Customer Reviews

The Right Stuff (1983 Film) / North And South (1985 Television Mini-Series) [2 on 1]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

While NORTH & SOUTH had a good score, it never compares to Bill Conti's magnificent, supersoaringly patriotic sounds of THE RIGHT STUFF. Conti's score even won an Academy Award and still Warner Bros. chose not to release it on tape (1983) and on CD (today). What gives? So what if Conti borrows largely from Holst's THE PLANETS, the combination of Holst and Conti is so wonderful, the sounds give you goosebumps. So what if the film wasn't very popular when it was released (it was still considered the Best Film by most critics in 1983). A lot of movies that do poorly at the box office still get their own CD. Why not THE RIGHT STUFF? Bill Conti, this score may be your best work. I will be FIRST IN LINE to purchase a CD that showcases the entire THE RIGHT STUFF score, and I am certain a million others will be standing behind me. Please read this, Bill (and those of you at Warner Bros.): we need soundtracks today that soar, and THE RIGHT STUFF makes us ALL feel alive (as alive as when you look up and watch a space shuttle launch into the wild blue yonder - how glorious is that). Believe me, you'll be doing the country a favor. THE RIGHT STUFF score, the ENTIRE score, is a CLASSIC, and will live forever.

While the COMPLETE SCORE for "Right Stuff" may be "triumphant, moving and soaring" in the film, there are reasons it may never be available in a "complete form" on CD.....

Due to the fact that Bill Conti had to write the entire score for "The Right Stuff" AFTER the film was in the final cut and ready to be released, he had to write very quickly. As a result, the score is not entirely original. The "original score" borrows heavily from "Mars", "Jupiter" and "Neptune" from "The Planets" by Gustav Holst... which is a suite of Orchestral pieces for a symphony orchestra. The main theme borrows heavily from the "Violin Concerto" of Tchaikovsky (so much so, even the orchestration remains largely the same as the concerto) and The U.S. Air Force (Wild Blue Yonder) song. At the end of the film, the beautiful music for the feather fan dancer on stage is "Claire de Lune" by Claude Debussy (complete and unaltered and note for note) and is NOT credited in the film at all, so many think Mr. Conti wrote this piece... he did not. Further more, 2 composers, Todd Boekelheide and Garth Hudson, did additional music for the film. More music heard in the film is Harry Warren's "I Only Have Eyes For You" and The Hallelujah Chorus by Georg Friedrich Handel.

Therefore, all you are likely to get in the way of a COMPLETE score exclusively by Bill Conti himself is going to be the suite released on this CD since the complete score was mostly the music of the 8 other men mentioned above.

The North and South music is fine, but not Bill Conti's best work.

This is one of my favorite filmscores and is surely Bill Conti at his best, as aknowleged by winning the Academy Award for it; but unfortunately that wasn't enough to convince Warner Bros. or Bill Conti to release the entire score. Most of the best tracks (including it's main theme) from the film aren't even included on the album. Instead, they've included an alternate (unused) track for the John Glenn liftoff and a few mostly mediocre tracks to "fill out" the rest of the album. You would probably get more musical satisfaction by recording the end credit music off of the dvd than relying on this album to represent the official soundtrack. Also, Conti's score for North and South is "nice", but it shouldn't share the same album as The Right Stuff. With all of the expanded re-released scores coming out over the past few years you'd think they'd get on the ball and release the full score for THE RIGHT STUFF. Though something is better than nothing, I only rated this album at a 3, because I know what it could've been.

This is old history, but I believe the reason why the entire score for "The Right Stuff" isn't available is because Bill Conti had a falling out with the film's producers. They wanted to use excerpts from other works such as Holst's "The Planets." So the entire soundtrack was never licensed. Track #4 on this CD is an alternate cut written by Conti for the Glenn launch sequence; this is what HE would have used, not the montage from "The Planets" substituted by the producers.

I was an admirer of The Right Stuff's score for years, and constantly frustrated by the fact that I couldn't find the complete soundtrack to it. I bought this version through a catalog, and was pretty disappointed by it. It's a symphonic suite, in the same way that the "Victory at Sea" suite compresses 100's of minutes of music into 15 minutes - the themes are there, but the composition just ain't. If you really like the score, it's still worth the purchase, but don't even bother to listen to the North and South stuff. Five years ago, riding in my car on the way to work I happened to have the classical station on and I nearly choked on my coffee to hear what I thought was the most memorable musical sequence from the John Glenn orbit scene. I turned the volume WAY UP, and enjoyed it tremendously. At the end, I found that I had been listening to Holst's "The Planets", specifically, "Jupiter". I later found that The Right Stuff incorporates Holst in other parts of the movie. If you're a fan, I suggest you buy one of the many versions of "The Planets" that's out there, and pay special attention to "Mars" and "Jupiter". It's a nice complement to this CD, and fills some of the gaps. There are several compositions in it that have nothing to do with the movie, but it's a classic, and well worth the 12 bucks you'll spend on it.

After reading other reviews, I was startled to here so much negative criticism of the N & S portion / cuts on the CD. In my opinion, the pieces offered from The Right Stuff were lack-luster and quite dull when compared to the emotion derived from listening to the North and South pieces. Hearing the cuts provided from the North and South brings the listener back to the scenes of the mini-series, and lets them experience it over and over again while driving or sitting at his/her desk at work. If anything, I was only diappointed that there was not more offered on the disk from the North and South track. I too would like to see a seperate recording with remastered cuts produced for each track individually... If nothing else but to please all those who differ with regard to favoritism of one film over the other. Overall, all cuts on this CD are amazing!

Bill Conti won the Academy Award for Best Score in 1983 for his rousing/uplifting music for "The Right Stuff"...needless to say he was a shoe-in. If you saw the film, Conti's score adds so much depth to the story, you feel he is one of the characters. Under the guiding hand of Philip Kaufman (director), each actor took on the role he or she was playing. Outstanding performances by Sam Shepard (Chuck Yaeger)(nominated for Best Supporting Actor), Barbara Hershey (Glennis Yaeger), Ed Harris (John Glenn), Scott Glenn (Alan Shepard), Dennis Quaid (Gordon Cooper), Fred Ward (Gus Grissom), Veronica Cartwright (Betty Grissom)...with Conti's patriotic score, touches on themes from "Holst Planets", along with the "wild-blue-yonder" from our United States Air Force...as we relive those historic days when "Space" was the destiny of a few brave pioneers.

The best-selling book from author John Jakes, director Richard T. Heffron breaths life into his cast of players for the production of "North and South" (1985), the main theme from Bill Conti is so powerful, it lingers in your subconscious for days...his score is reminiscent of Max Steiner's "Gone With The Wind", Conti is in good company.

Must mention the wonderful performances on this premiere recording from the original scores performed so brilliantly by "The London Symphony Orchestra"...under the direction of composer/conductor ~ BILL CONTI!

Total Time: 37:19 on 12 Tracks ~ VCD-47250 ~ (1986)

The music heard in "The Right Stuff" is monumental, exciting and mostly NOT Bill Conti. As another reviewer has pointed out... THIS CD IS THE COMPLETE CONTI MUSIC. Conti had very limited time to score the already-completed film. He generously borrowed the main theme from "Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto", and other compositions such as "Holst's Planets" and "Debussy's Claire D'Lune" are heard in the film. For these reasons, there will probably never be a "complete original soundtrack" of "The Right Stuff" since so much of the music in the film was not original to Conti. Unfortunately, some of the classical music is not even credited to the classical composers, so it appears the score is entirely Conti's own.

Magnificent music from a composer who really knows how to please our ears: superb melodies, rich orchestration with a variety of strings, wind instruments and percussion and the perfect use of acoustic instruments. It always sounds good. When we hear the grandiose music of the North and the South, we are carried away by the lyricism and interpretations of the musicians. This is an essential CD for those who like symphonic music and who listen with no bounds - either on waking up in the morning, to be cheered up and given the energy for the day, or in the evening when counting the stars. Good film music becomes inseparable from the images we see. Press "on" and you'll see the pioneers emerging from the sky, then in the country and then in the settings in the south. You'll feel the presence of the characters in these two excellent film and television productions. You can even play the role of the hero yourself! It's magic! Yes, of course, this is Bill Conti's music. Bill Conti, one of the best composers that the American (and international) cinema has been lucky enough to have.

As an 80s fan of The Right Stuff and North and South, it took me 17 years to find this album. The child in me loves the selection. It makes me feel nostalgic for these wonderful movies with their accompanying excellent scores. Unfortunately, the music has not been remastered and the music sounds distant and at times hissy.