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Review of The Cable Guy/Fantasy Island (John Ottman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you never had a chance to obtain either of the two
scores represented on their previous, individual promotional releases.
Avoid it... if you already have the devilishly superior music to The Cable Guy and are interested in this compilation promo only for "Fantasy Island."
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Cable Guy/Fantasy Island (John Ottman) An early
compilation made to promote the career of the still-rising John Ottman,
this product offers two scores that had been available in individual
promotional form. Pressed by Super Tracks, this promo release combines
the music Ottman wrote in the late 1990's for the reborn "Fantasy
Island" series on television with his commercially unreleased score for
the better known film The Cable Guy. The original promotional
score release of the latter in 1997 had been a highly sought after item
on the secondary market until this combo album satisfied collectors. In
terms of content, only two short "bumper" tracks available on the
original "Fantasy Island" promo fail to make the straight transfer onto
this CD. While these two scores, although both saturated with John
Ottman's recognizable style, are vastly different in purpose and tone,
the album served its purpose well at the time as a compilation (and a
welcome treat for the quickly growing number of Ottman fans). Neither
The Cable Guy nor "Fantasy Island" abounds with outstanding
music, but they are both decent standalone scores. Ottman's complex and
creative ingenuity with the orchestra and his synthetic elements makes
his music interesting (at the very least), and never is there a dull
moment in either of these works. At the same time, though, fans will
recognize that neither is elevated in style and power to the level of
Incognito and The Usual Suspects, so don't expect to
experience the same level of satisfaction. The rebirth of "Fantasy
Island" on television was definitely a failed venture, though the
process of writing the pilot score provided a refreshing change for
Ottman, who had been swamped with scoring duties for morbid and
intensely dark films in his early years of composition. In terms of
content, Ottman's music is pleasantly sub-tropical while maintaining the
light synthetic choral effect that lends the fantasy element to the
show. With occasional mixes of short island choral chants, its
personality achieves that which the smaller orchestra cannot. His catchy
rendition of the title theme prevails throughout the episode. The "Life
and Death" cue sounds on the surface like a refurbished, upbeat version
of his finale theme for Snow White: A Tale of Terror, and his
variants on the title theme bounce regularly with jubilant
character.
The superior music on the compilation easily comes from The Cable Guy in the latter half. The 1997 comedy directed by Ben Stiller and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick proved to be too awkward a combination of laughs and genuine attempts at suspense to work for audiences, but Ottman's score made a valiant effort to bring those two sides of the story together into a cohesive whole. The tone of The Cable Guy would mark one of the high points for Ottman in terms of combining his dramatically gothic tendencies with pure comedy writing. At the time, the score seemed like a lost variant on his usual sound, but in retrospect, it proves itself to be a far more interesting and serviceable merging of styles. Ottman's typical darkness prevails in the wicked title theme, written towards the child-like exterior of Carrey's title character with brilliance. A slight waltz rhythm is aided by a chorus of childrens flighty "la-la" vocals that beg for comparisons to Danny Elfman's Scrooged and Jerry Goldsmith's Poltergeist, which, when you think of them together, seem like a perfect tandem for The Cable Guy. Lively percussion exists everywhere, sometimes building to a jazzy pace of rhythm with a full performance by a satisfying sized orchestra in an occasionally melodic statement. Electric guitars, theremine effects, and various other samples offer sharp personality for distinct moments in the score. The highlight of the work is "This Concludes Our Broadcast Day," with all the quirky sound effects and melodic elements wrapped into one outstanding cue. On the whole, The Cable Guy maintains enough harmonic resonance and avoids the pitfalls of parody music (though the inspiration behind the jousting music is bit over the top), allowing for a fluid listening experience. Because of the structure of the film's movements, Ottman's score rarely has enough time to build a motif beyond a minute, and the resulting stuttering nature of the music on album may be make it difficult for some listeners to enjoy. The pacing will well serve vintage Danny Elfman collectors in particular. Sound quality on all of the available promotional products has never been an issue, with Ottman's devilish instrumental usage loud and clear in every cue. If you were a collector who happened to get his hands on the The Cable Guy solo promo before this 1999 compilation was filtered to the specialty soundtrack market, then that product will likely suffice. The music from "Fantasy Island" cannot by itself justify an additional search for this product.
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 50:58
* Track time missing on packaging ** Track time incorrect on packaging
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a note written by The Cable Guy's director, Ben Stiller, and
another from John Ottman regarding "Fantasy Island."
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1999-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
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 The Cable Guy/Fantasy Island are Copyright © 1999, Super Tracks Music Group (Promo) and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 3/26/99 and last updated 10/11/07. |
