Bill Wrobel's DVD - Film Score Rundowns

(of Theosophy) on the matter. I do eat fish now & then, and once or twice a year I eat
turkey (especially if my wife makes it for Thanksgiving—so I don’t want to hurt her
feelings!). So I could not relate completely with the subject matter of this movie
(Spurlock eating only McDonalds food for thirty days straight) but it was quite interesting
seeing his health deteriorate during the course of his diet experiment. In certain
fundamental terms, you are what you eat (and breathe) so it behooves you to consume
intelligently. If you super size your intake of food, you’ll get fat—simple as that! Eat
right and eat less, and don’t forget to exercise!
-The Reagans (2003) **
http://www.amazon.com/Reagans-Judy-
Davis/dp/B0001US6CI/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1293768539&sr=1-1
Saw it once on this dvd but did not care for it despite Judy Davis. I should watch
it again to be fair but I don’t have the time right now!
-Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) * 1/2 [music *** 1/2]
http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Beyond-Stars-George-
Peppard/dp/B000055ZF1/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1293768614&sr=1-1
The distinctive feature of this otherwise silly, campy scifi movie (ala Seven
Samurai theme) is James Horner’s vibrant score. Of course he rather obviously borrowed
techniques and instruments from Goldsmith’s Star Trek score the year earlier. In fact a
rhythmic pattern he directly lifted from Goldsmith (part of the Klingon battle) is evident
at 00:53:16. A lot of people have bashed Horner for this “borrowing” habit of his but I
nevertheless like the vitality of his early years music despite the derived practices at times
or “horning in” on similar styles or maybe even a direct lift at times in his career. Even in
this movie at, say, 00:39:18, there appears to be a direct lift of a three-note motif from a
Russian composer, a theme also used in Woody Allen’s Love & Death. Casting Richard
Thomas as the hero/central protagonist was a bad mistake. He’s just wrong for the part.
He was too “nice,” too girlish-looking here, too weak, no edge, and so forth. After a
satisfying meal of Star Wars and Alien and Star Trek, the cheap and empty special effects
appetizer of this movie left me quite hungry for something substantial (anything!). Like
that phrase from that stupid-looking white alien at 00:38:54, I was “becoming bored to
death”—not just from the special effects but the movie itself. The only satisfaction or
emotional calories I received was from Horner’s music.
-Tron (1982) *** [music **]
http://www.amazon.com/Tron-20th-Anniversary-Collectors-
Bridges/dp/B00005OCMR/ref=sr_1_4?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1293768788&sr=1-4
This was an interesting movie to see for the first time at the theaters but it doesn’t
seem to hold up after the first viewing. The sequel that came out a few years ago has
more interesting updated effects. I liked it better.
-Drums in the Deep South (1951) ** [music ***]
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