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•	2008 Album

•	2024 Album

•	2008 Album

The main Loc Nar theme that holds the score together is a mysterious, descending representation of the god-like orb that recurs throughout the story. Performed by alluring female voices at 0:17 into "Soft Landing" and shifting to low strings, this cue essentially introduces this primary theme of the score as one of uncertain fantasy. It explodes from the vocals and chimes in the middle of "Grimaldi" ("Intro to Green Ball") and is afforded a massive, low brass rendition along with synthesizer accents. The theme opens "Discovery" ("Den and the Green Ball") with phrases on the voices and low brass again. Adapted by Spear into a fantastic horror cue in "Green Ball," the idea turns its focus malevolent on female voices and repetitive brass structures for a result that is perfect for the concept of zombies. This material continues to plague "Dem Bones" with less fantasy appeal. It supports an important role in "No Alarm," first on synthetic counterpoint to a stately motif for government formality and then in pure suspense for the next iteration of the orb. After playing against the Harry Canyon material in "The Next Morning" the orb's theme returns wholesale on the siren voices at the outset of "End of Baby." In the final episode, it enjoys prominence once again in the action supplied by Spears late in "Taarna Escapes Pit" and joins male choir for menacing power in "Taarna Forever." Aside from one motif for the Taarna portion of the tale, everything else in the score is restricted to one particular episode. Two themes exist in the Den sequence, the primary one for the titular character somewhat inspired by the composer's music from The Ten Commandments because of a line referencing that film in the script. This idea presents as a noble fanfare in "Transformation" ("Den and the Green Ball") on brass and returns later in the cue in much the same form as the character rescues a woman. It shifts to a more robust and percussively propulsive stance at the top of "Castrate Him," informing the margins of the action in "Searching for Loc-Nar" against "Dies Irae" shades. Both modes for the theme combine early in "Queen for a Day" ("Den and the Queen") with super-heroic appeal and close the cue with an even loftier rendition on brass.

The Den theme is effectively pervasive in its episode of Heavy Metal, eventually guiding the climactic battle in "Pursuit" ("Den's Heroics") as Bernstein lays on the force. The conclusion of that cue takes the idea to its brazenly massive culmination of prowess. A separate love theme for that character is playfully developed throughout "Den Makes Out" on strings for the Katherine dallying and is later adapted for the seductive allure of "Queen for a Day" ("Den and the Queen") for that subsequent sexual escapade. In subsequent episodes, Bernstein's Captain Sternn material is only heard in "Fiste" ("Captain Sternn") as a cyclically growing, six-note motif of power. It's impressive in its alarming crescendo form, but not long enough to guide the narrative. The music for the B-17 segment is among the score's best, though the massive action cue for the bombing run was mostly unused. That music remains a significant tribute to the best of Bernstein's vintage war scores and flaunts a very good theme. Tints of the Loc Nar motif from "Green Ball" continue into the superb action of "Dem Bones," both solid cues written by Spears. A brief love theme is featured in the So Beautiful and So Dangerous episode to represent the silly romance between the robot from outer space and political secretary in "Robot Love" ("Space Love"), a moment treated with utter seriousness by Bernstein. It's a lovely little romantic identity that stands apart in the score. The Harry Canyon material is a flashier, cyclical motif punctuating the nervous hostility of "Harry" against alto sax romanticism for a noir effect. That theme's three-note phrasing continues on sax and winds during "The Next Morning" in a stupor, consolidating after the Loc Nar theme in "End of Baby" before leading to a bright Western variation of additional parody inclination. For many listeners, the Taarna episode will prove to be the main attraction, and although there are a few songs mixed into its ranks on screen, Bernstein is able to generate a remarkable narrative for a sequence that lasts for about half an hour and surpasses even the Den sequence. An imposing barbarian motif opens "Council" ("Taarna Summoned") on low brass in ways that preview the future instrumental and harmonic techniques of Christopher Young in the horror genre. "Dies Irae" contributes more fully to this material as well, per Bernstein's norms.

That barbarian presence in Taarna returns similarly during two parts of "The Sword" ("Taarna Prepares"), briefly carrying over to the start of "Flight to Holiday Town." A rampaging timpani, snare, and xylophone outburst in "Fighting" is an intriguing diversion, "Dies Irae" still weaving in and out of these cues. That phrasing for the villains gains more traction along with "Dies Irae" in "My Whips!" The actual theme for the female warrior herself has already been keenly suggested at 0:19 into the "Grimaldi" cue and episode to suggest the later narrative connections, though the secondary lines are a bit different in this rendition for this particular girl. Derived from the rejected love theme for Saturn 3, this idea was satisfying for Bernstein to resurrect. In the Taarna episode itself, this fantasy theme for the warrior debuts briefly in the middle of "Taarna Summoned" on ondes Martenot. It flourishes in "The Flight to Temple" ("Flight") in its most expansive rendition and shifts from wondrous fantasy to driving action for an extended performance. New secondary phrasing is explored lightly in "The Sword" ("Taarna Prepares"), and female voice and ondes martenot combine for a whimsical version with high strings later. That duo continues to haunt the middle of "Flight to Holiday Town" with the same result, more traditional orchestral colors taking the theme in "Fighting" in Basil Poledouris fashion. Her breathy tones continue for a moment in the middle of "Taarna Escapes Pit" to soothe. The warrior-oriented fanfare material culminates on brass in "Taarna Forever," her main identity receiving a melodramatic performance alongside this bravado. Once poignantly dramatized in the latter half of "Taarna Forever" to bookend to story, the cue allows Bernstein one of his famous finale crescendos as if John Wayne was riding off. It's really fun music, a blend of Bernstein humor and straight drama. Still, in total, you have to be an enthusiast of the film to understand and appreciate how it is built and why its personality fits. On album, the original 38-minute score-only LP record had been extensively bootlegged through the years before the full, 58-minute score program was first officially released on CD by Film Score Monthly in 2008 with a few extras. A 2024 La-La Land re-issue remasters the same contents and provides the full album arrangement on a second CD, but it doesn't really provide anything that the 2008 product had not. Either album is a highly entertaining representation of this amusing score.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Elmer Bernstein reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.5 (in 25 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.2 (in 12,253 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.