Apollo 13 (James Horner)
Regular
Promotional
(1995)
1995′s Apollo 13 was one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. Examining the 1970 Apollo 13 mission to the moon and featuring some excellent performances from Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Sinise, and simply outstanding visual effects (although the team behind them would lose the Oscar in that category to Babe; yes, well…), the film remains one of my all time favourites.
1995 was easily the most impressive year in composer James Horner’s career. Fresh off the success of Legends of the Fall (my personal favourite score of his) the previous year, Horner began the year with the scores for Balto and Casper, and would then write the scores for this film and Braveheart, earning Oscar nominations for both of them. He would ultimately lose the Oscar to the score of Il Postino, something that is infuriating amongst film score fans even today.
With the exception of Legends of the Fall, this score remains, in my opinion, the best Horner has ever written, although a great deal of film score fans seem to consider Braveheart to be a superior effort. Personally however, I think Apollo 13 reigns over Braveheart, due in large part to the fact that the former accompanies a much better film, although Braveheart would ultimately win the Oscar over Apollo 13, and is routinely considered one of the worst Best Picture winners of all time. Unfortunately, because of the scare availability of an album that contains only Horner’s score for Apollo 13, it’s hard for a lot of people to fully appreciate it.
I was fortunate enough to find a copy of the promotional album of this score a few weeks ago on eBay. It contains only Horner’s score and lasts for the best part of an hour. The film was great, no doubt about that, but Universal might have been going a little too far when they decided that the film was so great that they’d better include sound effects and voiceovers in the soundtrack album. The regular release of the album features a large amount of songs and very little of Horner’s score. There is also a “gold” edition, which contains virtually the same content, but admittedly does have improved sound quality. For any serious film score fan however, only the promotional release of the score will suffice. That’s enough about the various albums now – from here on – this review will focus solely on the promotional album, as this is the one that should be purchased over all the others, although don’t expect it to come cheap – it’s likely to cost about £30 / $50.
There are two primary themes, the first of which is performed on the trumpet by Tim Morrison. The second, is a simple seven note brass fanfare representing NASA. Horns are also used to brilliant effect to convey the enormity of space. Aside from Morrison, Horner also sought the voice of Annie Lennox to perform wordless vocals in two cues.
The score opens with the patriotic trumpet led theme with occasional percussion, which gets the album off to a great start. Next is “Lunar Dreams”, which features the same theme performed on woodwinds with a string accompaniment.
Apollo 13 is a score that will take a few cues (possibly even a few complete listens) to sink in. It also takes a while to actually get properly started in the film, given that most of the early scenes are accompanied by various songs. It is not until the launch that the score really gets going, both in the film and on album. “All Systems Go – The Launch” is easily the best cue the album has to offer among several excellent ones. At a length of ten minutes, it’s one of those themes that sends shivers running down your spine, especially when you picture the scene in the film that it accompanies. Beginning as a heroic string based piece, it then morphs into a thrilling action piece starting with light percussion later complimented wonderfully by a children’s choir. Slowly but surely, the rest of the orchestra joins in, to perform the soaring themes for the takeoff and flight sequences. It’s easily one of the best pieces Horner has ever written.
“Master Alarm” is an excellent action cue, led by percussion and Horner’s “crashing piano” effect, which he had introduced in scores he wrote a few years earlier (and now uses in just about every one of his scores). Different sections of the orchestra are used throughout the piece to excellent effect. Anne Lennox’s wordless vocals are introduced in the cue “The Darkside of the Moon”, and work wonderfully, adding just the right amount of mood to the music.
“Re-Entry and Splashdown” begins with some more excellent action music and becomes a performance of a theme for the film ripped directly from Mahler’s 8th Symphony. It’s much the same as the launch cue, lasting for nearly ten minutes, and featuring some truly glorious string performances, with heroic horn and brass motifs, complimented by the children’s choir at various intervals.
The “End Titles” bring the score to a wonderful close, starting with Lennox’s wordless vocals, and then alternates between them and the children’s choir. Halfway through, the full orchestra comes in to perform the wonderful themes from the previous cue.
Apollo 13 is rightly regarded as a classic film today, and the same can undoubtedly be said for the score. Unfortunately, due to the poor presentations on the commercial albums, it is perhaps not regarded as highly as it should be. Hopefully one day it will receive the commercial release it deserves. For now however, if you are lucky enough to come across a copy of the promotional album, don’t hesitate in buying it. This score was easily the best of 1995, and among the best of the 90’s.
Regular Album
Purchase from Amazon: CD | Download (UK)
Purchase from Amazon (USA)
“Gold” Album
Purchase from Amazon (USA)
Purchase from Amazon (UK)
Promotional Album
You’ll probably be able to find this up for auction on eBay…
Track Listing
Regular Albums
1 – Main Title
2 – One Small Step
3 – Night Train
4 – Groovin’
5 – Somebody to Love
6 – I Can See for Miles
7 – Purple Haze
8 – Launch Control
9 – All Systems Go / The Launch
10 – Welcome to Apollo 13
11 – Spirit in the Sky
12 – House Cleaning / Houston, We Have a Problem
13 – Master Alarm
14 – What’s Going On?
15 – Into the L.E.M.
16 – Out of Time / Shut Her Down
17 – The Darkside of the Moon
18 – Failure is Not an Option
19 – Honky Tonkin
20 – Blue Moon
21 – Waiting for Distaster /A Privilege
22 – Re Entry & Splashdown
23 – End Titles
Promo Album
1 – Main Title
2 – Lunar Dreams
3 – All Systems Go – The Launch
4 – Docking
5 – Master Alarm
6 – Into the L.E.M.
7 – The Darkside of the Moon
8 – Carbon Dioxide
9 – Manual Burn
10 – Four More Amps
11 – Re-Entry and Splashdown
12 – End Titles
Credits
Music Composed, Conducted and Produced by James Horner
Orchestrated by James Horner and Steve Bramson
Vocals by Annie Lennox
Trumpet Solos by Tim Morrison
Awards
Academy Award for Best Original Score (nominated)
Insert Notes
None
All images and artwork are Copyright (C) MCA Records.
