Space Campiness

I would imagine not too many of you remember the movie SpaceCamp. Filmed in 1985, but then faced with an untimely release in 1986 -- after the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger -- the movie was ignored by the public and panned by the critics. I have the dim memory of sort of liking it, but I saw it long ago, at a time in my life where I might well have imagined myself as one of the characters: a space-loving kid dreaming of a ride on the shuttle.

There's a short list of movies for which I'd desperately like to see soundtrack albums released. SpaceCamp was by no means on that list; I simply had no recollection of its music. In any case, it had an album, but it's been out of print for a while. Intrada Records recently decided to rectify that situation by releasing a new edition, and the news quickly rippled out among the soundtrack enthusiast web sites I visit.

Why is a soundtrack album of the score from SpaceCamp a Big Deal? Because that score was composed by John Williams -- the one composer that people who never pay attention to film music have still probably heard of. Consequently, this is not unlike finding a "lost score" from one of the preeminent composers in the field.

In practice, listening to the album, it's a bit less like finding a "lost score" than it is like finding "unused music" from an existing John Williams score. Williams is known for writing memorable melodies in his scores (often triumphant marches -- see Indiana Jones, Superman, or Darth Vader's theme from The Empire Strikes Back), but there is no prominent theme in the SpaceCamp score. There are plenty of Williams' trademarks, from wailing strings to pounding timpani to pulsing brass, but it's Williams trying something less flashy, something truly supportive and less able to stand on its own. That leaves the listener to imagine the music as tracks cut from some other film; in particular, SpaceCamp sounds a lot like his work for E.T.

But there is one track in particular that definitely stands out: the hilariously of-its-time "Training Montage." This is not a 5-star track, to be sure. It's a standout because John Williams completely abandons his traditional style to provide the quintessential 80s movie montage song. We're talking two minutes of no orchestra, synth lead, slap bass, drum machine cheesiness. It's like Plato's ideal of 80s montage music, and somehow this came from the mind of John Freaking Williams.

The rest of the album is probably worth picking up for hardcore John Williams fans, but it's not really his best work. It's an album full of 3- and 4-star tracks, devoid of true clunkers, but also missing any top shelf track You Must Have. I'd give the album a B-. It's more of an interesting curiosity than essential for a film soundtrack collection.