took the world by storm,
featuring IMAX-sized visuals of the oceans' wonders and selling in great
numbers once available. Richard Attenborough's narration and George Fenton's
score for
, along with the wondrous vistas, made that
film the success it was. For the 2004 expansion of the
concept, a major documentary feature film from BBC Worldwide and
Greenlight Media entitled
was made as a normal cinema
counterpart for the television series. The film has slowly been debuting
across the globe and Miramax has reportedly acquired
for
North American release in early 2005. It is a $5 million production which
used twenty specialized camera teams, shooting more than 7,000 hours of
footage at over 200 locations around the world and descending as far as
5,000 meters in the most powerful submersible craft available. Sporadically
used narration by Sir Michael Gambon replaces Attenborough's voice and
critics of the film state that
or, at the very least, a
feature-length selection of highlights from the series. No matter the
content, audiences have already embraced the film with great enthusiasm,
especially in Japan, and once again George Fenton's score is key to that
success. The five-time Academy Award nominated composer has slowed his
feature film scoring duties and been conducting concerts of his
still-popular
score around the world, from London to
Hong Kong, Copenhagen, and Los Angeles. Fenton won Ivor Novello, BAFTA and
Emmy awards for his score for the original eight-episode TV series as
well.
His choice for the scoring duties of
Deep Blue was
not to be doubted, and this time, the score has taken a turn of historical
importance for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany. Recording
Deep Blue in 2003, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1882
and famous for its involvement in unusual projects, broke with its own
tradition and recorded a film score for the very first time. For Fenton,
Deep Blue would be an opportunity to both expand upon an already
superb base of thematic material and, of course, record in Berlin. "To have
the opportunity to record with the Berlin Philharmonic is a dream for any
composer," Fenton states. "I couldn't name a greater orchestra. Their
participation in the film brings a new dimension to the extraordinary and
special journey that
Deep Blue has been." If you are a fan of the
music for
The Blue Planet, then consider
Deep Blue a sequel
with much of the same thematic bravado and large-scale awe. On the other
hand, if you for some reason did not care for
The Blue Planet, then
you might find nothing new or satisfactory with
Deep Blue. Indeed,
many of the subthemes from the television series are restated in the film,
and with the same appearances of the same animals on screen, you often hear
the same music. For instance, the exciting "Sardine Run" cue from the series
opens the film's album. But three distinctions mark
Deep Blue as an
equal or (more likely) superior effort: first, Fenton re-arranges the
series' recognizable themes for refreshingly new performances. Secondly, the
'beauty factor' is increased through romantic solos, and thirdly, the grand
title theme is much more prevalent throughout the entire score.
Without a doubt, the title theme for
The Blue Planet
was a magnificent highlight of Fenton's career, and you hear another
performance of that theme in full power at the end of
Deep Blue. A
slower, even larger performance of the theme dominates "The Beach in
Patagonia" with brilliant emphasis, as well as a flowing reprise in "Free to
Roam." But, more importantly, Fenton has integrated that theme much better
throughout many of the subthemes. There are two or three more hip,
electronic cues, as with the original (the fourth and fifth cues are the
majority of this material in
Deep Blue), but the fully orchestral
cues fill more time in the film, culminating in the impressively expanded
"Flying Emperors" cue. The chorus makes itself heard in the latter half of
the score, offering enchanting depth to several cues. The overall
performances of the Berlin Philharmonic are very strong, and the mere
difference between their techniques and those of the BBC orchestra for the
series' recording makes every theme slightly different. The title theme
performance from
The Blue Planet may be the best performance of any
cue from both albums, but the album for
Deep Blue has far fewer
weaknesses as a whole. The complaints regarding the series album (lack of
theme reprises and a significant amount of non-symphonic material) are more
than satisfied in
Deep Blue, with Fenton fine-tuning the concept to
near perfection. If you have an opportunity to hear any of this music in
concert, as many already have, then by all means do so. In the meantime,
Deep Blue is an even better album than its predecessor, and unless
you were offended by the music for
The Blue Planet in some way, then
Deep Blue is a highly recommended sequel expansion. Even with all of
his strong work for dramatic feature films, Fenton seems to have ironically
and rightfully staked his claim to fame in the genre of oceanic
documentaries.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For George Fenton reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.64
(in 14 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.43
(in 16,898 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
