I grew up with the Goonies, having been 8 or 9 when I first saw the movie. One of my favorite aspects of the movie has always been the music. I always felt that the picture would not have been the same with another composer at the help. Grusin was perfectly suited for this movie. The overly complex and dramatic nature of a score from Williams or Goldsmith would have overwhelmed this movie. While Goldsmith and Williams both have lighter scores to their credit, those are certainly not their strong suit at all. This is a movie about innocent children and required a score simplistic in construct, strong in theme, playful at times, and dramatic only when need be. Grusin delivers the perfect music, although the review would not lead you to think so.
I'm surprised at how much the reviewer puts Grusin and this score down, rather dismissing it as a work of a robot, who is trying to mix Williams, Goldsmith, and Steiner into one composite work while backing it up with no credible evidence. I suppose if I wrote movie scores using synths along with the orchestra then I'd be copping Goldsmith as well...like he invented the concept. Strange how you don't chastise Horner for his synth work as well. As for the direct quotations, what else was Grusin supposed to do when Sloth ripped open the shirt to reveal the Superman emblem? Did it occur to you that Richard Donner directed Superman and it might even have been his idea? If you paid attention to the movie, Sloth is watching some of the very movie material early on that Grusin quotes music from. I thought this was ingenious on his part. I don't mind quoting as long as the rest of the score is strong, as this one is.
Yes, the score is a bit choppy but not all scores can be one cohesive listening experience. Its mostly choppy because of Varese Sarabande including just about everything that was available to them. Keep in mind this is a collectors score and wasn't meant to be a widely released commercial product. Otherwise some of the cues would have been cut out for continuity. A choppy or haphazard (as the reviewer puts it) score doesn't mean its a bad score. I'd take a score with very strong cues and maybe doesn't tie together well over a mediocre score that flows from beginning to end. This reviewer has a track record of preferring scores that flow but lack in everything else (see Avatar).
To those of you that might have been swayed from finding a rare copy of this by a pretty ill conceived review, don't let it stop you. This score is worth every penny of the $50 I paid to get a factory wrapped copy.
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