Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if and only if you appreciated the unconventional merging of timeless musical elements as heard in the context of the film, because on album this score suffers from the same completely aimless personality as the rest of the production. Avoid it... if the existence of an intelligent blend of instruments from several genres and eras isn't alone enough to constitute a worthy score without the assistance of any memorable underlying development. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Land of the Lost: (Michael Giacchino) When studios are so bankrupt of new ideas that they have to resurrect the laughable 1970's television disaster "Land of the Lost," you know that universe is indeed not quite right. What compelled Universal to allow this 2009 adaptation to happen? Was it some notion of the potential for excellence in the production? Was it the hefty budget for special effects? Was it simply Will Ferrell? The last question probably reveals the true answer, but even Farrell fans will find Brad Silberling's Land of the Lost to be too boring on the whole to justify its few marginal laughs. Despite the studio's aggressive advertising campaign for the film, critics quickly put the sorry product in its proper place with a universal lashing worthy of trashy independent films that require drug use in order to appreciate. The problem with Land of the Lost is, simply put, that the material in the script is so poor that even Ferrell can't salvage it for comical purposes. Enthusiasts of the original series will see the main characters changed into sex symbols and ridiculous sidekicks, and while an honest attempt to pay homage to that crowd was made, there's simply no excuse for the kind of mangling of the concept that exists here. After his involvement with the similarly disastrous Speed Racer adaptation a year prior, perhaps it was no surprise that Michael Giacchino was involved in this nightmare. At least the still rising composer can point to his concurrent work for Star Trek and Up and receive deserved praise, because no significant accolades will likely be thrown his way for the score for Land of the Lost. It's another case in which a composer's campy cue titles (as seen on the album release of the score) can't inject enough humor into the music to make it even marginally entertaining. Giacchino's talent for creative instrumentation and thematic continuity are at play in Land of the Lost, but both are betrayed by a completely aimless overarching personality. The composer addresses the needs of each moment and, in the process of offering wacky ideas for each scene, the score loses focus on the whole. It's difficult to imagine how so many of the right basic ingredients can produce such an unremarkable and unmemorable score, but Giacchino has unfortunately managed to reflect the precise problem of the entire production. It's simply limp and unengaging. Part of the reason behind the lack of a cohesive personality in the music for Land of the Lost is precisely the composer's wild attempt to diversify the ensemble's sound. In the process of utilizing exotic percussion and contemporary electronic elements and integrate them with the expected 88 orchestral and 35 choral performers, Giacchino loses focus on the narrative. It's a work of all texture and no direction, there's no true beginning or end to the work. Only in the snazzy "End Credits Can Suck it!" recording does Giacchino really develop and sustain a personality for a lengthy period. Unfortunately, this performance of the title theme is so obnoxious in its merging of textures that even this development will likely irritate some listeners. In an intellectual sense, the combination of electric guitars and drum pads with exotic percussion, a banjo, solo voice, stylistic instrumentation from the 70's, and traditional fantasy sounds seems like a smart move for the alternate universe seen in the movie. But the fact remains that the overall product is simply so bizarre that it, like the film, may very well require some foreign substance in your system to fully appreciate. Fans of lower brass will, as with Star Trek, once again appreciate their performance emphasis; they're joined by low woodwinds at the forefront here. Some of the material for the Sleestak lizard people, especially upon the use of deep male voices, is satisfying. But these individual bursts of energy, some of which recalling vintage use of strings by John Williams, are so engrained with the pitch-defying meandering of a solo guitar or theremine (which sounds like a distant wailing voice), among other things, that the overall effect is often too challenging to enjoy without any context. A lack of overall flow to the score is compounded by the presence of pseudo-exotic sub-themes that effectively create a timeless atmosphere but also offer no solid footing for the score. All of these challenges are accentuated by an extremely flat and dry recording quality, an aspect of several recent Giacchino scores that reduces the appeal of the music for some listeners. While extremely intimate recordings are appropriate in certain genres (and they certainly allow for an appreciation of each element of the ensemble), such flat sound is a hindrance to the depth of fantasy in the assignments Giacchino has been involved with during this time. Ultimately, an hour-long presentation of music from Land of the Lost is extremely taxing in parts and dull in others, compounded by the dry recording mix. Several alternate takes punctuate an album that really only required the end titles track. It's a disappointment that was sadly predictable in retrospect. ** Track Listings:
Total Time: 60:37
All artwork and sound clips from Land of the Lost are Copyright © 2009, Varèse Sarabande. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/29/09, updated 6/30/09. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2009-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
