SUPERGIRL

JERRY GOLDSMITH

Rating:

Original Review: In the early to mid-Eighties, Jerry Goldsmith wrote some great music for some truly awful movies. If you look at his filmography during that period, it is littered with bombs like Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, King Solomon's Mines, Rent-a-Cop and Leviathan. Supergirl was another one of those movies which, at the time, probably seemed like a good idea but, with hindsight, should probably not have been touched with a bargepole. Originally envisaged as a sexy spin-off from the Superman series, Supergirl starred Helen Slater as Clark Kent's Kryptonian cousin, sent to Earth from Argo City to search for the Omegahedron, a special jewel which could destroy their way of life if it ever fell into the wrong hands. Yeah, right. Despite the derivative and totally trashy nature of the film, Jerry Goldsmith's resulting score is great: bold, dramatic and thematically rich, filled with memorable themes and an overarching feeling of awe and wonder. Taking the lead from John Williams' Superman score, the Main Theme (presented in its entirety in 'Overture') bristles with life and energy, a heroic march similar in style to it's more famous relative, but with a slightly more playful edge. The Main Theme is generally omnipresent throughout the score, and appears in many other cues (most notably 'Flying Ballet'), but there are a multitude of other minor themes which skilfully work their way into the score at various points. There is a delicate love theme for Linda Lee, Supergirl's human alter ego, and Ethan first heard as a delicate clarinet solo at the beginning of 'A New School'; a terrifying "Monster" motif for film's evil-doer Selena, presented a series of vibrant action cues ('The Monster Tractor', 'The Monster Storm', 'The Monster Bumper Cars'); and lots of Goldsmith's trademark innovative electronic effects which represent the other-worldly elements of the story (these are most noticeable in the cues 'The Butterfly' and 'The Phantom Zone'). However, the one mistake made in the album was the inclusion of a snippet of John Williams' Superman Theme in the cue 'The Superman Poster'. Although the reference is made in a very subtle and unobtrusive manner, it nevertheless reminds the listener that this score is still nothing more than a weak relative to the original which, despite Goldsmith's best efforts, could never hope to live up to its legendary predecessor. Having said that, Supergirl nevertheless is an enjoyable and entertaining score that, sadly, is becoming increasingly difficult to find.

Track Listing: Running Time: 77 minutes 50 seconds

Silva America SSD-1025 (1993/1984)

Music composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. Performed by The National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus. Orchestrations by Arthur Morton. Contains extracts from "Superman" composed by John Williams. Recorded and mixed by Eric Tomlinson. Edited by Ken Hall. Mastered by John Goodmanson. Music produced by Jerry Goldsmith. Album re-issue produced by Reynold DaSilva, Yusuf Gandhi and Cherie Mathisen.


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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.