a simple extension of that existing Titanic sound scheme.

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It is no secret that IMAX scores tend to bring out the best in composers; the opportunity to score such grand visuals seems to be the ultimate in inspiration for most composers. For Ghosts of the Abyss, McNeely produced a serviceable score, but one without the kind of extroverted, melodramatic inspiration you usually hear in other composers' IMAX works. The opening titles and discovery cues offer an encouraging performance of mysterious orchestral themes integrated into a solo voice. Unfortunately, that voice would disappear and the themes become far more abstract as the score progresses, losing even their basic, harmonic inclinations. The personality of McNeely's score is one immersed in quiet and contemplative meanderings of the soul, with the orchestral ensemble rarely building to statements of significant volume. It is conversely atmosphere of the most sensitive and yet uninspiring kind, with several ethnic references and occasional, bland action music of moderate size. Several short cues of modern pop rhythms and instrumentation, led by the smooth "Getting Ready," continue the score's search for an identity. Perhaps most upsetting about Ghosts of the Abyss is the fact that its music maintains a necessary level of background accompaniment, particularly on the piano, without offering elegance and emotional release at its forefront. Such a curious move with the approach may have been a request from Cameron himself, but if so, then the true potential of music in expansive IMAX pictures had not dawned on him. The score is further washed into a monotonous character by the weaving of the quartet music from the decks of the ship in between score cues. Together, the lack of a cohesive theme or instrumental identity causes McNeely's effort to be adequate, but mundane. Most viewers of Ghosts of the Abyss will remember and request the vocal adaptation of the theme for "Darkness, Darkness" (performed by Lisa Torban), a heartfelt song that appears at the end of the album. The "Departure" performance by Glen Phillips is also contained on the product. There is a generous amount of McNeely's score on the album release for Ghosts of the Abyss, but it unfortunately does not meet the high standards that the scope and beauty of IMAX productions demand. ***   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Joel McNeely reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.31 (in 16 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.14 (in 7,298 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.