Intrada again reissues popular Jerry Goldsmith action score! Issued several times previously and selling out each time, Intrada yet again issues popular and exciting score for Korean War drama but with a change of face:. Master elements for the score, recorded in Italy, all survived in several formats with composer Goldsmith and engineer Len Engel working from and preferring the 1” 8-track masters for our initial CD release and reissue. Subsequently, Intrada created new masters from these elements in tandem with the 1/2” 3-channel stereo film mixes, including editing between the formats. Based on assumptions they would prove inferior, the tapes never utilized were the 1/4” safeties, which were stereo mixes made and stored simply as backups in case of damage to all the other rolls of tape. We finally addressed those tapes expecting more of the same notoriously thin dynamics. Happily we were wrong. Reasonably free from blemishes and noise, these rolls proved to have crisper and cleaner audio with improved dynamics, allowing us to rebuild the entire previous 3-CD program with what should be the best audio available… famous last words? There are few guarantees in life, but the excitement and power of this score remains one of them! While the contents are ostensibly identical to the previous three-disc releases, we found a few additional early print takes and alternates were previously unreleased and, while offering no significant musical differences, might make Goldsmith completists just a little bit happier to take yet one more trip to the well. As before, the first CD offers the original 1982 soundtrack album in the best possible sound, the second CD presents the entire score utilizing the editorial assemblies created by the composer and engineer for our earliest reissue and the third CD carries the complete score in unedited fashion so bars at the end of cues previously edited together now play in their entirety. So three different presentations of this magnificent score, each with its own merits! The film itself, chronicling events surrounding the Korean war, had a much-troubled production history that spanned two years, saw the death of cast member David Janssen and ultimately led to the editing of more than a half hour of footage prior to its general release. Happily Goldsmith scored the longer version and all of his music survived in beautiful condition. Other film production credits were top drawer, including Terence Young (of James Bond fame) at the helm and stars Laurence Olivier, Jacqueline Bisset, Ben Gazzara, Toshiro Mifune and Richard Rountree in the cast. Goldsmith’s “Main Title” opens in aggressive, declamatory fashion, an abundance of propulsive energy and jagged rhythm that puts it in a very small family of Goldsmith title music that includes Night Crossing, Capricorn One, Face Of A Fugitive and The Salamander. The score is thematically rich with ideas for not only the conflict, but the locale and specific characters (Lim’s theme is an emotional highlight) as well. A sparingly used love theme and powerful action material for the tank sequences are major assets! Len Engel engineers, Arthur Morton orchestrates, Jerry Goldsmith composes, conducts. Intrada Special Collection 3-CD set available while quantities and interest remain!
