Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #856
Written 7/16/03, Revised 3/15/09
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Buy it... if you could be satisfied with an IMAX score that
maintains a low level of atmospheric activity, therefore allowing the
film's visuals to speak for themselves.
Avoid it... if you expect your IMAX scores to soar with energy and
explode with melodramatic statements of theme.
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| McNeely |
Ghosts of the Abyss: (Joel McNeely) It seemed in
2003 that director James Cameron's obsession with the Titanic shipwreck
continued to occupy his every artistic endeavor. After his monumental,
super-popular film Titanic in 1997, Cameron assembled the
equipment and expertise necessary to produce an elegant, 3-D IMAX tour
of the sunken ship. Six years after his first journey to the wreck,
Cameron anchored teams of Russian and American scientists, the world's
foremost Titanic historians, and actor Bill Paxton (who seems out of
place despite his connection to the 1997 epic) above the site of the
tragedy. With his immense funding of the project, Cameron set out to use
the most advanced digital technology to film (and thus preserve) the
sunken ship in the picture quality worthy of such a massive screen
presentation in 3-D. Thrown into the documentary were animated
re-creations and some footage of ghostly live action that made Ghosts
of the Abyss a more dramatic experience. The film (sometimes
awkwardly) balances the enormity of the disaster's size with the tragedy
of September 11th, 2001, which occurred during the filming process.
Cameron had collaborated briefly with composer Joel McNeely for the
title theme and pilot score to the director's "Dark Angel" television
series, though they did not have an established big-screen partnership.
McNeely had, to the frustration of film score collectors who recognized
his potential in the industry, been involved in mostly television and
straight-to-video films and series at the time, sparingly assigned to a
feature project of significance. In 2003, however, McNeely was very
active, with four feature film scores to his credit. His work for
Ghosts of the Abyss obviously put him in an awkward spot, with
the James Horner score for Cameron's 1997 blockbuster residing as one of
the best-selling albums of all time. McNeely would have to capture the
same dramaticism, classicism, and ethnic variety that Horner had
accomplished and do it without allowing the music to bumble along as a
simple extension of that existing Titanic sound scheme.
It is no secret that IMAX scores tend to bring out the
best in composers; the opportunity to score such grand visuals seems to
be the ultimate in inspiration for most composers. For
Ghosts of the
Abyss, McNeely produced a serviceable score, but one without the
kind of extroverted, melodramatic inspiration you usually hear in other
composers' IMAX works. The opening titles and discovery cues offer an
encouraging performance of mysterious orchestral themes integrated into
a solo voice. Unfortunately, that voice would disappear and the themes
become far more abstract as the score progresses, losing even their
basic, harmonic inclinations. The personality of McNeely's score is one
immersed in quiet and contemplative meanderings of the soul, with the
orchestral ensemble rarely building to statements of significant volume.
It is conversely atmosphere of the most sensitive and yet uninspiring
kind, with several ethnic references and occasional, bland action music
of moderate size. Several short cues of modern pop rhythms and
instrumentation, led by the smooth "Getting Ready," continue the score's
search for an identity. Perhaps most upsetting about
Ghosts of the
Abyss is the fact that its music maintains a necessary level of
background accompaniment, particularly on the piano, without offering
elegance and emotional release at its forefront. Such a curious move
with the approach may have been a request from Cameron himself, but if
so, then the true potential of music in expansive IMAX pictures had not
dawned on him. The score is further washed into a monotonous character
by the weaving of the quartet music from the decks of the ship in
between score cues. Together, the lack of a cohesive theme or
instrumental identity causes McNeely's effort to be adequate, but
mundane. Most viewers of
Ghosts of the Abyss will remember and
request the vocal adaptation of the theme for "Darkness, Darkness"
(performed by Lisa Torban), a heartfelt song that appears at the end of
the album. The "Departure" performance by Glen Phillips is also
contained on the product. There is a generous amount of McNeely's score
on the album release for
Ghosts of the Abyss, but it
unfortunately does not meet the high standards that the scope and beauty
of IMAX productions demand.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For Joel McNeely reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.38
(in 16 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.14
(in 8,446 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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