In the latter half of
The Next Karate Kid, Conti
allows the Miyagi thematic material to be supplanted by other ideas,
with a few notable exceptions. It's more contemplative on its base
instruments its "Dining With the Monks;" the version of the cue with a
rousing Ross insert is slightly more comedic. (Listeners will encounter
Conti's original formality in "Dining With the Monks (Alternate).") A
suspenseful variation opens "Zen Archery," and the composer sends the
theme off with the pan flute early in "Angel Flies" as he teaches one
last important lesson. One phrase opens "Miyagi's Big Fight," and pan
flute reprises the full theme at the climax of the scene. Integral with
the development of the Miyagi material is the return and shift in
emphasis for Daniel's theme, which the composer had reaffirmed in
The
Karate Kid, Part III as the main theme of the franchise. Here, Julie
replaces Daniel as the teen in need of training and, more importantly,
character building. Conti obliges by offering Daniel's theme to her,
doubling its representation to cover an injured hawk that is healed and
set free in the story. The composer's handling of Daniel's theme in the
bird's flying scenes suggests by the final shot of this film that
Daniel, Julie, and Miyagi are all symbolically freed. Daniel's theme is
re-introduced on pan flute at the end of "Regiment of Heroes" and takes
its proper place in the keyboarding, electric bass, and pan flute of
"Training Montage," though this cue is a little sparse in its depth for
the importance of the scene. The same attitude extends to "Welcome Home,
Julie," but the idea soars at 0:58 into "Angel Flies," a really good use
of the synthetic pan flute and piano before the full ensemble takes the
theme in Conti's biggest orchestral moment. A slight allusion to the
melody at the start of "Julie's Fight" reminds of past confrontations,
and Conti concludes the movie in "Miyagi's Big Fight" with an almost sad
pan flute rendition while the hawk is again shown flying, leading into
the closing credits with an inspirationally upbeat ending. The Miyagi
love and loss theme from
The Karate Kid, Part II shifts here to
underline the lost relationship between Julie and her dead parents. It
struggles against the training motif in "Julie Storms Out" and is again
keyboarded with more contemporary style late in "Julie and Miyagi." Its
soft piano rendition in "Julie-san Satori (Alternate)" was rejected.
Meanwhile, the Miyagi family theme from "The Funeral" in
The Karate
Kid, Part II is used to recognize Miyagi's connection to Julie in
"Miyagi Tears."
Conti's new theme for Julie, alternately serving as the
score's de facto love theme, is the undeniable highlight of
The Next
Karate Kid, based on an ascending phrasing written originally as a
love theme for
The Karate Kid, Part III but not used in that
picture. The theme merges Marvin Hamlisch sensibilities with Conti's own
romantic inclinations, producing arguably the most attractive theme of
the entire franchise. The theme ends "Julie Storms Out" in modern
keyboarded tones and occupies all of "Julie and Eric Meet" and
"Trainyard Emotions" on piano and strings. The latter cue is one of
Conti's best career character moments, and "Trainyard Emotions
(Alternate)" features only the piano without strings for those looking
for more of a raw performance. Conti chooses a more modern keyboarded
and bass approach in "Julie and Miyagi" while Ross' version of
"Julie-san Satori" takes this theme whimsically orchestral; Conti's
version of this cue is equally attractive but more in character with the
romance mode heard in the rest of the franchise. Julie's theme closes
out "Angel Flies" in contemporary romance form on piano and strings
while "Angel Flies (Alternate)" contains more a prominent pan flute to
lead the melody. This material continues in the latter half of "The
Monks Arrive" on piano and redemptively follows the action on keyboards
in "Miyagi's Big Fight." Conti's "Julie and Eric" is stock light rock
source only vaguely based on her theme. The monks receive a traditional
percussive rhythm at the outset of "The Monks Arrive," reprised with
more gusto in "Bowling for Monks." The action tracks in
The Next
Karate Kid are where the differences between Conti and Ross become
obvious. Ross was hired primarily to write more substantial orchestral
material for the film's confrontation scenes, as the director wanted
more "gravitas" for those moments. Generally, Ross' material has more
emotional depth and complexity, and his orchestrations are excellent.
His rearrangement of "Julie-san Satori" starts with Conti's base of
strings, adding woodwind flourishes and chimes, but the sudden horn solo
at 0:49 into that cue is so unexpected given the coloration of the rest
of the score that its impact is phenomenal. One almost wishes that Ross
could have provided rearrangements and orchestration assistance to the
entire score, essentially dramatizing Conti's sound for the franchise's
new direction. Conti himself takes a few cues in this direction ("Angel
Flies"), largely negating the contemporary elements, but Ross'
techniques provide additional dramatic weight that compliments Conti's
style quite well.
Ross' action material in
The Next Karate Kid,
though, is inconsistent. His very full-fledged horror action cue in
"Julie Runs From Ned" is surprisingly good but out of place, and the
massive brass and timpani explosions in "Julie's Fight" are almost Jerry
Goldsmith-like. On the other hand, Ross' shrill dissonance over pounding
ensemble hits in "Miyagi's Big Fight" are inferior to Conti's original
recording for that scene, which offers good rhythmic engagement that
remains consistent through the entire scene in "Miyagi's Big Fight
(Alternate)." Outside of this cue, however, Conti's music for suspense
and fighting is where the score does admittedly struggle. An electric
bass riff over aggressive percussion in "Cops Chase Julie" is joined by
what sounds like a cimbalom rambling in the background; this motif is
abandoned by the composer in the remainder of the score. This mode
devolves in "Alphas Confront Julie" to one of the worst cues of Conti's
career, with wailing electric guitar and grating percussive banging. He
improves despite minimal power in "Rooftop Fight," establishing nice
bass string phrases that return in "The Alphas Clobber Eric," becoming
more frantic, disjointed, and unpleasant. Conti's somewhat generic
villain entrance music in "The Alphas Drop In" isn't really that
imposing. Likewise, "Julie's Fight (Alternate)" is a confrontational
rhythmic jousting cue that is equal in quality to Ross' partial
replacement. Few listeners will remember
The Next Karate Kid for
its tepid and unremarkable action music, however. It's a score dominated
by its romantic inclinations, the frequently lovely performances of the
Julie and Daniel themes amounting to some of the most gorgeous material
to come from Conti, some of it embellished nicely by Ross. On album,
The Next Karate Kid did not enjoy the same availability as its
predecessors. Varèse Sarabande released a 4-CD set of all of
Conti's scores for the franchise in 2007, but the fourth entry was not
later released on its own by the label. The Varèse set, while
containing what may appear to be the full score at quick glance, did not
offer any of Ross' contributions, providing Conti's originals only.
Also, about 40 seconds of "The Monks Arrive" on that album were a
carry-over from "Getting the Tree" in the prior score. The La-La Land
Records label provided the proper experience for the score in 2021,
including the Ross and Conti alternatives to the same cues and adding
"This is My Country" as a bonus source piece. This expanded album is
highly recommended over the Varèse set as it relates to this
score, for it shines a light on all of the best highlights of the
combined work. Despite its messy origins,
The Next Karate Kid
contains more lyrical highlights than the rest of the franchise's film
scores combined.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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