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FILMTRACKS.COM
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Review of Lost in Space (Bruce Broughton)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... on either of the Intrada Records score-only albums if you
generally support the label's efforts to promote Bruce Broughton's
career and appreciate even the composer's less inspired action
material.
Avoid it... on the 1998 TVT Soundtrax album at all costs, for it serves very little purpose other than to taunt the film score community with its wretched collection of songs.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Lost in Space: (Bruce Broughton) Although the 1998
large-scale studio adaptation of Irwin Allen's famous concept of Lost
in Space performed considerably well at the time of its release,
the film failed to become enough of a success to sustain a franchise
based upon the adventuresome Robinson family. New Line Cinema
effectively connected the film to its 1960's inspiration, with numerous
cameos and all the major characters left intact. Lacking, unfortunately,
was any sense of an organized script, likely the result of numerous
problems that plagued Lost in Space throughout its making. The
production schedule was nearly out of control, even within a week of the
film's release, due to the endless tinkering with the CGI special
effects featured throughout the picture. The final product was a
haphazard mess with studio meddling written all over it. Inevitably, as
a result of the madness, the symphonic score by composer Bruce Broughton
for the film became an adventure in and of itself. After the legendary
Jerry Goldsmith (an Irwin Allen veteran, alongside John Williams, who
composed music for the original television show) left the project and
Mark Isham's recorded score was rejected, Broughton was given only two
to three weeks to provide a large action score with a fully orchestral
ensemble. Popular expectations of Broughton's task anticipated the
adventure of his famous modern Western scores (namely, Silverado)
in the space opera context. And while he made a valiant attempt to do
just that, the circumstances of the recording were definitely not in his
favor. Every time Broughton thought he was done with the score, he was
continuously called back to rescore scenes that were altered due to
special effects additions or the complete rearrangement of scenes'
action. Perhaps this additional work was favorable to a hack job of the
music in the film's final editing process, but the result of Broughton's
effort is an underachieving score that presents a watered-down title
theme and little fright to represent Spider Smith, the villain of the
film. Indeed, Broughton's score goes through all the moves and provides
the basic soundscape necessary while never offering more than that
minimum baseline sound in convincing style. Part of the blame for this
result rests on Broughton, but also of note is a sometimes lackluster
performance by the Sinfonia of London in portions of the score that
required more energy and exuberance. The action material is somewhat
reminiscent of portions of his Western work; an adventure deep in space
isn't that much different from a Western scenario, but Broughton largely
abandons the opportunity.
Short of adapting Williams' original theme for Lost in Space, there was some expectation that Broughton would compose a whopping, grand Western theme that could stick in the mind long after the film was through, a prerequisite for any successful franchise score. Instead, Broughton's title theme fizzles during its own introduction and reappears rarely throughout the effort. Other issues exist with how the score was dubbed into the film, with a constant battle between the music, sound effects, and dialogue often leaving the dialogue in a more difficult, shadowy situation. For its own part, the fully orchestral score rises and falls at all the right points, workmanlike even in its less inspired sequences and filling in the spaces that the sound effects failed to. It could be argued, though, that this equation is backwards; the sound effects should be secondary to the thematic substance on screen. The non-descript nature of this score is extremely disappointing, especially when noting that Broughton has produced more convincing action and thriller cues for such trashy mid-1990's films as Shadow Conspiracy. The problems with the score were initially accentuated by a terrible, poorly-packaged album release by TVT Soundtrax at the time of the film's debut. This product provided the film music community with another wretched combination of dreadful songs and average score selections, a format that was just emerging at the time. The songs offered on this album represent the very worst of the modern techno genre, not to mention some of the most obnoxious electronica that the 1990's had to offer. Apollo Four Forty absolutely mutilates Williams' original television theme for Lost in Space, mixing it in with irritatingly repetitive sequences of electronic garble and random quotes from the film. The distinguishing aspect of this collection of songs, which constitute well over half of the total CD time, is the fact that all of them are intolerable, a difficult feat to accomplish in any genre. After 35 minutes of these songs, less than half an hour of Broughton's score was presented on that album. Luckily for the film score collectors, Broughton's long-time partnership with the Intrada Records label led to two score-only releases, pushing the amount of score material up beyond an hour in length on a 1999 album and a full 2-CD presentation in 2016. The difficulties with the score remain, however, because the Intrada releases, the latter complete with endless alternate variations of cues, simply confirm the inherent problems with Broughton's rushed work. It's a piece that suffices at the most, interests in a few cues, and disappoints in its majority. Broughton collectors should have no reason at all to seek the disgraceful TVT album, and they should approach the Intrada albums, unfortunately, with caution.
TRACK LISTINGS:
1998 TVT Album:
Total Time: 67:59
(Track lengths not listed on CD or cover) 1999 Intrada Album: Total Time: 67:03
2016 Intrada Album: Total Time: 124:12
NOTES & QUOTES:
The first track of the TVT album includes dialogue and John Williams'
original television theme. The insert for that album includes no information
about the score, and the track titles for the score cues are listed only on the
most inner page of the insert. The 1999 Intrada album contains a note from Bruce
Broughton regarding the score while the label's 2016 follow-up offers
extensive information about both the score and film.
Copyright ©
1998-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
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 Lost in Space are Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2016, TVT Soundtrax, Intrada Records, Intrada Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 4/1/98 and last updated 4/14/16. |
