Williams' LOST WORLD vs. Goldsmith's THE EDGE

[David Coscina 3]

Interestingly, both were released in 1997, and both had the man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs. himself narrative. In spite of preferring more John Williams works over Goldsmith's in general, I find The Edge much more satisfying to listen to on its own and in the context of the film. The low descending trombone lines perfectly suited Bart (the bear). And Goldsmith's use of percussion was dynamic and developed. Williams' jungle music were comprised mostly of short percussion loops under some pretty uninteresting textural work. Of course the big theme was all right but slightly stilted because it was built on triadic chords rather than his staple strong melodies.

What do you think?

[Romão 2,274]

Never heard the Edge.

[David Coscina 3]

Check it out. It's one of Goldsmith's best from the '90s.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

I love both scores and can't say I prefer either. Both have a great main theme, but they each have their high points. LW I find simply more exciting, action-packed and more complex, but The Edge is far more natural and emotional (as well as being a heck of a lot easier to rip the DVD complete score, which I've done) and I'm more familiar with it.

I got The Edge on CD about a year ago and it's pretty rare, but you should be able to find it on Soulseek - well worth a listen.

Stalking

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Check it out.  It's one of Goldsmith's best from the '90s.

does it sound like most everything else Jerry did during the 90's?

[David Coscina 3]

Check it out.  It's one of Goldsmith's best from the '90s.

does it sound like most everything else Jerry did during the 90's?

It does have that streamlined Goldsmith compositional approach he refined in the '90s, that's for sure. He's got "the big theme" which is scored for strings while woodwinds do little arpeggiations around the harmony. But his "journey theme" which is my favorite contains some great bi-tonal chord progressions that reminds me a bit of his amazing Papillon music. I think The Edge is preferable because it has more of an identifiable theme group and is more emotive. Mind you, the film was leagues better than Lost World which I think is Spielberg's worst film of all time. Awful continuity, cardboard characters, cliche'd scenes, a totally stupid ending that doesn't make any sense (how does the ship land itself if all the crew members are dead and how the heck does the adult T-Rex get locked back in the holding tank AFTER killing all of said crew??? Answer: David Koepp SUCKS!)

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I voted for The Lost World, but there is nothing wrong what so ever with The Edge.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

The Lost World edges out...The Edge in my book...pun intended...but not by much.

[Marian Schedenig 8,194]

Musically, they really don't have much in common. As a whole score, I clearly prefer TLW. But Edge's wonderful main title based on Bruckner's Te Deum motif cannot be neglected.

Marian -

[scissorhands 16]

Bruckner's Te Deum

Thanks for the note, Marian, I didn't know that reference. It's one of my favorite themes and definitely Goldsmith's best. I'll try to hear Bruckner's

Voted for The Lost World.

[A24 4,338]

Interestingly, both were released in 1997, and both had the man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs. himself narrative.

You think so? I didn't know that The Lost World had any narrative.

[CYPHER 1]

Well given that I have never heard The Edge surely that disqualifies me from voting in this two-way duel, eh? Actually... no. Because I love The Lost World that much, I just had to vote for it! However the above comments have certainly made me aware that Goldsmith's score is one to keep my eye out for in future.

CYPHER

[David Coscina 3]

A narrative is simply another word for storyline. Even though Lost World had a really crappy story, it still sort of had one.

As for Goldsmith's score, I'm actually surprised more posters on this forum haven't heard it yet. It's really quite good. I put it on in the car on the way to work this morning and it's still an amazing score.

[Marian Schedenig 8,194]

Thanks for the note, Marian, I didn't know that reference. It's one of my favorite themes and definitely Goldsmith's best. I'll try to hear Bruckner's

Well, it's not Goldsmith's actual theme but the 4 note ostinato he uses. Given Goldsmith's track record, I don't think the connection is coincidence. That said, the Te Deum is one of my all-time favourite choral works.

Marian - still wondering if he should go hear it live in November (but can Ozawa conduct Bruckner?)

[Morlock 11]

I've never heard the whole Edge CD, so I can't really compare. I do know I love the main theme, but I was never that impressed with any of the Bart the bear material, whether on film or musically. I love the Lost World theme, and I love the tone of a lot of the action music in it. I love that calypso (sp), stuff. Sounds like it could be in Elfman's Flubber score from the same year. It's just so fun and un-JW.

[Incanus 5,715]

Lost World is my choice. Both scores are very good but Williams' brilliant main themes (one of the better adventure themes) jungle action material and interesting underscore win the competition(I really like the lower register of the orchestra playing here even though many think cues like Finding Camp Jurassic and The Trek might be boring). I have heard few cues from the Edge and have seen the film and I must say the theme is one of Goldmsmith's best from the 90's. I was very impressed with the score from the first hearing. Underscore and action/suspence music is really good but still Lost World is a bit better.

[Jeshopk 8]

I have both, love both, but must give it to Lost World for repeat listenability. It may well be that The Edge is classier music, but Lost World is so much fun, and contains so much variety.

The Edge, though, is a really great score.