Intrada Soundtrack Forum

INTRADA Announces:

BROKEN TRAIL
Composed by DAVID MANSFIELD & VAN DYKE PARKS
INTRADA Signature Edition ISE 1016

The romantic adventure epic (and Emmy-winning) BROKEN TRAIL is a compelling miniseries directed by filmmaker Walter Hill. The original AMC production plunges into the lawlessness, evil, freedom, and grace fighting for dominance of the Old West through the tragic circumstances of five young Chinese strangers. Unable to speak or understand English, they cling to each other for support, the strongest helping the weakest, as they are sold to a trafficker who packs them onto a wagon to head for a life of forced prostitution in a mining town. Fate drops these women into the hands of two men, who are leading a herd of 500 horses across the vast, untamed American West -- fighting specters of both flesh and spirit -- their trials bring the women both tragedy and hope; the men, unexpected second changes.

For the soundtrack to BROKEN TRAIL, composers David Mansfield and Van Dyke Parks teamed to deliver a score that captures the essence of this story of American assimilation, infusing sounds traditionally associated with the Old West with Chinese vernacular. For the former, "banjo bravado; mesmerisms of the lowly Jew's harp; hammer dulcimer with its double-string 'desafinado' ('slightly out of tune'); or the plaintive evocations of Celtic melodies that crawled across the American fiddler's frontier, you'll find it's all here," comments Parks. The latter features Shakuhachi performed by Masakazu Yoshizawa, whose previous film work includes scores by John Williams and Ry Cooder. The score to BROKEN TRAIL was also nominated for an Emmy.

This release is featured in Intrada's Signature Editions and is limited to 1000 copies.

INTRADA Signature Editions ISE 1016
IN STOCK NOW
For cover art, track listing, and sound samples, please visit
http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.ACC ... id.5698/.f

This is a very welcome release and a nice compliment to both Mansfield's score to THE BALLAD OF LITTLE JO' and Park's WILD BILL.
But what's up with the packaging, Roger/Doug? There was a number of nice advertising pieces for this release that would have been more appropriate, especially the cover used for the DVD release that featured gruff images of the film's stars, Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church?




Or this...


Was there a licensing issue with the actors? Either way, great release!

- SH

I rather like this cover.

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http://www.ccci.org/wij/index.html

This is a movie I know little about, as I regretfully didn't see it at the time on television.

However, I just ordered the CD sight unseen and unheard. My faith in this decision stems from the fact that the sister of my wife's co-worker won an Emmy for this movie - Best Casting.

So, now I have three overwhelming reasons to buy this: (1) I want to contribute to the further success of Intrada by supporting this relase (2) I now have an indirect connection to someone involved in this acclaimed production (3) I am interested in the musical collaboration between David Mansfield and Van Dyke Parks.

Now, I must go out and rent the DVD.

I didn't want to seem self-promoting about my sentiments above, but what made me think about this was something that happened about 18 years ago. I remember an extraordinary television film called SON OF THE MORNING STAR. My friend and I talked about this for months, noting the score as one of the best television scores in a long time. It was beautiful in the film - very rich and thematic, but underscored sensitively when it needed to be. We kept ranting for a year about how "Someone has to release this, someone has to release this." I believe my friend blabbered this to Doug on the phone one time, while placing an order. When my friend told me this, I said "Oh boy, that's all Doug needs is another overzealous self-proclaimed score afficionado's opinion." But lo and behold, not soon after, what do you think came out on the Intrada label?

It's comforting to know that there are others that have the same level of appreciation and enthusiasm for something that is good. This is one of the reasons why my confidence is so high in buying BROKEN TRAIL. It represents something that you'd hope would come out based on the pedigree of its production, but never knew when or if it would.

Thanks Again Intrada!

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I'm an old cowhand ...

This sounds awesome and I want to see the film! So any info on why the composers teamed up?

Yavar

The movie is wonderful. If you are a fan of movies such as Lonesome Dove, then this film is for you.

Tai

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http://www.ccci.org/wij/index.html

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Karl Morton IV

"Enjoy every sandwich."
-- Warren Zevon

Just watched it.

Part one was very good.
part two had me fighting to stay awake.
There are just so many campfire scenes one can watch!

Music in part two was more interesting though.

LONESOME DOVE it aint>