Buy it... if you want to hear Hans Zimmer's upbeat, creative, and dynamic children's score independent of one of the most ill-fated films of all time.

Avoid it... if the context of the music in the film has already offended you beyond your ability to appreciate the score on album.

Zimmer

Radio Flyer: (Hans Zimmer) If you want to study about a film that definitely should never have been made, then Radio Flyer is your case in point. It's hard to think how director Richard Donner couldn't see the writing on the wall, but the screenplay for Radio Flyer by David Mickey Evans was passed around Hollywood with extremely high interest, and Donner took it upon himself to bring this terrible fantasy tale of child abuse to the big screen. Donner's first film being The Omen was perhaps some indication at the time that the director could take any film about a troubled child and make it into a classic. Unfortunately, Radio Flyer falls into the trap of an impossible reality: a mother of two children remarries an abusive alcoholic, but she doesn't know that he is beating the younger son. Having seen another child attempt to fly on his Radio Flyer wagon (and being crippled by it), the two brothers decide that the only way to escape the abuse is to build their own flying wagon and attempt to have the beaten brother fly away to safety. The whole film exists in this fantasy world, balancing the horrors of his beatings with the imagination of flight that is the boys' goal. The older brother tells the story some years later, and despite the film's glossy, misleading ending (which indicates that the escape was not only possible, but the flight actually happens), the brother dies in the attempt. It's a hideous, malformed story that had millions pumped into its making, and Hollywood remembers it as one of the most fiscally disastrous projects of all time (as of 1992). Composer Hans Zimmer was building his fame in giant leaps and bounds in 1992, and took on the project with a sense of challenge since children's scores were a new avenue for him. The problem with the film and score, however, is how the music would be approached. Would the score mirror the horrors of the abuse? Or would it exist solely in the fantasy world of the boys?

Zimmer and Donner would argue about the approach throughout the scoring process ("We fight like nobody's business. He can take it, and I can take it," Zimmer stated during the recording sessions) about how child-like the score would actually be. "So as a composer I have to evoke childhood," Zimmer said, "but you can't do that by being childish about the music. As soon as you do that it doesn't mean anything to them. They just think you're being childish by intellectualizing it." The resulting score is consistently fluffy and positive in its atmosphere, with only occasional, rumbling sidebars in the darker moments. On the whole, Zimmer's score is undeniably charming, happy, and lovable. Unfortunately, some critics would dismiss the score right there as a total loss, because it got caught up in Donner's ill-fated attempt to gloss over the topic of child abuse. On it's own, however, the score has considerable merits. Zimmer wasn't sure if he could be successful at writing upbeat children's music, but he managed to impress himself by his own ability to do it. The score is thematic, extremely pretty in parts, with heartwarming rhythms of excitement that could invite you to run outside and skip down the street like you are a kid again. Portions of the score even become silly, reminding the listener of Jerry Goldsmith's accomplished works in the genre (pieces of Dennis the Menace and Mom and Dad Save the World will come to mind; Goldsmith was in that phase of his career in the early 1990's as well). Adventurous rhythms in Radio Flyer are more innocent variations of similar ideas in Muppet Treasure Island. A hugely orchestral recording, Zimmer accents his orchestra with some mild electronics and soloists on harmonica, pan pipes, piano, and clarinet. The pipes in particular will give you goose bumps with their elegance. Some cues border on the carnivalesque (with even a few Randy Newman rhythms), but the constant tingling of the fantasy environment often pulls the wishy-washy parts of the score into line. If anything, the score could possibly irritate the listener with its shiny optimism, and if those Goldsmith scores above aren't your cup of tea, then stay away from Radio Flyer.

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There are some darker moments in Radio Flyer that need mentioning. Zimmer does slip into near tragedy mode at times, but always maintains the cue from the perspective of a child. The "Lost Secrets" cue is of particular interest, with a beating heart underneath a music box, leading to the snare drum quickly imitating the cocking of a gun, a bass drum signaling the gunshot, and an overwhelmingly solemn solo boy's voice performing a tragic melody that would make Danny Elfman proud. A few similar moments slow the steadily optimistic progression of the score, but if you didn't know that Radio Flyer is a horrible tale of child abuse, you won't know it from this score. The film's premise is so offensive to some people that the score's fluffy approach is an equally offensive part of that sour taste. If you're among that crowd, then perhaps this review by itself could taint the score for you. Otherwise, if you've never heard of the film and are a Zimmer collector who stumbles upon this CD, it could be an extremely wonderful listening experience for you. It is probably the pinnacle of Zimmer's children-film writing, and it comes at a time when Zimmer not only wrote most of his scores by himself, but also relied more heavily on the orchestra over his electronics. The album has been out of print since the mid-1990's (when the label ceased to exist), and although it is difficult to find, it is not overwhelmingly expensive once you do find it. Like the promotion for the film in 1992, the album was produced in decent numbers, so don't overpay for it. It is tempting to rate this score very poorly as it was heard in the film, but Donner is far more to blame than Zimmer, who became very cynical about the project by its completion. As a standalone piece, Radio Flyer on album is a very enjoyable score. It is arranged into three inconvenient, long suites by Zimmer, and followed by an unrelated source song. For Zimmer fans, the album is highly recommended. For Zimmer fans or otherwise, the film itself cannot be recommended at any level, and should rightfully be boycotted if you are among those who seek serious messages about child abuse. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.09 (in 78 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.13 (in 244,629 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.