In the case of
Demolition Man, Goldenthal does
what he does best: over-intellectualizes a score. At some point, you
have to recognize that a film not only deserves, but needs a basic
score. Goldenthal missed that point with
Batman Forever, and
definitely misses the point with
Demolition Man. Some people
argue that a score as varied and creative as Goldenthal's is exactly
what a film like
Demolition Man needs. Unfortunately for those
folks, the only cues that seem to really make sense in the film itself
are those that dumb down the equation (by Goldenthal standards). The
title theme exists in only one major performance, as Sylvester Stallone
approaches his current-day task at the start of the film, the
confrontation motif for chopping strings and snare ("Confronting the
Chief"), and of course, the lush "Silver Screen Kiss" at the very end...
all are notably memorable in the film. This is no surprise, because they
all represent action by Stallone, who is a brute from the past, and it's
likely that Goldenthal was playing on these primitive flashes of muscle.
Sufficing in their role are the two cues for the freezing process,
"Guilty as Charged" and "Defrosting," with plucking strings, piano, and
harp accented by various banging metallic and wood percussion. But for
the rest of the score, Goldenthal is given a license to wail, screech,
and produce hard synth rhythms and loops that would make even hardcore
electronica fans run screaming. Rhythmic chaos and extraordinarily harsh
metallic shades, combined with extremely aggressive unconventional use
of traditional orchestra instruments makes
Demolition Man a very
disjointed and unpredictable venture.
As always, Goldenthal employs the wavering horn
technique, yielding to the full-blown wailing horns, in the opening cue
and "Final Confrontation." How anybody can actually enjoy this brass
usage is unknown. Goldenthal seems inclined to use this trilling brass
whenever he concludes a finale or crescendo that requires the rest of
the ensemble to perform in harmony, and it would go on to downright ruin
the title statement in
Batman Forever. An extended performance of
the "Dies Irae" cue (why should this schlock limit Goldenthal's symphony
movement cue titles?), renamed "Main Titles" for the common man, was
outstandingly arranged and performed by the Budapest Studio Orchestra
for a Germany Edel compilation in 1994 (one of the early collections of
mostly the City of Prague Philharmonic before Silva began releasing
their recordings more regularly), and they do a great job of
incorporating, but moderating Goldenthal's wierdnesses in the cue. The
same cue was edited down for the original commercial album. On the
whole,
Demolition Man is widely heralded as yet another
underrated score from the talented composer. Completely out of print and
never in competition with the widely run song compilation album, the
short score album is very scarce. But sometimes you can be too
intelligent for a project, and Goldenthal simply got too damn smart for
his own good this time around. It's admittedly as fascinating as any
other Goldenthal score, but
Demolition Man didn't need or deserve
it, and that's why the simplistic, borderline parody cues are the only
ones that actually function in the picture. A note to American
detainment camps in undisclosed countries: forget hooking up those
radical Muslims' testicles to electrode devices... some sleep
deprivation using Elliot Goldenthal's
Demolition Man will do the
job!
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