Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I know we’ve been under-reporting celebrity deaths here at AICN lately. I can’t speak for Harry or Father Geek, who normally handle these duties, but I’ve mentioned before how much I don’t like writing these pieces. In this particular case, though, I had a few words I wanted to say about a very talented man and the effect his music had on me.
He was heavily involved in PINK FLOYD – THE WALL, a film I saw many, many times at midnight screenings over the years, and the way Pink Floyd’s remarkable album was reorchestrated and rearranged for the film was amazing. He was also the composer who scored BRAZIL, one of my two favorite films. His work on that movie always gives me goosebumps, and it’s the film that I’ll watch to celebrate his art later this weekend.
Many of you wrote in about this, but this particular letter caught my eye:
Dear Moriarty;
I'm writing to you because I hope that you will post some sort of memoriam towards composer Michael Kamen. He died this week at 55 from a 'cardiac event' due to complications from multiple sclerosis.
For me, Michael Kamen was one of the most underrated composers. Many of his film scores left an impact on me growing up, even before I knew that I should listen to movies as much as watch them. In the eighties and early nineties, he was the go-to guy for a rousing action score. Later on in his career, he seemed to steer away from the Joel Silver type action, and tried to set himself up (with great success) as a composer of warmth.
Up until his death, he composed 84 films. According to IMDB, the last one completed was the movie AGAINST THE ROPES, starring Meg Ryan and Omar Epps. I don't know if he was able to finish the score to the movie FIRST DAUGHTER, but that was the last credit IMDB gave him.
Here are a list of memorable movies (and television programs) that he's responsible for elevating, from earliest to latest. For many of you, his scores defined the excitement for the classic movies of the eighties and early nineties. He was the goost of you, I would bet that his scores from the eighties to early nineties are the ones most will remember. There are three that I will save for last.
THE DEAD ZONE
BRAZIL
LIFEFORCE
HIGHLANDER
The LETHAL WEAPON series
ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
HUDSON HAWK (debatable)
THE LAST BOY SCOUT
THE LAST ACTION HERO
DON JUAN DEMARCO
MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS
101 DALMATIONS
EVENT HORIZON
"FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON" - main title, pts. 1, 4, 12
WHAT DREAMS MAY COME
THE IRON GIANT
X-MEN
"A BAND OF BROTHERS"
OPEN RANGE
Of course, some have been left out. Some may not like his score for X-Men, if only for the fact that John Ottman should've composed it. And many might not like his transition from R films to John Hughes films. After all, the man did compose 84-85 films - no one can like them all.
But the ones that I feel need mentioning above others are:
The DIE HARD SERIES
I would be hard pressed to find many of you who did not enjoy his menacing arrangement of ODE to JOY. It was a unique choice that added class to a villain, and style to a unique film. He helped make this one a sleeper hit, as well as the sequels that followed. For me, the music and action are one and the same. Die Hard 4 - should it be made - will not sound the same.
THE IRON GIANT
For many, a modern animated classic. For me, a score to match. Wonderful, heartfelt scoring, and unfortunately - no one saw the film. But for those who heard the score they are richer for it.
But for me, the definitive Michael Kamen score...
ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES
Forget the Costner accent. Forget the retelling of the Robin Hood myth. This was one of the scores that helped open my heart to a new world of filmmusic. It inspired me to actually go buy the CD recording and help start my path down a musically larger world.
The opening strings, the rousing horns, the tribal percussion... to this day, his theme music is used for moments of triumph in many sporting events coverage, including the Olympics. He also was responsible for the number one hit - love it or hate it - 'Everything I Do (I Do It For You). But those opening credits sent you back to another time and place instantly... a feat truly hard to accomplish.
But the score is everything. On the liner notes to ROBIN HOOD, he said he wanted an authentic, unique sound. So he used instruments from another age. Instruments that had never seen a recording studio. The climax of the picture inside the castle is remarkably tense, and quadruples the excitement I feel. I literally get goosebumps from the music tied in to the editing.
For me, ROBIN HOOD is one of my favorite adventure movies. For me, it's a defining musical moment in my life, and one of the top twenty action scores of all time.
Even if you don't print this, I wanted you to know that there were some of us who will miss the man... and his music.
Thanks for letting me get my thoughts out.
Sincerely.
Hagrid
I may not agree with your choices, Hagrid, but your affection for the man’s work is impossible to deny. Well said, and our condolences go out to his family and friends this week.
"Moriarty" out.
