Intrada Soundtrack Forum

INTRADA Announces:



THE LAST STARFIGHTER
Composed and Conducted by CRAIG SAFAN
INTRADA MAF 7139

Craig Safan's score to the Warner Bros. and Univeral Studios co-production The Last Starfighter (1984) remains the most popular and iconic of his numerous film scores. The late-Romantic symphonic approach was almost a prerequisite for genre scores in the '80s, and Safan met the challenge with a large-scale score for orchestra with electronics. To distinguish himself from the other guys composing similar genre scores at the time, Safan turned for inspiration to the works of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), whose lush symphonies and tone poems he found particularly beautiful. Safan also strove to distinguish himself through his integration of electronics—chiefly, in his music for the film’s alien characters. The aggressive material for Xur and the Ko-Dan, for example, was accompanied by a bed of low synthesizers, doubled with tubas, low strings and contrabassoon. The centerpiece of Safan’s music, however, is his powerful and multifaceted main theme, kicking off with a lengthy, hard-driving fanfare for brass.

The soundtrack was originally released on LP and CD in 1984 on the Southern Cross label (a brief half-hour presentation), followed by a modest expansion on the Intrada label in 1995. Both previous editions were drawn from ¼˝ two-track mixes made for the composer at the conclusion of the 1984 scoring sessions. This new Intrada disc, featuring the premiere of the complete score, is the first release sourced from the multi-track masters, mixed directly from the 2˝ 24-track session elements and includes a wealth of previously unreleased music.

The film tells the story of Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), a teen who lives in a trailer court with his mother (Barbara Bosson) and kid brother (Chris Hebert). Dreaming of a seemingly unreachable life in the outside world, he finds solace in his sympathetic girlfriend, Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart)—and in a peculiar arcade game titled Starfighter. When Alex breaks the high score and wins the game, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger named Centauri (Robert Preston), who claims to have invented the machine. Centauri is, in fact, an alien bounty hunter, and the actual purpose of the game is to seek out potential Starfighters to face the real-life menace of the traitor Xur and the Ko-Dan alliance. Alex is spirited away to the distant world of Rylos, where he is mentored by Centauri and Grig (Dan O’Herlihy) a reptilian pilot, to join reluctantly in the battle for freedom.

INTRADA MAF 7139
Retail Price: $19.99
SHIPPING NOW
For track listing and sound samples, please visit
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.9143/.f

Amazing sound quality on those samples.

An outsider such as myself imagines that this was an expensive and difficult production having both Warner and Universal involved. Anyway, great job guys!

Ordered straight off the bat (along with The Boy Who Could Fly). Thank you so much for putting the work into this one, which I imagine was considerable.

Also I just tweeted Gary Whitta (writer on one of the new Star Wars films) who I know is a massive Starfighter fan, with the link to the page. He's retweeted it to 38000 followers, so hopefully you may get a few of those in custom!

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I haven't thought of a good signature yet.

Looking forward to this, but have to wait until the signing event.

Intrada covered most of the bases with their previous release, bugt glad to see this given the complete treatment, and from the 24-track masters to boot.

Interstellar !!!!!

Good call keeping Starfighter in the MAF line with this amazing reissue!

Yavar

One of my all-time favourite film scores!

Can't wait to hear it in all its glory!

Oh boy what a way to kick off Intrada's 2015 schedule.
Sadly I missed the first outing for The Last Starfighter but man was I right to do so.
Even though I own the Varese version of the Boy Who Could Fly, I just had to double dip that score too.
Happy New Year all round I think

@ Doug, great inside trivia as usual

Thanks for the behind the scenes info Doug, and thanks for this amazing expansion! I must argue about 'inarguably finest hour'. It would be no contest were it not for another Safan score -- also released by Intrada -- that isn't perhaps as fun, exciting, or nostalgic as Starfighter but is more profound, his finest hour on slightly different criteria. I am of course speaking of the gorgeous Son of the Morning Star, and I assure you I am far from alone in my appreciation! I hope Intrada is considering revisiting that one too, for all the many people who weren't lucky enough to snag a copy, or those just now discovering Safan's music. It's now very expensive on the second hand market, and many owners like myself would also re-buy for any extra music, better sound quality (not that the old one sounded anything other than wonderful, but the same was true of Starfighter and look what you e just achieved with that), or more substantial liner notes!

Yavar

Never seen the movie, though I've heard of it, never heard a single note of the score, though I've heard it lauded.
Looking very much forward to hear this for the first time.

Question!

The track "Beta's Sacrifice" was 6:07 on the 1995 Intrada CD, and is now listed as 3:47 on the new CD. Is the music from the old track split into multiple tracks on the new release? Possibly 16. Alex Decides (2:50) & 17. Beta’s Sacrifice (3:47) ?

Thanks Roger and Doug and everyone at Intrada, CANNOT WAIT to get my hands on this bad boy!

I no longer live in Burbank so I can't attend the signing event. I had to order from Creature Features for an autographed copy.

So excited for it. I've always loved this score.

Thanks Intrada!!!