ROBOT JOX

Newly-assembled and remastered presentation of dynamic Frederic Talgorn sci-fi soundtrack! Stuart Gordon directs 1989 sci-fi tale for Empire Pictures, familiar Gordon actors include Robert Sampson, Hilary Mason, Jeffrey Combs plus Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, giant robot sequences come from famous practitioners as David Allen, Ron Cobb, Steve Burg. Then-relative newcomer Frederic Talgorn leads Paris Philharmonic Orchestra in rousing symphonic score. Idea of giant gladiatorial robots transforming into variety of imposing weapons of all manner was born of the Hasbro/Takara Tomy “Transformers” series of toys but interestingly predates all other film versions. No mere tale of battling robots in the ring, Gordon draws inspiration instead from such heady fare as Homer’s The Illiad and then-topical political arena of ongoing U.S.-Soviet cold war. Composer Talgorn avoided electronic idiom then in vogue, approached subjects courtesy vivid symphonic score with nods to John Williams, Miklos Rozsa, other film scoring symphonists. Results are dynamic, full-throttle action sequences, exciting fanfare-theme and variants plus richly scored dramatic cues in between. Talgorn also finishes what he starts, brings the score to a rousing fortissimo end, a bold compositional device sadly lacking in today’s film scoring venue! Score was issued on CD in early 1990’s. Intrada release completely re-assembles entire score in film sequence, newly masters everything for increased dynamics and clarity. While most of score appeared on earlier release, MGM-vaulted masters did yield handful of brief previously-unreleased cues. These are premiered as well, with cues adding to score’s depth playing in main program and short transitional cues appearing as extras. Informative liner notes by Daniel Schweiger, colorful graphic design by Kay Marshall. Score recorded and mixed by Philippe Laffont in Paris, played by Paris Philharmonic Orchestra. Frederic Talgorn composes, orchestrates, conducts. Intrada Special Collection CD available while quantities and interest remain!