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Review of Toy Soldiers (Robert Folk)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you're prepared for a surprisingly entertaining and
upbeat action score seemingly inspired by the thematic and stylistic
tendencies of Jerry Goldsmith.
Avoid it... if you tend to exhibit little patience for scores that overplay their emotional appeals, Robert Folk pushing the score's two major themes to levels of importance not supported by the film's quality.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Toy Soldiers: (Robert Folk) Badly beaten by critics
at the time of its release, 1991's Toy Soldiers is the tale of a
Virginia prep school taken over by Colombian terrorists. Those
terrorists are targeting the son of a judge overseeing the case of their
leader in America, but they can't take the school before the judge's son
is pulled by authorities. But the siege happens anyway, and the rest is
predictable. The angry, machine gun-laden men still want their leader
released from American custody, so they plant explosives around the
school and threaten to blow up the sons of famous and wealthy citizens.
But, as to be expected, those sons are deviant brats, and they are
eventually more effective at foiling the terrorists than the horde of
American military outside the school. Debuting director Daniel Petrie
Jr. gives audiences nothing that they don't expect to see, and in the
end, only Robert Folk's militaristic score stands out as a refreshing
element. Even with that said, though, some critics commented that Folk's
large-scale orchestral score did more to expose the film's ridiculous
nature than provide a convincing musical backdrop for the suspense.
Regardless, among the tragedies in the bronze and early digital age of
film scoring was the career of composer Robert Folk, whose work
qualified him for assignments far better than those he has received.
Composing and conducting dozens of film scores since the early 1980's,
Folk's career began to be noticed by film score collectors in the early
1990's, when several of his better-known scores began appearing on the
Intrada Records label. In the public eye, his longest-standing
affiliation in film scoring was with Police Academy and its
numerous sequels and spin-offs. His output continued past 2000 with more
B-rate comedy and action films, including Kung Pow: Enter the
Fist and its sequel. His other works, though, were less glamorous
and confined by the small screens of television or video projects.
Meanwhile, Folk continued his writing for concert works, conducting
several of the most famous ensembles in the world.
In Folk's sparse, somewhat frustrating collection of film score assignments, there is little argument that Toy Soldiers ranks among his best. The composer's usual high-brow sound is exactly how Folk and Petrie Jr. conceived the score: from a "large, rich, classically motivated orchestral approach." There had been discussions amongst the filmmakers about requesting that John Williams write this score, and he did express interest in the script despite his schedule not allowing the work. If Folk's Toy Soldiers does suffer a weakness, it is the hopelessly upbeat nature of much of his writing when emulating that Williams sound, possibly stemming also from the endless assignments on silly comedies that he received at the time; this perpetually positive aura extends through even the style of the action and suspense cues in this score. In the film, the score is almost too over-the-top in its dramatic reach, seemingly taking symbolic and thematic cues from Jerry Goldsmith's The 'Burbs and elevating them to space opera heights. Indeed, Folk's music here, outside of the perfectly preppy main theme for the school, could accompany a science fiction picture of epic proportions, and at times the music overwhelms the quality of the film. But apart from the flawed picture, the Dublin Symphony Orchestra's performances remain an engrossing listening experience, their force of will unsullied by many electronic sweeteners and the trumpets a particular attraction. Folk employs synthetic elements in "Narrow Escape" that mirror Goldsmith's use, though the rest of the instrumentation in Toy Soldiers is held strictly to symphonic traditions. The aforementioned main theme is slightly trite in its handling of the setting, but its trumpet solos genuinely mirror the appropriate environment and move at a pace brisk enough to keep us listening. The idea is extremely malleable, bridging the dramatic sensibilities of James Horner and Alan Silvestri of the 1980's when presented at its fullest, a secondary bridge sequence flowing with a downright lovely and romantic tone and a hint of nobility. This theme, bookending the score in its major performances, does figure throughout the work in various guises, from deviousness to suspense. For the Colombian terrorists in Toy Soldiers, Folk doesn't attempt a blatantly Latin influence, instead supplying them a series of additional motifs that extend directly from some of Goldsmith's best, propulsive action material, often with layered brass and relentless percussion that is largely indistinguishable from the more famous composer's extroverted action methods. This villain material consolidates into an ascending march-like theme of menace that comes to dominate the score once the school is taken. The final action sequences take this theme to maximum volume and a nearly constant presence, its demeanor and structures never much wavering in their representation of two-dimensional characters. The incorporation of the school's theme into subtle battle with the militaristic identity offers a strong balance between major and minor, Folk constantly shifting key and maintaining forward rhythmic movement to retain momentum. The pacing of his music for the boys' counter-insurgency is commendable. The recording quality is very strong, exceeding many of its peers in 1991, though one significant flaw exists; the overmixing of the snare drum during action sequences is flat and distracting at times. Aside from that one issue, the spread between strings and brass is particularly excellent. On album, most of Toy Soldiers was released commercially by Intrada Records in 1992, but the product fell out of print and remained difficult to find for over years. That album did suffer from a total resequencing of the cues that left the experience narratively useless, however. Some collectors instead sought a 13-minute suite from Toy Soldiers on one of the composer's equally-sought promotional albums. In 2021, Intrada revisited Toy Soldiers for a remastering and chronological ordering of the cues, providing a definitive presentation of the score. This limited product adds only a minimal amount of missing material, but that six minutes includes a teaser of the main theme at the very start of the score and a noteworthy alternate end credits sequence (albeit with an unfortunate brass flub). Hearing the full score in the proper sequencing is a treat, and the renewed availability for this overachieving orchestral action romp is highly welcome. The style of the work may seem overblown at times, but it makes for a very engaging listening experience. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
1992 Intrada Album:
Total Time: 66:09
2021 Intrada Album: Total Time: 72:15
* previously unreleased ** not in the film *** includes music not in film
NOTES & QUOTES:
The inserts of both albums provide notes, including reflections by
the composer and producer, about the score and film.
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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 Toy Soldiers are Copyright © 1992, 2021, Intrada Records, Intrada Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 4/19/97 and last updated 2/23/22. |
