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| Horner |
Apollo 13: (James Horner) An impressive critical
success across the board, 1995's
Apollo 13 arguably remains
director Ron Howard's most respected film. The humbly patriotic
examination of this important piece of NASA history follows the events
of the near disaster of Apollo 13's mission to the moon from the
perspective of the Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton), and
Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon), their friends and family, and mission
control. Not often does a film with all the traits of a historical
documentary stir up such popular interest, but a remarkable collection
of cast performances, outstanding special effects, and a variety of
awards recognition assisted
Apollo 13 in its journey to
mainstream acceptance. The film supplanted
The Right Stuff as the
industry benchmark for engaging depictions of past American space
exploration, with subsequent pictures either emulating its mastery or
intentionally avoiding direct competition with it. One of the film's
more obvious elements was its music, with an intelligent collection of
appropriate 1960's pop songs selected for inclusion in the film. Above
and beyond that source usage, James Horner's rather short
Oscar-nominated score, clocking in at about 75 minutes in total length,
served as patriotic inspiration for many of the film's more exciting
scenes. The year of 1995 was a most impressive one for Horner; fresh off
of the overwhelming popularity of the superior
Legends of the
Fall, he produced two above-average scores for children's films,
Balto and
Casper. Next came his two Academy Award
nominated gems,
Braveheart and
Apollo 13, and while the
legacy of
Braveheart has persisted and eventually overshadowed
Apollo 13 to a great extent, debates continue within the
soundtrack community about which of the two is actually a better fit for
its film. In this regard,
Apollo 13 triumphs, partly because it
works while restraining its understated patriotism so well, and partly
because it reflects the film's vastly more intelligent design. There is
really no way to appreciate Horner's music fully without also
appreciating the high quality of the film itself. The composer's heroic
theme epitomizes the patriotic American spirit, and its sincerity and
raw, dedicated, and serious power drives the score with the perfect feel
of a respectful historical documentary.
Several motifs are utilized by Horner in
Apollo 13,
but one primary pair of themes defines most of the score. Aside from the
inevitable comparisons to Aaron Copland that some listeners will force
upon this theme and its noble solo trumpet sub-motif (in some scores,
these complaints are valid, but here they're a stretch), Horner's
attitude is distilled with reverence. This melody never dances and
twirls, nor does it try to get cute or bloated, as many believe a score
like
Independence Day to be. As Horner stated in early 1995, "If
you start off with a big score, it sets an audience up for just another
sci-fi movie... except
Apollo 13 is a documentary; you know where
it's going to end. What I'm trying to get out of the story is the
idealism." And the distinction between fantasy and stark reality is very
strong in
Apollo 13. There are indeed moments of whimsical wonder
for the dreams of great space exploration, but the score never deviates
from the dark and occasionally frightening realities that the dangers of
space travel present. The main thematic expressions, led by a lonely and
simple, seven-note rising and falling fanfare for NASA, are dominated by
brass, which is appropriate for the American spirit of adventure. Aside
from the launching sequence and heroic climax of the astronauts' return,
the noble NASA motif and associated primary theme are performed mostly
by solitary trumpet solos by veteran film score performer Tim Morrison.
The brass represents the far-reaching aspirations of NASA, and in myriad
incarnations, it maintains the vast and solitary plight of a small space
capsule in such an enormous void. The horns often echo into the distance
(in fact, it's built directly into the main theme's constructs), which
also signifies the vastness of space. The momentous, massively
orchestral mounting of theme during the launch sequence, despite not
being the most dense of melodic expression to be heard in Horner's
career, can send shivers up a person's spine when combined with the
awesome visuals on the screen. The final climactic return to that grand
theme unfolds when the capsule emerges from radio silence and the crew
is discovered alive. The short choral statement of the idea during
Hanks' epilogic dialogue is extraordinarily redeeming. These extroverted
passages represent twenty minutes of action on screen (as well as the
end credits), and they have come to define the score.
Beyond the primary pairing of melody in
Apollo 13
exist many other ideas hard at work. Every part of the orchestra is
utilized to its best talents, using the soloists of the ensemble much
like NASA's mission control center collecting ideas during the height of
the film's panic. As a brilliant move, Horner employed the voice of
Annie Lennox to perform classy wordless vocals twice in the score.
Lennox's voice itself has almost a historical significance alone in
American culture, and her low tone enhances the dramatic and dark aspect
of the score for one crucial cue, "The Dark Side of the Moon." Her voice
seemingly represents the moon itself, inviting and beckoning the
astronauts towards her yet forbidding and cold at the same time. The
solemn cue lures Tom Hanks' Jim Lovell into a dream-like state, where
the heroic brass theme starts to build in his fantasy; as reality sets
in, only Lennox's bittersweet voice remains. She returns for a rousing
and very enjoyable performance of the title theme at the opening of the
end credits, which is enhanced by a powerful synthetic rhythm. Combined
with a choir and electronic base, the format of this presentation will
remind many listeners of
Glory. The synthetic elements and choir
are both used with great effect in the score. The pulsating electronics
build the momentum as the launch sequence nears liftoff and represent
the technically sophisticated nature of what we are watching. In a way,
it also infuses a subliminal sense of coolness into the equation, a
touch restrained as to not interfere with the austere personality of the
picture while also nodding to all the song placements. It also
establishes the strong beat and determination that the marching snare
drums cannot achieve alone. The snare, as in many other Horner scores,
is used to a great degree in
Apollo 13; it is perhaps more
appropriate in this film than a few of the others considering the
militaristic and governmental influences in the story. On the other
hand, Horner's typical use of a children's choir is always entertaining.
This was a period in time when Horner was using the choir in almost all
of his scores, and it creates a perfect fantasyland for the
Apollo
13 astronauts. Its light, whimsical touch floats like the
weightlessness itself, beginning as the crew members take off their
helmets in space for the first time and concluding during the
slow-motion finale of the film, as to foreshadow future expeditions into
space by the Apollo missions.
To accommodate the character establishment of
Apollo
13, the score does take a while to get jumpstarted, with the songs
chosen for the film dominating early scenes. Once the launch sequence
pushes the score into gear, the songs are largely confined to short
bursts on the astronauts' tape players. (By the start of the landing
sequence, the songs are completely absent). Two parts of the score that
are rarely discussed are Horner's ideas for tension and panic. The
tension is palpable when watching the film, and Horner contributes to it
by understating his suspense cues. The "Docking" cue uses a synthetic
choral effect along with a slowly marching timpani, string, and wood
block rhythm to build to an elegant but subtle climax. The uneasy
trumpet solos in this cue are a perfect representation of the balance of
confidence and nervousness in the capsule during the scene. The rhythm
adds great suspense and even dread to the tricky task of aligning and
attaching the two space vehicles; the rumbling holds its breath in a
single, pulsating note until the docking is completed, at which time the
timpani suddenly quits. In the latter half of the score, Horner pulls
out a variety of lightly tapping percussion to accompany mission control
and the astronauts during their thought processes. In the cues "Into the
L.E.M.," "Carbon Dioxide," and especially "Four More Amps," Horner's
slight, but effective use of wood block, snare, and the tingling of
cymbals represents the transferring of an electrical current. This
interesting technique is expanded upon for the score's one panic cue,
"Master Alarm," in which Horner makes the most the crashing, descending
piano motif that he introduced a few years earlier in scores like
The
Pelican Brief and would extend into
Titanic. The continued
tapping of wood block, snare, and cymbal signifies the energy trickling
out of the damaged spacecraft, while the frantic bursts from the piano
accompany the wildly pitching instability of that capsule. The cue
appropriately ends as suddenly as it began, as Lovell's discovery of the
horrifying truth of the situation sinks in. An extension of this sound
is more unorganized in the later "Manual Burn" cue, easily the weakest
two minutes of the score. None of these sequences, whether for the eerie
suspense or the outright panic, is supplied with substantially recurring
thematic constructs, though the snare and wood block rhythms remain
fairly consistent, as does Horner's typical, guarded optimism with
rising bass region figures.
Several dissonant and/or electronic cues were added later
by Horner in the post-production process, including the horrific pitch
that accompanies the electrical pulse that causes the initial fault in
"Canister Explosion," the atmospheric mystery of "Reactant Valves," the
deep, synthetic dread of "Out of Control" and "Power Off." Perhaps most
interesting of these is "A Square Peg," which mostly exhibits a
continuation of the rhythmic wood block motif. None of this material,
along with several of the orchestral suspense cues, was initially made
available on album. In part because of the film's popularity, the CD
releases of this score were complex enough in the early years to make a
man's head spin. In sum, there were four official
Apollo 13
releases in 1995 and 1996. Universal apparently decided that the quality
of the film was so great that its dialogue and sound effects should be
mixed into the score and songs for all of its commercial soundtrack
releases. Any substantial fan of the film will admit that this decision
makes the albums a worthy souvenir, and the superior production quality
of the audio in the film is quite interesting to enjoy along with the
score. But the score has its own merits that demand attention (apart
even from the source songs), and many potential listeners wouldn't be
well served by Universal in the end. The regular album release, which
was the only one available in most stores, contains a frightening amount
of dialogue and songs, with little untouched score. There's no reason at
all to purchase this product. A "gold edition" edition features
practically identical contents, but the music, dialogue and sound
effects were digitally transferred into Dolby surround sound on a
gold-plated disc similar to the label's treatment of the scores for
Schindler's List and
Dances With Wolves. Although this was
a limited pressing, it was readily available for a few years at regular
retail stores. If you seek the regular version of the music, complete
with all the dialogue, sound effects, and songs, go with the gold
edition. That is, unless you don't have the equipment to appreciate it,
of course. When pumped through a surround system, the sound of the gold
presentation is simply spectacular, especially during the launch
sequence. With any luck, your neighbors will be calling the police
because of the sound of the rocket rumbling through their living room.
The reverb on the "Blue Moon" song by the Mavericks is stellar as well,
mirroring the song's prominent and equally echoing mix late in the
film.
Interestingly, on the secondary market, you might
discover that there was also a 2-CD release of
Apollo 13 in
Australia from 1995, though it contains nothing new; the first CD is
identical to the American regular release and the second one only offers
more songs from the era. For die-hard film score and James Horner fans,
though, nothing less than the awards-season promotional release would
do, and this presentation stood as definitive until Intrada Records
provided its own expanded product in 2019. The 1996 promo is the typical
Academy "for your consideration" treatment of the score, with 15 minutes
of extra music and the rest thankfully dialogue free. At an hour in sum,
it is blissfully unadulterated, and it was long highly recommended if
you could get your hands on a copy, regardless of whether it was a real
pressing or one of the numerous bootlegs that inevitably spawned from
it. The sound quality on the promo, though obviously less impressive
than the surround sound version, of course, is crystal clear. The only
downside of the promo is that the "End Credits" cue is a slightly
different mix than that heard on the other albums. In the extended
version (by a minute) likely matching the film's presentation, the key
of the orchestral sequence that follows Annie Lennox's bass-enhanced
portion at the start is incongruous. For listeners familiar with the mix
heard on the commercial albums, the difference is more than a bit
distracting. Those who made their own compilations of the score were
advised to copy all tracks from the promotional album except for "End
Titles," for which the commercial versions were superior. For more
information on the differences between all of the various 1995 and 1996
releases of the score, including the ways to determine if you have a
genuine promotional copy, see the notes section at the bottom of this
page. With the addition of the 2019 Intrada product, though, such
details are likely of interest to only the most avid soundtrack
collectors. That 2019 album offers the full score and Horner's promo
album edits on a limited 2-CD product. There are some differences
between the cues on the two presentations, though most of them are not
significant outside of the level of brutality in "Master Alarm." On the
promo assembly, the two final cues overlap just as they do in the film;
on the film version on the first CD, there is a somewhat awkward break
between the two. Both versions of the "End Credits" on the product
correct the strange, key-change edit heard on the 1996 promo.
For its excellent product, Intrada made the interesting
decision to supply Horner's electronic filler cues together at the end
of the first CD rather than place them chronologically within the score;
the booklet does provide the proper sequencing for those who prefer to
sequence otherwise. The sound quality of the 2019 album is largely the
same between the two versions contained within the product, though the
full film edit seems slightly crisper at times, especially when the
score exhibits its trumpet solos. Listeners satisfied with their
compilation of the 1995 and 1996 albums may not have significant need
for the 2019 set, as the experience will not be improved outside of a
modest improvement in sound quality for those cues not provided cleanly
on the gold product. With Horner's personal arrangement already
available, the attraction for some will be the film versions of five of
the cues, all of them major, and seven new minutes of orchestral music.
In summary,
Apollo 13 is both a classic film and score, the
latter leading a very strong field of film music contenders in 1995.
Like
Glory and
Legends of the Fall before it,
Apollo
13 captured the attention of many casual movie-goers at the time of
the film's release, bringing an awareness to both the genre of film
music and Horner's career that would eventually bubble over with
Braveheart and
Titanic. Many imitations of the score
surfaced in subsequent years, including, most notably, Edmund Choi's
The Dish in 2000, which serves as a loving extension of
Apollo
13's music to the extent that some collectors might consider
appending part of that later work to any custom rearrangement of the
Horner classic. There is no doubt that this music represents Horner at
his very best; he produced great scores in the following dozen years,
including
The Mask of Zorro and its forgotten sequel, but rarely
has he hit the nail on the head as squarely as with
Apollo 13.
It's an instance in which the composer's reliance on past inspiration
shifted away from overwrought connections to heavy Eastern European
drama and instead tackled American patriotism in a way rarely heard from
Horner or anyone else. The merely functional suspense and panic portions
of the work may be underwhelming to some listeners, and its short length
is a necessary side effect of the film's extensive use of songs, but
Horner addresses each need of the film with masterful respect. The
resulting score is easily among the best of the decade.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Score as Heard in the Film: *****
- 1995 American and Australian Albums: ***
- 1995 Gold Edition Album: ****
- 1996 Promotional and 2019 Intrada Albums: *****
- Overall: *****
| Bias Check: |
For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.16
(in 107 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.23
(in 197,460 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
James Horner quote from an article published in the L.A. Times (February 13, 1995):
"If you start off with a big score, it sets an audience up for just another
sci-fi movie, except Apollo 13 is a documentary; you know where it's going to
end. What I'm trying to get out of the story is the idealism, everything that
was great in the guys at Mission Control and in the capsule, the best thing
about NASA. And that's a very elusive thing to bring out with a flute, but
that's what I want--idealism, in a very different way. If I go with something
you don't expect at all, it'll be just magical. My trick is that the films are
all so different. I have no high ambitions to win 35 Academy Awards. I just try
to be the best at what I can be and work on the best movies I can and not get
too wrapped up in the day-to-day ups and downs of it, which is difficult
enough."
Availability Notes:
The "regular release" (MCAD 11241): Contains rock/pop songs and some of
Horner's original score, with dialogue excerpts heard over the music. Regularly
priced and in print.
The "promotional CD" (MCA3P-3432): Features only James Horner's score with
no dialogue. Presumed to be an Academy Award "for your consideration" release, it
is not for sale commercially. It includes about 15 minutes of extra music not
heard on any of the other releases, and sells for around $50.
The "gold edition CD," (MCAD-11316): With only a limited printing, it
features a gold-plated "Ultimate MasterDisc" CD and Dolby Surround sound. It
contains extra narration and sound effects (more than on the "regular
release").
The "Australian 2-CD" release (MCAD11241/MCAD211358B): At the same time as
the regular edition in America, this set was printed and released only in
Australia. The first CD is identical to the U.S. "regular release" and second
CD contains extra rock songs. No extra score is included, and cover art is
consistent with the other releases.
The 2019 Intrada release: Limited to an unknown number of copies and retailed at
soundtrack specialty outlets for an initial price of $30. Chronological order of tracks:
1, 2, 17, 3, 4, 5, 6, 18, 7, 19, 8, 20, 21, 9, 22, 10, 11, 12, 13, 23, 14, 15, 16.
How to distinguish the promotional version from possible bootlegs:
The real promotional copies have the following writing on the bottom top
of the disc: "Motion Picture Artwork and Artwork Title © 1995 Universal
City Studios, Inc. (p) © 1995 MCA Records Inc MCAP-3432." In the center of
the authentic promotional CD should be: "MCA3P-3432 A50609Ma," across from "MFG
BY UNI."
The bootleg promotional copies have the following writing on the bottom
of the disc: "Motion Picture Artwork and Artwork Title ©1995 Universal City
Studios, Inc. Promotional CD Only - Not for Sale." In the center of the bootleg
CDs is: "201604-2."
Both feature a black and white cover with the same artwork as the regular
releases. However, at the bottom of the promos is written "Original Motion
Picture Score from Apollo 13 Composed and Conducted by James Horner" and on the
top right is "MCA3P-3432" written sideways.
