The Rocketeer


I'm in a weird mood. Let's listen to the score for the movie The Rocketeer. You've heard a lot of James Horner's music, but i thankfully don't remember this movie. I remember that Jennifer Connelly is in it.

One thing i can tell you is this is exceedingly sappy, decidedly American Classical music. Like, even Copland and Groffé would make the "why's there Elmer's Glue in my mouth" face. It's very "Back to the Future Part III" to my mind. Sure there's mystery and romance and adventure, but in a nauseating way.

Horner, like John Williams, had a tendency to straddle the "borrowing" fence a little to conspicuously for the legal teams of many estates, and reused his own themes enough for movie critics to notice, but we all know where commie indonesian lady Bottle's feelings tend to land in that game of lawn darts: i didn't ask for the stuff you did to get stuck in my brain, and it's not like i just photocopied your piece and handed it to Disney. 

Regardless, there's some period low-proof white people jazz, some nostalgic 1800s wild west cowboy music, and Nazis, 'cause they're an annoyingly omnipresent thing. 

On a serious note, he does some really cool "noise work" and plays around with the placement of instruments in the intense passages. I don't care for his wide open pastoral major schlock, but his dramatic minor passages are pretty great. The primary theme gets old, but i remember it being an overly sappy movie anyway, so at least it's appropriate. Not a terrible listen, but not one i'll be reaching for again any decade soon. Haven't seen the movie a second time in the last 30 years either, so at least i'm consistent. 

Well, that was something. What should we listen to tomorrow?

P.S. for those of you thinking i might be ragging on Horner too much, i love his score for Wrath of Khan, so there.

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