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Review of U-571 (Richard Marvin)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you, like many fans of the war genre on film, have traditionally enjoyed all capably robust and thematic scores for submarine thrillers.

Avoid it... if you demand originality in your adventure scores, for Richard Marvin forces several previous scores by other composers (with one bordering on plagiarism) into this otherwise entertaining effort.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

U-571: (Richard Marvin) Despite the popularity of submarine films amongst the avid following of the war genre, there have been relatively few of them. The 2000 film U-571 by director Jonathan Mostow was based loosely on a true story, but credited Americans with the theft of the Enigma coding machine in WWII rather than the British, who were the real life heroes of the capture. Despite the liberties taken in the adaptation of the story, U-571 is still an effective thriller of a film. Abandoning the hard, glittery technical edges that made The Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide successful earlier in the decade, Mostow's intent was to create a throwback to films such as The Enemy Below and Run Silent, Run Deep, the golden age of underwater thrillers that inevitably involved a lengthy dual between a submarine and destroyer. Without fail, U-571 follows this equation, but its blatant American patriotism, extended mostly by its cast and its score, was questionable. Submarine films have also been famous through the years for their music, not only in the entries from the Golden Age and Digital Age, but also through the lesser-followed intermediary years of Das Boot and Ice Station Zebra. For U-571, Mostow would turn to the relatively unknown composer Richard Marvin for the score; Marvin had stepped in and contributed additional music to the second score for Mostow's previous film, Breakdown, after Basil Poledouris could not provide a satisfactory and complete replacement for his own rejected work. Marvin was a veteran of television films and other and small budget projects, and U-571 was an opportunity for mainstream, blockbuster exposure. While the film would earn quite well and establish a loyal following, Marvin's career did not receive a significant boost. This despite a very competent score that provided significant bravado to the film while obeying obvious, meddling suggestions from the director.

Many the themes in U-571 seem to exhibit that uneasy feeling that they've been adapted from another composer's usage in the adventure genre before. There is no doubt that Mostow put Marvin in a difficult position through the placement of high profile temp tracks in early edits of the film. While Marvin is quite good at adapting many of these requests from the director into the battle portions of his score, the title theme alone should raise questions of plagiarism. In his attempt to provide the blatant patriotism requested by the director, Marvin almost copies Jerry Goldsmith's theme for Air Force One during panoramic scenes. The resemblance is so similar that even a novice soundtrack collector or film reviewer can identify it, making U-571 a hard pill to swallow at times. The bold nature of this theme was out of place in the film compared to the remainder of the score, begging questions about whether or not U-571 could have benefited most substantially if Marvin had adapted an equally powerful, but lesser known theme (such as Michel Legrand's outstanding Ice Station Zebra fanfare). The abundance of snare rhythms in Marvin's work adds even more unnecessary gloss to the theme. Outside of this main theme, continued references to the works of Goldsmith, James Horner, and Alan Silvestri persist, though Marvin eventually hides them with more skill. A mutation of the title theme for the heartbreaking "S-33 Sinks" is particularly notable. Secondary themes are effective, with variations serving the "Finale and Dedication" cue with a touch of unique development. The mass of suspense and chase cues is somewhat anonymous, as are the conversational pieces, though Marvin's employment of consistent motif development keeps them interesting. The film opens with the score's only overt use of electronic ambience, with a dull, aquatic sound effect that might have aided action sequences later in the story if reprised.

A secondary end credits theme is perhaps indicative of the kind of more subdued, respectful material that Marvin would have provided if not strapped by the temp-track requests of the director. Marvin would interestingly make little attempt to provide the Germans with any kind of viable musical motif, leaving them to the droning in the bass region that often accompanies their suspenseful presence. Overall, Marvin's score is effectively exciting, and if you've never heard any of the scores that were temp-tracked into U-571 during post-production, then the score's weaker elements may not bother you. There is a power struggle between multiple themes in the film that doesn't go noticed until you analyze the score apart from other distractions. On its own, the score's flaws may not restrict you from being entertained by its bombast, and the technical aspects of the recording are handled well. An album release of U-571 was surprisingly neglected, however, bounced around for while and eventually abandoned by commercial labels. In part due to the score's high profile impact on the film and partly due to a consequent outcry of demands from film score fans, the soundtrack specialty label SuperTracks (responsible also for the much-requested Galaxy Quest album earlier in 2000) released the music as a promotional item a few months later. Demand for the album has remained high through the years, sufficing in turning attention towards the relatively unknown composer. Given the nature of its intent, though, Marvin rearranged the cues on the album to provide its strengths up front. Unfortunately, not all the best cues are actually placed at the outset, negating the purpose of the rearrangement and frustrating fans. The 62 minutes of material, while generous in its length, do leave several sections lacking in the mid-section of the product. In the end, though, despite its flaws in inspiration and adaptation, U-571 was still one of the biggest surprises of 2000.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 62:18

• 1. End Credits #1 (2:16) • 2. Sub Battle (5:46) • 3. Material Office (1:14) • 4. Chase (2:54) • 5. Finale and Dedication (4:41) • 6. Picking Up Survivors (2:41) • 7. S-33 Leaves Port (1:43) • 8. Big Leaks (1:46) • 9. Restarting the U-571 (1:07) • 10. Going to 200 Meters (1:05) • 11. Destroyer Battle (8:36) • 12. Enigma Photo/Swastika (2:09)

• 13. Pier Intro (0:55) • 14. Lock and Load (2:17) • 15. Taking the U-571 (1:44) • 16. Tyler Picks Trigger (1:15) • 17. U-571 Rises/Trigger Struggles (2:34) • 18. S-33 Sinks (2:22) • 19. Searching Below (2:14) • 20. Opening/U-571 Attacks (2:30) • 21. U-571 Surfaces (1:24) • 22. Tyler's Torpedo Plan (5:10) • 23. Quiet Theme (End Credits #2) (3:38)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes credits and a lengthy note from director Jonathan Mostow about working with Marvin.

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