Customer Reviews

The Blue Max: Original Sound Track Recording

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a magnificent score, presented here in feeble, tinny and harsh sound. Excerpts from this original soundtrack in excellent sound have been issued in a now-unavailable Goldsmith compilation from Varese Sarabande, so we know that decent source material is available, waiting to be released. Looks like patience will be needed if you want a decent CD of this superb music.

The opening sequence of The Blue Max provides one of the more
memorable moments in the on-screen blending of film images and
music.
Bruno Stachel, a German soldier on the Western Front is pinned down by heavy machine gun fire in a rat-infested trench.
Unable to to escape this muddy grave-like trap, he suddenly hears
the sound of an airplane engine above and behind him.
Momentarily thereafter, we hear the the first notes of Jerry
Goldsmith's score-not unlike awakening birdsong.
The image of actor George Peppard's blue eyes peering out from the grime of war on the ground fades as Goldsmith's music
literally lifts us up into the clouds to another battlefield, no
less deadly, in the air.
Then, after a few brief, introductory fanfares from the horns, the ascending 19 notes of Goldsmith's main theme are stated with superlative purity by the strings, followed by the entire orchestra.
With The Blue Max, Jerry Goldsmith finally delivers all that his previous film music had up to that time been promising-the delicacy and drama in the space between single notes (A Patch of
Blue}, the intensity in the string section portions of his television themes (Dr. Kildare and The Twilight Zone}-an incomparable symphonic score that may be his most enduring achievement.

D.R. Beynon

I am a big Goldsmith fan, and I admit, when I first bought this recording (it was the LP - boy that dates me) I thought it was so-so. I had to listen to it a few times before I appreciated its depth. This is a brilliant score, full of kinetic energy, sweeping and masterful. I admit, I am not even that familiar with the film - I just know the score, mostly. It stands well on its own, and I have no doubt it brilliantly supports the film.

Let it flow over you. This is one of Goldsmith's best.

One of my favorite epic war films is made all the more unforgettable with this stirring score from the prodigious pen of Jerry Goldsmith. What's unfortunate is that being from the original soundtrack (1966), the fidelity is comparatively thin. Also, the music as presented here is often in all-too-brief episodic bursts, possibly to be accommodated in its original LP incarnation, but most likely created as such. Either a thorough remastering or perhaps an integral suite recording by someone the likes of orchestral pops meister Erich Kunzel is in order.

THE BLUE MAX expanded soundtrack is still available on CD. Composer Jerry Goldsmith, who scored several epic films for 20th Century Fox, mastered this soundtrack. This soundtrack was so popular that it was issued and reissued three time as a vinyl record album. The soundtrack was digitally remastered a couple years ago and the CD includes other incidental music that was not available on the original vinyl soundtrack albums. The music has an Imperial-sounding quality to it. Once again Goldsmith captured the mood of an era and set the tone for the movie. Add this CD to your collection while it is still available.

Sound is rather tinny, but it's Goldsmith and early Goldsmith at that. A must-buy for Goldsmith afficiandos, of which I'm one; but I wish the master-soundtrack had been preserved better. (At least the soundtrack seems quite complete and in order.)

In 1966 John Guillermin directed THE BLUE MAX, a film about ambition growing too strong for it's own good. Set in Germany during the first world war, the film tells the tale of Bruno Stachel, a young and ambitious pilot who is gunning for the Blue Max, a decoration along the likes of the Purple Heart. The film is fairly effective in itself but a digital going-over as is possible nowadays might greatly improve the technical flaws of the time. Where the film definitely needs no help, is in it's music. Jerry Goldsmith created a grand score for this film (certainly one of the biggest ones he had done at the time) that belied the glory of flight in all it's elation. The main title gives a good indication of the glorious sensation of flight thru soaring strings. The setting soon turns to more dramatic tones however, as the seriousness of the Great War also starts to overtake the music. This is most of all noticeable in the tracks The Attack and Retreat, which are accompanied by grandiose musical pieces indicative of the drama of the situation. The gloriousness of flight has now given way to the terror of war and military percussion and elaborate string movements of growing ominous intensity clearly designate that. Retreat goes even further into the tragedy of war as heavy strings and percussion set an unmistakable tone of desperation and a possible imminence of defeat. Both of these cues strike a gorgeously chilling note in the musical depiction of war. A possible note of criticism might be that these cues seem to lack any finesse; there is no real refined feeling and no elaborate detail. This is totally intentional and suits the film very well. In the love department Stachel finds himself a lady, yet his love affair with her never turns hot. Goldsmith's three renditions of the love theme are all cold yet tender. There is no warmth here as a poignant piano solo is backed by heartwrenching strings. Indeed, in the third and most lushly performed rendition, the love theme has a more tragic undertone than one would expect from a love theme. This soundtrack release features all the music Goldsmith wrote for the film and places it in the right following order. There are also some source cues included (which were previously not included on the now no longer available Varese Sarabande release), of which one, the presentiar march, actually strikes me as being a rewrite of a Dutch Santa Clause song. However, I don't think Goldsmith intended any plagiarism with this. He simply may not have been aware of this or it might be that the song itself is a traditional cue, where copyrights no longer apply. One interesting anecdote tells us that director John Guillermin wanted a certain musical reference inserted in one of Jerry's themes, which would require a total re-write and re-orchestration of the track involved. However Jerry had all of his performers simply take out their pencils, erase some notes and insert the reference as desired. If the score may be too old to impress you, this little feat certainly should be able to stun you. Goldsmith himself credited this to his extensive work on live television shows in the late fifties. The Blue Max was the first score Goldsmith recorded in England. This brought certain problems in recording with it, as the recording facilities in London were not up to American standards at the time. Nevertheless the recording resulted in a sumptuous score, that in itself can easily be seen as a musical anti-war statement. The soundtrack was released several times on vinyl and as stated, Varese Sarabande have once released it on CD before but this is the first complete CD release of this title. As such it is a treasure among Goldsmith scores and Goldsmith himself also frequently used it in his concert programmes, to equally great success. The film The Blue Max may have been forgotten (if not for the odd late night showing) but the music lives on forever !

The theme music for The Blue Max captures the thrill of flying better than anything I've ever heard. I watched this movie in the theaters when it was released, and whenever I hear the soundtrack, it still gives me the chills. The album art is silly, but when the wheels leave the ground and Goldsmith's music swells, I'm transported.

I am a big fan of motion picture soundtracks and this one was exceptional.
I owned the original before they had CD's if I remember correctly and the re-recording of this OST is actually better, I think, than the original. New technology was a blessing in this case. I don't think anyone who buys this soundtrack will be disappointed, I know I was well pleased!

Great music invoking, for the most part, two themes at once: war and flight. CD includes all the cues used in the film (and some that were not) as well as some bonus Prussian military marches. This CD provides the perfect accompaniment to any type of WW1 aerial combat computer game, just pop it in and take off!