Editorial Review:

Album Description:
Jerry Goldsmith's death in 2004 marked the end of one of the greatest careers in film composing. This lavish 57 track 4 CD set traces the path of his astonishing achievements and includes recordings conducted by Goldsmith himself. Featuring The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, The Philharmonia Orchestra, The National Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Daniel Caine Orchestra. Includes over 280 minutes of music.









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Disc 1:

1. Blue Max, The
2. Blue Max, The
3. Blue Max, The
4. Blue Max, The
5. Blue Max, The
6. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: Doctor Kildare / Room 222 / Waltons, The / Barnaby Jones / Television Themes Medley
7. In Harm's Way
8. The Sandpebbles: Chinatown / Patch Of Blue, A / Poltergeist / Papillon / Wind And The Lion, The / Motion Pictures Medley
9. Generals, The
10. Tora! Tora! Tora!
11. Wild Rovers, The
12. Pursuit
13. Wind And The Lion, The

Disc 2:

1. QB VII
2. QB VII
3. QB VII
4. QB VII
5. QB VII
6. Waltons, The
7. Papillon
8. Police Story
9. Omen, The
10. Capricorn One
11. Swarm, The
12. Boys From Brazil, The
13. , The (First) Great Train Robbery
14. Alien
15. Star Trek The Motion Picture

Disc 3:

1. Masada
2. Poltergeist
3. First Blood - Rambo II
4. Twilight Zone: The Movie
5. Under Fire
6. Under Fire
7. Under Fire
8. Under Fire
9. Gremlins
10. Baby - Secret Of The Lost Legend
11. Legend
12. Lionheart
13. Rambo III
14. Total Recall

Disc 4:

1. Star Trek Voyager
2. Basic Instinct
3. Russia House, The
4. Gremlins II
5. Medicine Man
6. Shadow, The
7. Forever Young
8. First Knight
9. Powder
10. Airforce One
11. L.A. Confidential
12. Mummy, The
13. Haunting, The

Rating: - 40 Years And Still Missing Some Of His Best
OK, there are a lot of movie composers that you could call the Big Leaguers. John Williams, Elmer Bernstein, and Jerry Goldsmith. I don't know who was in charge of this compilation, but I can't believe they would cull the "essential" music of such a gifted composer but overlook one of his most stirring and moving soundtracks. I'm talking of course about the 1970 war epic "Patton". To not include any of that music is just a travesty and that's why I am only giving this collection a 2 star rating.

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Rating: - Outstanding.
An outstanding recording,to be taken back in time ,when being absorbed in the sounds,and strains of strident musicand the softer passages,truly inspiring,melodies to tug at your heart.Great orchestral,performace,the percussion section must have had a ball.

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Rating: - Awesome Set!
I am a huge fan of Jerry Goldsmith. They did a great job preserving his vision. I can listen to this collection for hours. Great music!

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Rating: - Elmer Bernstein Film Music Collection
This is compilation of hit film music from one of the greatest composers in motion pictures. What is surprising though is the music not included like the Ghost And The Darkness, the 13th Warrior, Rudy and others. To be sure, 4 discs are not enough for a composure of this stature. THe recording, however, is an "engineering masterpiece" which makes the music even more enjoyable than when you first heard it at the movies. When are we ging to get the music that was omittd from this compilaton?

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Rating: - Overall a strong Goldsmith sampler
Okay, this is a CD review, so the focus is on music, but I've got to say this first: this has got to be a contender for the ugliest cover art ever. I mean, come on...instead of a tribute to the composer, the cover looks like someone spilled a glass of merlot over a NASA photo.

Fortunately, even an ugly cover will not ruin good music. And the good news is that I'd say about 75 percent of the music is good....and on a 4 cd set, that's a lot. Like other Silva compilations, the strength of this compilation is the variety. There are selections from the big releases (Star Trek, Omen, Rambo), but there is also a healthy dose of tracks from the smaller releases(Under Fire, Lionheart, The Swarm).

Two examples come to mind. Capricorn One and The Great Train Robbery are two movies that are not exactly household names today, but are dominated by two of Goldmith's finest main themes. The City of Prague Philharmonic come through with terrific renditions. And there are plenty of other strong performances...a few being concert versions conducted by Goldsmith himself. Suprisingly, "The Wind and the Lion" works, which is no small accomplishment given the ferentic original performance of "Raisuli Attacks".

It's not a complete success. A few of the performances fall flat, particularly some of the more inventive scores. Total Recall is just bad, mangling the performance with poor percussion and synthesizer choices to boot. Also a letdown is the Klingon Attack from the first Star Trek movie. The Prague Philhamonic attempt doesn't sound bad--it's just that once you've heard the original soundtrack's "blaster beam" with enough bass to rattle your teeth...well let's just say Silva's version is a little tinny in comparison.

But I shouldn't dwell on the negative. Overall, this is a strong sampler of Goldsmith's variety. There are plenty of quality performances here, and despite a few omissions (noticeably Planet of the Apes)this is a very good release from Silva.