is an odd experience in many respects, for
although it has all the makings of a family affair (with Matthew
Broderick, Helen Hunt, and a bunch of cute monkeys), it also contained a
strong and dark political message about nuclear war that could easily
frighten children. For an average adult, it may seem just a tad too
childish to catch and hold your attention, and for the average kid, it
had too many scary scenes of nuclear radiation and death to satisfy
their needs. Thus, you get
, a film that could be mildly
interesting at a late hour on a lonely night. But what would make it an
even more attractive movie to see for film music enthusiasts is the
relatively diverse score offered by James Horner. The composer was about
to truly hit his stride in 1987, with several high-profile scores
already under his belt and his most popular works of his early career to
emerge in the following two years.
was the kind of
production that Horner would not turn down, for it not only touched upon
his fascination with flight but was yet another opportunity to spread
his wings in the use of non-traditional instrumentation. The film may
have been a lightweight in the end, but Horner didn't treat
as such. His music for the film plays an integral role in the
production, enhancing the inhibited communication skills of the monkeys
and each of their slightly varied personalities. The concept of scoring
for animals with distinct personalities is perhaps one of the most
difficult tasks for any composer, though Horner has embraced that
opportunity several times, especially when it comes to apes and monkeys.
The chimps in
, with the brilliant Virgil as their
leader, are not meant to be funny or laughed at, with the exception,
maybe, of the "Chimp Rumble" scene described below. With
positioning itself as a serious film, it was necessary for Horner
to capture both the primordial instincts of each personality and develop
his ideas slowly as the chimps learn to fly an airplane. The plot of the
movie entails that the monkeys, once capable pilots, would be exposed to
rising levels of radiation in the simulators so that human scientists
could test approximately how long the chimp pilots could continue their
mission before dying in a nuclear attack scenario.
Due to this nefarious military activity in
Project
X, both the musical themes for the chimps, as well as their soaring
accomplishments on the simulators, are overshadowed by Horner's
insertion of ominous tones for the majority of the score, and that is
why the music isn't particularly pleasant on album. Still, without a
doubt,
Project X is one of those scores that remains much easier
to appreciate than it is to enjoy. The dynamic complexity that Horner
pulls off in the effort is commendable, and it certainly adds a wealth
of depth to the film, however that same complexity alone causes the
music to translate into a more difficult standalone experience at any
great length. Nevertheless, it's the performance in context that counts
the most, and in this case, Horner makes a barely watchable film worthy
of a view. As for the style of the music itself,
Project X falls
in between Horner's early identification (the harsher sounds of
Star
Trek II: Wrath of Khan to
Brainstorm) and his more fluid
styles that would prevail in just a few years (
Willow,
Glory). In the development of themes and instrumentation,
Project X could probably be classified more accurately as a
member of the latter group, offering some of the same trademark sounds
and motifs that were still maturing for later development in Horner's
better-known scores. Among these repetitions is the use of the flighty
woodwinds, both in native flutes and in traditional reed instruments,
which Horner typically calls upon for any project involving a forest
setting. Here, they typically perform a repeated, ascending figure as a
quick motif for the chimps. With these elements, a passage in "New
Friends" serves as a practice run for
Mighty Joe Young. The
famous four-note "danger motif" may be the ammunition for Horner's most
ardent detractors across the world, but its early appearance in
Project X is very effective in building suspense in the latter
portions of the story. The scoring of the flying sequences breaks new
ground here, with several moments of soaring orchestral music that
offered a foreshadowing of the mature composition for flight in
The
Rocketeer, including a short burst of an elegant piano performance
in "Student Pilots" that also foreshadows
The New World. The main
character themes in the score are standard fare for Horner, and while
they are attractively developed throughout the work, their moments of
resonance are few.
Horner cuts loose with spirited percussion for the one
really funny scene in
Project X during which the chimps bust out
of their cages and maul the laboratory, and the composer tackles "Chimp
Rumble" with an equally affable combination of ethnic drum beating and
inspiring rhythms. The score ends with a reprise of "Student Pilots"
that served as another apparent trial run of material that was later
heard in the celebratory opening of
Willow's end titles. The
highlight of
Project X is the "Ghost Call" cue; as the chimps
begin to realize their fate, they call out in unison for the loss of a
popular companion, and Horner's delicate balance between his tender
melodic sensibility and the primordial woodwinds and percussion is
outstanding in the second half of the cue. In the end,
Project X,
is diverse enough to hold your interest, but it is nowhere close to
being amongst Horner's hidden treasures. The darker tilt to the film
causes the tension in the score to elevate it beyond its obvious
competition,
Mighty Joe Young, and its overdue appearance on
album, courtesy the Varèse label in 2001, was welcomed by
Horner's fans. Don't expect too much from the score, however, because it
is a subtle character piece, its narrative strong but its thematic
performances often slight. Even the escape sequences at the end of the
film are scored with some hesitation, because the chimps in the wild
face a great unknown. Available for four years on a hideous bootleg, the
score for
Project X was finally pressed with fuller sound and
length on the outset of the second series of Varèse Sarabande
Club titles in 2001. This limited release eliminated the need for anyone
to seek the previously widespread 1997 bootleg of the score, which
suffers from terrible sound quality and only a partial presentation.
Only a suite from Horner's obscure
The Hand distinguishes the
bootleg, but that music is of such poor quality to begin with that the
distant, muddy sound quality isn't a tremendous loss. In 2019, La-La
Land Records expanded the presentation once again with even better sound
quality. The additional music on this album is minimal in quantity (only
about four minutes) but does include an extension of the score's sinewy,
descending suspense theme for the military in "The Phone Call and Top
Brass," a hint of
Aliens to be heard in the middle of that cue.
Neither limited product will be for every collector, but the score is
nevertheless an interesting enough ethnic endeavor to warrant attention
from dedicated Horner enthusiasts.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Music as Written for the Film: ***
- Music as Heard on 1997 Bootleg: *
- Music as Heard on the 2001 and 2019 Albums: ***
- Overall: ***
| Bias Check: |
For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.15
(in 108 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.23
(in 203,344 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
