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Review of Sphere (Elliot Goldenthal)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you would be interested in a compilation of Elliot
Goldenthal's unconventional techniques from previous action and horror
scores of the 1990's.
Avoid it... if you expect to hear anything radically new from Goldenthal for this throwaway film, or if you expect a well-rounded album presentation of the music he wrote for the occasion.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Sphere: (Elliot Goldenthal) Oh, the distinct smell
of rotting failure. Some people claim that there are films so wretched
that they actually omit a foul odor in the theatre, perhaps evidence
that your body can help you identify bad movies in strange, alien ways.
For a film to give you that sense of total disappointment, though, you
have to go in with high expectations and the promise of delivery. In the
case of Sphere, you could not have concocted a more favorable set
of circumstances. Scripts based on Michael Crichton novels were at the
height of their success, director Barry Levinson and Dustin Hoffman had
just stirred up Oscar nominations for Wag the Dog, and supporting
actors Sharon Stone and Samuel L. Jackson, among others, are a joy to
watch perform. The story is one of intellectual intrigue as well (an
alien spacecraft is discovered at the bottom of the ocean, and the
government's attempt to make first contact with its remains --a glowing
sphere-- are met with disastrous psychological results), offering the
possibility of a scenario where The Abyss meets Event
Horizon in a truly intelligent and horrifying fashion. Composer
Elliot Goldenthal was causing sensations with his non-traditional
orchestral scores at the time, always a fascinating study even if
harmonically unlistenable. And yet, Sphere was annihilated by
critics and ignored by audiences who chose to continue watching the
underwater sequences in Titanic rather than the ones here.
Everything was seemingly a failure. The script was predictable and
hacked to death. The special effects and sets were inferior. The actors
obviously struggled with the material. And the score was a rehash from
previous Goldenthal efforts. Levinson made a admirable habit of changing
composers for each of his projects, and his match of Goldenthal with
Sphere was a smart choice. After providing challenging sounds for
Alien 3 and Demolition Man, and adapting those techniques
for mainstream action in the Batman franchise, Goldenthal was a
perfect choice for the kind of intellectual exploration that Crichton's
story promised. What he delivered for Sphere, however, was
uncharacteristically stale. Everything down to his synthetic
bubble-popping sounds seems too... predictable.
You sometimes have to wonder if a composer knows a film is going to be a flop, and he therefore recycles his previous material simply to satisfy the requirements of his contract and move on to greener pastures. Goldenthal had established some extremely unique techniques over the previous half dozen years, and he puts them on display without fail in Sphere. If there's a moment of shrieking horns, dissonant string layers, solo harmony over atonal shades of electronics, or adagios and crescendos of these elements put together in a previous effort, you can be sure that you'll hear it in Sphere as well. As such, the score is as fascinating on a technical level as nearly all of his other scores, but if you expect some wild creativity spawned from these ideas, as heard in Titus, then you'll be disappointed. The sudden bursts of dissonant ensemble chords, highlighted in Demolition Man, are featured at the outset of multiple cues. In the selections on the commercial album, Goldenthal's action material from "Water Snake" to the end is surprisingly similar in its staggered rhythms and non-traditional motifs to previous, equally awkward action. The most notable aspect of Sphere is, ironically, the more harmonic side to its earlier cues. From the strikingly poignant solo trumpet introduction of theme in "Pandora's Fanfare" (over the usual dissonant rumblings) to the string arpeggio-driven extension of that idea in "Main Titles" and "The Gift," there's a touch of solace in this thematic material (especially in the trumpet in "The Gift") that reminds of Danny Elfman's more somber tunes at the outset of his career. The piano theme in "Andante" will remind some of Pet Sematary. Goldenthal even acknowledges the influence of Alien 3 on this score with his final two track titles on the album. That album was somewhat of a curiosity because the score was recorded both in New York and Los Angeles. Due to the structures of re-use fees at the time, Goldenthal and Varèse Sarabande were forced to choose the music from only one of the sessions to include on album. The New York half was chosen for its highlights. As a result, some worthwhile music was left off the release, likely including the impressive cue heard in the background during a CNN television story that featured Goldenthal's recording of Sphere in January of 1998. Overall, Sphere is as intelligent as Goldenthal's music usually was in that era, but you've heard it before and the album is badly incomplete. **
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 35:38
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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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 Sphere are Copyright © 1998, Varèse Sarabande and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 3/4/98 and last updated 7/22/07. |
