Of course, no Western is complete
without a few dollops of exciting action and just because he is
twice as old as some of today's younger composers, doesn't mean
that Elmer is a slouch. Far from it in fact, a lot of the action
is exciting by being well composed rather than by just being
loud. Judicious use of the darkly heroic main theme only adds to
the fun of the whole endeavor. While some people will be gutted
to think that not every note of this score was written by Elmer
need not panic since Peter Bernstein does a splendid job of
blending his music in and it is every bit as marvellously
composed as Elmer's. One of the highlight tracks would have to be
Loveless' Plan which starts off in a mock stirring patriotic
style, replete with massive choir, but then follows with a quote
of God Save the Queen (that most wonderful of National Anthems)
and then into this kind of deranged circus music that is very
weird, but perfect for the rather none too sane character of
Loveless (played with very little dignity by the rather badly
miscast Kenneth Brannagh - stick to Shakespeare, Woody Allen and decent
films I think). Loveless does get a great four note mock evil
theme which is just a right side of comic and downright criminal.
The penultimate cue, by Peter Bernstein is probably the most
rollocking action cue of the entire score and makes a nice
showdown excitement extravaganza with running strings, bouncing
brass, bold statements of the main theme along with the odd quote
of Loveless' motif. Ride the Spider is perhaps a bit too much of,
a parody of the traditional riding into the sunset type Western
ending, but it sounds great, even with a rather curious number of
key changes in the closing bars. Elmer and Peter definitely did an
excellent job with this score that blends a great western theme
with the odd retro groove, but also a hint of a psychopathic
carnival. An unlikely mix that works better than it sounds. The
two composer's styles don't clash at all and one would be hard
pressed to tell them apart. In this particular instance I think
an extra 15 minutes or so wouldn't have gone a miss. Elmer
Bernstein doesn't get many opportunities to write western scores
these days and this shows that he hasn't lost the knack one bit,
even if the film that it comes from was solid gold dog poop. Rating ~ Total Time ~ 30:12Out of the hideous drivel that
was the film Wild Wild West there were only
three good things, one was Kevin Kline who I've decided is one of
my favourite actors and can pull of roles which are crappy and
poor and still make it look much funnier that it is. The other
great thing about Wild Wild West other than the
realisation that was over, was Elmer Bernstein's ultra funky
score. While I was expecting a very traditional comedy Western
score, Elmer pulled out all the stops and combined a great
Western theme with some Lalo Schifrin style funk that really
works wonders. It is similar to Danny Elfman's approach to
Sonnenfeld's last film, Men in Black which was
generally modern funk combined with a few outbursts of more
traditional orchestra. Of course Elmer Bernstein has a great
grasp on orchestral writing and so it is in these moments that
the score really shines. The Main Title starts off none to
promisingly with a wavering ondes martenot note, but this soon
gives way to some eerie strings and then full on Western theme,
which curiously enough isn't actually joyful, but a minor key
melody that rather betrays its origins in a comedy film, but is
ultimately more satisfying than another cheap Magnificent
Seven parody. There is a central section where the retro
grooves hit in and while this almost threatens to spoil the rest
of the atmosphere created, it actually blends in surprisingly
well; especially when placed with the excellent credits sequence
which looks like a moving version of some Ennio Morricone
spaghetti western score covers.
