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Review of The Sword and the Sorcerer (David Whitaker)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you're an enthusiast of the style of Erich Wolfgang
Korngold's Golden Age swashbuckler music, which should be a surprising
recommendation given the genre of this film.
Avoid it... if you expect this score to exhibit many of the same superior qualities as its sword and sorcery genre contemporaries of the early 1980's.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Sword and the Sorcerer: (David Whitaker) When
the age of sword and sorcery briefly dominated Hollywood in the early
1980's, studios saturated the market with similar films involving the
ancient world, heroes with swords, sexy princesses, and villains with
snakes. Many of these projects were adequately funded by the studios,
but the results, with the obvious exception of Conan the
Barbarian, often looked second rate. Entries like Krull,
Excalibur, Beastmaster, and The Sword and the
Sorcerer all failed to achieve the same classic status, and of these
movies, The Sword and the Sorcerer, despite earning a fair profit
at the box office and gaining a moderate cult following in subsequent
decades, is often the most ridiculed of the lot. The crew and cast of
the film consisted of names that would never amount to anything in the
industry, though most of the blame for the lack of audience enthusiasm
for The Sword and the Sorcerer was assigned to the lack of a
major star in the lead and an abysmal, rushed plot that features
horrendously paced action sequences. One of the relatively unknown names
attached to the film is David Whitaker, whose career was littered with
B-level science-fiction and action scores. This is the score that
highlighted his career and that for which he will most likely be
remembered; it existed on many soundtrack collectors' "top ten most
wanted on CD" lists for many years. At the time Whitaker scored The
Sword and the Sorcerer, this particular genre of sci-fi/fantasy
music was at its peak as well. Between 1981 and 1983, a variety of
outstanding scores often blessed these films with massive (and sometimes
overblown) orchestral action music. Whitaker's score takes listeners
back on a nostalgic journey to the majestic and curiously appealing time
in Hollywood when most of these schlocky films were undeserving of the
music written for them. Even more than his contemporaries, Whitaker
wrote a score that absolutely must be separated from the trash that it
accompanied on screen, though, for some listeners, even that won't be
enough. His work is relatively unique in that it bucked the trends of
the genre's music and instead recreated the swashbuckling sound of
industry legend Erich Wolfgang Korngold. So uncanny are the resemblances
to Korngold's techniques that The Sword and the Sorcerer can, at
times, sound bizarre to a learned film music collector.
For the most part, it's this rather innocently retro-noble, Golden Age style that defines the score for The Sword and the Sorcerer. Whitaker emphasizes the playful and jubilant aspects of the story while downplaying the interludes of dark, brooding, and mysterious material. The majority of fully orchestral sequences, which make up a healthy portion of Whitaker's score, are fully equipped with the usual string and brass domination, a driving percussive force, and an occasional xylophone. Melodic variations on woodwinds are utilized for the softer and source-related cues. Among the brightly optimistic thematic expressions, there are few moments of mundane filler passages, with some non-thematic instrumental development at work in most cues. Not all of it is harmonious, however, which will cause some problems for listeners looking for an easy sci-fi thrill; with a plot that contains as much gore and blood as this (another common complaint about the picture), perhaps this less than tonal approach akin to Alex North's output of the era was necessary. The lack of respite extends to "Alana's Theme" and its consistently rousing love interest variations throughout the latter half of the score. The performing ensemble, the Graunke Symphony Orchestra, is that which also yielded the remarkable recording of John Scott's King Kong Lives not long after, though the balance of the group here is not always handled well and there are occasional, obvious flubs. The mix of the flutes in particular seems unsynchronized with the rest of the ensemble. On the other hand, for concept enthusiasts, these very "personality" traits of the score lend the music very well to the often flawed characteristics of the film. In the end, you can't elevate The Sword and the Sorcerer to the level of Conan the Barbarian or many of the other guilty pleasures in the genre. The dependency on old Korngold techniques and a muffled sound quality are both major detriments. The LP release of the score, oddly, offered better clarity than a limited, promotional 1999 CD from Super Tracks, though that CD did extend the running time of the score by a considerable margin. Due to track mislabeling on that CD, however, don't expect the cues to match up with what you see and hear in the film. The same contents were remastered and pressed to another limited CD by BSX Records in 2012, not long after Whitaker's death. As a listening experience in the film and on any album, The Sword and the Sorcerer serves its purpose, but the majority of film score collectors would likely be more satisfied with this work's superior peers from James Horner and Basil Poledouris. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
1999 Super Tracks Album:
Total Time: 69:33
* music previously unreleased on LP 2012 BSX Records Album: Total Time: 69:20
NOTES & QUOTES:
The inserts of both albums contain notes from Randall Larson about
the composer.
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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 The Sword and the Sorcerer are Copyright © 1999, 2012, Super Tracks Music Group, BSX Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 2/23/99 and last updated 11/11/12. |
