JERRY GOLDSMITH

Erik Woods wrote
JERRY GOLDSMITH’S QUINTESSENTIAL TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE ARRIVES ON CD

The fantasy anthology film yields a rich, diverse score from the great composer, now presented complete for the first time by Film Score Monthly

Linden, VA – April 14, 2009 – You’re traveling through another dimension... That’s the signpost up ahead – your next stop, Jerry Goldsmith’s Twilight Zone: The Movie, one of his greatest sci-fi/fantasy scores now on CD in complete form from Film Score Monthly.

Twilight Zone: The Movie was the 1983 anthology film inspired by the classic Rod Serling TV series, and no composer was better suited to score the big-screen adaptation than Jerry Goldsmith. By the early 1980s Goldsmith was a master in every genre of film, from intimate dramas to large-scale adventures, but he was particularly noted for his landmark scores for science fiction: Planet of the Apes, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Alien and more – including 1981's Poltergeist (for Twilight Zone: The Movie producer and co-director Steven Spielberg), and the original Twilight Zone series, for which Goldsmith scored classic episodes like “The Invaders.”

With massive technical ability at his disposal, and an unerring gift for drama and melody, Goldsmith wrote brilliant accompaniment for the four segments of Twilight Zone: The Movie, blending the intimate and epic, traditional and modern:

“Time Out,” directed by John Landis and starring Vic Morrow as a bigot facing just desserts, features an astringent, percussive score not unlike Goldsmith’s efforts from the original Twilight Zone TV series.

“Kick the Can,” directed by Steven Spielberg, features a magical, emotional score brimming with warmth as the residents of a retirement home discover an unlikely Fountain of Youth.

“It’s a Good Life,” directed by Joe Dante, spotlights an all-powerful boy who has kidnapped adults for companionship, including a bewildered schoolteacher (Kathleen Quinlan); Goldsmith’s haunting score blends a melancholy theme with ethereal impressionism and shrieking horror for Dante’s postmodern scares.

Finally, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” directed by George Miller and starring John Lithgow as a terrified airline passenger who sees a monster on the wing, features brilliant psychological scoring with devilish moments (foreshadowing Goldsmith’s approach for Gremlins) and symphonic size.

Twilight Zone: The Movie was released on LP at the time of the film, a program since issued on CD in Japan and Germany. For the first time, FSM presents the complete, chronological score, with bonus tracks of the film’s songs (“Nights Are Forever,” by Goldsmith as featured on the LP, and “Anesthesia” by Joseph Williams, previously unreleased) plus album edits of relevant cues. The CD is carefully designed so that the LP sequence can be programmed, if so desired.

The complete score has been newly restored from the first-generation Warner Bros. masters by Mike Matessino in cooperation with Bruce Botnick, Goldsmith’s longtime recording engineer and colleague who has mastered this CD. Matessino and Jeff Bond provide the authoritative liner notes.

This quintessential Goldsmith masterwork is available now from Screen Archives Entertainment at www.screenarchives.com.

Check it out at http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm?ID=12234

Steven wrote
You've never heard Goldsmith's Twilight Zone?...

FalkirkBairn wrote

I don't think I have.

I've certainly not seen the movie - and as the available CD was difficult to get(?) it's one I've never sampled. So unless the theme has somehow entered the "mainstream" then I do think I've missed this one. (Listening to the "Overture" clip over at SAE it's mostly a clip of the TV Twilight Zone theme.)

Ralph Kruhm wrote
I saw Star Trek yesterday and just want to say this:

Jerry, I miss you.