Music for the Hunt

A few months back, I wrote about going back to watch the movie Predator again for the first time in a long while. In my review, I wrote that the "real star" of the movie was the musical score, composed by Alan Silvestri. Actually, if the music were a star, it would be a reclusive one that hides alone in its mansion.

At the time Predator was originally released, Alan Silvestri wasn't a big enough name in the composing world to guarantee the release of his score in soundtrack form. Even the album released for his most recognized work, Back to the Future, featured only a brief suite of his score for the film, with the majority of the album devoted to Huey Lewis and the News, 50s standards, and other source music from the film. So despite the quality of Silvestri's work on Predator, there was no soundtrack album.

Years later, after the success of a few other Silvestri soundtrack albums (most notably, The Abyss), a record company took a chance, went back, and did a release of Predator. But as they were uncertain just how many people -- even film fans -- would be interested in music from a then years-old movie, they did a very short print run. And thus, that soundtrack went on to be an e-Bay darling, routinely fetching $100 for anyone lucky enough to have one... and foolish enough to part with it.

But finally -- and fairly recently -- the music has been made available again. Intrada, the same soundtrack company that recognized Silvestri's greatness by finally releasing a complete Back to the Future score, has released a complete Predator soundtrack. It's every piece of music as it appeared in the film, and is a fantastic treat for the ears.

Most movie scores, by design, are crafted to fade at least somewhat into the background. They have their bombastic moments, then recede as dictated by the action. Predator breaks this mold in two regards.

First, there really aren't any "tender moments" in the film. About the closest you get is the weird biceps-flexing handshake/wrestle when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers first meet. And because there's no quiet drama in the film, there's none in the music either. It's an entire album of suspense cues and action cues, the type of music that builds your energy (and makes you drive a little faster when you listen to it in the car).

Second, even in the average action film, music is often crafted to be subservient to dialogue. The orchestra will find a dramatic rhythm... and then fall into it for a few measures. But the entire finale of the movie Predator plays with virtually no dialogue. It's mano-a-creaturo, the two simply trying to kill each other in a 20-minute sequence that has only two spoken lines. (Three if you count Arnold's primal scream.) And so Silvestri's soundtrack concludes with 20 minutes of pulse-pounding action and nerve-rattling suspense, all meant to play front and center and command the listener's full attention.

In short, this soundtrack album is in heavy rotation on my stereo these days, one of my favorites I've acquired this year. Pounding piano in the bass registers, booming percussion laced with oddly tribal overtones, loud brass... this is aggressive, adventurous music. I rate the soundtrack an A-. (And honestly, I may only have thrown the "minus" on there because in my mind, great though it is, it's still not as good as the Back to the Future score.) It's a must have for a soundtrack enthusiast.