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| Holdridge |
The Tuskegee Airmen: (Lee Holdridge) Back in 1995,
the viewers of the cable-only HBO channel were only a small fraction of
what they are today, and among the budding channel's earlier in-house
productions was
The Tuskegee Airmen. Based on the true story of
the American 332nd Fighter Group in WWII,
The Tuskegee Airmen
details the training and triumphs of the first black aviators in the
U.S. military. As an exhibition of the bravery and sacrifice of black
airmen, this film treats its subject matter as
Glory did for the
Civil War era, staying true to the facts of history where possible. For
viewers,
The Tuskegee Airmen is most likely remembered for its
remarkable acting performances across the board, as well as its fine
photography of the vintage planes in action. The film's downside was its
lower budget production values, including a limiting 16x9 shoot meant
only for television viewing, a 2.0 Dolby sound quality that remains
restrictive on 5.1 systems, and the necessary usage of grainy cockpit
and combat footage from WWII during battle scenes. Usually, the lower
budgets and shoddy sound quality of the projects for which he writes
music is a significant detraction from composer Lee Holdridge's works.
Despite always maintaining a classically rich and melodic structure, the
performances and recordings of his work during the 1980's and 1990's
have been frustrating in many cases, causing many potentially powerful
listening experiences to be merely average scores to be appreciated for
their ideas rather than their execution. One of the exceptions in
Holdridge's 1990's production was
The Tuskegee Airmen, which
still suffered from the restrictions of a straight-to-television
production, but HBO was apparently a step above Hallmark and Holdridge's
other usual employers even back in the channel's early days. For all of
those collectors who have sifted through Holdridge's work, waiting to
lay down the money until one of superb sound quality came along,
The
Tuskegee Airmen is your answer.
The underlying base doesn't differ from many of
Holdridge's scores. Nearly constant harmony and easy progressions set
the stage. But where
The Tuskegee Airmen excels is in its
inherent enthusiasm, crisp performances, and, most importantly, crystal
clear sound quality. It was arguably Holdridge's most brassy score at
the time, a preview for some of the even more robust portions of his
popular
The Mists of Avalon score a decade later. Ranging from
the harsh tones of multiple layers of brass for the action sections to
an elegant trumpet solo in the "Finale" cue, you have to be a brass fan
to enjoy
The Tuskegee Airmen. Its layers, whether performing
counterpoint for the overlying string theme or simply providing a
complex backdrop for a battle, are truly amazing. When combined with the
lofty string section, this broad brass causes
The Tuskegee Airmen
to remind of John Barry's earlier orchestral writing. The strings also
benefit greatly from their recording, with a lush and wet sound pulling
some of the romance from
Old Gringo's end titles. In several
triumphant flying cues, usually accentuated by Holdridge's title theme,
the strings soar with a touch of Jerry Goldsmith of
Forever Young
and his other flying scores. Among the highlights of the score are
"First Solo" and "The First Lady Takes a Plane Ride," both of which mark
each chord with a strong brass stroke, a crash of the cymbals, and even
a gong. The exuberance of these cues, along with the historical
significance they convey through their slower rhythms, provide for an
extremely satisfying listening experience. There is a slight downside to
The Tuskegee Airmen, however, and that is the relentless brass
mix in the plentiful action cues in its latter half. Sometimes
disjointed for the purpose of suspense, the same harsh brass that
balances the strings can wear on the nerves when front and center with a
snare in these action cues. That said, however, this film remains
possibly one of the best uses of a Holdridge score in the picture
itself, with its clear sound quality mixed at the forefront of several
major scenes. Only released as a promotional product by the composer,
the 1995 CD is a rare find, but if you've been enticed by some of
Holdridge's most popular commercial soundtrack CDs,
The Tuskegee
Airmen is a safe and highly recommended next step.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Lee Holdridge reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.77
(in 14 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.34
(in 7,592 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
