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Artwork copyright (c) 1996 Varese
Sarabande Records, Inc.; review copyright (c)
2003 James Southall
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LAST MAN STANDING Slightly
underwhelming rejected western score A review by JAMES SOUTHALL Elmer Bernstein had the bad fortune to have
several scores rejected during the 1990s, with I Love Trouble, A River
Runs Through It and The Scarlet Letter coming to mind (and this has,
sadly, continued into the new decade as well, with scores already having been
rejected for Rat Race and Gangs of New York). The only one
of them to (officially) turn up on album is Last Man Standing, Walter
Hill's much-disliked western from 1996 starring Bruce Willis. The movie is grim and uncompromising in its
bleakness; to be honest, Bernstein's score is mostly nothing of the sort.
It is certainly not as bright and bouncy as his classic western efforts from the
1960s and 70s but even so, it is often a soothing and pleasant listen, which
would seem ill-fitting for the movie. It's not all like that, though; the
opening cue, "To Jericho", is as far removed from Bernstein's typical
style as could be possible; it still evokes Aaron Copland, at least towards the
end, but it is without much of a melodic core, and suffers.
"Hijacking" is the first real action music, but again it is not
entirely satisfying, seemingly to lack Bernstein's usual energy and charm. The music's strength is probably exactly what
director Hill didn't like, the melodic basis of much of the middle
section. "Felina's Story" is beautiful - written for the
smallest of ensembles, it is touching though very different from most of
Bernstein's scores. The theme heard within the cue is subtle and very
restrained and you have to listen a few times just to really get a feel for it,
but persistence is worthwhile in this case. "Free" presents
another theme, a more noble effort with a great solo trumpet line, though again
it is very low-key. "The Beating" is the lengthiest cue
at seven minutes, and certainly some of the music does conjure up as nasty
images as the track title implies, with brass hits and percussion doing their
duty; it's some of the darkest, harshest music Bernstein has ever penned.
The first half of the cue is not terribly interesting (indeed, it is sometimes
barely audible) but the second half is bold and ballsy music, quite
unprecedented in Bernstein's career - it's actually more like something his
friend and colleague Bernard Herrmann may have written. This is an unusual album. The first half
passes mostly without incident, but the second features some excellent
music. I have mixed feelings over whether it would have worked in the film
(unlike with Ry Cooder's replacement score, which certainly didn't).
Releasing rejected scores is still a very rare practice (despite the seemingly
ever-increasing number of them) and it's always interesting to hear what a
different composer's take on a film would have been, and here you have the
chance. It's not classic Bernstein, but it's certainly not bad. Buy
this CD from amazon.com by clicking here! Tracks
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