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A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

One of the most obscure and silly films ever scored by Jerry Goldsmith, Mom and Dad Save the World is a kind of parody of Buck Rogers in which the evil Emperor Tod kidnaps an earth-dwelling couple (using a giant magnet, no less) and tries to make the woman his own.  The film is rarely mentioned, the score likewise, even by Goldsmith aficionados.   It's actually a fun little score, mostly orchestral, somewhat reminiscent of Goldsmith's silliest music for director Joe Dante.  And, clearly, it is an important landmark movie.

Goldsmith's music - performed by, astonishingly, the National Philharmonic - is like an extension of his terrific Gremlins 2 music from a couple of years before, with the over-the-top orchestral passages and electronic tomfoolery; however, it lacks that score's dominant theme, which is probably required in a score like this to give some continuity to the mayhem. One theme that does recur is a sweet, romantic one, hinted at very briefly in the opening cue, and given a fuller presentation (on synthesiser, when a piano would have made it sound much better) in "Family Talk"; and then there's the daft main theme, which might make you chuckle, but it unlikely to stick around for long in your memory.

"Tod The Destroyer" is an enjoyable choral anthem that has the misfortune of sounding just like Monty Python's Spam Song. "The Lub-lubs" (another high-brow track title) introduces the kind of freeform orchestral exuberance that will irritate as many people as it delights. "Rebel Dance" is a particularly silly piece mixing all sorts of weird, vaguely jungle noises.  The six-minute "Gathering Forces" is presumably so-called in tribute to Alex North, who had just died at the time of this score's release; but in all honesty, I don't think Goldsmith could have found a less appropriate remembrance for his great friend if he'd spent a year trying.

When all is said and done, Goldsmith probably scored Mom and Dad Save the World to just have some fun as an antidote to Basic Instinct, which he had just scored and has since described as the most difficult job of his life; but this doesn't make it any less embarrassing to have in your CD collection (try explaining its presence to someone who hasn't caught the film music bug). As music, though, it's a hoot.

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Tracks

1. Meet Spengo (2:42)
2. The Death Ray Laser (2:28)
3. Morning Paper / The Abduction (4:17)
4. Photo Session (1:46)
5. Family Talk (1:21)
6. Tod, The Destroyer (:41)
7. The Lub-jubs (2:47)
8. True Power (2:23)
9. The Needle (3:18)
10. Target Practice (1:59)
11. Rebel Dance (1:08)
12. I Love My Wife (1:38)
13. Gathering Forces (5:46
14. Misunderstanding (4:44)
15. The Flight Home (2:10)
16. On the Roof (:56)