: (Joseph LoDuca) One entry in the
myriad of science fiction mystery flicks produced specifically for the
American Sci-Fi Channel,
aired originally in
December 2005 and again in March of 2006. Both the Sci-Fi Channel (and
its sister network, the U.S.A. Channel) have made a living by producing
these type of big ticket affairs for their core audiences, and while
still floundering at times in its television genre,
seems to have garnered more critical and popular success than many of
the other romps on the Sci-Fi Channel. Produced by Bryan Singer and Dean
Devlin (who co-wrote the six-hour mini with sci-fi veteran Rockne S.
O'Bannon), the project features a solid cast led by Sam Neill and over
800 digitally-rendered special effects shots. The plot tackles a
possible truth about the Bermuda Triangle, with a billionaire (Neill)
hiring a group of scientists and survivors of the mysterious oceanic
region to determine once and for all what is happening to his container
ships (among everything else that disappears there). The American
military gets involved, as expected, and adds pressure to the already
bizarre events the group of heroes experiences. Due to the epic scale of
the film, producers Devlin and Singer would need a lengthy orchestral
score of significant size, and with the usual time constraints of any
television production, they'd need one quickly. Devlin admits to being a
huge fan of composer Joseph LoDuca's career works, often utilizing his
music as temp pieces in other projects, and LoDuca was thus hired for
LoDuca has had an extensive career in the television
series genre, making a decent living at it but never seemingly cracking
the feature film market with success. Everyday film score collectors
will likely recall LoDuca's work for the immensely popular
Xena
and
Hercules television series, for which almost a dozen CD
albums were released. LoDuca's music for these shows and others was
always serviceable, if not occasionally very strong, though
The
Triangle would prove to be of a more demanding scale. There is no
lack of intelligence in the construct of LoDoca's approach to
The
Triangle. He wrote three primary themes here, often utilizing
triplet structures or other elements of the number three, and while an
astute ear can recognize this technique without explicit notice, it
probably won't make a difference to the common listener. He also makes
the expected move of addressing the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle by
incorporating several effects of electronic manipulation on the
performances by the orchestral players, sometimes flipping those
recordings backwards. Throw in creative sound design in the percussion
section and the usual minor/major key development over the course of the
story, and the overall impression of LoDuca's music could be impressive.
Unfortunately, it's hard to hear where all that creativity went, for the
end result is a score that is functional at every level, but hardly
worth any significant hype. Mark Snow has written music like this for
exactly the same television genre (even
X-Files had its own
Bermuda Triangle-related fun), and much of LoDuca's contemplative or
minimalistic suspense music falls among familiar lines for fans of
Snow's work.
It remains hard for television projects like this one
to feature full, ambitious orchestral performances that don't in some
way sound sparse or cheap. The ensemble for
The Triangle is
sufficient for the genre, but its lack of depth is exposed when listened
to the album. Vocal effects always assist these scenarios (even
synthetic voices often sound good), though LoDuca's primary theme has
difficulty pronouncing itself with the heroic power necessary to be
memorable. The opening two cues and final three cues offer some of the
most impressive full-ensemble writing, with the underscore in between
usually rumbling and meandering without anything strikingly interesting.
The major-key transition in "It's Over," with full choral effect and
cymbal-crashing brass fanfare, is the highlight of the score. One
definite negative is LoDuca's incorporation of a deeply resonating bass
in his "cooler" electronically-enhanced cues; both "To the Edge" and
"Reality," for instance, present intrusive base rhythms that drown out
other elements of the performances. Perhaps this strength in bass is
necessary to provide the hip intent on small screens with small
speakers, but it's distracting on a large sound system. Overall, LoDuca
continues to earn a living producing above average music for tales of
fantasy and mystery on the small screen, and
The Triangle is
continued proof that he is effective in that genre. But on album, the
50+ minutes of score provided, despite all the creativity in LoDuca's
intentions, doesn't reach out and grab you in either its epic moments or
its suspenseful ones. There remains
Xena and
Hercules
material more highly recommended than
The Triangle.
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