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Review of Terminator Salvation (Danny Elfman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you appreciated Danny Elfman's low, dense score for
Planet of the Apes and seek a more thematically obvious version
of a similar ambient tone.
Avoid it... if you expect to hear any meaningful continuity in the form of Brad Fiedel's famous themes or, for that matter, a satisfying industrial edge for the relentless machines.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Terminator Salvation: (Danny Elfman) There are
several tell-tale signs that a Hollywood franchise has lost control.
First and foremost, lawsuits between producers and rights owners are the
most obvious red flag. Then, you have scripts that complicate the
original concept too far beyond its core fundamentals to maintain focus.
Continuity in actors portraying a character over time is usually broken.
The new lead actor has a highly publicized temper tantrum on set. The
concept is passed between the big and small screen without much sensible
coordination in the overarching storyline. A director without a complete
name takes the helm. And, not the least of the problems, the music in
the aimlessly wandering franchise loses touch with its original themes
and reinvents itself with each venture. Unfortunately, all of these
circumstances afflict Terminator Salvation, the fourth film to
follow James Cameron's 1984 cult classic and the first of three
Terminator films set after the start of mankind's battle with the
machines. As any fan of "Star Trek: Voyager" can declare, temporal
paradoxes make for endlessly intriguing plotlines. But there reaches a
point where the use of shifting technologies and time travel so distorts
a concept's viability that it simply devolves into nonsense. The 1984
film was essentially a man versus machine tale. Cameron's technological
breakthroughs in the 1991 sequel changed the equation to pit machine
versus machine. The 2003 version muddied the waters in mankind's waning
days, and in 2009 the franchise finishes the transition from "cult
classic" to "absurd blockbuster" with all the glory of CGI. That said,
you have to forgive studios and their producers for being predictable,
and in the case of Terminator Salvation, there was always an
intent to give nods to the franchise's roots by involving either Arnold
Schwarzenegger or Linda Hamilton in CGI'ed or voiceover form. The same
conscious consideration was reportedly given to the music for the
film.
The director enthusiastically chose veteran composer Danny Elfman for the assignment, stating that he wanted to give appropriate thought to the incorporation of the franchise's previous musical identities when proceeding with the sound of Terminator Salvation. Dominating this process was the incorporation of previously utilized songs. Despite this fact, the music of the Terminator franchise has never been hugely popular. Brad Fiedel's synthetic music was remarkably effective for the first film in its reflection of the stark simplicity of the battle on screen. He managed to find the appropriate balance between grinding industrial atmosphere and harmonic resonance for the 1984 story. His follow-up in 1991 utilized the same five-note rhythmic motif and sound effects for the machines while giving token nods to his title theme from the previous film. Marco Beltrami's score for the 2003 entry attempted to infuse an organic sense of humanity into the mix by employing an orchestra on top of the expected industrial tones. His derivative, unremarkable theme was followed by yet another token (and this time limp) performance of Fiedel's theme. As with the Hellboy franchise, Elfman follows Beltrami, and, once again, Elfman completely disregards Beltrami's material. Perhaps more surprising is the decision to eliminate Fiedel's two main musical identities for the franchise, despite the use of the strikingly memorable five-note theme for the machines heard at the conclusion of the film's final theatrical trailer. The director asked Elfman to incorporate some of Fiedel's stylistic techniques, however, and the pitch-declining effect of horror from the first film is indeed used extensively in Terminator Salvation. Elfman claimed earlier in the year that he would employ the title theme if possible, though he cautioned, "I never really know what to expect when I begin other than just kind of get into it and have fun." Ultimately, this meant starting mostly from scratch, employing neither the compelling title theme or the five-note rhythmic effect as the foundation for this music. Alone, this elimination of Fiedel's major ideas is bothersome for the same reason that the latter Harry Potter scores have disconnected with John Williams' original identities. But the most problematic aspect of Elfman's writing for Terminator Salvation exists in the fact that he replaces Fiedel's identities with fresh ones that are essentially attempting to convey the same message or solicit the same audience response. Reinventing the wheel, so to speak, in a franchise with as much history as this is acceptable if you are attempting to completely reboot the concept. But a reboot was, by all reports, not the purpose here. Given the director's wishes to create as much continuity as possible in the narrative and visuals, it's surprising to hear a score that has very little in common with the rest of the franchise. Elfman's music is primarily orchestral, but in the brutal fashion that existed in the composer's Planet of the Apes. He was obviously well aware of the necessary balance between organic representations of a rebelling humanity and the relentless rhythmic tones of the machines. The score is largely a monothematic effort, and like Michael Giacchino's emergence in the Star Trek franchise, some listeners will be bothered by Elfman's over-reliance on this one idea. That said, it is a simple enough construct to be both heroic and sensitive, redemptive and defiant. Fragments of the theme, and the first three notes primarily, are almost omnipresent. Robust brass statements of this idea extend from the "Opening" all the way to "Salvation," existing in nearly every cue. Its translation into a theme of romance, hope, and contemplation is handled by solo acoustic guitar, though not with the same ethnic flair that Hans Zimmer's scores afford the instrument in similar roles of recent times. Both the brass and guitar performances of the theme fail to break beyond the bonds of mainstream expectations, however, and because the predictability factor in Terminator Salvation is high, even more listeners may be left disappointed. On the other hand, the theme is quite satisfying in this simplistic role, despite the curious side of some of its applications. A cue like "Broadcast" (an album highlight featuring accelerating string performances and progressions slightly reminiscent of Black Beauty) embodies the element of eternal hope for survival that Sarah Connor always yearned to instill. The machines in this score lack a true musical identity, with nothing as memorable as Fiedel's rhythms. In fact, the entire industrial side of Terminator Salvation is short changed, with very little effective employment of the clanging, metallic personality that once gave the iconic terminators such frightening musical life. The horror music therefore loses some grip, though that arguably makes the album an easier listening experience. This is where the abandonment of Fiedel's material figures into the equation. Elfman's title theme attempts to accomplish all the same ends as the previously existing identity for the franchise. The machines' music leaves no significant impression. The ambience is appropriate in a basic sense, but there is never a point when Elfman's music "kicks ass." From an intellectual standpoint, the lack of a motif (or even a rhythmic tool) for the machines makes it impossible for Elfman's music to address the identity crisis of a terminator in the script who thinks that he is actually human. Such nuances aren't really necessary in a film of this franchise, but Elfman is certainly capable of them. Ultimately, his score is fine. In fact, for a film of such predictable blockbuster limitations of intellect, the music often overachieves. The album release offers roughly 45 minutes of score material (followed by the obligatory Alice in Chains song of no relation) that will play consistently and without wild interruptions. If this were the first film of this franchise, the score would suffice. But with the totally inexplicable dismissal of Fiedel's two major motifs from the first two films, a bad omen when considering another two sequels already in the process of being planned and produced, Elfman's foray into the Terminator universe has yielded an awkwardly orphaned and unnecessarily pedestrian piece of music. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 50:27
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a note from the director about the film and,
to a lesser extent, the score.
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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 Terminator Salvation are Copyright © 2009, Reprise Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 5/16/09 (and not updated significantly since). |
