Customer Reviews

Total Recall: The Deluxe Edition

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1990 came the release of Total Recall, among the most exciting and interesting sci-fi films of the last two decades. A big part of the film's appeal lay in Jerry Goldsmith's monstrous and innovative score. The original issue of the soundtrack included only ten tracks, leaving roughly half the score unavailable in its original format.

For the tenth anniversary of the film the complete score has been released, and it is not only welcome, it is something of a revelation to hear the roughly seventeen tracks used in the film but not included in the 1990 soundtrack issue.

The biggest drawback to the original issue was its overemphasis on action cues as opposed to more understated tracks. This flaw is more than corrected in the Deluxe Edition - it displays a surprising balance in the score that is often lost when heard in the film.

Presented in chronological order, the tracks encompass the entirety of the film, from the haunting opening theme to the myriad soft tracks and harsh action cues that keep the film going. Using both synthesizers and a full acoustic orchestra, Goldsmith presents much of his music in unconventional rhythms, most notably the 4:3 beat that permeates End Of A Dream. The synthesizer gets prominent use in virtually every track and adds greatly to the many soft numbers that give the film its depth.

Given the heavy amount of action in the film, it stands to reason that bombast would figure prominently, such as in Clever Girl and the tracks covering Richter and Cohaagen's pursuit of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Quaid. It therefore comes as something of a surprise to hear Massacre, covering the discovery and slaughter of the underground headquarters of Martian rebels. This track is quite understated despite nonetheless displaying power.

The CD closes with an unexpected treat - the Rekall jingle that figures prominently in the first quarter of the film - a nice way to close out Goldsmith's finest sci-fi score.

Varese Sarabande and Jerry Goldsmith have something in common...they are both outstanding in their craft of soundtracks - this deluxe edition of "TOTAL RECALL is without a doubt the epitome of film scoring. All twenty-seven tracks are "pure" non-stop action cues, never letting up - keeping you in suspense from beginning to ending.

Jerry Goldsmith's career leaves a trail of action films with futuristic settings - "Capricorn One" (1977), "Alien" (1979), "Star Trek:The Motion Picture" (1979) and "Outland" (1981)...but this non-sci-fi score from "The Wind and the Lion" cue features the best work to date "Raisuli Attacks", nothing until now has ever come so close. Goldsmith is faced with this quintessential action score, complex and relentless - and Jerry was up for and met the challenge with flying colors - "TOTAL RECALL" is the zenith of our composers vast collections of film scores.

This special edition of Goldsmith's score from "TOTAL RECALL" is over seventy minutes long - powerful as percussion leaps from track to track...dramatic passages cascading with the main theme is dominant...synthesizers and strings introduce the orchestral sound of the film's score.

Of course my pick for the highlight - "END OF A DREAM" has the orchestral tour-de-force of rhythmic strings and percussion backing a potent brass offensive, which Goldsmith wrote to underscore the climactic planet core meltdown...this my "film-score-buffs" could be Goldsmith's greatest action cue of his career, nearly six minutes of "Pure Goldsmith"...you gotta love it!

Total Time: 74:00 on 27 Tracks...Varese Sarabande 066197...(2000)

This is a surprise but very welcome release of Total Recall's full score, running at 70 minutes, it's twice the length of the original album and the standard by which soundtrack albums should be made. Jerry Goldsmith, who became reluctant to score action films in the nineties produced one of his finest pieces of bombastic, almost orchestral-techno sci fi scores. The most notable thing, is the quality of the production, orchestration and recording. His simple and sparse use of synths throughout are excellent - the orchestra stops a synth flute sound plays solo, giving the album the dream like quality to go with the film.

My only criticism is that the album is slightly too long / repetitive. It's slightly too thematic so it becomes the usual Goldsmith reworking on different instruments. This is fine in the film but on a music CD, I think we could have lived without a couple of tracks.

Given the choice between the standard album and the deluxe version, I'd recommend this one. Plus, if you're a Goldsmith fan, or soundtrack collector this is exactly what we want to be seeing more of. There are also some good sleeve notes on the album by Robert Townson, the album's producer.

I never gave much thought to TOTAL RECALL until I heard Varese Sarabande was releasing this complete edition of it. I thought it sounded pretty cool, so I watched the movie and thought, "Whoa! I've been missing out!", and you are too if you don't get this. This is a Jerry Goldsmith "essential" for any serious Goldsmith fan. I never had the original version, but I can tell by the track listings that this score was begging for the "Deluxe Edition" treatment. So many cues were missing because of LP restrictions, I think. Fans dying for the missing 30 mins shall die no more. This is it. All of it! And why Goldsmith wasn't even nominated for this one is beyond me.

There is a hidden bonus to this CD. After the final climactic notes of "A New Life", the jingle from the Rekall commercial plays. "For the memory of a lifetime, Rekall, Rekall, Rekall, Rekall...."

With a career spanning over four decades, Goldsmith has attained a position as one of the movie's most prolific and innovative composers. Although his work during the past ten years does not compare to his landmark work of the 60's and 70's, he did do two exemplary scores in the 90's: one is the music to "The Ghost in the Darkness" and "Total Recall."

What makes "Recall" such a winner is that it seems to pay homage to Goldsmith's earlier triumphs. One can hear "The Omen," "Planet of the Apes," the underrated "Secret of N.I.M.H" and even "Gremlins" in the otherworldly melodies used to complement the film. There is much originality in this composition with the opening and closing themes being especially awesome in their execution. But it is the patented Goldsmith "touches" that make this one significant and a worthy, albeit unintended, "introduction" for those who are just discovering the composer.

From the very first note Total Recall is an action/sci-fi score of major authority. No one other than Jerry Goldsmith could have written better music for this movie. It feels at once futuristic, evocative of the lonliness of Mars, and has some thundering action tracks.

Simply put, Track 1 is a classic and a great introduction to the movie. Total Recall had clout from the first frame. The chase cues in Track 7 'Clever Girl' are just brilliant and I've been humming them since I was 9.

The first release of this CD was back in 1990, but this version has twice as much music with better sound, a red cover instead of a blue one, and extensive liner notes. An all-round much better edition for music collectors or Goldsmith fans.

And stay around for a couple of minutes after track 27 ends. The 'Rekall' theme tune from the ad in the movie comes to life. Goldsmith composed this little jingle too and it completes a fine package.

This is one of Goldsmiths best work ever!! I do not have the orinigal version however so I cannot compare the two. But if you dont have the orinigal and if you like goldsmith. get this one now

This in my opinion the best score Goldsmith has ever written.
The score is really different from other scores. It's far more complex. Goldsmith again combines an orchestra (The National Philharmonic, just gave a splendid performance) with synths, and succesfully.

"The Dream" introduces the main theme for the film. I think it's great. Other highlights cues are: "The Implant", "For Old Times' Sake", "Clever Girl" (Simply perfect), "A New Face" (Contains great tuba/bass-trombone stuff, just loud.), "The Mountain", "The Big Jump", "The Massacre", "The Treatment" (Superb), "The Hologram" (Just listen to the last two minutes of this track, amazing!), "End Of Dream" (Just keeps building and building) and "A New Life".

I think Goldsmith is the most original filmcomposer. I recently bought three Goldsmith scores and they were all just so different. Of course you can hear it's Goldsmith, but he seldom re-uses ideas.

Goldsmith really proves (again) he is the master of action music and superb rhythms. I recommend this score to all filmmusic/Goldsmith fans, BUT don't expect a score in the same style as "The Empire Strikes Back" or "Conan The Barbarian". This is really different music, but just as good. Just give it a try, listen it three or four times and I'm sure you're going to appreciate this score.
- Other Goldsmith Recommendations: "Under Fire", "Patton", "Rambo: First Blood - Part II", "The Blue Max".

'The Dream' opens what is perhaps the best action film score ever in Jerry Goldsmith's long career. This main title track is very catchy thanks to its pulsating percussion and synths that accompany the orchestra extremely well. Then there are propulsive tracks such as 'For Old Time's Sake', 'Clever Girl', 'The Big Jump', 'The Massacre', 'The Treatment', and 'End Of A Dream', that make this the most exciting album ever. All of them pretty well balanced with ethereal and glorious tracks such as 'The Space Station', 'The Mountain', 'Without Air', 'The Mutant', and 'A New Life'.

Thanks to the people of Varèse Sarabande for releasing this wonderful expanded edition to Jerry Goldsmith's spectacular score. This is definitely a true gem.

When I first listened to the original CD release back in '90, I always felt like I was running. Then it occurred to me - most of the movie features Arnie running from the bad guys, so obviously Goldsmith scored this movie perfectly.

I picked up this release at the same time I got the deluxe editions for Alien and Aliens. This is arguably among Goldsmith's best works, and this edition seems to have all of the music from the movie, including the sequences when Arnie wasn't running.

Highly recommended for fans of Total Recall.