Customer Reviews

Twilight Zone: The Movie

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jerry Goldsmith is one of the greatest artists to score a film, and Twilight Zone is one of his very best scores. The schizophrenic nature of this anthology movie means Goldsmith can fully display the diversity of his talent. Sweet, scary, gentle, violent, wacky, bombastic, understated: the four different stories in the movie collectively allow Goldsmith's score to touch every emotional level. Only a weak and dated 80's song is a stumbling point but - hey! - that's why they invented the skip button. Otherwise: breathtaking! inspired! majestic! And much better than the film deserves (but anyone who follows Goldmith's work will know that is nothing new).

This is a fine work by Jerry Goldsmith. Having worked in the original TV show before, Goldsmith arranges the original Marius Constant main theme for the film's main and end credits, with total respect.
I really love his predominant use of snare drums and piano in 'Time Out'. A propulsive and relentless militaristic piece of music that describes the odyssey of Vic Morrow's character through different stages of time.
Then we have the lovely track 'Kick The Can', in which Goldsmith musically describes the wish of certain seniors to be young again. A very touching cue indeed.
'A Good Life' is not quite the kind of music I love to hear from Goldsmith, but I must admit that it fulfills its mission of conveying weirdness, with a little tribute to Carl Stalling on the side.
Finally, before we get to hear the "Twilight Zone" end credits, we get to hear a true thrilling track titled 'Nightmare At 20,000 Feet'. A spectacular piece of music that makes us feel the fears of an airline passenger (John Lithgow) who sees some sort of a monster on the plane wing.
The only track that seems to be out of place is the song 'Nights Are Forever', sung by Jennifer Warnes. Even though it's composed by Goldsmith and lyricist John Bettis, and it's played in the 'Time Out' sequence, the song feels kinda strange in the album, as well as in the film.
In general, this is one good album that should be in every soundtrack fan's collection.

The producers of the trouble-plagued "Twilight Zone-the Movie" can be satisfied with one of their decisions: the hiring of legendary Jerry Goldsmith as leader of the baton. He, like fellow composers John Williams and Elmer Bernstein, belongs in a class by himself, with few even meeting him (or them) halfway.

...the album is short (45:20), but a little bit of Goldsmith goes a long way. The highlights are the scores from the segments "Kick the Can" and "It's A Good Life". There are some recognizable Goldsmith touches but that does not lessen their impact or beauty.

It just shows that one has a trained "Goldsmith ear". Any fan worth his/her weight in gold would be able to discern Goldsmith's style from another's.

The "music fan" above says that the only reason to buy this is the Jennifer Warne track.
Yeah, right.
Jerry Goldsmith is the man. I'm convinced that he is incapable of writing a bad score and this is no exception. It definitely helps to have seen the movie to fully appreciate the music, which encapsulates the different sections of the film to perfection. Just experience the gloom-laden music for "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and then compare with the insanity of "It's a Good Life".

The Jennifer Warne track inclusion is a bit of a reach, as it only features briefly playing in the background in the jukebox in the "Time Out" section. But it's a nice song and strangely doesn't seem too out of place.
The only reason I've given this 4 stars instead of 5 is because there are is no extra music for the CD release.
But never mind. Do yourself a favour and experience the genius that is Jerry Goldsmith!!

As a fan of Jerry Goldsmith's music for most of my 28 years, I have waited over half of my life to get this soundtrack. I'd almost forgotten about it, assuming it would never be released. But, here it is, and in its entirity and original form.

So was it worth the wait? I'll say. I really wanted it for the scores to Segment 2 ("Kick the Can") and Segment 3 ("It's a Good Life"), and to finally here it in such quality is fantastic. The sweeping, waltzing score for "Kick the Can" is vivacious and moving, while the music for the cartoon nightmare of "It's a Good Life" is fantastical, scary and at times surreal, capturing perfectly the mood of the segment. There are only 8 tracks listed on the CD, but several of these are almost 10 minutes long, so don't be discouraged by appearances.

This CD is the original orchestral/synthesiser orchestra recording, not a re-recording, and comes recommended to all of Jerry Goldsmith's fans and film score-philes alike.

Wonderful.

There's a lot of magic on this album. I love this score. It's one of my favorites by Jerry Goldsmith and just a favorite in general. There is something very ethereal about the quality of the music. It's beautifully magical and has an unearthly feel like something that is very fragile and must be treated gently. It mirrors so many of the situations in the film. Walk ever so softly. You never know what may happen next. The score has that same feel of facing the unknown that Goldsmith composed and scored into STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE written just a few years earlier. It seems like ever since STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE Goldsmith's music has become more introspective and soul searching. The main characters in TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE have either lost their way or lost their purpose of being. Goldsmith's music captures this ever so fervently. Hearing Rod Serling's words from his own lips over Marius Constant `s original theme on Track 8 was quite moving and was something of an Elegy to Mister Serling and his creation. I waited many years to get this album on Compact Disc. I was moved when I listened to it and every time since.

This CD is a must for Jerry Goldsmith fans. Previously unreleased tracks, expanded tracks, all remastered, the whole nine yards! As a result, the album runs nearly twice as long as the original. There are also extra tracks with source music and the original album suites. If you're in a "purist" mood, the linear notes provide the track sequences of the original suites, so you can program them in order to "recreate" the original album. I couldn't get my hands on this one fast enough!

I'm trying to figure out why Amazon has posted the wrong track listing for this product whose full title is "Twilight Zone-The Movie Original Soundtrack" by Jerry Goldsmith (the composer is correct). But the track listings on this recording actually are:
1. Twilight Zone Main Title/Overture
2. Time Out
3. Kick The Can
4. Nights Are Forever (sung by Jennifer Warnes)
5. It's A Good Life
6. Nightmare At 20,000 Feet/Twilight Zone End Title
A beautifully written and composed work by Goldsmith that really carries the film without the viewer realizing it...I have had this disc since it was originally released on CD in the late 1990's. Well worth a listen!

Even now, almost twenty-five years since its original release, TWILIGHT ZONE--THE MOVIE is understandably considered at best just an okay kind of film in comparison with the classic TV series that spawned it. The fact that Vic Morrow and two Vietnamese child extras were needlessly killed only tainted the film that much more.

But there's little denying one of the film's numerous saving graces, namely one more great score composed by master film composer Jerry Goldsmith, whose genius is very evident in conjuring up the film's atmosphere of mystery, suspense, wonder, paranoia, and psychological horror. Much as he did for THE OMEN and STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, the composer weaves numerous musical elements: oscillating, Herrmann-influenced strings for Segments 1 & 4; a congenial children's waltz/scherzo for Spielberg's segment with the kids and the old folk's home; and a combination of cartoon-like wackiness and Debussy-influenced tone painting for Segment 3. And of course it wouldn't be the Twilight Zone without Marius Constant's familiar theme music and Rod Serling's introductory narration, would it?

If the film had been made without incident, it would almost certainly have been a big box office hit in 1983, instead of the modest hit that it actually was; and Goldsmith's score would be as well-known as many of his others. Still, the score does stand out, and it's well worth revisiting.

I owned the vinyl bacvk when this first came out, but lost it over the course of many moves. And I've REALLY MISSED it!!!

I am SO GRATEFUL that you had a cd copy to sell me, and I found the product and service to be perfection!!!

THANKS!!!