Visit the Movie Wave Store | Movie Wave Home | Reviews by Title | Reviews by Composer | Contact me

THE BLUE MAX
Magnificent, stirring WWI aerial action score
 A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Music composed by
JERRY GOLDSMITH

Rating
* * * * *



Performed by
UNNAMED ORCHESTRA
conducted by
JERRY GOLDSMITH

Orchestration
ARTHUR MORTON

Produced by
DOUGLASS FAKE
NICK REDMAN

Album running time
65:33

Released by
INTRADA SPECIAL COLLECTION
Catalog number
VOL 120

Album cover copyright (c) 2010 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; review copyright (c) 2010 James Southall.

Jerry Goldsmith had already cemented his reputation as a film composer of note when he scored the high-profile World War I film The Blue Max in 1966.  Starring George Peppard, James Mason and Ursula Andress, it tells the story of a German pilot trying to earn the coveted Blue Max medal for reaching twenty enemy kills - a Hollywood movie telling the story from the German perspective was a bold move at the time, and would indeed be pretty unlikely even today.  Director John Guillerman worked with many fine film composers in his time (John Barry on King Kong, John Williams on The Towering Inferno, Nino Rota on Death on the Nile) but The Blue Max is surely the best score for one of his movies.

It wouldn't perhaps be too much of a stretch to say that this music is probably the most thrilling evocation of aerial combat ever composed, and inspired several imitators (including Williams himself, whose music for the dogfighting scenes in Star Wars clearly owes a debt).  The main theme is soaring, thrilling - one of Goldsmith's finest.  The action music is first-rate - "First Blood" is the first example, with the composer making fine use of a wind machine to add a further evocative touch, while passing his main theme through a series of almost dirge-like variations (but they make for truly thrilling listening).  This material is later pushed to an even higher level in the lengthy tracks "The Attack" and "Retreat", which are as exciting as any music Goldsmith has written (praise indeed).  Another action highlight is the stirring "The Bridge", which sees Goldsmith making full use of an extended brass section.  

There is a lovely waltz variation on the main theme in "A Small Favour" and, later, "Nothing Needed", which are delightful, lovely little breaks from the bold music surrounding them.  "The Cobra" presents a darker, intensely psychological theme that again is colourfully evocative.  Finally, the triumvirate of main themes is complete with the "Love Theme" underscoring the burgeoning romance between Peppard and Andress's characters; touching stuff.  A couple of other moving pieces are the two "book-end" pieces either side of the film's interval, Part 1's finale and Part 2's prelude, more great music - and, for the first time, this CD includes the exit music which was heard at roadshow presentations of the film.

This is a score of numerous highlights.  Goldsmith collected most of them together in a magnificent extended concert suite which has been performed regularly, but hearing the entire score as composed (some of it was dropped from the film) is a thrill ride from start to finish.  This release from Intrada is the score's third appearance on compact disc (Varese and then sony Legacy had earlier put the score out) and is by far the definitive one.  The few minutes of previously-unreleased music add to the experience, the sequencing is better, sound quality is a significant step up from the earlier releases, there are great liner notes from Julie Kirgo about the film and score, Douglass Fake about this CD and historian George Hocutt about the real Blue Max.  This is a great score - it's more expansive than Goldsmith's other war scores and should have a very wide appeal.  Even if you already have one of the other issues, I'd recommend upgrading to this one.

Tracks

  1. Main Title (2:22)
  2. The New Arrival (1:23)
  3. A Toast to Bruno (1:40)
  4. The Balloon (:53)
  5. First Blood / First Victory (3:02)
  6. The Captive / The Victim (4:17)
  7. The Cobra (1:38)
  8. The Attack (6:31)
  9. Love Theme (1:50)
  10. A Small Favour (:57)
  11. A Lonely Hero (1:15)
  12. The Rivals (:25)
  13. Finale to Part 1 (1:03)
  14. Prelude to Part 2 (1:39)
  15. The Bridge (3:13)
  16. Stachel's Confession (1:33)
  17. Retreat (7:34)
  18. Stachel to Berlin / Food Riot (2:25)
  19. Nothing Needed (:40)
  20. Kaeti Has a Plan (3:29)
  21. Stachel's Last Flight (1:57)
  22. End Title (2:36)
  23. Finale to Part 2 (1:11)

    Bonus Source Music
  24. Pour Le Merite March (2:13)
  25. Student Song Medley (2:07)
  26. Presentiar March (1:25)
  27. Artist's Life (:54)
  28. Gloria March (:26)
  29. Watch on the Rhine (1:40)
  30. Deutschland Uber Alles (:48)
    31.