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Hello All,
I know Twilight Time's limited release of "Christine" on Blu-ray is a bit of a touchy subject for some of us (I myself was forced to pay an inflated price to obtain a copy, so I can definitely relate) but I was hoping to discuss the wonderful isolated score track on the disc, which was masterfuly done by Mike Matessino.
First let me say that I'm a huge Carpenter fan of not only his films, but his music too. The score he did for "Christine" (which sounds a bit similar, in some cases, to his score for "Halloween III") has always been overshadowed by the classic rock songs that were used to help score a good chunk of the film all on their own. But, for me, it doesn't take away my appreciation for JC's score. It has a nice mix of simplicity and dark, seductive allurement (much like the car itself) that has always drawn me to it. My personal favorite track (besides "Moochie's Death") has always been "Obssessed with the Car," which contains all those aformentioned qualities to a tee.
What was nice about the old Varese Sarabande release of the music was that, though a bit out of order halfway through, the complete score was included. I was just never happy with the mastering of a bunch of the tracks because some of the harsher sounding tones of certain pieces always forced me to turn the volume down. So it was a joy to listen to the work Mike Matessino did on the isolated score and hear the same tracks sound much more pleasing to my ears without compromising a single note.
I also did a track by track comparison of the isolated score against the Varese Sarabande compact disc that gave me an even greater appreciation of the improvements in the sound quality. "Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury)" is a good example, as the VS version sounded a bit washed out in some spots where the music switched back and forth in a sort of overlapping style. Always sounded very muddled to me. On the Blu-ray it sounded much richer and fuller.
For me, it was also a nice treat to finally get to hear the 2 tracks, "Junkins" & "Darnell's Tonight" combined together in all their isolated sounding glory, as both tracks were released seperately (and at different points) on the VS release. "Junkins" was used twice in the film. The first time is by itself, when Detective Rudolph Junkins is interrogating Arnie at Darnell's garage. The second time is later, when Arnie and Dennis go drinking and joyriding in Christine. "Junkins" literally segues right into "Darnell's Tonight," where I think they sort of overlapp slightly with each other. I loved how it sounded isolated on the Blu-ray, minus the stinger effect at the end of "Junkins" heard on the VS CD.
I'd also forgotten that, while the track, "Buddies Death," lasts a total of 1 minute and 27 seconds on the VS CD, only the last 52 seconds, or so, of it are used in the film (right as we see Christine's POV of the road as she's chasing after Buddy). I'm guessing Carpenter felt the sound of the explosion, during that scene, didn't need the added scoring attatched to it, and I think he was right too.
Anyway, I had a ball with the isolated score and really enjoyed listening to and discovering all the subtle differences between it and the old Varese CD. I am salivating at the prospect of this being re-released on CD in newly remastered form. Does Varese own the rights to the score in perpetuity? If so, I definitely need to know when their next Club CD releases are expected to come out, as it's a sure bet (like they did with Maurice Jarre's score to "Enemy Mine" shortly following the film's Blu-ray release) that "Christine" will be among them. Again, kudos to Mike Matessino for all the great work he did on the isolated score. (JC fans should also check out his isolated score for "Big Trouble In Little China," on Blu-ray, that was also used for the now out of print La La Land CD soundtrack release). I wish he could work on more scores of Carpenter's films ("Starman," "The Thing," "Escape From New York," etc.). They would surely benefit from it.
Sincerely,
Alan1
Proper tracklisting of "Christine" score in film order:
01. Arnie's Love Theme (1:44)
02. Obsessed with the Car (2:07)
03. Football Run / Kill Your Kids (2:42)
04. The Rape (1:10)
05. The Discovery (1:30)
06. Show Me (2:36)
07. Moochie's Death (2:25)
08. Junkins (3:33)
09. Buddies Death (1:27)*
10. Nobody's Home / Restored (1:44)
11. Talk on the Couch (1:23)
12. Junkins / Darnell's Tonight (4:18)
13. Christine Attacks (Plymouth Fury) (2:30)
14. Undented (1:54)
15. Regeneration (1:25)
* - only last 52 seconds of this track are used in the film
Unused tracks from the old Varese Sarebande release:
Car Obsession Reprise (1:53)
Arnie (1:01)
Moochie Mix Four (2:26)
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