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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Project X (James Horner)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you are a devoted enthusiast of James Horner's career
and seek his works that sustain interest via their ethnic atmosphere
despite translating into underwhelming album experiences.
Avoid it... if you expect the music to present extended sequences of fluid thematic statements or orchestration that hasn't existed in several other related Horner scores from the same period.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Project X: (James Horner) The 1987 socio-political
film Project X 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 Project X, 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. Project X 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 Project
X 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 Project X, 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 Project
X 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.
TRACK LISTINGS:
1997 Bootleg Album:
Total Time: 54:58
2001 Varèse Album: Total Time: 74:58
2019 La-La Land Album: Total Time: 79:29
* previously unreleased ** contains previously unreleased music
NOTES & QUOTES:
The 1997 bootleg album's insert includes no extra information about the
score or film. The inserts of the 2001 Varèse and 2019 La-La Land albums
contain lengthy notes about both.
Copyright ©
1997-2024, 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 Project X are Copyright © 1997, 2001, 2019, Bootleg (Virgil 55.7991), Varèse Sarabande, La-La Land Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 10/18/97 and last updated 9/4/20. |
