The Edge

This is a score of two halves, the first is by turns majestic and exciting, the second is boring and occasionally a little strange. The opening track, Lost in the Wild introduces Goldsmith's soaring and spectacular main theme. Perfect in conjuring up the rugged outdoors where the film takes place. The Ravine then introduces really the only other motif into the score which is that of a short low brass slur which sounds to me like World War 2 bombers flying past or taking off or something. Anyway, it's a fascinating sound and an inspired choice as a motif to represent a grizzly bear of all things! Birds has some swirling motifs that seems to hark back to those outdoor Disney live action films that they don't really make any more (they all involved grizzly bears as well!). More sober material is introduced in Mighty Hunter and actually makes a nice break from the action and suspense. It, along with a couple of other tracks, makes use of the main theme. I did worry that this would be a score where the main theme wouldn't be heard after the opening, until the end credits so I was pleased to hear it crop up here and there (albeit in barely altered orchestrations).

Stalking and Deadfall are really where the score starts to fall apart a little, for me at least. The former is almost entirely suspense music, with the occasional burst of the grizzly bear motif and some percussive outbursts. This track alone wouldn't have been so bad had it not been followed by another somewhat similar track which has more suspense, with maybe a smattering of action hear and there. The ending is really quite subdued and where many composers would have finished with a rousing flourish, Goldsmith finishes with a warm, but restrained reinstatement of the main theme. The final track, The Edge, is where the music becomes strange. Starting from what sounds like a sombre piano solo that will eventually become a soaring orchestral version of the main theme, the music turns into a lounge jazz arrangement of the main theme. It is really completely at odds with the rest of the score, but the idea came to Goldsmith and director Lee Tamahori after the final recording session. The remaining performers were rounded up and Goldsmith quickly arranged it as jazz. If nothing else, an interesting study in how a theme will work in more than one context.

Overall, this is a sporadically excellent score, but there is something missing somewhere. I can't quite put my finger on it, but maybe it's the lack of variety, there's little more than action and stop-start suspense and the occasional burst of the main theme. Some of the music seems to recall Goldsmith's more hard edge style of a couple of decades ago and so perhaps fans of classical Goldsmith will prefer it to those who like the more melodic 1990's Goldsmith (despite the presence of an excellent main theme).