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Review of Alien Resurrection (John Frizzell)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... on the original 1997 commercial album if you desire only
a sampling of John Frizzell's most impressive action and major thematic
sequences for the film, adequate and workmanlike music not as memorable
as previous scores in the franchise.
Avoid it... on the 2010 limited 2-CD set if you expect 95 minutes of music recorded by Frizzell for this film to sustain itself, because although that product adds some noteworthy references to Jerry Goldsmith's original ideas, the score on the whole may not be distinct enough to merit that length of presentation.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Alien Resurrection: (John Frizzell) There became
one general rule of 20th Century Fox's tortured Alien franchise
as it languished in its second decade of spin-offs: the more theatres in
which each successive film debuts, the less amount of money it will
earn. Both a critical and box office flop, Alien Resurrection was
clearly the representation of a tired concept that had overstayed its
welcome. By 1997, not even lead actress Sigourney Weaver could carry the
appeal of an idea that had been rehashed in such ridiculous ways. What
started as a fantastic science fiction haunted house concept in 1979 had
degenerated into a series of contrived scenarios that defied all logic
in order to pit additional groups of unsuspecting humans against the
nasty alien beasts which were nothing more than two-dimensional killing
machines. Of course, Alien Resurrection was just a stepping stone
on to the Alien vs. Predator films, which extended the
embarrassment on to even more laughable levels. There's really no reason
to bore you a plot synopsis of the fourth Alien film other than
to say that Weaver's famous Ripley heroine is cloned hundreds of years
into the future of the concept timeline and is now genetically fused
with features of the alien creatures. As such, when it comes time to do
battle with them among with the usual collection of colorful (and
obviously expendable) secondary characters, she has the advantage. Her
strangely sensual relationship with both the monsters and co-star Winona
Ryder's android (Ryder's performance was universally panned in reviews
of the film) did allow for some flexibility in Weaver's performance. The
design of the Jean-Pierre Jeunet film lacked any of the otherworldly
aspects that made the original two films so appealing, adding to
Alien Resurrection's labeling as a sadly generic horror/thriller
romp. The franchise had enjoyed a long line of compelling music from the
likes of Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, and Elliot Goldenthal, each man
installing his own stylistic sensibilities upon the concept. The
director went in a fresh new direction for Alien Resurrection,
accepting a demo tape submitted by young James Newton Howard associate
John Frizzell. The assignment, despite protests from untrusting film
score collectors, was Frizzell's big break into the industry, leading to
a career on the periphery of the mainstream that was often dominated by
similarly rendered horror and thriller productions.
As would become the norm for the composer, Frizzell supplied Alien Resurrection with an intelligent and adequately abrasive score, staying comfortably close to conventions that make this work the most "normal" entry amongst the first four Alien scores. The sound design of Alien Resurrection is predictably standard, building upon the balance between orchestral mayhem and eerie electronics introduced by Goldenthal to the franchise. The bulk of Frizzell's score is constituted by a 100-piece orchestra and occasional supplemental choir, though he sought to use a variety of alien-like sound effects as layers within the organic performances. Many of these sampled manipulations are truly obnoxious and emulate the stereotypical space-representative effects of the 1960's. While Frizzell does occupy the orchestral ensemble with performances rooted in the bass region, especially on tuba and trombone, and stirs up a substantial amount of challenging ruckus in the course of Alien Resurrection, he never unleashes the complicated performance aspects of Goldenthal's previous entry with satisfaction. Likewise, despite a few moments of driving, harmonic rhythmic action (including the overwhelmingly bombastic force of "They Swim..."), Frizzell also doesn't produce material as engaging as Horner's highlighting music from Aliens. Where Frizzell definitely earned his pay, however, was in his thematic constructs. This score represented the franchise's first to really emphasize a coherent set of melodies for various characters and situations in the film, going so far as to reference Goldsmith's original ideas quite liberally. Both the fluttering woodwind motif and the trumpet theme from the end of Alien are resurrected for duties in Alien Resurrection, including some completely faithful reprises. The former is performed with identical whimsy in "Entering the Ship" and "Call Meets the Newborn," both connecting Ripley to her former experiences. The latter theme is more subtly engrained into the fabric of Frizzell's score, though the redemptive closing scene of the film (as heard in "Finale") belatedly provides closure on brass for the lead character. Frizzell also installs new themes and develops them extensively; a new identity for Ripley is heard in "Main Title" and ungulates with intentionally erotic string movements below an ominously descending melody aided by sound effects denoting her not-so-human half. This idea reaches its most powerful moment in the film's only really compelling scene, in "Ripley Meets Her Clones." Among the secondary themes in Alien Resurrection is one for Ryder's android that is appropriately organic in its string performances but emotionless in its progressions, a perfect representation of Ryder's rather plastic portrayal. Other themes exist for the two ships in the story and their battling crews, and the aliens themselves receive their own brutal brass theme that pounds its way through many of the chase sequences. While Frizzell's loyalty to his new themes is admirable, with smart maturation of most of them as the score progresses, none of them is a showstopper, and this is why the allusions to Goldsmith's themes are so noticeable and welcome when they occur. The sum of Alien Resurrection makes for a competent franchise entry, but also an anonymous one that could just as well have been written by Brian Tyler ten years later in his efficient workmanlike mode (in fact, parts of this music could be interchanged with Tyler's Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem without much disparity). Frizzell has gone on to write several similarly sufficient but not overwhelming horror scores since. Alien Resurrection was released commercially in 1997 with only about half of Frizzell's finished material for the film, breaking up the original material with over five minutes of the operatic Handel source piece heard in the film for the general of the larger ship. This 45-minute presentation basically provided all of the major action highlights of the score but failed to offer some of Frizzell's most emotionally interesting portions. These omissions included the direct references to Goldsmith's woodwind theme and the beautifully choral "Finale" heard on screen. Additionally, many of the cues on that commercial album were shortened and rearranged significantly to the probable dismay of enthusiasts of the film. As a result, fuller bootlegs of Alien Resurrection saturated the market in the 2000's until La-La Land Records assembled a 2-CD pressing (limited to 3,500 copies) in 2010 that includes 86 minutes of Frizzell's finished score, a handful of alternate takes (including two different mixes of the resounding "Finale" cue), and the original album presentation with the Handel piece. While the additional melodic highlights of the expanded set are nice to hear, this score really doesn't sustain itself for an hour and a half; something in between that tiring amount and the original commercial album would have better suited the score. But for fans of the Alien franchise, this overdue treatment of Frizzell's first major score is as thorough as one could get, and although it doesn't have as many devoted fans as its predecessors, it is an interesting and competent extension of a safely predictable set of familiar ideas. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
1997 RCA Victor Album:
Total Time: 45:28
2010 La-La Land Album: Total Time: 140:37
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the 1997 RCA Victor album includes a note about the score. That of the
2010 La-La Land album includes extensive notation about both the score and film.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Alien Resurrection are Copyright © 1997, 2010, RCA Victor, La-La Land Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 11/19/10 (and not updated significantly since). |
