LOST IN SPACE
Rating: 
Original Review: The Lost In Space composer saga dogged Hollywood for months before the musical issues surrounding this troubled production were resolved. A mega-budget remake of the classic Irwin Allen 1960s TV series, Lost In Space boasted big stars in the shape of William Hurt, Gary Oldman and Friends' Matt Le Blanc, a director of note in Stephen Hopkins, and the mega-dollars and hopes and prayers of New Line Cinema. However, these factors could do nothing to hide the fact that Akiva Goldsman, the man who effectively killed off the Batman franchise, had supplied yet another abysmal screenplay, and the whole shebang turned into an enjoyable but completely empty-headed summer romp. At different points in time, Jerry Goldsmith, David Arnold and Mark Isham had all been brought in to contribute the score but, for one reason or another, the baton eventually fell into the hands of Bruce Broughton. Despite being the fifth-choice composer (John Williams was also approached to score the movie), Broughton delivered one of his most exciting and enjoyable works for a good few years. It's Broughton's first real attempt at real sci-fi, and some of the music stands right up there with Young Sherlock Holmes, Silverado and Tombstone as some of the best stuff he has ever written. However, rather than dedicate an entire CD to Broughton's work, TVT Soundtrax have made him suffer the ultimate indignity by squeezing a paltry eleven score tracks, amounting to just over 28 minutes, onto an albumful of horrendous industrial pop tracks by the likes of The Propellerheads and Fatboy Slim. Admittedly, Apollo Four Forty's techno rendition of the Lost in Space theme is actually quite fun and catchy, and was a huge hit here in the UK, though what John Williams makes of it I'm not quite sure. Whatever the case may be, I still feel that two separate releases of the music - one songs, one score - would have been infinitely better than the presentation here. The music that *is* present on the album is superb, combining wonderfully 'spacey' ambiences such as 'The Proteus' with some blood-pumping set pieces and a glorious central theme which, to me, echoes the great western themes of Moross and Bernstein, wherein bold explorers ventured off into the unknown searching for a new life. 'Main Title' presents the first hopeful rendition of this theme on resounding horns, and 'The Launch' is grand and emotional, building to an astounding climax which makes a wonderful parallel with James Horner's similarly titled cue from Apollo 13. 'The Robot Attack' and 'Spider Attack' are both exciting action cues, the latter most notably employing some jittery, highly dissonant stringwork and Aliens-style metal percussion, but 'Jupiter Crashes', although effective, sounds incredibly like Basil Poledouris' Starship Troopers in parts, leading me to think that the temp track was a little too closely followed here. Broughton saves the best for last, however, with 'The Portal' and 'Thru The Planet', a majestic, full-throated final rendition of the main theme in full, which transforms itself into a thunderous, breakneck repeat performance, accompanied by wonderfully rapid strings, as the Jupiter weaves its way through a disintegrating asteroid and safely zooms away towards the inevitable sequel. As I write this, it seems as though the full score from Lost in Space will be released by Intrada some time in the near future, under the supervision of Broughton and Doug Fake. I certainly hope so. A score as good as this one deserves to have a much better representation of its scope and range than the one that exists at the moment. Oh, and just a note to explain the rating: the score on its own rates a four. The fact that the album itself is more than half full of rubbish knocks it down a star.
Track Listing:
- Lost in Space Theme (written by John Williams, performed by Apollo Four Forty) (3:27)
- I'm Here - Another Planet (written and performed by Juno Reactor and The Creatures) (4:21)
- Busy Child (written by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland, performed by The Crystal Method) (7:26)
- Bang On! (written by Alex Gifford, performed by The Propellerheads) (5:26)
- Everybody Needs a 303 (written by Fatboy Slim and Edwin Starr, performed by Fatboy Slim) (5:49)
- Will & Penny's Theme (written by Noko, Trevor Gray and Howard Gray, performed by Apollo Four Forty) (3:23)
- Song for Penny (written by Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes, performed by Death in Vegas) (5:34)
- Lost in Space (written by Space/Palmer, performed by Space) (3:27)
- Main Title (1:04)
- Reprogram the Robot (2:17)
- The Launch (4:14)
- The Robot Attack (2:52)
- The Proteus (2:27)
- Spiders Attack (2:24)
- Jupiter Crashes (1:16)
- Spider Smith (2:42)
- Kill the Monster (3:53)
- The Portal (2:46)
- Thru the Planet (2:44)
Running Time: 68 minutes 01 seconds
TVT Soundtrax 491303-2 (1998)
Music composed and conducted by Bruce Broughton. Performed by The Sinfonia of London. Synthesiser programming by Ed Kalmins. Recorded and mixed by John Timperley. Edited by Patricia Carlin. Album producer uncredited.
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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1998. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.