Audio Watchdog By Douglas E. Winter Hans Across the Water At first glance, early trailers for this summer’s patriotic patience test, PEARL HARBOR, suggested a studio re-release of THE THIN RED LINE. Im­ ages of children diving in deep water, verdant Pacific greenery, and troop formations on the decks of warships were accompanied by the un­ forgettable music of what might be considered Hans Zimmer’s masterpiece—all suggesting a return to Terrence Malick country. It was no sur­ prise, then, to learn that Zimmer was the com­ poser of choice for PEARL HARBOR (Hollywood/ Warner Bros. 9 48113-2, $17.99, 9 tracks, 46m 20s). The surprise is that his music for Michael Bey’s revisionist history of the day that will live in infamy should echo (and indeed pirate) his earlier score. And, perhaps inevitably, it’s not as good. Indeed, the contrast between Zimmer’s score for THE THIN RED LINE and PEARL HARBOR is an eerily perfect comparison of the films themselves. THE THIN RED LINE is a thoughtful and sophisti­ cated fusion of the orchestral and electronic, pre­ sented in lengthy suites—brooding, ominous, and yet insistently ethereal, elevated to the metaphysi­ cal by its emotional depth and a deft use of Melanesian folk songs. PEARL HARBOR, on the other hand, is a by-the-numbers accumulation of short and simple cues burdened with a dubious Diane Warren ballad (sung by Faith Hill with all the conviction of a cornstalk)—it’s all downhill after
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the first Zimmer track, “Tennessee,” a blatant re­ cycling of his immaculate “Journey to the Line” from THE THIN RED LINE. Like the film itself, the soundtrack of PEARL HARBOR cries out for the word “LITE” to be emblazoned in its title. And Hans Zimmer continues on as the Jekyll & Hyde of soundtrack specialists, a talent capable of pro­ ducing visionary works (HANNIBAL) and witless chaff (MI:2)—and who seems devoted to deliv­ ering his weakest music to some of his most visible films.
Walk Like The Eqyptian FILM SCORE MONTHLY has scored another ar­
chival coup with its “Golden Age Classics” release of a Maltese Falcon of soundtracks: the legend­ ary (and presumed-lost) one-time-only collabora­ tion between Alfred Newman and Bernard Herrmann for THE EGYPTIAN (FSM voi. 4 no. 5, $19.99, 24 tracks, 72m 6s). Unlike most soundtrack “collaborations,” in which composers contribute disparate cues, with one typically supplementing the other’s work, the epic demands of THE EGYPTIAN (1954) found Newman and Herrmann working in tandem, with shared themes and styles. Given the stature of the composers, the score’s mythology has neared the epic over the years; and its unavailability (and, indeed, its believed destruction) merely added to the allure. Although the master tapes in fact have deterio­ rated beyond use, FSM has preserved over 70m of the original 100+ minute score, remastering and remixing from 2" multitrack safety transfers
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