Jerry Goldsmith had won an Oscar and was on something of a high at the time of The Swarm and yet still agreed to score Irwin Allen's witless and dismal disaster flick that did for bees what Lake Placid did for crocodiles, although at least the latter had a good sense of humour. Then again, what was Michael Caine thinking when he accepted the lead? Who can say? Evidently, John Williams had decided that his disaster score days were over and so the gig went to Jerry Goldsmith instead and to be fair, Goldsmith produced a much more exciting effort than Williams' barely noticeable Poseidon Adventure or now dated Towering Inferno. I still don't quite understand how Goldsmith ended up with such a bouncy main theme, which features fully in the End Title (as featured on several Silva Screen compilations), but it isn't really indicative of the score as a whole, which characterises the threat with menacing brass that represent the bees themselves.

Perhaps the only precedent for representing bees musically on film rests with Bernard Herrmann's score to Mysterious Island, with one of Ray Harryhausen's giant bees to turn into music. Although some way off a direct copy, the spluttering, gnarled brass sound that Goldsmith uses owes considerable debt to Herrmann's effort. Almost all of the passages dealing directly with the flying menace has some suggestion of the motif, but there are some other effective suspense cues and even a couple of quite delicate tracks, the end of Get Him Out and Old Friends being particularly lovely. One thing the 70's disaster films didn't have in such great quantity as those of the 90's was action and The Swarm has only two notable action cues, The Bees Arrive and The Bees Inside (the track titles are genius), but both are prototypical Goldsmith action, pounding rhythms that pre-empt the Rambo scores, more of the obligatory stomping brass and unflagging energy. They may not be quite top tier Goldsmith action, but are an exciting change of pace.

The sound is remarkably clear considering the age of the recording and that it was attached to a pretty unsuccessful film. It is fairly harsh, the miking is close, although surprisingly spacious; the recording style, coupled with the various mutes to make the brass even more intense, can get a bit tough on the ears after 72 and a half minutes. While the completism is commendable, the long stretches of prickly suspense and occasional melodrama can get a bit much after a while. That is not to say there aren't plenty of fine moments and given the material he had to work with, Goldsmith does a great job, pretty much providing all the tension the film so clearly lacked. Another score to add to the sub genre of good scores by Jerry Goldsmith for terrible films, although in this case, one that is sometimes more technically well crafted than outright enjoyable.

The album is a limited edition available from Soundtrack Magazine as part of the Prometheus CD Club.

Rating ~

  1. Main Title - Red Two Reporting (6:37)
  2. The Black Mass (2:30)
  3. What Happened? (1:08)
  4. The Bees Picnic (2:15)
  5. On Their Way (0:55)
  6. Get Him Out (2:09)
  7. Old Friends (1:24)
  8. High Toxin (4:24)
  9. The Boys and the Bees - Part One (2:02)
  10. Oh Maureen - The Boys and the Bees - Part Two (2:28)
  11. Bees on Fire - Towards Marysville (2:02)
  12. The Lollipop (0:39)
  13. A Gift of Flowers (1:57)
  14. The Bees Arrive (4:52)
  15. Out of the Closet (1:47)
  16. The Park (0:38)
  17. Rita and the Doctor (0:56)
  18. Brad and Helena (1:33)
  19. Train Wreck - No Effect (3:31)
  20. Tommy's Dead! (3:21)
  21. Exact Instructions (7:10)
  22. Oh Walter!! (1:11)
  23. The Glasses - Houston Headquarters (3:43)
  24. Burn 'Em Out (1:08)
  25. Get Reinforcements! (2:26)
  26. The Bees Inside (5:18)
  27. End Title (3:05)

Total Time ~ 72:38