Customer Reviews

Gorky Park: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

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

 

 

Gorky Park is one of Horner's better fusions of jazz/ rock and full orchestra. In the early 80's Horner employed pounding rhythms in his scores to 48 hours, Commando and Gorky Park. While the Russian influence is represented by uses of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture, Horner again makes room for one of his sweeping love themes, as well as some deep brooding passages hinting at the corruption implicit in the film. The standout tracks, though, are the rock influenced action sequences which although reminiscent of the above mentioned scores (down to inheriting a ten note leitmotif played on steel drums, almost note for note), there's no denying that it represents Horners best synthesis of Orchestra and percussion. No matter how derivative the casual listener may deem these pieces to be, to the Horner afficionado, there's no denying their ability to get the heart pounding. Horner has since abandoned this genre in favour of the more romantic, sweeping epic (eg Legends of the Fall, Rocketeer and the ubiquitous Titanic). Grab this as an illustration of the best of a young, experimental James Horner in his prime.

This is a wonderful adaption from the bestselling author Martin Cruz Smith and his number one book, from director Michael Apted and a very talented cast ~ William Hurt, Lee Marvin, Brian Dennehy (under-rated actor, now coming into his own) and Joanna Pacula...our story deals with three faceless corpse found in Moscow's Gorky Park, excellent behind the scenes of police work, no clues to be found. But to keep the adrenaline high and on course, we have our favorite composer James Horner, doing what he does best...painting the story on a musical canvas.

Let's look at some of the stand outs ~ "IRINA'S THEME", beautiful with a gentle sweetness of a harp intro, dreamlike waves hovering an electronic keyboard theme ~ "IRINA'S CHASE", percussion abounds blending with tubular bells, cascading into counterpoints of strings as brass undertones perfection is the key ~ "THE SABLE SHED", counter-balanced percussion, the tempo increases into string measures lifting a mask of cymbals creating a backdrop of intrigue ~ "RELEASING THE SABLES/END TITLES", only a film score fan would appreciate what Horner does with this closing cue...wraps it all up into one neat bundle, and "film-score-buffs"...this is a winner!

Total Time: 36:02 on 11 Tracks ~ Varese Sarabande VCD-47260 ~ (1983)

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Gorky Park wasn't a very popular film at its release, and perhaps its box office got in the way of the recognition of the film's score, but Gorky Park, with its screenplay by Dennis Potter and direction by Michael Apted, is one of the most literate detective/spy films of the past several decades - and Horner's score is a neat fit to Potter's screenplay and Apted's direction. The score has a sense of mystery and intrigue, and acknowledges the great spy films of the past.

A must have for everyone who likes thrilling atmospheres and genious melodies. Listen to it in absolute darkness, and play it loud! Warning: depressive people should not listen to it - you might shift into a mood to commit suicide! Oh, by the way: In this case "Gorky Park" is the name of the movie. Don't get confused by our russian friend who mixed it up with a russian rock band called "Gorky Park".

Gorky Park gives a listener an idea about the state of the Russian Hard Rock. It is a great group and should be rated as 5 stars. It does not matter that the guys rock in USA - songs are still great as always. Buy this CD now!

I'm sorry Mr. Horner, but what were you doing making this score? Instead of your normal tones, we get this dreary, annoying, piece of music (I call it that loosely). Just listening to the track samplings here is enough to get someone suicidal! I just hope too many people don't subject themselves to this unmercilessly.