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Review of Courage Under Fire (James Horner)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... only if you are a devoted collector of James Horner's
works and would be interested in hearing a preview to the action and
drama techniques that would mature in several subsequent Horner
scores.
Avoid it... if an underachieving pair of respectful themes and one short burst of instrumental and synthetic creativity don't warrant a compilation of mundane Hornerisms.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Courage Under Fire: (James Horner) Director Edward
Zwick would collaborate with Denzel Washington and much of the same crew
from the 1989 film Glory for a refashioning of the concepts of
Akira Kurosawa's 1950 classic Rashomon in Courage Under
Fire. The story depicts the actions of a female helicopter pilot in
the first Gulf War, and the differing accounts of her actions that leave
Washington's character unsure about whether his office should make her
the first ever female recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. We
see essentially the same set of circumstances repeated four times, each
from the account of surviving witnesses from the battle in question.
Much of the hype surrounding the film at the time was the casting of
romantic movie veteran Meg Ryan as the pilot, though she handles the
various role shifts quite well. As with many of Zwick's films,
Courage Under Fire would be extremely fine in its technical
qualities, and he would once again hire composer James Horner to provide
the music for his vision. Coming off of the extraordinary span of a year
in which he had composed Braveheart, Apollo 13, and
Legends of the Fall, among others, James Horner suffered somewhat
of a lapse in his production during 1996 until Titanic would
forever change his career the following year. Even the highly acclaimed,
barely known score for The Spitfire Grill existed outside of the
large-scale production quality of his music from the previous year. In
retrospect, the score for Courage Under Fire makes much more
sense than it did at the time. Seemingly uninspired when it debuted, the
work was deemed adequate, but somewhat aimless, lacking in the emotional
pull that Horner listeners had become accustomed to. In sum, the score
was flat. But on a technical level, Courage Under Fire would
prove to be a compilation of styles that Horner would eventually develop
in his later scores. From the outside, it would sound as though he was
testing a number of thematic and stylistic elements in this score for
possible elaboration at a later date, and there is plenty of evidence to
back that theory up.
Horner fans sometimes refer to Courage Under Fire as a "transitional effort," while harsh critics would go so far as to say that this score is perfect evidence that Horner is a hack and overuses his own material. The pulsating rhythms of the action pieces, with piano and snare driving the pace, was an exact precursor to the sinking scenes in Titanic, and, retrospectively speaking, the entirety of the action variants for Courage Under Fire, including the introduction of the pulsing and elongated alternation between two rising chord sets, would serve as an extension of those non-romantic moments in Titanic. The hymn offered at the outset and in "A Final Resting Place" is the only part of the score that looks backward, taking significant rising movements and counterpoint accents from the title theme for Glory. The actual title theme for Courage Under Fire is a faint-hearted attempt to create the same restrained and somewhat sour romanticism that Horner would master in the theme for Deep Impact (and its wedding cue, specifically). The flashy splashes of electric guitar heard in "Al Bathra" would mature in The Perfect Storm. Pieces of brass work in the action material would also be expanded upon in Enemy at the Gates. There are other examples of where elements in Courage Under Fire would eventually end up, but the most important impression to keep in mind about this score is that everything you hear within it would later be produced by Horner in a superior form. The one unique moment of creativity in Courage Under Fire is actually quite spectacularly conceived, though; at the opening of "Al Bathra," Horner uses the sound effects of a helicopter ignition and the gradual increase in the pace and tone of its blade whooshes, eventually blending it into (and yielding to) the orchestra's natural, percussive rhythm. Otherwise, the score's generally low-key attitude defies the patriotism conveyed in the film and causes the score to be a mundane listening experience. The faults of this score are intangible, like any score that simply fails to resonate in an expected way. The album, with extraordinarily dull and inept packaging, fell completely out of print not long after its release. **
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 54:25
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or 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 Courage Under Fire are Copyright © 1996, Angel Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/24/96 and last updated 5/20/07. |
