Andy

There is nothing Super about this marketing. The scene where Kick-Ass was trying on his mail order scuba suit in the mirror had more heroic urgency than this. And speaking of rubber scuba suits, I'm tired of the same style for modern superhero "tights". Can you imagine wearing this under your Clark Kent clothes? Do better, Gunn.

I haven’t had an expansion ruin a score with which I was already familiar. I have had expansions that are too much to take in for a first time listen of the score, and therefore sort of, well, yeah, ruined it for me. One that comes to mind is Cutthroat Island. Never saw the movie or heard the OST, just jumped right into the expansion and it was exhausting. Now, that may be just that score. But, if you don’t know the basics of a score from repeated familiarity with the OST, then an expansion is often not a good place to begin. I’ve gotten wiser lately, and if the OST is included, I start with that first. Did that with the 3 Disc Godzilla (Arnold) and fell in love with it. Then, went back to Discs 1 and 2 for more. Im an expansion guy, but I also appreciate a good program.

I think if and when the original recordings are heard, I think a lot of people will be surprised to find there's a better score here than we were led to believe. We've all been conditioned by Williams himself to go, "Oh Sugarland, yeah. That one's no good."

Yes! That’s it precisely.

I may be wrong, but I think a lot of the FSM Silver Age titles snuck through before these things required Williams' approval.(?) I think it was more a matter of studio permission rather than Williams permission. Anyways, I listened to a boot of Sugarland a year or two ago, and was surprised. I rather liked it, more than I like the concert arrangement.

That’s a fun flick. Snake Man and the post nuke sequence were nightmare fuel.

The original version of the main theme is much better (more earnest and natural 70s) than the far too bluesy revised concert arrangement. I’d rather they not do a re-recording.

Amazing haul Amer! I miss when FSM used to do huge box sets. I also wish I bought them all when they came out.

What about Kick the Can? Actually, fun to imagine Williams doing Twilight Zone the Movie. That’s not a knock on Jerry’s score, which is Top 5 Goldsmith for me.

Yay!!! They released more! The link to stream Spider-man and his Amazing friends is: https://johnnydouglas.lnk.to/spidermanuncut The link to stream The Incredible Hulk is: https://johnnydouglas.lnk.to/hulk

And here I thought it was just me! Popular Unpopular Opinions!

Just something in the ether, then. My apologies for the assumption. So cool that this off the radar film and score is suddenly spontaneously resurfacing.

Amerika - Basil Poledouris You might look at that impressive cover with the badass Soviet trooper with grenades and rifle, and assume given the title, this will be an action score, with lots of heavy metallic percussion and anvil like Robocop or Conan. And you'd be wrong. For a score that supports a story of American spirit under the occupation of communist Soviets, you might expect lots of obvious patriotic trumpet and snare. Again, that's not what Poledouris does (save for maybe the final track). This is a VERY good CD, and a surprising side of Poledouris for those who know only his Starship Troopers style sound. It's very human and emotional, with some unexpected uplifting cues of optimistic nature. And expectedly, one or two that sound like a tragic prison march or dirge. One thing I will say is it is very episodic in nature. Each cue seems quite different than the next. Likely due to the fact that this was a 7 part miniseries, with different characters telling different stories each episode. So there can be a lack of thematic cohesion here. But this is surprisingly not an action score, or the typical Red Dawn style patriotism on display. My advice is to listen to each cue as its own mini concert piece, as most of them run a generous 4 minutes each. It's an enjoyable gem that never gets talked about.

Here’s how it goes. Someone mentions it on the Intrada Facebook group. (Which somehow has become the hub for Film Music discussion on that platform) Then either that same person, or another person from that group bumps an old FSM thread. Which someone here sees and shares. 1,2,3. Iceman was a GREAT film that HBO ran just as much as Beastmaster. I will never forget the score or the titular character’s language. “Beeetahh! Sayykahhh!!!” I haven’t seen it in ages, and now I want to again. Because as a kid I remember all the physically repulsive parts of de-icing a caveman. But there was a strong vulnerability and oh so human (humane?) thematic element to the film. The score is shakuhachi Heaven, but done right, and fitting the film like a glove. And in my world, Bruce Smeaton is a One Hit Wonder. But here I am 40 years later and I still remember the theme and the colors of the scoring. And a fine duet of Neil Young’s Heart of Gold by Iceman and Timothy Hutton. I’ve added the score and film to my list of things to revisit. It’s odd that this film slipped through the cracks and is wiped from pop culture zeitgeist and 80s retrospectives. Because it was a gem of a winner.

Check out this vintage interview! I swear, that kid in the Superman shirt is me. I had that same shirt. Stay for the whole thing. It’s hilarious.