The Mummy & Mummy Returns Score appreciation thread

[WampaRat 1,105]

I just recently ordered The Mummy and Mummy Returns expansions since they’ve come back in stock (I know some people were furious with those releases. Feel free to complain over on those Intrada threads for each score. But my love for these has outweighed my frustration.) 

 

Now I had listened to the OST of MR a handful of times since it’s original release. It was always fun. But just a bit… too much. But I was surprised at how the expansion left a decent amount of breathing room between the big action tracks. And the monumental finale starting with “Rick battles Imhotep” is just sheer bananas. Silvestri reprised practically every motif from the entire score in that one cue. I started combing through the score, picking up more of the subtle motifs that eluded me in the OST.

 

Is there a glossary of themes for this one already? Here’s my breakdown (the names are completely my own unless the booklet to the expansion clarified them btw. I also don’t list every instance these themes appear. Just a few examples.) I’d love for someone to take a crack at Goldsmith’s:)

 

 

1.Main Hero Theme A-  “Evy Kiddnapped” (1:05-1:40) “My First Bus Ride” (7:10-7:27)

 

Pure swashbuckling hero theme for our hero’s. All over the score. Played in bits and pieces or in full. Really makes me wonder what Silvestri wrote for the first Pirates film.

 

2.Main Hero Theme B- “Evy Kiddnapped” (3:19- 3:33) “My First Bus Ride” (6:17-6:25) “I want Him Back” (0:36-0:48)

 

A victorious heroic B theme seems to play when the good guys win a round.  

 

3.Rick/Evy Love Theme- “Just An Oasis” (0:07-0:33) “Dirigible Montage” (0:00-0:16) 

 

Beautiful classic desert vista love theme worthy of Jarre himself.

 

4.Warrior/Medjai Theme- “Medjai Commanders” OST (0:17-35)  “Sand Castles” (:38 -1:38)  “The Mummy Returns-End Credits”(0:00-0:47)

 

My absolute favorite theme in this entire score. The booklet refers to this one as a warrior theme. It also seems to be used when there’s a spot of luck or good fortune for our heroes.

 

5.Imhotep/Anuksunamun Love Theme-“Imhotep Reborn” (1:41-2:03) “The Mushy Part” (1:33-2:00)

 

A mysterious and alluring love theme for the antagonists.

 

6.Lost Love Theme-“Evy Dies (Comeback Evy)” (1:35-2:09) “Wrong Girlfriend” (0:26-0:54) “Sand Warriors”(1:21-1:50)

 

Big melodramatic theme for doomed lovers.

 

7.Bad Guy/Evil Motif- “Opening/Legend of the Scorpion King” (2:10-2:33) “Canyon Deluge (We’re In Trouble)”(0:00-0:06,) “Flashback Finale (Evy Remembers)” (2:06-2:16) “Rick Battles Imhotep” (4:24-4:40)

 

Is this a theme for the Scorpion King himself? We only hear a long-lined statement of this theme at the beginning after the SKs defeat. But after that it’s only the first three or four notes. A simple thorny idea kind of like “The Evil of the Ring” motif. Littered all over the underscore . But really stands out near the end. Something the expansion shows off pretty well. 

 

8.Fate/Destiny Chant - “ Evys Flashback Swordfight” ( 1:55-2:26) Flashback Finale (Evy Remembers)” (2:06-2:16) “ Rick Battles Imhotep” (4:40-5:10)

 

“Domine Domine”. You know the one. First played during Evys flashback and culminates with the arrival of a terrible CGI Dwayne Johnson. Seems to be played in tandem with the Bad Guy/Evil motif quite a bit.

 

9.Mystery/Wonder Motif- “The Bracelet Awakens”(:44-:59) “Rick Battles Imhotep”(2:19-2:27)

 

When ancient powers from “beyond” manifest themselves, this seems to play 

 

10.Mummy Procession/March Motif- “Imhotep Unearthed” (0:16-0:19) “Imhotep Reborn” (:29-1:19) “Train Chapter (Gift and a Curse)” (1:19-1:45)

 

Lurching, rite-like music often accompanies Imhotep or ceremonies (but it can also be heard in portions of “Opening”)

 

11.Desert Battle Theme - “Opening(Legend of the Scorpion King)” (1:28-2:00) “Rick Battles Imhotep” (1:35-2:10)

 

Chaotic and thunderous war music plays at the beginning of the film during the prologue and the climactic battle at the end. Not sure if this is considered all one theme or a bunch of motifs smooshed together…

 

12.Fight/Flight action motif- “Flush of Freedom” (1:07-1:19) “Pygmy Attack” (2:07-2:17) “Rick Battles Imhotep” (1:04-1:20) 

Frantic stomping action motif (reminds me a tad of Wind and the Lion)

 

13.Creepy crawly motif- “scorpion shoes” (0:00-0:10) “Imhotep Unearthed ost”(0:26-0:38) “False Victory” (1:00-1:08) 

 

Aleatoric writing that pops up anytime bugs or spooky gooey situations occur.

 

14.Panic Motif- “Evy Dies (Comeback Evy)” (0:25-0:43)  “False Victory” (0:00-0:10)

 

Siren/alarm string pattern when something  terrible is occurring.

 

15.Big Decisions motif -“ Scorpion Shoes”(0:59-1:23) “Rick battles Imhotep” (3:10-3:40)

 

Seems to play when characters are about to meddle with ancient magic. 

 

16.Dire motif- “Scorpion Shoes” (3:33-3:44), “Evy Kidnnaped” (2:23-2:50)

 

Plays a couple times when our hero’s are in a tight spot throughout the film

 

There’s a handful of other little action motif phrases that pop up here and there all throughout the score. But I think I covered a chunk of them here at least!  Silvestri isn’t slavish with his thematic application. And admittedly, he doesn’t tend to vary their instrumentation a ton. But with over a dozen themes/motifs, this score IMO, doesn’t wear out it’s welcome and is his finest adventure score to date.  Alan really tapped into something special with this soundtrack and he seemed to have an absolute blast writing for this modern day Harryhausen-esque adventure. 
 

 

[TheAvengerButton 175]

The Mummy Returns is an absolutely fantastic soundtrack. I love Goldsmith, but I think Silvestri's score suits those characters and that world better.

 

The standout theme for me is the one you call the Main Hero Theme A. Such a wonderfully rousing theme that rivals the Raiders March in how much it calls me to adventure.

 

Appreciate this write-up. Let's talk Mummy scores!

[Jurassic Shark 12,067]

2 minutes ago, TheAvengerButton said:

The Mummy Returns is an absolutely fantastic soundtrack.

 

Had it, sold it, don't regret it.

[Stark 312]

Both great adventure scores! I just wish the third film’s music was equally regarded, because it is comparably good.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Randy Edelman's score is one of the worst scores I can think of. There is a reason no one ever talks about it - including this discussion thread.

[Jurassic Shark 12,067]

Stop talking about it!

[WampaRat 1,105]

I frankly forget that third one ever came out lol. 
 

The first one is some darn fine Goldsmith and the second one I believe is Silvestri’s peak. I like that Van Helsing feels Iike he still had some energy left over after Mummy Returns. But I don’t think he’s ever recaptured the same insane fun as MR. Maybe because film has changed since 2001. But his later action scores felt kinda uninspired:/ But will give a shout out to Ready Player One. And Endgame was  pretty strong. 

 

@Yavar Moradi do you plan on 

doing an episode about the expanded Mummy? I don’t recall ever seeing one. But I may have missed it…

[Thor 7,495]

First score is my alltime favourite Goldsmith score, no less. Silvestri's sequel is his last truly GREAT score, IMO. And it's 20 years ago. Edelman's is OK, but nowhere near the excellence of the first two. Debney's SCORPION KING doesn't do much for me either, nor its sequels.

 

I absolutely adore Sommers' first two movies. Genuine pulp with care and consideration.

[Edmilson 7,436]

I like both scores. The Mummy is one of the best Goldsmith scores of the 90s and Returns is one of the best Silvestri scores, period. My First Bus Ride and the music for the final battle is some of the very best action music written by AS. And the Sandcastles theme is pretty good too.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

On 6/22/2021 at 6:34 AM, Brundlefly said:

Randy Edelman's score is one of the worst scores I can think of. There is a reason no one ever talks about it - including this discussion thread.

 

Ah, but John Debney's additional contribution to the third Mummy is excellent stuff (as is his score to The Scorpion King -- would be nice if Varese did a DE of that)!

 

On 6/22/2021 at 7:24 AM, WampaRat said:

@Yavar Moradi do you plan on 

doing an episode about the expanded Mummy? I don’t recall ever seeing one. But I may have missed it…

 

The first episode of The Goldsmith Odyssey in the Soundtrack Spotlight sub-series was The Don Is Dead, published August 22, 2020:

https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/5097955-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-the-don-is-dead-1973

 

We then (published December 19) did jump back in time to do an extensive one (with Mike Mattesino, Chris Malone, and John Takis!) on Take Her, She's Mine from earlier that year, because it was an important premiere -- the first in Intrada's amazing run of FIVE Goldsmith surprise premieres within the past year:

https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/6920147-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-take-her-she-s-mine-1963

 

But anything else pre-Don (including The Mummy) we covered in a sort of predecessor to the Spotlight series -- in our popular and lengthy "Gold Nugget 6 - Expanded Archival Collection" episode, where we talked about every Goldsmith release that happened since the beginning of the podcast, going in reverse chronological order:
https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/3459226-gold-nugget-6-expanded-archival-collection

 

The popularity of that episode, as well as the interviews with Neil S. Bulk and Chris Malone afterwards, are what led to the creation of the Soundtrack Spotlight series.

 

EDIT: I just realized that we sort of went back and did a partial Spotlight on one Goldsmith album release that pre-dated the beginning of our podcast! Just recently we had Leigh Phillips on as a guest (to cover "Mr. George" for our Episode 30 of the regular podcast which is still being edited) and fully two thirds of the initial conversation with him ended up being about his extensive work re-creating the missing synth elements for Damnation Alley! So a bit different from a normal Spotlight, and not called a Spotlight, but most of it is pretty in depth on the great Damnation Alley album Intrada released near the end of 2017, just a few months before The Goldsmith Odyssey was born:

https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/8425660-odyssey-interviews-leigh-phillips

 

Yavar

[WampaRat 1,105]

1 hour ago, Yavar Moradi said:

 

But anything else pre-Don (including The Mummy) we covered in a sort of predecessor to the Spotlight series -- in our popular and lengthy "Gold Nugget 6 - Expanded Archival Collection" episode, where we talked about every Goldsmith release that happened since the beginning of the podcast, going in reverse chronological order:
https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/3459226-gold-nugget-6-expanded-archival-collection

Oh cool! I assume they talk about The Ghost and the Darkness and The Shadow expanded releases in this one too? (My other favorite Goldsmith scores:)

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

6 minutes ago, WampaRat said:

Oh cool! I assume they talk about The Ghost and the Darkness and The Shadow expanded releases in this one too? (My other favorite Goldsmith scores:)

 

Nope! The Ghost and the Darkness was expanded in 2015 and The Shadow was all the way back in 2012, almost a decade ago! Both of those came out well before the podcast started; we only went back a couple of years to around March 2018, which is when we published our first episode. If we tried to cover all of the specialty label Goldsmith releases that came out in the years before the podcast, we would never get anything else done!

 

You can see when things were released by looking at the past years' News pages at Jerry Goldsmith Online:
http://www.jerrygoldsmithonline.com/news.htm

 

(Click "News Archive" in the top right to get past years.)

 

http://www.jerrygoldsmithonline.com/news_2018.htm

 

As you can see from the 2018 news page, our podcast started after Intrada's last Rambo III revisit and before Tadlow's second volume of Thriller (we didn't discuss that in the Gold Nugget because we talk about the Tadlow Thriller albums all the time as we are working our way through Jerry's 16 scores for the series one-by-one). The first release we cover in Gold Nugget 6 is the fixed Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend.

 

Yavar

[mstrox 6,651]

I also recently bought both expansions and enjoyed them.  I didn’t have the problems that others have with the sound, but I listen to everything through my running headphones that have been partially destroyed by sweat, so I guess I’m not the one to judge that.

 

I have to say that Goldsmith’s OST really covered the key bits of that score, and the new material didn’t inspire me to listen to the complete presentation over the OST in the future.  
 

The Silvestri score has quite a bit of material that fleshed it out, especially as a representation of the movie’s story (since final act stuff was pretty much missing from the OST).  For me, I’d probably still stick with a highlights presentation because while I love the score and think it’s one of Silvestri’s very best, I do agree that it can be a bit “much,” just like a lot of Silvestri’s adventure scores.   The expansion hasn’t alleviated that for me.

[Jay 37,352]

2 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

the fixed Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend.

 

"fixed" implies there was something wrong with the first release; Was there?  Or was it just a normal remastering?

[mstrox 6,651]

Baby was running around unneutered in the original version.  Now they’ve gotten him fixed.

[Positivatee 327]

5 minutes ago, mstrox said:

Baby was running around unneutered in the original version.  Now they’ve gotten him fixed.

 

Interesting. I would think dinosaurs would have a cloaca like modern reptiles and birds, instead of a hangy ball like a bull or dog. Either way, it's a welcome fix. 

 

Where can we stream this movie? For my entire childhood, Sean Young in this movie was the most beautiful woman ever. 

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

7 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

"fixed" implies there was something wrong with the first release; Was there?  Or was it just a normal remastering?

 

Yes, apparently there were a few cues on the old release that were at the (slightly) wrong speed. It was a mistake that in many years apparently nobody ever caught or commented on to Intrada, but they later caught it themselves and fixed it for this reissue.

 

At the time, Roger's write up said the following:
 

Quote

BABY - SECRET OF THE LOST LEGEND
Composed and Conducted by JERRY GOLDSMITH
INTRADA ISC 403

Intrada presents an updated release of Jerry Goldsmith's 1985 score to Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend. Intrada mastered the earlier release from a DAT transfer of Jerry Goldsmith’s personal 2-track stereo mix of the print takes on ¼” stereo tape, made by mixer Shawn Murphy in the early 1990s when Goldsmith was dubbing much of his analog library over to the relatively new digital tape format. For this 2018 remastering of the complete score, Intrada was provided access to everything from the September 1984 sessions, maintained in pristine condition in the vast Disney vaults. These included the original 32-track scoring session masters as well as the multi-track digital mixes made by Murphy from the 32-track elements. One anomaly from the previous release has now been corrected — Goldsmith’s copy of the mixes included a couple of tracks, in particular the lengthy finale of the score, “Baby’s Alive,” playing back at a slightly slower speed than what should have been the case. Finally, in addition to remastering everything, this release includes five previously unreleased “extras”— source cues that include three pieces by the composer’s son, Joel Goldsmith, working with lyricist Sidney Barnes on two and Debrah Neal on the third and two traditional source tracks. These are heard in the film in truncated versions but appear here for the first time in their entirety.

Baby was the first of many impressive scores delivered by Goldsmith that year, a year that included Rambo: First Blood Part 2, Explorers, and King Solomon's Mines. Interestingly the break-loose, thundering action music in Baby most resembles the action music in Rambo, where Goldsmith chose to focus on his aggressive action style for the relentless chase sequences. Baby was a particularly challenging assignment for Goldsmith. Coming eight years before the CGI revolution and Jurassic Park, Goldsmith needed to come up not only with an exciting dinosaur theme, but be the emotion and character of the somewhat inexpressive rubber baby dinosaur character and endear it to the audience. He also had to express the familial instincts of the two adult dinosaurs, their anger and anguish as they confront the dinosaur hunters, and the baby dinosaur's developing bond with the human couple (played by William Katt and Sean Young). Goldsmith also had to characterize the Sunufu tribesmen, flesh out the atmosphere of the African location photography, and provide the driving rhythms that would propel a number of elaborate action scenes in the film. The result: Goldsmith delivers a score that compares favorably to masterpieces like Legend and Rambo 2, in a way creating a satisfying synthesis between the fanciful, exotic fantasy of the former and the hard-charging, relentless action of the latter.

The film follows the story of a young paleontologist (Sean Young) on an expedition to Central Africa, where she eventually runs afoul of the expedition's leader (Patrick McGoohan), who is on the trail of living dinosaurs rumored to be roaming deep in the African jungle. When the paleontologist and her husband chase a dinosaur clue, they do discover a family of sauropods. A band of rogue military men is not far behind, however, and soon the father is killed, the mother is captured, and the baby escapes with the paleontologist and her husband and begins an exciting race to freedom.

INTRADA ISC 403
Barcode: 7 20258 54030 0
Retail Price: $19.99
SHIPPING NOW

http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7813

 

And Doug's write-up:

 

Quote

Remastered reissue of impressive Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack! 1985 Disney live action dinosaur adventure arrives ahead of its time, before Jurassic Park and similar fare became hot property the following decade. William Katt, Sean Young, Patrick McGoohan perform alongside Brontosaurus family, John Alcott shoots rich outdoor jungle photography, Jonathan Taplin & Roger Spottiswoode (who’s Under Fire resulted in one of Goldsmith’s all-time great scores) produce, B.W.L. Norton directs and Disney’s adult theme-oriented Touchstone Pictures presents. Discovery of dinosaurs during expedition in Central Africa leads to family antics followed by treachery, kidnapping, military conflict, pursuit and exciting rescue - all set to powerhouse Jerry Goldsmith score! Initial ideas color outdoor terrain, expedition itself. Discovery of dinosaur “family” inspires Goldsmith to write not down to but upwards towards majestic, magnificent sauropods: powerful French horn/trumpet statement of their theme over massive major chords in low brass, swirling strings above makes for one of composer’s grandest moments ever! Other highlights abound: tuneful “Baby” theme underscores playful antics in contrast to initial bold material, jungle setting garners array of electronic colors amidst complex orchestration. Spotlight goes without doubt however to propulsive, thundering action cues. Foreshadowing Goldsmith’s very next project - Rambo: First Blood Part II - exciting pursuit, rescue scenes (“The Cave”, “Mother Is Free”) feature composer in his most ferocious, mixed-meter action mode with tour-de-force writing for entire orchestra. When all is said and done, Goldsmith offers dynamic final cue (“Baby’s Alive”) which re-unites mother and baby, leading to end credits. In epic finish, when medley of themes reaches conclusion, Goldsmith adds magnificent fortissimo coda proclaiming his initial dinosaur theme in triumphant brass, trumpets in the lead. Spectacular ending! Previous release of score (a fast sell-out) was presented from two-track mixes made from 32-track masters vaulted at Disney, then dubbed down to analog for composer who later transferred elements back to DAT for his own storage, a copy of which was subsequently made for use with Intrada’s presentation many years ago. In somewhat convoluted process, somewhere along the way, pitch anomalies arose on a couple of tracks, especially lengthy finale. New Intrada remastered release was prepared from Disney’s original elements including 32-track session masters and Shawn Murphy’s first generation multi-track film mixes. New elements also allowed for a pair of previously unreleased source percussion pieces recorded by Goldsmith at his sessions plus three source numbers composed by his son, Joel Goldsmith, which appear very briefly in truncated fashion in film but play here in their entirety. Flipper-style booklet designed by Kay Marshall, notes by Jeff Bond. Recorded by Shawn Murphy on September 24-26, 1984. Arthur Morton & Alexander Courage orchestrate, Jerry Goldsmith composes and conducts. Intrada Special Collection CD available while quantities and interest remain!

http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.11508/.f

 

Yavar

 

[Jay 37,352]

Ah, very cool!

[HunterTech 991]

I'm gonna risk a public execution by saying I actually enjoyed Mummy 3 more than its two predecessors (and yes that does include the Edelman bits) when I recently gave them a go. I imagine that's primarily fueled by my nostalgia of the main theme growing up, but I just found it much easier to get into. The synth orchestra being paired with the live instruments sucks, but I grew used to it once I learned that factoid.

 

My appreciation for semi-sophisticated orchestra music just isn't quite there yet for various reasons, so I do hope my appreciation for the first two only grows overtime.

[Holko 9,525]

21 minutes ago, mstrox said:

I have to say that Goldsmith’s OST really covered the key bits of that score, and the new material didn’t inspire me to listen to the complete presentation over the OST in the future.

The middle bit feels really rushed to me on the OST. OK, we've arrived, some sneaky material, whoops, heading to the climax already.  It lacks a satisfactory breather second act to lead from one adventurous rush to another. The complete score has that covered.

[Richard Penna 3,686]

Oddly, both Mummy albums suffer from the same issue for me - an imbalance of material, in Goldsmith's case due to that 30 minutes or so in the second act being missing, and in Silvestri's case, the entire finale missing. The complete sets rectify those problems nicely, although while I find Silvestri's a bit more interesting from a thematic perspective, Goldsmith's is orchestrationally more interesting to me.

 

Edelman's is (probably) completely functional and a pleasant listen, but nothing more than that. Why doesn't the guy use a full orchestra for a big action score?

[mstrox 6,651]

$$$$$$$

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

1 hour ago, Positivatee said:

Interesting. I would think dinosaurs would have a cloaca like modern reptiles and birds, instead of a hangy ball like a bull or dog.

 

Not in a Disney film!

[Edmilson 7,436]

I haven't listened the album, but I remember disliking Edelman's theme for The Mummy 3 in the movie (which was an abomination and made the other two look like The Godfather).

[Jay 37,352]

The real question is was Maria Bello an upgrade or a downgrade over Rachel Weisz..

[Jurassic Shark 12,067]

Definitely an upgrade.

[Thor 7,495]

Definitely a downgrade.

[Edmilson 7,436]

The Mummy 3 has a lot of problems (and I mean A LOT), but Maria Bello's character ain't one of them.

[WampaRat 1,105]

I will say she’s part of the reason I forget this movie is the third in the series. Save for Brendan Fraser (and I guess John Hannah) the whole 3rd film feels like a Sci-Fi channel knock-off. 
 

But Maria Bello is beautiful,yes.