THE EDGE

JERRY GOLDSMITH

Rating:

Original Review: The Edge is, in my opinion, the best of Jerry Goldsmith's four 1997 scores, L.A. Confidential included. It is everything a good action score should be, with a rousing main title and heartstopping action cues. The score is built around a strong central theme for horns which, although it is not quite as moving or memorable as, say, Powder or Star Trek: First Contact (both of which it slightly resembles), it nevertheless retains a certain powerful, noble quality, especially when it builds to up to its heroic cymbal crescendos, and it sounds absolutely wonderful in the cinema when accompanied by panoramic vistas of the rugged Alaskan countryside.

Everything else plays second fiddle to the main theme, although Goldsmith does add a couple of interesting elements to his incidentals. There is a falling brass motif for the film's bad guy - a Kodiak bear - which is played whenever he appears or is about to appear on screen, and which is most evident in the breathless action cue 'The Ravine' and during the menacing 'Stalking'. There is also a tense, jerky string element in the cue 'Bitter Coffee' but, to be honest, I'm not sure what this is supposed to signify, although it sure sounds good. The score's penultimate and best cue, 'Rescued', presents the most dramatic rendition of the main theme coupled with a slow, sad oboe melody.

The final cue, 'The Edge', is something of an oddity. Where you would normally expect there to be some kind of epic and triumphant conclusion with the entire orchestra playing for all its worth, instead Goldsmith presents a lounge jazz version of the main theme with piano embellishments and a soft snare drum. It's completely out of character with the rest of the score, but I suppose it does display what a clever composer can do to alter a melody's impact. In my opinion, though, the final cue does nothing more than break the feelings of awe and wonder the rest of the music has spent 35 minutes creating. A disappointing end to what, for the rest of the time, is a mightily impressive score.

Track Listing: Running Time: 38 minutes 05 seconds

RCA Victor 09026-68950-2 (1997)

Music composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. Orchestrations by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage. Featured musical soloists Mike Lang, Chuck Domenico and Steve Schaefer. Recorded and mixed by Bruce Botnick. Edited by Bruce Botnick and Ken Hall. Album produced by Jerry Goldsmith.


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