| Red Dragon |
|
Composed by Danny Elfman |
|
|
Orchestrated by Steve Bartek, Edgardo Simone, Bruce Fowler, and David Slonaker Conducted by Pete Anthony Produced by Danny Elfman and Ellen Segal Release Date: 2002 |
Purchase this CD at:
|
|
After listening to this score, I'm sure most people's response will be "Why?" And the answer is: because director Brett Ratner thought it would be a good idea to give Elfman a film of this type to play around with since he is such a big fan of Bernard Herrmann. This in an of itself is a cool idea, the only problem with it is that Elfman didn't follow through with it as well as he could have. As Ratner's direction lends itself to flat and by-the-numbers for the film, so is Elfman's score predictably atmospheric and lacks any real creativity that could have made this a good tension-driven score. It's not that Elfman can't emulate Herrmann well. One only has to hear the epilogue from Batman Returns to realize just how well Elfman can pull off that style. To be honest, that same style is apparent here, just not as strong as it could have, or should have, been. Instead, the film is scored with an atmospheric approach that lacks any real tension. Ruled by a desire to score something new while not treading on territory already occupied by the previous films, Elfman seems to have pigeonholed himself into a style that is just not all that interesting. While I have yet to experience Howard Shore's score to Silence of the Lambs outside of the film, I found that Hans Zimmer's score to Hannibal is much stronger than Red Dragon, and far more interesting (especially considering the deranged version of The Blue Danube from that score). With such high profile composers having contributed to the series, one would naturally assume that Elfman would wish to make his own mark on the franchise. Instead he seems to leave nothing more than a fingerprint. The score does have it's strengths. While the opening two tracks are rather bland, the music kicks into high gear with Elfman's excellent Main Titles. And then as the score goes on, it's quickly apparent that if it wasn't for the strong main theme, this score would be a lot worse than it actually is. The performance of the theme is so wickedly intense and powerful that it goes a long way, especially when it appears to help break up the monotony of the atmospheric cues later on in the score. It's re-appearance in full at the end helps bring a close, but also dawns the realization that otherwise, nothing else really happened with the music. Had the score followed the same pattern that the opening title cue set, it would have been quite excellent. The release itself is quite pleasing, with almost a full hour of the score and an enhanced CD feature that I found to be actually worth something. The trailer to the film is included, along with a short interview/behind-the-scenes segment with Ratner and Elfman. The video quality isn't the greatest by far, but at least the Ratner/Efman piece is somewhat interesting. To sum it up, so much potential and so many missed opportunities. Not horrible by any means, but Elfman really didn't prove himself well with his freshman effort in this genre. It's great for the opening title, but there is not much substance after that, save for a few "killer" moments sprinkled about. If you've seen the film and liked what you heard, pick this up by all means. Otherwise, exercise some caution before plunking down the cash for this one. *** |
| Track Listing - Total Running Time: 57:15 | |
|
|
