Harry and the Hendersons occupies a unique place in history
for Spielberg fans and soundtrack collectors.
Opening on June 5th, 1987 after a mysterious
“E.T.” style marketing campaign, it was one of the final big three swan song to
the Golden Age of Amblin Entertainment; along with “Innerspace” and “Batteries
Not Included”. Amblin would go on to
produce all sorts of other films and television projects, but aside from the
SyFy Channel miniseries “Taken”, none would have the specific Spielbergian feel
of those films (and the series “Amazing Stories”) from 1982-1987.
The story and setting are pure Spielberg. John Lithgow plays
George Henderson, the ineffectual father of a dysfunctional nuclear family.
George longs to be an artist but settles for working at the family business, a
gun shop catering to hunters. He suffers daily at the hands of his bullying
father who belittles George and mocks his artistic dreams.
Enter the outside supernatural force, this time in the form
of a sweet, giant Bigfoot creature named Harry. Through his interactions with
Harry and the close friendship they develop, George learns to stand up to the
bullies in his life, protect those he loves, pursue his artistic dreams, and
win the respect of his family.
“Harry and the Hendersons” may not be “E.T.” and
writer/director William Dear is no Spielberg, but thanks to a terrific
performance by John Lithgow and great work by Kevin Peter Hall inside Rick
Baker’s Oscar-winning make-up/creature effects suit—the film works beautifully
as a sentimental suburban fable with a lot of heart.
The movie benefits immensely from the outstanding score by
Bruce Broughton. The composer had been tearing it up in the mid-1980s. You
could make the argument that Broughton was the best composer in Hollywood from
1985-1987, a period that includes his Oscar nominated “Silverado” (1985), the
sensational “Young Sherlock Holmes” (1985), “The Boy Who Could Fly” (1986),
“Monster Squad” (1987), and four episodes of “Amazing Stories” (1985-87).
Released only on vinyl and cassettes that quickly
disappeared, both the score and the end credits song performed by Joe Cocker
were unavailable for years. Finally in 2007, Intrada gave this treasured
soundtrack a proper release in a special limited edition CD that can still be
found in the aftermarket at a reasonable price.
The first track on the soundtrack album is the bittersweet
Joe Cocker performed song “Love Live On”. It is a wonderful, heartfelt track
that really captures the essence of the film’s sentiment. The song features the
music of Bruce Broughton’s main theme and was written by Bruce Broughton and
Barry Mann, with moving lyrics by Cynthia Weil and Will Jennings.
The song is heard over the super cool closing credits
featuring George drawing scenes from the movie via rotoscoping animation, the technique made famous by the Steve Barron directed A-ha music
video “Take Me On”. This is the exact
arrangement of the song on the old MCA vinyl and cassette album. However, the
version of the song on the Intrada CD contains a slightly different
arrangement, with woodwinds and a flute instead of the saxophone during the
reprise and with a bit more orchestral thrust instead of the more pop oriented
arrangement of the version played over the credits. Both are outstanding
renditions of a beautiful song. YouTube has both versions posted so check them
out and decide for yourself
The soundtrack smartly introduces the main theme in “Main
Title”, a wonderful, jaunty, Mozartian arrangement that bounces the film
energetically through the opening credits setting up the Henderson’s first
encounter with Harry in “Taking Harry Home”. After that Broughton carefully
warms up the big guy to the audience allowing the audience to bond with Harry
in a series engaging cues that include “Taking Harry Home”, “Harry In The House”,
the exciting “Night Prowler”.
In “Some Dumb Thing” we get a true introduction to the
wonderful theme Broughton has composed for Harry, performed on woodwinds lead
by a solo flute. “Our Little Pet” is one minute and thirty-nine seconds of pure
sentimental bliss. This emotion-drenched music serves as a “B” theme for Harry
and will re-emerge later during the film’s bittersweet finale.
Action and suspense dominate the middle section of the album
beginning with “Tracking Harry” as the film’s villainous trophy hunters arrive
putting Harry in danger. The tension breaks for the gorgeous cue “The Great
Outdoors” where we get to see Harry at peace in his natural environment. Then
it is back to suspense and danger in tracks such as “Planning The Hunt” and “Night
Pursuit”.
A special mention should be made of “Drawing Harry”, a sublime
low key track used to score a poignant scene in the movie where George realizes
how much Harry means to him, how he must protect him, and in the process
finally unleashes pent-up artistic ambitions percolating inside him.
The movie drives toward the final act in the thoroughly
entertaining action/comedic/suspense track “Traffic Jam”, 7:17 seconds of
superbly rendered musical excitement, followed up with more propulsive music in
“Footprints”. Then Broughton brings home his symphonic gifts and command of
orchestra to set up for a memorable finale.
If you have any love for film music and respond to it on a
visceral and emotional level, then it would be best to listen to “Goodbyes”
when you are alone. It is a gorgeous, achingly sad, sentimental cue that
embraces and wrings out every drop of emotion out of the film’s bittersweet
ending. If you have seen “E.T.”, “Super
8”, and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and listened to these soundtracks, you
know exactly what I am talking about.
Bruce Broughton’s “Harry and the Hendersons” is musical
masterwork to an overlooked and underrated 80’s Amblin classic. It is a must
own soundtrack for any film music fan.
“Love Lives On”
Lyrics by Cynthia Weil and Will Jennings
You touched my life
And turned my heart around
Seems when I found you
It was me I really found
You opened my eyes
And now my soul can see
Our moment may be over
But you're still here with me
'Cause love lives on
Beyond goodbye
The truth of us
Will never die
Our spirits will shine
Long after we're gone
And so our love lives on
There was so much
I didn't understand
And then you brought me here
Far from where
It all began
The change you made
In my life will never end
I look across the distance
I'll know I have a friend
'Cause love lives on
Beyond goodbye
The truth of us
Will never die
Our spirits will shine
Long after we're gone
And so our love lives on
I was travellin' in the dark
Never sure of what to do
I didn't know that I was lost
I found myself in you
Play something..
{instrumental break}
Love lives on
Beyond goodbye
The truth of us
Will never die
Our spirit will shine
Long after we're gone
And so our love lives on
And on
And so our love lives on
No comments:
Post a Comment