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Review of Independence Day (David Arnold)

1996 RCA/BMG

2000 Bootleg

2010 La-La Land

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... on either the outstanding 2010 2-CD set or any of the score's previously bootlegged forms if you seek a truly balanced presentation of this spectacular action and science fiction achievement.

Avoid it... if the blatantly patriotic tone of David Arnold's major action pieces is so outrageously and obnoxiously heroic in every stereotypical sense that you cannot enjoy the score's arguably superior, softer, more compelling parts.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

ID4: Independence Day: (David Arnold) If you doubt that anticipation alone can sell a non-franchise film as a blockbuster long before its release date, then study what 20th Century Fox accomplished with Independence Day. The film itself was mediocre, just as all of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich's early productions turned out to be, but it became a classic disaster staple due to its revolutionary special effects, a likable performance by Will Smith, and a tendency to bloat every aspect of its production to overblown levels. Starting with the Super Bowl and the film Broken Arrow early in 1996, Fox pushed trailers showing the fiery destruction of the White House (a compelling image given that it was a presidential election year and the public still enjoyed a desensitized pre-9/11 mindset) and other landmarks. Each successive trailer teased out more incredible special effects shots of immense destruction, often to glorious accompaniment by the popular theme from Hans Zimmer's Crimson Tide. A monumentally effective marketing campaign by Fox included black helicopters flying over Los Angeles with banners announcing the end of the world on the premier date. With a story full of as many preposterous loopholes as that by Devlin and Emmerich, seeing the spectacular annihilation of the cities of the United States, primarily, was the main attraction of Independence Day. Like any good science fiction invasion flick (and especially one modeled as a tribute to Irwin Allen's natural disaster favorites of the 1970's), Independence Day didn't require the nasty-looking aliens to have any reason for choosing Earth as their next target. Nor was there any reason to shy away from melodramatic deaths, a poke or two at the pious, and noisy and blatant patriotism at its flag-waving best. Contributing to the overbearing noise factor was David Arnold's epic, Grammy-winning score for the film, recorded with 90 players, a 46-member choir, relatively new 24-bit recording technology, and every last ounce of stereotypical Americana he could muster for the occasion. Devlin once commented on the apparent fact that "you can leave it up to a Brit to write some of the most rousing and patriotic music in the history of American cinema." Indeed, the score is not only among the most obvious fanfares representing American culture in the modern age (or perhaps ever), it has also proven to be Arnold's most memorable and popular career film scoring achievement.

Along with his striking opening cues for Devlin and Emmerich's Stargate in 1994, Independence Day caused many film music collectors to speculate that Arnold could be the long-awaited replacement for the maestro, John Williams. Ironically, Williams would replace Arnold for 2000's The Patriot and, outside of some highly varied, but occasionally outstanding music for the James Bond franchise, Arnold's career in film scoring never soared as expected (in part due to his endeavors in the production of various song recordings). Still, the high quality of the music for Independence Day, regardless of how obnoxious it can potentially be outside of context, was proof that Arnold's previous two major scores, Last of the Dogmen and Stargate, were not flukes. In retrospect, everyone affiliated with the film remarks about how smoothly its production went, including Arnold. Devlin and Emmerich knew immediately what they wanted for the film: huge bravado with transparent, frequent thematic references. They had temped the film extensively with James Horner's Apollo 13, an exceedingly popular score at the time that happened to fit nicely with both the patriotic and militaristic needs of Independence Day. Arnold was also instructed very clearly on what thematic identities to place where, eliminating much of the guess work in attribution for the composer. He did find the composition of the themes quite challenging (with the exception of the aliens' motif, which oddly came to him in a dream), pressured by the hype of the film's pre-release media blitz in a way he did not experience again until Casino Royale. Interestingly, however, some doubts about the score's originality have been raised through the years. A lawsuit was reportedly leveled against Fox and Arnold by a composer named Terry Herald, who claimed (with some merit) that a theme in the Independence Day score was lifted directly from his 1991 television documentary Air Force One: The Planes and the Presidents. The same reports indicate that Herald was paid off in a settlement, and given that such legal troubles are usually mopped up quietly, there's a definite possibility that all of these circumstances are true. That scenario led to speculation over time that the lawsuit was responsible for the fact that the Independence Day score never received a deserved, legitimate, expanded album release despite significant demand (until 2010).

Regardless of the inspiration for the score (which Arnold claims came to him after much toil and frustration in a Los Angeles hotel room), the composer very successfully tackled the assignment with the same ferocious patriotism and sense for Americana as the vigorous plot. No plug remained un-pulled for Independence Day, with all the snare-ripping, wild piccolos, blaring trumpets, and cooing choral elements necessary for such a story. The precise orchestration of constantly overlapping lines (a true introduction to the talents of orchestrator and conductor Nicholas Dodd) and the enthusiasm in the ensemble's performances are the reason why Independence Day is much more sophisticated than just a loud mess of noise. Grumpier critics denounced it because of its sheer volume, but the robust structures in the work are intelligent enough to satisfy those who might usually avoid such elevated volume. For all of its bravado, Arnold's work here is surprisingly well developed and complicated in its handling of the three primary themes. Given that the original commercial album was arranged with most of the banging and clanging action music as the emphasis of the presentation, fans may write off Independence Day too quickly, a problem only rectified in part by widespread bootlegs that dominated the market for the score during the 2000's and, finally, a much heralded, 2010 official expansion from La-La Land Records. Arnold has confessed to being more personally fond of the score's sensitive interludes as well, gravitating the majority of his own mental effort towards capturing the right balance of personal appeal and majestic atmosphere for the film's many tender character interactions. The three primary themes developed in Independence Day are extremely well integrated, often blurring the lines between the two that represent mankind. The first and most obvious one is the hopelessly optimistic and grandiose, patriotic brass theme that sometimes extends to the high woodwinds. The "End Titles" suite offers a strong presentation of all three ideas, but this primary theme opens and closes that suite with all the flair you can imagine for an upbeat fanfare. This idea is keenly provided in slower, darker hints, often by soloists, in the first half of the score. When humanity starts fighting back, however, the theme's more expansive performances define not only America's struggle, but that of the entire world. In the trio of adjoining cues from "Dad's a Genius" to "Alien Ship Powers Up" and the popular "International Code," this theme gains a sudden burst of momentum that launches it to its numerous explosive performances in the twenty minutes of straight action material late in the film.

After the main fanfare, the second major theme in Independence Day is one that represents both the American president and the more compassionate side of humanity. You hear this theme in agonizing capitulations during scenes of the aftermath of the initial attack and most prominently in "The President's Speech." This idea holds a fair amount of the running time late in the "End Titles" suite and, as in much of the score, is often elevated in tempo to match and blend with the patriotic theme. The sometimes sappy nature of this theme is augmented more often by choir, and it's easy to hear that Arnold was attempting to maximize the melodrama in this idea. The third theme represents the alien invasion, or at least it seems as though Arnold intended that to be the case. This theme was originally set to open the film with overwhelming force and dread, as the aliens pass the moon and approach Earth, but was replaced with a more generic, tense crescendo. Regardless, whether this idea was meant to accompany the aliens or a broader sense of devastation is somewhat moot, for Arnold utilizes it extensively as a fanfare of doom in the first half of the score. From its descending progressions performed by massively ominous brass layers to its subtle fragments during the earlier scenes of the film, Arnold carefully reminds the audience of the idea so well that it's one of the more distinctly memorable villain's themes in recent times. Its underlying rhythmic movement, propelled with resounding depth by Japanese and African drums, creatively spells "DIE" in Morse code. There are other thematic ideas of secondary stature that supplement these three major identities in Independence Day, too. A sensitive solo woodwind and horn theme for Captain Steven Hiller's (Will Smith) relationship with his family is heard in both "Cancelled Leave" and, more extensively, "Wedding." There's not surprisingly a hint of Horner's Apollo 13 that bleeds through in this theme, but given the motif's overall brevity, the impact of the similarity is minimal. Another consistent theme exists for Mary McDonnell's somewhat lame portrayal of the First Lady, an unnecessary character. Arnold nevertheless gives her a tender, somber theme heard initially at the end of "First Lady Found" and explored for several minutes in "The First Lady Dies." Unfortunately, you'll catch yourself thinking of the lyrics "tomorrow never dies" during the main phrase of this theme, for it heavily foreshadows the softer sections of the composer's first Bond score the following year. Finally, meandering choral progressions meant to stir up wonder and awe are heard in "Area 51" and "Alien Ship Powers Up," giving a traditional, 1950's sense of fantasy some due respect.

The instrumentation in and itself serves as a great factor in the cohesion of Independence Day. The fact that Arnold never resorts to the synthetic realm (aside from some very subtle bass enhancements on keyboard), as well as the complexity of the simultaneous lines of action in the louder sequences, is likely what caused many listeners to compare this work to that of John Williams. The percussion section is often disregarded for its rampant snare tapping, but the "Base Attack" cue offers a stereo-bouncing effect of struck metallic effects (anvils and cow bells?) in its third minute that remarkably synchronizes with the ensemble's frequent use of full octave spans (more of this in the score would have been awesome). A tambourine in "International Code" supplies additional depth to the Russian-style vocals for a brief montage of resistance across the world. That cue, in many ways the highlight of the entire score (and film), appropriately infuses some stereotypical Arabic progressions (comparable to Stargate in its waning moments) and Morse code-like effects. In the brass section, a wildly blaring, descending figure is used for the alien destroyers' actual firing mechanism, and that motif is applied as a foreshadowing tool at 2:05 into "Base Attack." Arnold even allows the trumpets to wildly meander off tone at 3:05 into "Evacuation" to augment the mounting panic. The strings, while often frantic in their contributions, unfortunately seem to get lost in many of the more ambitious cues, though they nicely anchor Arnold's favored character cues. Flute and/or piccolo usage in Independence Day is perhaps the most entertaining, shrieking with reckless abandon in several of the most hyperactive cues, including wildly manic, seemingly independent lines late in "Base Attack." Overall, Independence Day is a highlight of film music in the 1990's, a carefree expression of popcorn-ready bombast not equaled in its ferocity during the early years of CGI-dominated pictures. At a time when blockbuster scores were headed in the direction of Hans Zimmer's synthetic and simplistic constructs, Arnold's score was a blazing continuation of a previous generation of orchestral force. In the subsequent decade, he never approached the same level of spirit, with the disintegrating collaboration with Devlin and Emmerich highlighted by a seldom-noticed theme for the American military in Godzilla that reprises some of the nobility of Independence Day. There has always been talk of a sequel, but while by 2010 the organization of that production was beginning to roll in earnest, Arnold has remained coy, making statements that suggest that he'd be extremely hesitant to return to the concept.

On album, Independence Day was severely mistreated in its initial RCA/BMG offering of 1996. That album featured versions of cues eventually replaced in the film version of the score, most notably the opening track. Its arrangement of only about half the score was tragic in the absence of much of the score's best majestic and tenderly harmonic material. For some, the presentation was strong enough, the choir mixed well to provide depth without adding volume. The "End Titles" arrangement is in many ways the best suite of the three major themes, and the last two or three minutes of that track are used frequently in fireworks displays around America, not to mention everything from small-town band performances to Memorial Day ceremonies in large American cities. But Independence Day always required better treatment, especially considering the mass of music from the middle portion of the film that was represented only by "Aftermath" and "El Toro Destroyed." Confusion was caused when later pressings of the commercial album substituted the film version of "1969 - We Came in Peace" without any notation, causing fans to not know which version they were purchasing until they listened to it. Released two days before the film's opening, the original RCA/BMG pressing was not only short, but it offered lousy packaging that only printed the track titles on the CD itself (an illogical faux pas that should lead to the firing of any album art director, regardless of excuses about deadlines). An expanded album was promised late in 1996, but one was never released (reportedly due to financial restrictions, but the lawsuit was a possibility as well). It was thus only a matter of time before the bootlegs appeared on the market, and for a short time during their main debut in late 2000, they were actually featured at regular soundtrack specialty outlets. While substandard attempts to bootleg Independence Day had been floating around for a few years, the first mass-produced bootleg of the score hit their shelves as the sixth part of the so-called "World Records" bootleg series. Many variants have existed since, though all of them offer top-notch sound quality (outside of some minimal upper-range hiss). In 2010, La-La Land Records' official presentation of the complete score was limited to 5,000 copies and manages to exceed the bootlegs in overall editing and sound quality. The 2-CD set contains a plethora of alternate recordings and a few major cues absent the choir as well, though some collectors may be satisfied with the bootlegs, which really did contain all the absolutely necessary music. Still, Independence Day is the kind of spectacular score worthy of ultimate album treatment, and the 2010 product, despite its expense, is a highly recommended item for any serious collector of digital age film music.

• Music as Written for the Film: *****
• Music as Heard on the 1996 Album: ***
• Music as Heard on the 2000 Bootleg: *****
• Music as Heard on the 2010 2-CD Set: *****
• Overall: *****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Original 1996 Album:
Total Time: 50:39

• 1. 1969 - We Came in Peace (2:04) • 2. S.E.T.I. - Radio Signal (1:52) • 3. The Darkest Day (4:13) • 4. Cancelled Leave (1:45) • 5. Evacuation (5:47) • 6. Fire Storm (1:23) • 7. Aftermath (3:35)

• 8. Base Attack (6:11) • 9. El Toro Destroyed (1:30) • 10. International Code (1:32) • 11. The President's Speech (3:10) • 12. The Day We Fight Back (4:58) • 13. Jolly Roger (3:15) • 14. End Titles (9:08)

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2000 World Records Bootleg:
Total Time: 99:14

CD 1: (53:03) • 1. Prologue* (2:05) • 2. S.E.T.I. Radio Signal* (1:54) • 3. Satellite Destroyed (0:42) • 4. That's Impossible (0:18) • 5. Cropduster (0:56) • 6. The Destroyers Detach (0:35) • 7. AWAC Gets Fried (1:01) • 8. The Darkest Day* (4:15) • 9. Hiller Sees the Saucer (2:11) • 10. Cancelled Leave* (1:47) • 11. Launching Welcome Wagon (0:48) • 12. Welcome Wagon Moves In (0:34) • 13. Evacuation/Firestorm* (7:12) • 14. Aftermath* (3:37) • 15. Base Attack - Canyon Chase* (6:13) • 16. First Lady Found (1:30) • 17. Area 51 (1:34) • 18. Spaceship from Roswell (0:57) • 19. The Freak Show (1:52) • 20. El Toro Destroyed* (1:32) • 21. Alien Autopsy (5:22) • 22. Nuke Attack - Reunions (6:02)

CD 2: (46:11) • 1. 1969 - Film Version (1:59) • 2. The First Lady Dies (2:43) • 3. David Gets an Idea (0:56) • 4. Planning the Attack (1:47) • 5. International Code* (1:34) • 6. Pre-Flight Check (1:51) • 7. The President's Speech* (3:13) • 8. Farewell - Launching the Ship (2:03) • 9. Lift Off - Mothership* - Rebellion (13:54) • 10. Jolly Roger* (3:18) • 11. Independence Day (3:42) • 12. End Titles* (9:11)

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2010 La-La Land Album:
Total Time: 129:05

CD 1: (65:31) • 1. 1969: We Came in Peace (2:01) • 2. S.E.T.I. - Radio Signal (1:53) • 3. Mysto Bridge*/Satellite Collision*/ Destroyers Disengage*/Russell Casse - Pilot* (2:17) • 4. First Sighting*/AWAC Attack* (2:18) • 5. The Darkest Day (4:14) • 6. Moving Day*/Countdown* (2:12) • 7. Cancelled Leave (1:46) • 8. Commence Lift-off*/Parabolic Indenwhat?* (1:17) • 9. Evacuation (5:48) • 10. Firestorm (1:24) • 11. Aftermath (3:36) • 12. Base Attack (6:11) • 13. Marilyn Found* (1:29) • 14. Area 51*/The Big Tamale*/Formaldehyde Freak Show* (4:12) • 15. El Toro Destroyed (1:31) • 16. Slimey Wakes Up* (5:24) • 17. Target Remains*/Rescue* (5:56) • 18. The Death of Marilyn*/Dad's a Genius* (3:34) • 19. Alien Ship Powers Up* (1:46) • 20. International Code (1:32) • 21. Wedding* (1:50) • 22. The President's Speech (3:11) CD 2: (63:34) • 1. Just in Case*/Attacker Fires Up* (3:10) • 2. The Launch Tunnel*/Mutha Ship*/Virus Uploaded* (8:27) • 3. Hide!*/Russell's Packin' (The Day We Fight Back)* (4:44) • 4. He Did It* (1:33) • 5. Jolly Roger (3:17) • 6. Victory* (3:40) • 7. End Credits (9:07) Bonus Tracks: • 8. 1969: We Came in Peace - Alt.* (2:11) • 9. Destroyers Disengage (No Choir)* (0:34) • 10. Cancelled Leave - Alt.* (1:43) • 11. Commence Lift-off - Alt.* (0:55) • 12. Base Attack (Segment - Film Version)* (2:27) • 13. Marilyn Found (No Choir)* (1:28) • 14. Target Remains/Rescue - Alt.* (2:40) • 15. Dad's a Genius - Alt.* (0:45) • 16. Attacker Fires Up (Original Version - No Choir)* (2:01) • 17. Virus Uploaded - Alt.* (2:35) • 18. The Day We Fight Back (Original Version) (5:48) • 19. Jolly Roger - Alt.* (3:22) • 20. End Credits (Segment, No Choir)* (2:47)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert of the 1996 commercial album contains a note from producer Dean Devlin. The bootleg contains no extra packaging and most variants feature extremely poor English. The insert of the 2010 complete set contains extensive information about the production background of the score, mostly through interviews with Arnold and Devlin, but it is surprisingly lacking any satisfying analysis of the music itself.

A complete list of cues remixed from their original film edits for their presentation on the original album and subsequent bootlegs includes the following:



In a 1999 interview, David Arnold said the following about this score:

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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 Independence Day are Copyright © 1996, 2000, 2010, BMG Classics/RCA Victor, World Records 006 (Sample Bootleg), La-La Land Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/24/96 and last updated 6/17/10.