A few weeks ago while listening to Alan Silvestri’s score to Joe Johnston’s latest action blockbuster, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, I visited the IMDB and had a glance at Johnston’s filmography. HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (Horner), THE ROCKETEER (Horner), THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES (Rosenthal), THE PAGEMASTER (Horner), JUMANJI (Horner), OCTOBER SKY (Isham), JURASSIC PARK III (Davis), HIDALGO (Howard) and THE WOLFMAN (Elfman). I then thought to myself… none of those films contains a bad score. Once the last note of Silvestri’s score ended I decided to revisit every single score written for a Johnston film just to make sure that I was correct in my assessment. At the end of my journey a few days later I concluded that my initial assessment was indeed correct and that I had to share this experience with you. So, I invite you to join me as we revisit the wonderful music composed for the one-time Academy Award-winning special effects artist turned director, Joe Johnston.
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
Cover Image Courtesy Gary Friedman Los Angeles Times
Hey Erik,
loved your show (part III, I had to skip I and II to listen to Captain America, will listen to I and II later) like the previous ones. especially when you share background info like you did with The Wolfman.
and your opening speech before CA was too long, 6 minutes :D. I thought to myself “come on Erik, you talk too much, let’s play CA finally” ’cause I was so anxious to listen to it! 😀
Anyway, your previous show inspired me to buy Waterworld finally (got it on ebay for 16 euros including shipping, which is a kinda bargain) so maybe Hidalgo will do the same.
Keep up the great work!
Karol
Thanks for the comment, Karol. I’ve been trying to cut down my scripts as I do agree with you that I talk too much. Some times I feel that I need to give a 10 minute speech in order to get my point across even though my point was made 9 minutes earlier. I will try to be more to the point on future programs.
Awesome, Erik, as always. I’ll leave a little reply just so the above one doesn’t feel lonely.
Joe Johnston’s films are normally underrated. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Jumanji are chilhood favorites, along with their respective scores.
Thanks for your input!
Hi Eric!
Since 7 years I follow your shows. They are great. Often I discover new scores I missed. This time I´m impressed by the Pagemaster, which was new for me. Truly great like all Horners Scores for the Joe Johnston movies. Your reviews are very good. They speaks often out, what I think too. Hidalgo has really a great cinematography and is for me one the best or the best adventure movie off the last 20 years.
André from Germany
7 years? Wow! I’m honoured. Truly. Great to hear that I have such loyal fans! I’m glad that I can introduce you to scores that you might not have heard before! Keep in touch and happy listening!
What a great idea for an episode — to do director retrospectives rather than composers! Great selections from all of the scores, and you finally got me off the fence about buying “The Rocketeer” CD. As usual, I cannot listen to your show without emptying my wallet to some degree, darn you. 🙂
Thanks Mike. I’ll think about resurrecting this series. Like I said during the show I did a ton of director retrospectives in the early days of my show. I think it all began with that Milan compilation of music from Ron Howard films. I think about doing some more in the future!
I’m glad that you are now on the right side of the fence concerning The Rocketeer! It’s one of the most spectacular action adventure score ever written!