“[Islands in the Stream] was so special and to me it’s always been one of my best scores. Every day I’d go down to work on it, [sitting] at the Moviola with tears in my eyes .... It’s a great film.”
—Jerry Goldsmith, 1982
Intrada presents a newly mastered and edited edition of the original soundtrack to the 1977 Paramount Pictures film Islands in the Stream. The score was of such personal importance to Jerry Goldsmith that he approached Intrada in 1986, just a year after it had been formed and a few months after the release of his latest score, Poltergeist II, to seek the label's interest in creating a new recording of the score in Hungary. Intrada jumped at the chance. The brilliant recording has been in the catalog continuously since it was released in the late '80s.
Since licensing and cost complications precluded a release of the original tracks at the time, the new recording was a godsend to Goldsmith enthusiasts, with the exception of a few omissions that Goldsmith couldn't get right with the Hungarian orchestra. In the 2010s, things had changed and the Film Score Monthly label was able to release the original tracks, but it has since been out of print for some time. With some slight modifications using newer technology, Doug Fake and Chris Malone were able to elevate the quality of the recording for this brand new release. The score is beautiful, deeply emotional and introspective, and at times simply thrilling. From the reflection of the inner feelings of the main character and his relationship with his family to the shark attack, lengthy Marlin sequence and rescue sequence in the last act, Goldsmith provides quite the musical adventure, presented in complete form with new notes by Frank K. DeWald.
The film is a drama directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway. The film follows the life of Thomas Hudson (George C. Scott), a successful painter living in the Bahamas during World War II. Struggling with his past and the impact of the war on his family, Hudson navigates complex relationships with his estranged wife, his children, and a series of romantic entanglements. The narrative explores themes of love, loss and redemption against the backdrop of a changing world, ultimately reflecting on the human condition and the search for meaning amidst chaos.
