Around the World in 80 Days
Trevor Jones
" Beating around the bush of about 80 Scores "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
When it was announced that a modern Disney version would be made of a classic as Around the World in 80 Days, people were somewhat intrigued. And more film happiness came when people heard someone like Trevor Jones would eventually score it. A man that has the orchestral baton so strong in hand that the brass players alone in the world quiver for another workout. Now, the movie itself wasn't bad but it felt that several things didn't fully work, including the drag queen act of Governor Arnold Schzwarzenegger. But we could rejoice at the fact that Trevor Jones would deliver us a wonderful blast of epic theme writing.
Speaking alone of the orchestral power coming of Jones' writing, we can say at least that the adventure score which we were expecting is what we received. Well, expected is the wrong word because we expected a Trevor Jones score, and not a Williams / Zimmer / Silvestri effort which we received in the end. Fan reaction to the score of Around the World in 80 Days is good and I can't blame them, but several things must be clarified. This because the score is one giant temp track jungle.
I'm against temp track, but you can't stop it and in the end you have to accept and appreciate it. Shame, because Jones' style is easy to spot and Around the World in 80 Days doesn't cover that one bit. And so I have to inform you first by saying that this is a wonderful orchestral film score of all sizes, but it's seriously influenced by whatever score you heard in the last 10 years.
The first 3 tracks are songs and while the first is good and suitable for the film, the second is not. It's like a Turkish Eurovision song and the third a Jamaican silly little kid's ditty. So for the songs at least, an average recommendation. And then the score of Trevor Jones commences, with a wonderful adventurous main theme to say the least. That it is presenting half of Silvestri's great bus ride theme of The Mummy Returns is perhaps at the time of the beginning acceptable. But you had to see it coming, since Silvestri's music was covering the trailer of the movie as well. Anyway, "Around the World Overture" is rollicking good fun.
"Jetpack Journey" is a wild energetic ride and fortunately has Jones' stylistics (Dark City and The Mighty at times), while "The Wager" carries Jones' lighter background material. "The Balloon Chase" actually re-ignites the temp track decease, and here "The Ultimate War" of Hook is clearly heard.
The similarities in "Prince Hapi Escape" are sadly ever present. A Jones opening it has, but then typical Patrick Doyle fanfares with a brief racing pound straight out of Needful Things start to appear, followed by clear Pirates of the Caribbean influenced action music. You can't ignore it, it is as clear as the Caribbean water itself. And please follow me further with "Agra to China" where first Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade makes a visit before a lovely ethnic main theme is heard on flute, yet sadly 70% based on the main theme of Hans Zimmer's Beyond Rangoon.
The following track is a beauty and perhaps I'm fantasizing to hear briefly the main theme of Far and Away in it but it moves nonetheless further with Heaven and Earth of Kitaro while exploding in a truly wonderful main theme version of the ethnic scale, meaning the Beyond Rangoon theme. It is very grand and sweeping but call it what you will, I call it temp track staggering to say the least. The fun "Lost in America" is another example, stating I think a brief Anna and the King opening, followed by some League of Extraordinary Gentlemen fanfares (of Trevor Jones for those who don't know all his scores), followed by playful western lounge music that leads to a statement of Gilligan's Island theme, by that leading to a brief but western fanfare that doesn't sound that far away from one that Randy Newman used in Maverick.
"Dismantling Carmen" by then uses choir (YES) as well as Sinbad of Gregson-Williams and Beastmaster 2 of Robert Folk. "Exactly Like my Dream" is the finale and Jones doesn't disappoint. It starts with a swashbuckling opening that soon moves to a glorious finale with large choir, but sadly this is all ripped from Atlantis and James Newton Howard's riveting cue "The Submarine". And whether true or not, at times I hear "You are the Pan" of Hook in it. Anyway what is clear is that the wonderful main theme statements with choir are what end the score on a high note, no matter if it's a clear rip off or not.
In the end, some of these moments sound perhaps so close to previously written music that it must be pure coincidence. But others are so clear, you just become so paranoid you're actually hearing music that might not be temp tracked at all. Around the World in 80 Days is one of the finest orchestral scores in a long time because it sounds big, adventurous and loud. And it has cohesion. But don't beat around the bush that Jones' style is evident in here. Thirteen Days, The Mighty and Dark City were all scores where you could distinguish Trevor Jones' sound. Here you wonder if Jones was basically temp tracking it or someone for him. I love this score, I really do! But please be ready for what it sounds like, because Trevor Jones it doesn't sound like at all.
Tracklisting
1. Everybody All Over the World: Dave Stewart * (3.12)
2. River of Dreams: Tina Sugandh (3.31)
3. It's A Small World: Baha Men (2.44)
4. Around the World Overture (5.20)
5. Jetpack Journey (2.19)
6. The Wager (5.03)
7. Rendezvous in Paris (3.51)
8. The Balloon Chase (4.49) Excellent track
9. 1st Class Waltz (2.07)
10. Prince Hapi Escape (3.11)
11. Agra to China (6.42)
12. Return of the Jade Buddha (3.38) Excellent track
13. Lost in America (5.09) Excellent track
14. Dismantling Carmen (1.45)
15. "Exactly Like My Dream" (4.45) Excellent track
* Features the Sylvia Young Theater School Choir
Total Length: 58.42
Speaking alone of the orchestral power coming of Jones' writing, we can say at least that the adventure score which we were expecting is what we received. Well, expected is the wrong word because we expected a Trevor Jones score, and not a Williams / Zimmer / Silvestri effort which we received in the end. Fan reaction to the score of Around the World in 80 Days is good and I can't blame them, but several things must be clarified. This because the score is one giant temp track jungle.
I'm against temp track, but you can't stop it and in the end you have to accept and appreciate it. Shame, because Jones' style is easy to spot and Around the World in 80 Days doesn't cover that one bit. And so I have to inform you first by saying that this is a wonderful orchestral film score of all sizes, but it's seriously influenced by whatever score you heard in the last 10 years.
The first 3 tracks are songs and while the first is good and suitable for the film, the second is not. It's like a Turkish Eurovision song and the third a Jamaican silly little kid's ditty. So for the songs at least, an average recommendation. And then the score of Trevor Jones commences, with a wonderful adventurous main theme to say the least. That it is presenting half of Silvestri's great bus ride theme of The Mummy Returns is perhaps at the time of the beginning acceptable. But you had to see it coming, since Silvestri's music was covering the trailer of the movie as well. Anyway, "Around the World Overture" is rollicking good fun.
"Jetpack Journey" is a wild energetic ride and fortunately has Jones' stylistics (Dark City and The Mighty at times), while "The Wager" carries Jones' lighter background material. "The Balloon Chase" actually re-ignites the temp track decease, and here "The Ultimate War" of Hook is clearly heard.
The similarities in "Prince Hapi Escape" are sadly ever present. A Jones opening it has, but then typical Patrick Doyle fanfares with a brief racing pound straight out of Needful Things start to appear, followed by clear Pirates of the Caribbean influenced action music. You can't ignore it, it is as clear as the Caribbean water itself. And please follow me further with "Agra to China" where first Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade makes a visit before a lovely ethnic main theme is heard on flute, yet sadly 70% based on the main theme of Hans Zimmer's Beyond Rangoon.
The following track is a beauty and perhaps I'm fantasizing to hear briefly the main theme of Far and Away in it but it moves nonetheless further with Heaven and Earth of Kitaro while exploding in a truly wonderful main theme version of the ethnic scale, meaning the Beyond Rangoon theme. It is very grand and sweeping but call it what you will, I call it temp track staggering to say the least. The fun "Lost in America" is another example, stating I think a brief Anna and the King opening, followed by some League of Extraordinary Gentlemen fanfares (of Trevor Jones for those who don't know all his scores), followed by playful western lounge music that leads to a statement of Gilligan's Island theme, by that leading to a brief but western fanfare that doesn't sound that far away from one that Randy Newman used in Maverick.
"Dismantling Carmen" by then uses choir (YES) as well as Sinbad of Gregson-Williams and Beastmaster 2 of Robert Folk. "Exactly Like my Dream" is the finale and Jones doesn't disappoint. It starts with a swashbuckling opening that soon moves to a glorious finale with large choir, but sadly this is all ripped from Atlantis and James Newton Howard's riveting cue "The Submarine". And whether true or not, at times I hear "You are the Pan" of Hook in it. Anyway what is clear is that the wonderful main theme statements with choir are what end the score on a high note, no matter if it's a clear rip off or not.
In the end, some of these moments sound perhaps so close to previously written music that it must be pure coincidence. But others are so clear, you just become so paranoid you're actually hearing music that might not be temp tracked at all. Around the World in 80 Days is one of the finest orchestral scores in a long time because it sounds big, adventurous and loud. And it has cohesion. But don't beat around the bush that Jones' style is evident in here. Thirteen Days, The Mighty and Dark City were all scores where you could distinguish Trevor Jones' sound. Here you wonder if Jones was basically temp tracking it or someone for him. I love this score, I really do! But please be ready for what it sounds like, because Trevor Jones it doesn't sound like at all.
Tracklisting
1. Everybody All Over the World: Dave Stewart * (3.12)
2. River of Dreams: Tina Sugandh (3.31)
3. It's A Small World: Baha Men (2.44)
4. Around the World Overture (5.20)
5. Jetpack Journey (2.19)
6. The Wager (5.03)
7. Rendezvous in Paris (3.51)
8. The Balloon Chase (4.49) Excellent track
9. 1st Class Waltz (2.07)
10. Prince Hapi Escape (3.11)
11. Agra to China (6.42)
12. Return of the Jade Buddha (3.38) Excellent track
13. Lost in America (5.09) Excellent track
14. Dismantling Carmen (1.45)
15. "Exactly Like My Dream" (4.45) Excellent track
* Features the Sylvia Young Theater School Choir
Total Length: 58.42