Buy it... if you are a devoted enthusiast of James Horner's career and seek his works that sustain interest in their instrumentation despite translating into underwhelming album experiences.

Avoid it... if you expect the music to present extended sequences of fluid thematic statements or orchestration that hasn't existed in several other related Horner scores.

Horner

Project X: (James Horner) The 1987 socio-political film Project X is an odd experience in many respects, for although it has all the makings of a family film (with Matthew Broderick, Helen Hunt, and a bunch of cute monkeys), it also contained a strong and dark political message that could easily frighten children. For an average adult, it may seem just a tad too childish to catch and hold your attention, and for the average kid, it had too many scary scenes of nuclear radiation and death to satisfy their needs. Thus, you get Project X, a film that could be mildly interesting at a late night hour on a lonely night. But what would make it an even more attractive movie to see for film music enthusiasts is the relatively diverse score offered by James Horner. The composer was about to truly hit his stride in 1987, with several high profile scores already under his belt and his most popular works of his early career to emerge in the following two years. Project X was the kind of production that Horner would not turn down, for it would be yet another opportunity to spread his wings in the use of non-traditional instrumentation. The film may have been a lightweight in the end, but Horner didn't treat Project X as such. His music for the film plays an integral role in the production, enhancing the inhibited communication skills of the monkeys and each of their slightly varied personalities. The concept of scoring for animals with distinct personalities is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks for any composer, though Horner has embraced that opportunity several times, especially when it comes to apes and monkeys. The chimps in Project X, with the brilliant Virgil as their leader, are not meant to be funny or laughed at (except, maybe, for the "Chimp Rumble" scene described below). With Project X positioning itself as a serious film, it was necessary for Horner to capture both the primordial instincts of each personality and develop his ideas slowly as the chimps learn to fly an airplane.

The plot, of course, entails that the monkeys, once capable pilots, would be exposed to rising levels of radiation in the simulators so that human scientists could test approximately how long the chimp pilots could continue their mission before dying (after flying, that is, into an irradiated portion of the earth in a post nuclear attack scenario). Thus, both the themes for the chimps, as well as their soaring accomplishments on the simulators, are overshadowed by Horner's insertion of ominous tones for the majority of the score, and that is why the music isn't particularly pleasant on album. Still, without a doubt, Project X is one of those scores that remains much easier to appreciate than it is to enjoy. The dynamic complexity that Horner pulls off in the effort is commendable, and it certainly adds a wealth of depth to the film, however that same complexity alone causes the music to translate into a more difficult album to hear in any great length. Nevertheless, it's the performance in context that counts the most, and in this case, Horner makes a barely watchable film worthy of a view. As for the style of the music itself, Project X falls in between Horner's early identification (the harsher sounds of Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan to Brainstorm) and his more fluid styles that would prevail in just a few years (Willow, Glory). In the development of themes and instrumentation, Project X could probably be classified more accurately as a member of the latter group, offering some of the same trademark sounds and motifs that were still maturing for later development in Horner's better known scores. Among these repetitions is the use of the flighty woodwinds, both in native flutes and in traditional reed instruments, which Horner typically calls upon for any project involving a forest setting. A passage in "New Friends" serves as a practice run for Mighty Joe Young. The famous four-note "danger motif" (incorrectly identified as being of three notes in the insert) may be the ammunition for Horner's most ardent detractors across the world, but its early appearance in Project X is very effective in building suspense in the latter portions of the story.

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The scoring of the flying sequences breaks new ground here, with several moments of soaring orchestral music that offered a foreshadowing of the mature composition for flight in The Rocketeer (including a short burst of an elegant piano performance in "Student Pilots"). Horner cuts loose for the one really funny scene in the film, during which the chimps bust loose from their cages and maul the laboratory, and the composer tackles "Chimp Rumble" with an equally affable combination of ethnic drum beating and inspiring rhythms. The score ends with another apparent trial run of material that would be heard in the celebratory opening of Willow's end titles. The highlight of Project X is the "Ghost Call" cue; as the chimps begin to realize their fate, they call out in unison for the loss of a popular companion, and Horner's delicate balance between his themes and the primordial percussion is outstanding. In the end, Project X, is diverse enough to hold your interest, but it is nowhere close to being amongst Horner's hidden treasures. The darker tilt to the film causes the tension in the score to elevate it beyond its obvious competition, Mighty Joe Young, and its appearance on the Varèse label in 2001 should be welcomed by Horner's fans. Don't expect too much from the score, however, because it is a subtle character piece, rarely exploring a theme to any obvious measure. Even the escape sequences at the end of the film are scored with some hesitation, because the chimps in the wild face a great unknown. Available for four years on a hideous bootleg, the score for Project X was finally pressed with fuller sound and length on the second of the newer series CDs from the Varèse Sarabande Club in 2001. This limited release eliminated the need for anyone to seek the previously widespread 1997 bootleg of the score, which suffers from terrible sound quality and only a partial presentation. Only a suite from Horner's obscure The Hand distinguishes the bootleg, but that music is of such poor quality to begin with that the distant, muddy sound quality isn't a tremendous loss. For the price, the limited, expanded 2001 Project X album won't be for every collector, but it is nevertheless an interesting enough selection to warrant an entry in the first round of the prestigious Club series.   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Music as Written for Film: ***
Music as Heard on 1997 Bootleg: *
Music as Heard on 2001 Varèse Album: ***
Overall: ***

Bias Check:

For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.13 (in 98 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.25 (in 184,725 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.