The Challenge


Prometheus Records (0099552021366)
Prometheus Records (5035135338006)
Movie | Released: 2000 | Film release: 1982 | Format: CD
Limited edition: 3000 copies
 

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# Track   Duration
1.Main Title4:55
2.The Wrong Sword3:50
3.Over The Top / Fish Market5:20
4.Half An Equal2:54
5.Lonely Road1:57
6."Let's Talk"2:16
7.Interlude1:02
8."Can't We Do It?"5:12
9.The Pit4:48
10.Double Cross5:50
11.Bamboo Forest0:30
12.The Traitor3:22
13."Stay With Me"4:25
14."I Will Go"1:20
15.Surprise Visitor / Forced Entry6:17
16."As You Wish" / End Title5:49
 59:46
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The Challenge - 06/10 - Review of Tom Daish, submitted at
In terms of the quality of the film, this is the equivalent of something like Deep Rising or Executive Decision. Passable entertainment, but nothing very substantial. Having said that, I can't take a film whose tagline is 'Two brothers. Equals. Deadly. Ready to kill... each other.' Enticing isn't the word. Not sure what is the word mind you. Evidently this was some kind of Samurai, Kung Fu type action thing and certainly not my cup of tea at all. Of course the early 80s was the end of Goldsmith's best period, the Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Poltergeist and so on type period. Even if he wasn't perhaps achieving the gritty excitement of his earlier scores, the scope and quality of the music was superb (even if he was being eclipsed by a certain Mr Williams). However, like that certain Mr Williams, in amongst the gems, there were plenty of fairly unknown efforts and this is one of them.

Given the Oriental grounding for the film, it was fairly predictable that Goldsmith would choose to put in a bit of local musical colour and indeed the opening titles start with pan pipes and various twanged instruments. The Main Title isn't, to be honest very inspiring, the thematic material is weak at best, almost totally forgettable at worst. It does pick up later in the cue as more modal writing (like the first contact music from Star Trek: First Contact) takes over with strings and brass coming to the fore. Of course this is an action film and The Wrong Sword immediately takes us into the kind of terse action writing that Goldsmith does so well. The action cues are vintage Goldsmith in every respect, the brass and percussion cut through with racing string figures that give rise to some of the most technically accomplished film music ever composed. There are odd hints of the ethnic sound, but Goldsmith only weaves these in sparingly.

Action set pieces aside, I feel the score is let down by the quieter moments. These often seem to ramble interminably and the desire to get back to the exciting parts becomes overwhelming. They are not a complete failure by any means, but this is perhaps an instance where having an entire hour on disc is a mite overkill. Some sections could easily have been scrapped in favour of a taughter listening experience. However, Goldsmith fans will probably love it anyway, even if I am not immediately enamoured with it. Like their last Goldsmith release, Contract on Cherry Street, the sound quality is excellent. Prometheus albums seem to sound marvellous or terrible, not in between, fortunately this is one of the good ones. The liner notes give good background on the film and score, although the insistance that the thematic material is obvious is not a view I share wholeheartedly. A great representation of a decent, if not indelible Goldsmith score.

Other releases of The Challenge (1982):

Challenge, The (2013)
Challenge, The (2013)


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