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Composed, Orchestrated, Conducted, and Produced by:
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Joel McNeely
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Release Date:
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April 8th, 2003
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you could be satisfied with an IMAX score that maintains a
low level of activity and allows the film's visuals to speak for
themselves.
Avoid it... if you expect your IMAX scores to soar with energy and
explode with theme.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | McNeely | |
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Ghosts of the Abyss: (Joel McNeely) It would seem that
Jim Cameron's obsession with the Titanic shipwreck continues to
occupy his every artistic endeavor. After his monumental 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) 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 wreck in 3-D IMAX picture
quality. Thrown into the documentary were animated re-creations and some
footage of ghostly live action that make Ghosts of the Abyss a more
dramatic experience. The film balances the enormity of the disaster's size
with the concurrent 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 series, though they did not have an established big-screen
partnership. McNeely has, to the frustration of film score fans who
recognize his scoring potential, been involved in mostly television and
video films and series, and has sparingly been assigned a feature film to
score. In 2003, however, McNeely is very active, with four feature film
scores to his credit. His work for Ghosts of the Abyss puts him in an
awkward spot, with the 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 James Horner did, and
do it without allowing the music to exist as a simple extension work of that
existing Titanic sound scheme.
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 musical scores. For Ghosts of the Abyss,
Joel McNeely has produced a serviceable score, but one without the kind of
inspiration you hear in other 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 would become far more abstract as the score progresses. The style
of McNeely's score is one immersed in quiet and contemplative meanderings of
soul, with the orchestra rarely building a head of steam. It is underscore
of the most sensitive and yet uninspiring kind, with several ethnic
references and occasional, bland action cues of moderate size. Several short
cues of modern pop rhythms and instrumentation continue the score's search
for an identity. Perhaps most upsetting about Ghosts of the Abyss is
that its music maintains a necessary level of background accompaniment,
particularly with the piano, without offering elegance and emotional release
at its forefront. Such a curious move with the music may have been a request
from Cameron himself, but if so, then the true potential of music in IMAX
pictures has not dawned on him. The score is further washed into
monotonousness 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 use 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),
and this heartfelt song appears at the end of the album (along with the
"Departure" song by Glen Phillips). There is a generous amount of McNeely's
score on the album release for Ghosts of the Abyss, but unfortunately
it doesn't meet the high standards IMAX beauty and scope typically demand. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Departure (2:33)
• 2. Main Title (1:16)
• 3. Apprehension (1:29)
• 4. Getting Ready (1:20)
• 5. Titanic Revealed (3:11)
• 6. Floating Above the Deck (3:01)
• 7. Dangerous Recovery (1:28)
• 8. Valse Septembre (2:19)
• 9. The Windows (0:47)
• 10. Jack and Elwood (2:14)
• 11. The Bots Go In (1:33)
• 12. Titsy Bitsy Girl (1:52)
• 13. The Grand Staircase (1:33)
• 14. Exploring the Staterooms (1:51)
• 15. Song Without Words (2:26)
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• 16. Elegance Past (2:10)
• 17. Building the Ship (1:28)
• 18. I... I Had to Go (1:54)
• 19. The Ship's Engines (1:42)
• 20. Alexander's Ragtime Band (1:53)
• 21. The Final Day (2:15)
• 22. The End (3:17)
• 23. Memorials (1:18)
• 24. Go Toward the Light (1:31)
• 25. The Next Morning (2:08)
• 26. Nearer My God to Thee (0:55)
• 27. Saying Goodbye to Titanic (1:55)
• 28. Eternal Father, Strong to Save (3:02)
• 29. Darkness, Darkness (4:05)
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film. The two copies Filmtracks received for coverage accidentally
contained two security strips each (behind the CD... instead of one each), causing the jewel cases to fail to fit properly.
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