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FILM MUSIC RECORDINGS REVIEWS |
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FILM MUSIC RECORDINGS REVIEWS |
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Bruce BROUGHTON Lost
in Space  OST EPIC/TVT
Soundtrax 491303 2 [68:01] |
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You might have noted that there are 68 minutes of material on this CD. However you have to skip over much rock and pop via a twangy rendering of the original TV Lost in Space theme written by John Williams (who was offered this cinematic assignment first but turned it down) and a reasonably bearable "Will & Penny's Theme", to arrive at the Bruce Broughton score. It lasts about 28 minutes which after all is only two or three minutes short of some of Varèse Sarabande's latest CD issues (but we will not get drawn into that argument save to say that we will be returning to it and putting VS's side of the case).
So leaving the other forty odd minutes to the younger members of the family or friends, let's look at Broughton's contribution. First of all I have to say that I was really quite oblivious to it when I saw the film; whether this was because of all the startling visual stimuli or the sound volume of the effects drowning it out I cannot say. It is interesting to note what Broughton himself says about the score in an interview in which he claimed that the CD was put together very hurriedly to meet the film's release schedule and that some of the best of his music was omitted. I understand that a fuller account of this score might be released separately?
The opening Main Title is very reminiscent of the Star Trek music with noble imposing music, first on french horns then given to the remainder of the brass, intoning it over long held high pitched violins. This music returns in various guises throughout the score and develops slightly into another five note, slightly perky theme in The Launch which is discussed by woodwinds: flute, oboe and clarinet before being given to the brass to herald a more aspirational treatment as homeliness is left behind in the quest for the stars. The Robot music is appropriately mechanical and hard - reminiscent of Prokofiev when the robot attacks and when it is re-programmed by Smith, the early part of that cue seems curiously Elgarian (with a touch of Holst). The Holst influence is more manifest in "Proteus" which seems to speak of the beauty and vastness of space. "Spider's Attack" is overwhelmingly creepy with the block and supporting electronics insinuating thousands of pursuing spidery legs. But this horror is trivial compared to the music for the alternative future as seen by the characters in the Bubble when Smith has changed into a spider. Beginning with a weird creepy waltz, the music is a very effective study in repulsion, in "Spider Smith"; and the mood continues in its associated cue, "Kill the Monster" where you feel Hermann, in his monster mode, is never far away. The score finishes in great exhilaration, thankfully, as the spaceship escapes this unhealthy planet These are familiar Universes visited often before, but with one or two interesting new stars.
Ian Lace
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