Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #502
Written 12/10/00, Revised 6/30/08
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Buy it... if you enjoy hearing rotations though rough percussive
rhythms as a method of defining the heartbeat of the film.
Avoid it... if you expect to hear the development of any themes or
motifs outside of the occasional references to the original 1971 Roy
Budd score.
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| Bates |
Get Carter: (Tyler Bates) Remakes are seldom half
the quality of the original films that inspire them, and director
Stephen T. Kay's 2000 update of the 1971 cult classic Get Carter
is among the worst. Michael Caine returns, but not in the title role;
instead, a miscast Sylvester Stallone is Jack Carter, walking the
streets of Seattle in search of those who killed his brother. It's a
standard revenge flick, but Kay's attempt to dramatize the story more
than necessary led to a film that largely disconnected with audiences.
The original film's score came early in Roy Budd's scoring career, and
was a dramatic, but stylish minimalist effort that matched the
menacingly mechanical nature of Caine's movements. The 2000 remake
marked the most significant mainstream film at the time for Tyler Bates,
who was obviously well informed about the Budd score before he embarked
on his own interpretation of the concept. Bates makes several
connections between Budd's work and his own, including the incorporation
of the harpsichord effect that was so memorable in the 1971 recording.
Also referenced is some of the thematic material for Carter, though
Bates revises the sound for the 21st Century to such an extent that many
people won't notice. Bates goes overboard to match the unrelentingly
sharp edge of the story, offering tones that suggest the basic emotions
of anger, revenge, and madness. Because the film also strays further
into dramatic subplots, Bates likewise attempts to address the major
secondary characters not with motifs, but rather with breaks in the
strikingly forceful attitude that allow for organic elements to make
themselves heard. Most of the score functions as an extension of the
frequent song placements in the film, with like-minded cues serving as
transitional pieces in between the alternative rock songs that can be
heard on the film's other album release. Dominated by percussion
elements, the score is essentially a series of looped rhythms that are
accentuated where needed to coincide with the action on the
screen.
The Budd theme is given contemporary, hip treatment in
"Main Titles," complete with a synthetic harpsichord effect that isn't
convincing in its sound, but at least gets the point across.
Instrumentation aside, the music in the film functions like a heartbeat
that propels the action to each climax, then yielding to a new rhythm
for a subsequent scene. These rushing, powerful rhythmic cues occupy the
mass of score's airtime, with quiet interludes occasionally performed by
cello (such as "The Garden" and "Doreen's Story"). A few of the cues
employ a trombone to add an extra stylish edge to the underlying
synthetics, though its appearances are few. Outside of these two
elements, the score is a percussive enthusiast's best possible outcome.
The rhythms established by the regular band elements, including
keyboards, drums, and electric guitar, are relentless and continuous for
extended sequences. While their existence over chase scenes is an
adequate approach for the film, they become tiresome on album in their
repetitive and simplistic form. If you wait for them to develop into any
sort of consistent motif as the album progresses, you will be
disappointed. The percussive arrays become even more ambitious and
voluminous near the end of the album, transforming from the alternative
rock sound to one that borders on heavy metal. In some cases, the style
of the rhythms can carry the listening experience. But because these
lengthy cues of noisy percussion never develop a consistent theme or
motif to represent any character (beyond the raw emotional
representation that such rhythms suggest), the album is a difficult
experience. By the closing "Cybersex," the score adopts a generic
techno/dance for its longest cue. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of
the entire presentation on album, outside of the Budd references, is the
funny snippet of dialogue at the start of "Christmas Tree Chase."
Overall,
Get Carter will thrill percussionists, but it will
likely not appeal to the larger group of film score collectors. The
score was released on no less than three separate albums, first on a
promotional album from Bates' representatives, and then by Jellybean
Records in America and Silva Screen in Europe. The packaging and cover
art varies between them, and the Silva Screen album features an
additional five-minute take on Budd's theme at the end.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For Tyler Bates reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.11
(in 9 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.47
(in 4,717 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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