Superman II: (Ken Thorne) Almost three-quarters of
the 1980 sequel
Superman II had already been filmed by the time
the original
Superman was released, the intent of the production
to shoot both films at the same time. With the 1978 movie running behind
schedule, though, work on
Superman II was delayed, and during the
interim, director Richard Donner was fired. The producers turned to a
more loyal and quickly workmanlike Richard Lester to replace him, and
Lester ultimately re-shot much of the picture despite keeping much the
same. (As such, Donner's name could be removed from the sequel.) Decades
later, a director's cut of Donner's material debuted and revealed that,
aside from a few cut or rearranged scenes and the omission of Marlon
Brando, much of Donner's film had remained intact. Audiences and critics
have adored
Superman II regardless of the director, the follow-up
to the 1978 classic a perfectly campy, direct extension of the prior
film's narrative. The three villains of Krypton shown at the start of
Superman are accidentally freed at the beginning of
Superman
II and bring their superpowers to Earth, where they proceed to take
over the planet. Terence Stamp in the role of General Zod is a
particular delight, marginalizing Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, who still
manages to negotiate becoming ruler of Australia in return for
delivering the son of Jor-El to Zod. The film is comic book fun at its
best, blending peril, personal discovery, and some genuinely funny lines
for actors that chew up the scenery. The immense success of
Superman
II set in motion multiple additional sequels, though many crew
members loyal to Donner didn't continue in the franchise. Among the
complications for the producers was the music for
Superman II.
Composer John Williams had agreed to return for the project, squeezing
it in amongst a host of other high-profile assignments. He bowed out,
however, and his reasons depend on who you believe. Williams has always
stated that his busy schedule ultimately did not allow him to work on
Superman II. The producer of the film recounts, however, that the
composer had an initial meeting with the replacement director, Lester,
and that Williams exited the meeting to politely declare that he could
not work with the man. And with that, Williams perceived his time with
the franchise to be done.
Lester turned to his trusty music collaborator, Ken
Thorne, to replace Williams. Thorne had extensive experience adapting
and rearranging music for orchestral recordings in the 1970's, and he
was an experienced television series composer as well. He was hired
specifically to take Williams' score sheets from the original work,
including cues that were never used or recorded, and adapt them to suit
Superman II. There was so much material written for the first
score that the filmmakers were certain that they could utilize it in
rearranged fashion for a direct continuation of that movie's story.
Despite skepticism from Williams enthusiasts, Thorne largely succeeds in
providing a work that sounds as close to a Williams score as anyone
could have expected. Most of the music in
Superman II is directly
adapted from the prior score, including nearly everything representing
Superman's heroics and the relationship between Clark Kent and Lois
Lane. Some moderate adaptation of the Lex Luthor and Krypton material
was needed. The biggest challenge for Thorne was the handling of General
Zod and his duo of sidekicks, as their role in the first film was
relatively short and didn't allow Williams to develop much of a distinct
identity for them. There was enough there, however, for Thorne to pick
up on and expand into new villains' identities in
Superman II,
and this is where the score offers its most original ideas. There are a
few ways to look at the resulting adaptation overall; on one hand,
Thorne's score does little to push the narrative forward and fails to
add any really distinctive new themes. On the other hand, the
application of existing ideas and expansion of Williams' nascent
material for the villains is really well handled by Thorne, who
especially excels at writing bridge material to connect existing cues
from
Superman into new, longer use. Thorne even painstakingly
recreates the orchestration and minor flourishes in Williams' music so
that no moment stands apart as awkwardly disconnected. The score for
Superman II sounds very faithful to the vocabulary and
personality of its predecessor, and the spotting choices for the
adaptations in the narrative are generally logical. All accounts of the
arranging and recording process indicate that Lester and Thorne worked
smoothly together, and the result of their efforts is a surprisingly
engaging and effective extension of a Williams classic.
Most of Williams' theme sets from
Superman return
in the sequel, with the exception of the full Kent family material
relating to the farm, which doesn't factor into this story. In the
returning themes, listeners will note a few general differences in the
performances. First, tempos were often changed by Thorne so that a
specific cue from the prior movie would fit the needs of newly shot
scenes. Second, the ensemble size for
Superman II is much
smaller, Thorne utilizing only around 50 players in England due to a constricted budget. His orchestrations,
though, combine with a commendable mix to produce a sound that isn't too
flimsy in context even if film music collectors can discern the
difference. Those seeking interesting new renditions of the existing
themes will be especially pleased with Thorne's loyalty to developing
Clark's own theme and his love theme involving Lois. Whereas the fanfare
and its underlying rhythm are applied in fairly expected ways, the love
theme in particular is required to stretch its wings due to the story of
the sequel. For the average movie-goer, though, the main fanfare still
reigns, and Thorne's use of it is significant. Rearranged in "Main Title
March," brief fanfare bits in "Superman to Paris" and "Gelignite Bangs"
preview his heroics in his phone booth routine and flight to Paris,
reaching standard hero mode in "Lift Into Space - Releasing the
Villains" before turning suspenseful. A humorous hint in "Looks
Familiar" leads to a reprise of the prior helicopter scene music for
"Superman Saves Boy" heroics. The rhythm alone is teased well in
"Suspecting Lois Takes the Plunge," and pieces are sprinkled into the
largely original "Clark Fumbles Rescue." Allusions to the fanfare in
"Sweet Dreams" are softly suspenseful, returning to full, superhero form
in "Aerial Battle," with some dissonant string figures added. The first
film's action material is pieced together to make "Superman Saves
Spire," "Superman Saves Petrol Tanker," and "Superman Fights Zod," the
fullest exuberance saved for "Superman Triumphs Over Villains." Reduced
to solo woodwind lines in "Sad Return," the fanfare then closes the film
with gusto in "Superman Replaces Stars and Stripes" and segues into the
formal march in "End Title March." The Krypton theme, meanwhile, opens
"Preface" like the previous film, with an impressive, unused Williams
arrangement, and it is reprised later in the cue. It's shifted to somber
woodwinds and brass in the impressive "Clark to Fortress," and choral
shades become dramatic in a crescendo in "Return of the Green
Crystal."
Williams' love theme and identity for Clark himself are
well-exercised in
Superman II, often mingling in ways Williams
explored in the penthouse scenes in the first film. The love theme is
inserted into a different place in the march during the opening credits
as needed by the montage employed. It is afforded cute renditions in
"Orange Juice," nicely tender variations with light humor in "Sleeping
Arrangements," and finally emerges fully as the previous penthouse cues
are shuffled into "Clark Exposed as Superman." The first movie's flying
music is reprised in "Lovers Fly North," and the idea mingles well with
Clark's original journey to Earth music in "Flight for Flowers." It's
flowery but subtle in "Lovers at Dinner Table" and continues in "To
Bed," and a brief snippet closes out "Superman Triumphs Over Villains."
The love theme reprises earlier whimsy in "Sad Return," is deconstructed
appropriately in "Lois Forgets," and serves its proper role in the
closing march. Clark's own theme is also expanded well by Thorne, an
airy rendition in "Relaxing at Niagara" for winds and strings followed
by a reprise in the middle of "Clark Exposed as Superman." It turns
tragic and dramatic in "Superman Flies Off," is stoic in "Sad Return,"
returns to its chipper mode in "Happy Lois Back to Normal," and is
humorously reprised in "Superman Replaces Stars and Stripes." A little
less obvious but applied appropriately is Williams' Lex Luthor theme,
with new playful arrangements in "Prison Intro" and "My Little Black
Box." Previously existing plucky versions are pieced together for "Lex
Escapes," and the idea becomes perky and adventurous during the
snowmobile scene in "Lex and Miss Teschmacher to Fortress," a tone that
is reprised in "Lex Plans Partnership." The theme is outright devious in
"Bored Zod," the only Thorne cue partially dialed out in the film. The
only other returning motif is Williams' subtle nod to the crystals of
Krypton, especially the vital green one in this story. Thorne really
expanded its purpose to represent the superpowers of everyone from
Krypton, mainly the villains. He returns it against turbulence for the
villains in "Villains in Zone" but furthers it briefly in "Sheriff and
Duane Meet Villains" and continues its use with sinister intent in
"Daddy's Rise and Fall." The crystal theme interjects on flute in the
middle of "President Kneels Before Zod," calls to Clark at the outset of
"TV President Resigns," mixes with Luthor's theme in "Bored Zod," builds
to a terrifying frenzy in "Non Wrecks Office" and "Superman Fights Zod"
for the villains' revenge, and completes its dark performances in
"Villains Take Lex and Lois to Fortress."
Most of Thorne's impact on the new music in
Superman
II is necessitated by the outsized presence of the villains. He
conjures a villain's motif of several elements inspired by lines of
action from Williams' early cues in the first score. A general
percussive rhythm flows under two motifs on top, one an ascending figure
starting with lengthy repetition of the first note and the other a
shorter descending phrase of more direct, evil intent. These ideas are
introduced in "Villains in Zone" and are expanded upon in "Ursa Flies
Over Moon," exploding in "Spacecraft Wrecked." They are shortened to
shrill stingers in "Villains Land by Lake," return in the middle of
"Sheriff and Duane Meet Villains," and burst at the end of "East Houston
Battle." The initial percussive rhythms return in "Zod Meets General"
and "Non Wrecks Office," while the melodic motif opens "President Kneels
Before Zod" with brass muscle. It achieves battle formation with its
ascending figures in "Zod Throws Slab" and declares victory at the end
of "Superman Flies Off," reprised with force in "School Games." General
Zod himself is supplied a quasi-motif of ominous low brass tones near
the end of "Ursa Flies Over Moon," this idea offering mystery and a
little dread to "Moon to Earth" and simmering in "Daddy's Rise and
Fall." There are only a few notable cues that do not employ one of the
above motifs, including "Mother's Advice," which references the choral
Krypton material well, and "Superman Pulls Big Switch," an eerie, harp
and wind expression for mystery. These passages supply good depth to a
score that already features impressive interpolations of Williams'
themes. Listeners have to admire Thorne's adaptation work for
Superman II, as it remains about as faithful and enjoyable an
extension of that sound as possible. The composer also supplied half a
dozen pop-inspired source tracks that were included on later albums as
well. Those products began with a Japanese Warner Brothers CD pressing
of the original 38-minute LP album, but due treatment of the score
waited until 2008, when Film Score Monthly offered the first four
Superman scores in complete form on a popular, limited set that
included about 80 minutes from
Superman II (minus the source
tracks on a separate CD in that product). In 2018, La-La Land Records
released the same presentation from
Superman II and
Superman
III on its own product, again with the source tracks included.
Either of these later offerings provide Thorne's impressive work in
better-than-expected sound quality. Nobody knows what Williams would
have written for these sequels had he been involved, but Thorne's
adaptation of the original score in
Superman II exceeds
expectations and supplies the best possible alternative.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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The 1990 Warner Brothers album contains no additional
information about the film or score. The 2008 Film Score Monthly album
contains arguably the most extensive information about the scores of a
movie franchise ever to exist in an album, with a 160-page hardcover
booklet that covers an extraordinary range of detail about the film,
scores, and album presentation. The 2018 La-La Land album's packaging
includes the label's standard level of analysis of the film and
score.
