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ALANSILVESTRI/VARIOUSINTRADA/VARÈSESARABANDE
high-end (tinkly harps) and low-end
(tuba) elements dance off each other
like thoughts sparking in a particularly
heated mind. Great Scott, indeed.
Elsewhere, ‘’85 Twin Pines Mall’ pre-
empts Silvestri’s Predator work in its
brassy foreboding.
The main theme erupts into heroic
life at the latter’s climax, though
Silvestri nurtures its power with subtletonal tweaks elsewhere. Honouring
the film’s comic demands without
swamping its more tender emotions,
he uses it to playful, poignant effect
in ‘Lorraine’s Bedroom’, and then to
warmer effect still in ‘Marty’s Letter’.
No matter how “big” the music gets,
Silvestri’s expressive control keeps
overload at bay: witness ‘Clocktower’,
a 10-minute masterclass in scoring as
suspense-fired storytelling, lightning-
jolted for impact.
Elsewhere, Zemeckis’ canny use
of time-jumping rock’n’roll and pop,
from Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B. Goode’
to Huey Lewis And The News’ ‘The
Power Of Love’, left little room for the
score on the original soundtrack album.
It took until 2009 for Silvestri’s seminal
score to bank a full release; since then,
his involvement in an orchestral live-
with-film tour has upheld the score’s
plutonium-charged punch. Meanwhile,
Silvestri’s work with Zemeckis,
Spielberg (Ready Player One) and the
MCU have all showcased his resourceful
clout and range. But it was the DeLorean
that got him here. Kevin HarleyEven if Silvestri endured
“unspeakable” stress as a result,
Zemeckis’ faith gave him something
to shoot for. Working with a huge
98-piece orchestra, he delivered one
of the standout ’80s scores, bursting
with melodic gusto yet meticulously
moulded to character and circumstance,
emotion and tone. Duly, a key convert
was made. When Zemeckis screened
him the film, Spielberg singled out
the music as an example of what they
should be aiming for: reportedly, he
thought it was an impressive temp
music when it was Silvestri all along.
If the boisterous main theme is one
key to the score, it’s far from the whole
picture. With cohesion and subtlety,
the score splices together rippling
glissandi for the fantasy elements with
a madcap theme for Doc Brown, whereF
or Alan Silvestri, composing the score for 1985’s Back To The Future
was a “trial by fire”. A former jazz drummer, his earlier screen work
had included disco/pop for TV’s CHiPs and Robert Zemeckis’
Romancing The Stone. One exec producer (a certain Steven Spielberg)
was worried this tyro would not rise to BTTF’s grand occasion. And the director
was clear on the scale required: “It’s got to be big, Al,” Zemeckis said.GAMESRADARCOM/TOTALFILM APRIL 2020 | TOTAL FILM