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Review of Deep Impact (James Horner)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you enjoy even James Horner's most derivative,
mundane, and predictable scores, solid in construct and performance but
lacking in originality.
Avoid it... if an abundance of "Hornerisms" and blatant self-references throughout the work, combined with an excruciatingly long album, are a recipe for tedium.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Deep Impact: (James Horner) With the concept of the
disaster flick now resurrected for good, 1998 offered two films in the
form of Armageddon and Deep Impact that played similarly
on humanity's fear of being hit by a giant rock or comet from space. One
of the few reasons the outwardly sentimental Deep Impact received
moderate praise was because of its inevitable comparisons to the
laughable Armageddon. The upstart Dreamworks studio and director
Mimi Leder sought to carry over the masculine appeal of The
Peacemaker while also infusing the story with enough human interest
sidebars to carry an even larger audience. Unfortunately, as
Meteor proved almost two decades earlier, if you concentrate on
the people rather than the threat, especially with less-than-earnest
acting performances, your film lacks a central resolve with which to
maintain audience interest. The major detraction of Deep Impact
was its attempt to tell too many stories at once, almost in The Day
After fashion, whereas giant tidal waves and other pesky nuisances
of a natural kind are far more enjoyable for a summer afternoon.
Dreamworks and Leder must have been pleased to have composer James
Horner on board for this endeavor, for this would be the first score
from the recent Oscar winner after his monumental success for
Titanic. In fact, the release of the Deep Impact album
fell within a day of the announcement that Horner's Titanic album
fell out of the #1 position in the Billboard Top 200 Music Charts, where
it had maintained that position for an astounding four months. To say
that expectations for Horner on Deep Impact were high would be an
understatement and, ironically, while listeners were waiting for a blast
of adventurous breeze from Deep Impact, Horner would instead hand
them a golden nugget in the form of The Mask of Zorro shortly
thereafter. Both summer 1998 scores from the composer would feature
trademark "Hornerisms," but while The Mask of Zorro would extend
those in a uniquely fresh direction, Deep Impact remained an
ultra-conservative regurgitation of previous Horner sounds assembled
into one moderately interesting package.
The score for Deep Impact would be impressive if not for the enormous problem that nearly every moment of its lengthy running time is reminiscent of some Horner score that has come before. It is one of Horner's more obvious and thus tiresome efforts, for any listener with a substantial Horner collection will hear really nothing new in its contents. In many ways, it repackages ideas in the same fashion Bicentennial Man would the next year, but not with as interesting alterations. There are three primary thematic ideas in Deep Impact, and two of the three are weak. The first of these elements of continuity is a motif for piano that never really develops into anything more than a representation of sorrow and grief. Opening immediately at the outset of "The Wedding," this motif defines the first few minutes of "A Distant Discovery" and appears throughout. A theme of stoic resolve is introduced in the first half of "Crucial Rendezvous" and appears with full ensemble at various moments requiring a sense of gravity later in the score; this idea goes sadly underutilized. The third theme to be heard in the film is actually its primary identity. One of Horner's more compelling themes of the 1990's, the "tragedy and survival" theme weaves mostly throughout the latter half of the score and provides wholesale grief and melancholy to several scenes. This theme flourishes for the first time in the latter half of "The Wedding," which is commonly considered the concert suite for the film, before receiving a lengthy ensemble and choral performance at 6:15 into "Goodbye and Godspeed." Because so much of the score is required to brood in conjunction with the mounting suspense on screen, Deep Impact isn't one of Horner's more readily enjoyable melodic works. Outside of the occasional solemn statement of one of the score's three themes, Horner typically approaches the scenes of discovery and preparation with a slight hand. The comet itself receives a blast of percussion as its identity, which may be standard in Horner's templates but at least isn't as distracting as the terrible electronic rips that followed the rock in Meteor. One could hope for a more interesting idea to represent the approaching menace in either case, but that could be too much to ask. As a standalone effort, Horner's Deep Impact is sufficient (and occasionally quite rousing) within the context of the film, but collectors of the composer might be dismayed by the blatant self-references evident both there and on the album. The action sequences in Deep Impact, occupying most of the first half of the album, borrow heavily from Apollo 13 and Titanic. The general snare, medium range drums, chimes, and violin flurries that represent danger throughout Deep Impact are distinct carry-overs from Apollo 13. The most engaging action cue, "Our Best Hope," however, bursts forth at the 4:00 with a substantial restatement of the sinking sequences from Titanic, even down to the same ethereal synthetic voices and harmonic chord progressions. Some of the more disjointed action crescendos will remind listeners of the general panic in parts of Courage Under Fire. Thematically, Horner's heroic and patriotic ideas for Deep Impact, especially when conveyed by restrained brass, mirror Apollo 13. The more fluid theme of tragedy and survival is an extension of numerous Horner themes of times past (and would influence some in the future, too), going all the way back to Cocoon. The cue "Sad News" presents two interesting snippets that reference previous Horner works; first, at 2:45, Horner lifts a section of his song theme from The Land Before Time, and second, the Titanic love theme, if only in the progressions, is heard just after the three-minute mark. Most of the subtle references on piano in Deep Impact pull from To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday and, to a lesser extent The Spitfire Grill. For strictly the purposes of listening enjoyment, the album runs far too long for a satisfying experience, and Horner's only major extended thematic sequence for full ensemble accompanies the one performance by a real choir in "Goodbye and Godspeed." Unless you're willing to dig a bit deeper into the softer moments of the score, then there's quite little at face value to reach out and grab you. A mixing discrepancy between the ambient and full performances often hinders the flow of the listening experience on album. Compared to the composer's other works, Deep Impact is a generally mundane, predictable entry. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 77:16
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film. The first
pressing of the album contained a sticker on the front of the jewel case connecting
Horner to Titanic.
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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 Deep Impact are Copyright © 1998, Sony Music Soundtrax and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 5/5/98 and last updated 3/16/08. |
