Music Composed by Edward Shearmur
Rating: ****

The first feature length motion picture to be filmed entirely in front of blue screen, Sky Captain is a great piece of eye candy. Every ten year old boy’s fantasy of fighting gigantic robots, flying through the canyons of the New York City, underwater battles, fighting off dinosaurs, and being romantically linked to both Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie is realized in this film. It’s just a shame there wasn’t a stronger plot and characters to keep the film alive… pretty images alone do not a movie make. It seemed that first-time director Kerry Conran was focused more on getting the look of the film right (retro 1930’s vision of the future a la Metropolis) that he didn’t build much characterization into the script, other than what we learn from the constant bickering between the leads. The four main characters - well Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow at least should be singled out for playing antiquated stock characters with such glee, especially for not having anything tangible to act against.

It’s a shame too, cause Shearmur’s score is worthy of Spielberg or Curtiz. John Williams comparisons are inevitable with Sky Captain. The main theme just screams “Raiders knock-off!!” upon first listen. However, I feel Shearmur wasn’t trying to imitate Williams as much as he was going back to the source of Williams’ inspiration - Korngold. Of course putting the young composer in the same league as John Williams or Erich Wolfgang Korngold is dangerous, if not absurd, but there’s every indication that Shearmur has the same skill, the same chops to write a score as brilliant as the classic old-fashioned orchestral scores we all know and love. He pulled it off amazingly with Sky Captain - even more so than I had imagined he would, and I’ve been a big fan of Ed’s for the past few years.

Edward Shearmur

So, when I throw out the word “old-fashioned” into this review, of course I mean a neo-romantic, theme-based, fully orchestral score. Yeah, like any good Williams outing, there’s about a half-dozen or so themes in constant rotation. There’s the broadly-heroic Sky Captain theme. I think, if anything, it’s the broadly-heroic nature of the theme that may turn people off of the score. (Think Goldsmith’s King Solomon’s Mines theme.) I agree that the opening bars seem a bit like a “college freshman John Williams wannabe,” while in actuality the rest of theme is quite interesting harmonically, melodically, and in melodic contour. Keep in mind many Korngold themes would probably face the same level of scrutiny if composed today. Then there’s the tender love theme (with a pinch of light-heartedness). There’s the evil Dr. Totenkopf/Robot theme and motive. There’s a few others you’ll notice Shearmur leans upon as well. I love scores that hold back a new theme until around the final act or so of the film… Thankfully, due to Angelina Jolie’s Frankie Cooke and her Manta Squadron which don’t appear until around the golden mean of the film, Shearmur keeps his best theme out of the score until then, at which point new life is injected into the score. More on “Manta Squadron” later.

Shearmur’s last “old-fashioned” score was for Kevin Reynolds’ Count of Monte Cristo in 2002. Shearmur’s approach was lush and romantic, but he was sure to stay out of the film’s way. It’s another one of my favorite scores by him to be sure, but Shearmur was careful not to draw too much attention to himself (something other young composers need to learn). There are few moments of brass bombast, nor are there moments where we’re drowned by the string section. He pretty much takes the opposite approach here with Sky Captain. The music is just as big as the visuals. You get this sense right off the bat with his huge swells as the Hindenberg III docks, and then when we see Polly Perkins (Paltrow) enter the gorgeous, pristine movie house where The Wizard of Oz is playing. In any other modern film, this would seem inappropriate, but not back in films of the Golden Age where music in a movie carried much more weight than it does today. (That’s not to say film music today isn’t important. Let’s stay away from that tangent, shall we?)

The opening eight minutes of Sky Captain start with such a bang, at first I had a hard time believing Shearmur could sustain that momentum for the rest of the album. “The Robot Army” and “Calling Sky Captain” are simply a remarkable one-two punch. The former contains that overwhelming sense of awe mixed with dread, much like David Arnold’s Independence Day as the flying saucers position themselves over New York City and Washington D.C. Shearmur adds a touch of choir and heavy brass/strings as the huge robots march into the city - nearly flattening our heroine. Then, at the beginning of “Calling Sky Captain” we get one of the best musical hero introductions I’ve heard in some time - high string tremolos and flutes underneath muted trumpet echoes of the opening bar of the Sky Captain theme as the call goes out for our hero’s help. Then the horns/trumpets/trombones each boldly pronounce the Sky Captain theme in a stately matter, seconds before all hell breaks loose. Master orchestrator Robert Elhai should be singled out along with Shearmur. The orchestrations on display in “Calling Sky Captain” and most of the other cues are incredible. The textures are so well organized with each instrumental group fully engaged. Honestly, this level of orchestration is rarely heard outside of the big Williams and Goldsmith scores these days.

The album quiets back down with “Back at the Base” with a few iterations of the love theme. However, we’re back into the next wave of action with “The Flying Wings Attack” and “An Aquatic Escape” (The opening being the climax of this sequence). There’s some chromatic lines that will instantly remind one of Holst’s The Planets, but it should be pointed out that Shearmur is quite fond of chromatic runs - as can be traced back in Reign of Fire and Johnny English among other Shearmur scores. The Sky Captain theme gets blurted out in the key moments in the cue, but also undergoes a fair amount of variation throughout as well. Thankfully the moments where we get the whole theme never feel tired or redundant.

The middle third of the score involves Sky Captain and Polly’s trip to Nepal to get some more clues about the evil Dr. Totenkopf. The score slows down a little here, but is never boring. If you did nod off, though, Shearmur is sure to wake you up in the cue “Dynamite.” There’s some exotic chords and melodies found in “Flight to Nepal” and “Treacherour Journey” to, of course, indicate we’re not in New York Anymore.

The final third of the album, from “Finding Frankie” to the end is one heck of a ride. In “Finding Frankie” we get a slow, but steady build-up of British pomp to the militaristic Manta Squadron theme. “Manta Squadron” is the hands-down highlight of the disc. It takes a composer, orchestrator, and ensemble with major cajones to maintain such an incredible focused intensity for six-and-a-half minutes like this. As a matter of fact, I’m getting tired of heaping praise on this score, so instead of describing how wonderful “Manta Squadron” is, instead I’ll thank the following people: Dave Lee, Richard Watkins, Richard Bissill, Tim Jones, David Pyatt, Simon Rayner, Paul Gardham, Phil Woods, Simon Morgan, Martin Owen, Tony Chiddell, Hugh Seenan, Maurice Murphy, John Barclay, Paul Archibald, Paul Beniston, Nigel Comm, Ian Balmain, and Tony Cross. All of these individuals must’ve had lips as big as Angelina’s by the end of the sessions.

And while “Manta Squandron” may seem like the climax of the score - we’re still not to that point yet on the album. (It also should be noted that the finale sequence of the film is not on the album, although I agree that might’ve been too much.) The one minute “Flying Lizard” is the biggest moment of the score, and is simply amazing, incredible, fantastic, orgasmic, etc. This is also the one cue where Shearmur cheats a little and adds in some noticeable electronics - a sample that sounds like huge wings flapping. “Totenkopf’s Ark” is a bit anti-climactic, although there’s some good mechanized one-on-one fight music. Also, Shearmur scores the “stand-up-and-cheer” moment of the film with a bold version of the love theme. (Love themes are often attributed to the heroine of the film - e.g. “Marion’s Theme”). Finally, everyone: Jude, Gwyneth, you - the listener, return back to earth in, uh… “Back to Earth” which is a nice re-cap of the Sky Captain theme and love theme. Finally, the album ends with Jane Monheit’s version of “Over the Rainbow,” which I didn’t particularly enjoy, simply because she takes too many liberties with the song.

Yeah, you might’ve guessed I’m giving this Sony Classical album of 57 minutes and 50 seconds my highest recommendation. I haven’t been this pleased with a film score in quite some time. It’s action heavy, and while Shearmur tries his hand at sounding “Golden Age,” he never betrays his modern training. There’s plenty of dissonance and little modern flourishes that remind us this is an Edward Shearmur score (orchestrated by Elliot Goldenthal’s right hand man) and not a Korngold or a Steiner. At certain points the score may seem like too much, but thankfully the album is well sequenced with plenty of quieter moments interspersed between the heavy action. What I loved about Shearmur’s Count of Monte Cristo was its class and charm. Then I heard his Reign of Fire and was impressed by the sheer energy and extreme intensity on display from start to finish. With Sky Captain, Shearmur has combined all of these aspects together to form one of the best, if not the best score of 2004.

Music Composed and Conducted by Edward Shearmur; Performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra; Orchestrated by Robert Elhai, Edward Shearmur, Brad Waarnar, Jeff Toyne; Recorded and Mixed by Steve McLaughlin; Produced by Edward Shearmur, Teese Gohl and Steve McLaughlin; Availability: In print; Label (Catalogue): Sony Classical, (SK 92932); Release Date: September 7, 2004

01. The World of Tomorrow (1′07)
02. The Zeppelin Arrives (1′53)
03. The Robot Army (3′02)
04. Calling Sky Captain (3′25)
05. Back at The Base (2′49)
06. The Flying Wings Attack (6′32)
07. An Aquatic Escape (2′30)
08. Flight To Nepal (4′37)
09. Treacherous Journey (2′22)
10. Dynamite (2′27)
11. Three In A Bed (0′57)
12. Finding Frankie (5′02)
13. Manta Squadron (6′33)
14. h-770-d (1′14)
15. Flying Lizard (1′06)
16. Totenkopf’s Ark (5′02)
17. Back To Earth (3′14)
18. Over the Rainbow (3′55)
Performed by Jane Monheit

Total Playing Time: 57′56