Filmtracks: Predator (Alan Silvestri)


Silvestri

Predator: (Alan Silvestri) When considering the early projects of Arnold Schwarzenegger, many viewers have argued successfully that Predator presents the actor-turned-politician in his most varied and human light. The bodybuilder had been an automated war machine in Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator, and the comical elements in his other projects lessened his the effectiveness of his size and attitude. Such was the glory of the film Predator, the first major feature success for director John McTiernan. The plot of the film progressed backwards from the norm, with the technology and hunting spirit becoming more primitive and intensely personal as the film reaches its climax. The human side of Schwarzenegger is portrayed in such a manner that the big guy might actually be killed while fighting for good, and this convincing aspect of the actor's performance helped maintain the film's awesome cult status. Composer Alan Silvestri was brought on to the Fox project at the height of his newly discovered popularity from Back to the Future. The composer had proven his talents with an orchestra during that project, and he had also provided comedy music for a jungle setting in Romancing the Stone. As a first venture into grand horror, though, Predator served Silvestri a test in a new genre that he passed brilliantly. The propulsion behind his Predator score caused the music, like the film, to be adopted as a cult classic, with bootlegged versions of the music appearing everywhere in the decades following the film's release. He would go on to score Predator 2, which was larger in a symphonic sense (and translated into a more impressive title theme performance in the opinion of some) but lacked the purely primordial edge of the original. Re-recordings of Silvestri's original Predator composition often lack its stylish, percussive appeal. The work contains several motifs for the three or four basic situations in which the story's characters find themselves. It was, therefore, a highly organized and precisely mapped score.

Unfortunately for Silvestri, his music for Predator would suffer the same fate as Michael Kamen's in McTiernan's Die Hard the following year, with most major cues cut and rearranged throughout the film. Despite these questionable edits, the score is still effective. In a casual sweep of the music, the collection of motifs may seem to be an unorganized mass of jungle-induced sprawl. But the alien predator is provided with its own theme of descent that is wondrous in its string tones. The American commandos counter with the score's most memorable idea, a simple, militaristic procession of piano and percussion. This six-note phrase, which is forcefully accompanied by precise rotations in the percussion section, is extremely distinctive. The commandos are also given a subtle motif for their efforts to run, hide, and complete their rescue mission. A tribute to fallen friends is presented by a solo trumpet during scenes of mourning. A timpani-pounding running theme is perhaps the most driving element of the score, pushing the characters to their inevitable doom in the middle portion of the film. Silvestri utilizes some stock horror techniques with brass hits and string strikes, but usually proceeds with a more consistent rumbling of ambient suspense that contains well-integrated electronic elements. Despite the use of the synthesizers, the score comes across as a symphonic powerhouse, alternating between Silvestri's racing action cues and suspenseful preparation material. A slight touch of fantasy in the aforementioned, descending string motif heard in "Main Title," "Building a Trap," and "The Rescue and End Credits" aides the science-fiction aspect of the score. The highlights of the work are the opening and closing sequences, as well as the "Jungle Trek" cue that presents the running theme's low brass ostinato in its most engaging form. The final cue was unfortunately re-scored with the solo trumpet motif, signaling the loss of Schwarzenegger's team, whereas originally the score called for a repeat of the opening space motif (of descending strings) that had represented the alien, thus revealing in the end that Schwarzenegger was the true "predator" that the title suggests.


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Overall, it's one of Silvestri's most primal but sophisticated efforts all in one, assisting the film greatly in its success. The history of Predator on album has been a difficult one, though. A fictional bootlegging label called "Alien Records" presented three different bootlegs of Silvestri's score between 1997 and 2001. Some included the song "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard, or other Silvestri works, like seven minutes from Blown Away. Others included four minutes from Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and the "Silver Pictures Logo Theme," and even others had a sampling of music from Predator 2 and/or Schwarzenegger quotes from the original. A fourth bootleg, utilizing the first "Alien Records" cover, had no label, while the three under the "Alien Records" umbrella had the label number 27569. These bootlegs were widely passed around in CDR form so many times since they first hit the market in 1997 that some of them have only the Predator score and no bonus material. The important thing to note is that all of the bootlegs had the same roughly 70 minutes of Silvestri material from this score. Their sound quality did vary from album to album, however, ranging from average to very good. Finally, in 2003, Varèse Sarabande released an official offering of the score as part of its Club series, with superior sound and a complete presentation that easily eclipses all of the bootlegs. A detriment to the Varèse album, however, is the addition of Elliot Goldenthal's mutilation of the 20th Century Fox theme from Alien 3 at the start of the product. Its inclusion on this product makes no sense given that Predator predates Alien 3, and besides, who wants to listen to a piece of Goldenthal's often obnoxious avant garde tendencies in a completely unrelated context? This limited Club release may entice owners of the bootleg to seek a crisp-sounding, official release of this cult score, although casual owners of the bootleg (those who didn't pay $50+ for it in the first place) may not have much of a need to upgrade. As of the end of 2003, the issue became moot when the Varèse product sold out and itself shot up to $75 in value. Still, Varèse plugged a huge hole in the flowing stream of strong music from the last three decades that deserves and requires an official release. Percussion enthusiasts, step on board.

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Bias Check:

For Alan Silvestri reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.32 (in 19 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.37 (in 25,552 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.