Customer Reviews

Peter Benchley's The Beast (1996 Television Mini-Series)

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It's always pleasant to see when an orchestrator climbs a notch to TV composer, and another notch to feature film status. Having worked as an orchestrator for the likes of James Horner and Randy Newman, Don Davis became a composer in the "Beauty And The Beast" TV series creating, along with Lee Holdridge, some beautiful music.
I don't know if he had worked in another TV show before that, but with "The Beast", a miniseries based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel, Davis has created an incredible piece of music full of suspense and action.
It has a leitmotif that sounds a bit like "Jaws" disguised in three crescendo notes, and the main theme that follows it is quite good. There are action tracks aplenty, most notably in 'Mysterious Disappearance' and 'Squid Death Finale'; and the ones with electronics are very impressive, especially 'Scuba Attack', 'Whip To The Rescue', and 'Whip Finds Mike'.
Certainly the shadow of "Beauty Of The Beast" is present in the CD's most sentimental cues, especially 'Kathryn And Whip', 'Dana And Christopher', and 'The Dana Promise'. Certainly Davis has known how to balance the interpersonal moments with the suspense and action ones.
I'm surprised at the length of this Varèse Sarabande CD. Well, I'm not sure if this score was recorded in L.A., but this is a great score by the composer who would later take us beyond "The Matrix".

I have always thought the Don Davis' music was on the fine line between exciting and frantic. This score is no exception, but for once, there are several instances when the out-of-control music is controlled enough to be enjoyable. I enjoyed this score especially because it reminded me of the mini-series, and because Varse Sarabande has allowed it to be over 72 minutes long. But still there are missing cues, like when the dog senses the beast at the Founder's Day celebration, and when when Mike agrees to help Lucas kill the beast. The whole thing is exciting and filled with seamless themes. The best parts are the beginning of the Main Title, the Squid Thinking, when Spike is killed in Scuba Attack, when the beast tries to attack Dana in Swimming in Danger, and many others. Of course, the Beast's theme is loud and annoying at times. One reviewer described it as "beating the listener over the head with it". But pick this up and you will be surprised how good it is and glad you got it. Other than the "killer sea creature themes," this soundtrack rivals the Jaws soundtrack.

Peter Benchley's THE BEAST was, not only a better movie, but it also had a better score. The JAWS score is a classic, I guess, but this is much better. Frantic, powerful, and romantic, you just cannot go wrong with this score. I hunted for it for years and found it on eBAY a few years ago. NOW THEY PUT IT BACK UP FOR SALE? Ah! Just my luck!