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James Newton Howard and John Frizzell's DANTE'S PEAK (1997) - 2021 2-CD Varese Deluxe Edition


Jay

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So that's 6 cues composed entirely by JNH and 8 more cues that use his themes

 

Anyone know who produced, edited, assembled, mixed, and mastered this release?  Varese's PR dept continues to leave this information out.

 

I have seen this film, but don't remember what the score is like.  Going to listen to the samples in a bit!

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I did wonder whether they'd do the OST inclusion as well - that's very cool, as The Rescue and Main Titles are different.

 

The 'Film Version' against loads of tracks in the main program will be the usual 'same name' issue - I don't think many tracks are actually different takes from the OST.

 

And The Earthquake is the mythical cue that was missing from the boot for the last 24 years. Interestingly, someone once suggested to me that as John Van Tongeren did additional music, perhaps he did that cue, and that's why it didn't leak with the rest. I'm not sure what he did for this as it sounds pure Frizzell to me, but I guess the original suggestion was closer than I thought!

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I love the movie, which is no doubt why I love the score so much.

 

This also confirms the end credits is an edit job, comprising Swinging Rope, Main Titles, and Trapped in the Crater. I thought it was original material when I first saw the film because the OST Main Titles veers off in a totally different direction, and I still wasn't totally sure whether they'd re-recorded those bits even when I had the boot. I suppose that if Frizzell was under time pressure to write the score, I guess composing an original credits piece was not top of their agenda.

 

Edit: I just now pulled those three tracks into my editor and recreated what they did. In the movie you just about hear a tiny bit of the zylophone (or whatever) just gets cut off where Main Titles segues into Trapped.

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23 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Frizzell is a very underrated composer. I really like his score for Alien Resurrection.

I do too, Ripley's theme has such a cold, dark beauty to it. 

 

It's a score I remember being quite haunting. Some of the electronic elements layered in with the orchestra are very unnerving. I've been meaning to check out more of his music. 

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I like parts of his Resurrection score, but really didn't enjoy the experience in complete form. Go figure.

 

This score is very memorable to me, as I recall watching the film a lot when I was younger.

 

Evocative main theme from JNH, very ominous. Especially love that Rescue/Finale cue, which brilliantly transitions from triumph as our heroes are reunited, to mournful as the sheer devastation of the eruption is revealed (especially love that closing shot of the ruined, desolate town with the obliterated volcanic peak towering over it).

 

Might be nostalgia kicking in but I recall the film being pretty good too (albeit filled with characters making stupid decisions... and annoying kids). For its time, the VFX are excellent.

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48 minutes ago, Kühni said:

 

Indeed. The volcano is doing a few too many disparate things at the same time, but the visualisations of the pyroclastic flow, the lava etc. are very well and convincingly done. Better than Volcano at the very least.

 

Dante's Peak v Volcano reminds me of Deep Impact vs Armageddon.

 

One is just popcorn nonsense, the other is at least trying to take the subject matter seriously.

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9 hours ago, crumbs said:

One is just popcorn nonsense, the other is at least trying to take the subject matter seriously.

 

Though to similarly disastrous results (in both cases).

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I only have an issue with movies trying to be something they're not, and most disaster movies (these four included) know exactly what they are. Dante's and Deep Impact both take the science a little more seriously, but all four are just popcorn flicks.

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16 hours ago, crocodile said:

Demands of the genre, one would suspect. ;)

 

Or rather, studio committees.

16 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

I only have an issue with movies trying to be something they're not, and most disaster movies (these four included) know exactly what they are. 

 

Yeah. Pieces of shit. :mrgreen:

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Disaster movies are one of my favourite genres. DANTE'S PEAK wasn't quite "disaster" enough for my taste, but still a fairly decent movie (better than its competitor VOLCANO around the same time). Rewatched it just a few months ago.

 

The OST, which is sufficient enough for me, is kinda weird. Not really a strong theme, but with loads of ominous, rhythmical figures. Shame Frizzell's career didn't "take off" after his successful 90s. One would think having JNH as a mentor would help immensely.

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6 hours ago, Thor said:

The OST, which is sufficient enough for me, is kinda weird. Not really a strong theme, but with loads of ominous, rhythmical figures. Shame Frizzell's career didn't "take off" after his successful 90s. One would think having JNH as a mentor would help immensely.

 

I've always found Howard's theme rather strong actually... it surprises me a little when people say they don't find it memorable... each to their own :) 

 

My only guess as to why the OST is how it is, is that if you started including the more extended action cues where the volcano first goes off, you're eating up 30 minutes extremely quickly, with no room for lighter/drama material. I know you don't care about that, but unfortunately your assessment of the album really is because it's too short to be able to include the good stuff. There is at least a superior 45 minute playlist in there, had Varese had the budget.

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42 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

My only guess as to why the OST is how it is, is that if you started including the more extended action cues where the volcano first goes off, you're eating up 30 minutes extremely quickly, with no room for lighter/drama material. I know you don't care about that, but unfortunately your assessment of the album really is because it's too short. There is at least a superior 45 minute playlist in there, had Varese had the budget.

 

I think the album works fine as is, but I also wouldn't necessarily be opposed to those extra 15 minutes, if the more lowkey material was placed appropriately in the listening experience. I'm open to playlist suggestions once this new release comes out.

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I'd be more than happy to suggest an alternative 45 minute (ish) playlist once it's on Spotify :) 

 

And I really don't in any way mean this as part of our usual C&C/A&A argument - only because I genuinely think that this score was done a massive disservice by the short album, and there's a much better concept album to be made if given a slightly longer runtime.

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Am I going crazy or is there no listing for who edited & assembled the album? Or do we assume Cary and NSB handled that, in their role as EPs?

 

Wonder what involvement Mike had as an AP.

 

Looking forward to hearing this at some point. I'm still waiting on my last order from Intrada to ship :(

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25 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Am I going crazy or is there no listing for who edited & assembled the album?

 

Maybe that info is on the back cover?  Does seem weird otherwise...

 

I still don't get why nobody has drilled into the Varese marketing dept's heads how this information should be in the press releases / order page write-ups

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Neil provides the details Varese's pr doesnt!

 

Quote

I did the editing and assembly We used stereo 1/2" analog tapes. We had DATs available with the same content, but I realized the analog tapes were truly analog with an extended frequency response. The scoring mixer was Dennis Sands, who was also the scoring mixer on Volcano.

The original album (disc 2, tracks 13-22) uses the original digital master.

 

https://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=144996&forumID=1&archive=0

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Cool - nice to hear they went back to the tapes.

 

It's really nice they included the OST for completeness' sake, but I found reason only to keep the Main Title, almost all of which is different to the film version.

 

The alternates for Paul Dies and Magnificent Explosion are a different ending for the former, and different solo line at one point in the latter. The alternate The Rescue is essentially the cue from which the OST's The Rescue was culled.

 

Of the rest of the OST tracks, The Close Call and On The Porch/The Evacuation Begins are the same (pretty sure), and the rest are the same takes but microedited.

 

After Volcano was given the one-disc treatment with a bit of snipping, I was worried Townson would do a 'Matrix' and permanently sacrifice 4 1/2 minutes of this (well, we now know what he really thought), especially after LLL did the CS + OST thing for Alien Resurrection.

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I wonder why the alternate that the OST's Main Title was taken from isn't in the bonus track section?  That makes it the only cue which is only available via the 1997 digital master, instead of the new analog transfer

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¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Sounds fine nonetheless. Funny, this time last week, I was totally overthinking the clue, and was prepping myself to see a double Goldsmith batch, with Joe Dante's Matinee as the second title. Fast forward one week and I'm listening to The Earthquake :lovethis:

 

Oh, and I don't know why there isn't a link to this on Varese's site, but they're hosting a hi-res cover, found via a google image search:

 

(direct link)

 

DantesPeak_Deluxe_Cover_Banner_3000_55e6

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I haven't had the chance to hear this release yet but I've always thought that it's a very fine score. Frizzell did a good job.

 

If I'm not mistaken, Howard passed on a few projects to other composers during this short era? Didn't Debney take on LIAR LIAR the same year?

 

Was James just getting a bit too popular around 1995-7? :D

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Do we have slates for this except those listed on some JNH themed sites? I have a partial list, but don't know if it's accurate:

  • 1M1 Main Title
  • 1M2 Welcome To Dante
  • 1M3 Swinging Rope / Poached Lovers
  • 3M2A Flirting
  • 5M2 Frog Soup
  • 8M1 The Helicopter Crash
  • 8M2 In The Cabin
  • 8M3 Acid Lake
  • 9M2 Ruth Dies
  • 10M1 Devastation
  • 11M1 Magnificent Explosion
  • 11M2 The Mine Collapse
  • 11M3 The Rescue
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We watched this in school way back in the day for some reason.

 

All I remember from it is when the grandma died, because the scene was edited in a way where it looked like she didn't really push the boat at all. Don't remember the score at all. Should be a fun listen, hopefully. 

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12 hours ago, SilverTrumpet said:

All I remember from it is when the grandma died, because the scene was edited in a way where it looked like she didn't really push the boat at all. Don't remember the score at all. Should be a fun listen, hopefully. 

 

Hah, yeah grandma jumps in the acidic water then needlessly walks to the shore. She doesn't help the boat forward at all.

 

I guess you could argue she was reducing the weight inside the boat to keep it afloat a bit longer?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got my CD. Music Box Records was on vacation, apparently :-/

Anyway, what a wonderful album. I don't think any other soundtrack suffered more from Varese's 30 minute policy of the 90s. Almost all the highlights were missing, and even those that made it on the original soundtrack album were horribly truncated. So many great cues on the new album; I especially love the first half hour. "Helicopter Ride" was one of my grails, and it doesn't disappoint. But even some of the action stuff later on is great; "The Earthquake" is my favorite in that regard so far.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Really enjoying this release. Both the Film version and Alternate version of 'The Rescue' are credited to John Frizzell and James Newton Howard while the album version is credited to John Frizzell only. I'm assuming this is an error and all three should be attributed to both Frizzell and Howard?

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Looks like the OST is credited across the board as Frizzell, so the proper credits would be the same as the counterparts in the main program.

 

On 17/09/2021 at 4:33 PM, paleo said:

"The Earthquake" is my favorite in that regard so far.

 

I've listened to that track so many times since receiving the set. I even ripped just that track and listened to it before I ripped the rest of the set, as I was so nervous that something about it would be different from the film.

 

The original album is fine if you have a Thor-approach - I do think the microedits work in terms of compressing it down for time. It just falls apart the moment you begin to connect it to the film and realise that, as you said, almost every highlight is missing.

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  • 2 months later...

Received my copy today. It is actually a very entertaining and enjoyable score. For something as hodgepodge in terms of production history, the music feels fairly consistent. Glad I bought this. 

 

Karol

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  • 1 year later...

That track is labelled 'film version' because it contains some material edited out of the OST track once they're on the boat.

 

Most of the percussion section from 0:08 onwards was replaced by two sections of material tracked from The Earthquake.

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I dont even know why they did that considering they still use the end of the percussion segment.

 

But yeah the bits he talks about seem to have a different sound in the movie, plus thats also in the segment that the earlier releases missed.

I guess that track was just edited a lot after the sessions and they couldnt replicate those edits for this release either.

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Ah yes, the 'hits' just before the string section starts are a bit different - sounds to me like they got rid of the brass layer for some of that cue.

 

The cue before inside the cabin is also different and they just looped a section of that cue, possibly by using only some of the mix. I'd be far more inclined to believe that any differences are mixing/editing rather than actual alternate takes.

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Hello there thanks for responding yeah the hits at 1:33 1:40 1:45 1:50 1:55 is what I’m referring to you can hear the brass and strings but not the hits like in the film so it might be an insert or it was added late into the film separately the rest sounds the same so I don’t think it’s a another take just an insert 

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