Capricorn One

Peter Hyams' Carpicorn One marked the end of the paranoia mentality of the post-Watergate '70s and the beginning of the blockbuster era of the '80s. The film married the two opposing views, with Jerry Goldsmith's score giving a last voice to the receding paranoia genre and at the same time, heralding its escapist counterpart that would make the '80s so damn fantastical.

Goldsmith begins this journey with "The Main Title", whose fragmented melody of strings, low brass, and percussion foreshadows the film's unforgettable villains, the voiceless helicopters. At the same time, it sets up the militaristic overtones, the Mars conspiracy, and finally the unrelenting pursuit of our astronaut heroes.

Goldsmith continues this ostinato device throughout the score and combines jazz and subtle, complex layers of violin, cello, and twin harps along with the agitated brass. Goldsmith once said that this score had some of the most complex string writing of his career up to that time.

From the beginning, the CD is structured with the same pause and effect Goldsmith does rhythmically in the film—an experience that, according to the linear notes, is left out of the original LP recording.

You have to hand it to the people at Intrada. They produce albums especially for the film score enthusiast. The much anticipated release of Capricorn One is no exception. Even before listening to the soundtrack, I found myself fascinated with the attention to detail in the linear notes by Jeff Bond and Douglas Fake. I had always thought the film was underrated, but reading about Goldsmith's intent for the score, how it would inspire others to come, and the fact that it took over fifteen years to release the complete soundtrack, one wonders if the music itself was underrated as well.

Goldsmith fans will want to thank those responsible for taking the original 1977 scoring session masters and remixing the additional twenty minutes that were left out of the LP into an aural experience that proves well worth the long wait.

A misprint—"The Station" and "The Celebration" are both labeled as Track 22— notwithstanding, someone is doing their job right, and then some. A must for all film score enthusiasts.