Search - Bill Conti :: The Right Stuff (1983 Film) / North And South (1985 Television Mini-Series) [2 on 1]

THE RIGHT STUFF: Please introduce the ENTIRE score.

Robert J. Willert | LOS ANGELES, CA | 04/06/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"While NORTH & SOUTH had a good score, it never compares to Bill Conti's magnificent, supersoaringly patriotic sounds of THE RIGHT STUFF. Conti's score even won an Academy Award and still Warner Bros. chose not to release it on tape (1983) and on CD (today). What gives? So what if Conti borrows largely from Holst's THE PLANETS, the combination of Holst and Conti is so wonderful, the sounds give you goosebumps. So what if the film wasn't very popular when it was released (it was still considered the Best Film by most critics in 1983). A lot of movies that do poorly at the box office still get their own CD. Why not THE RIGHT STUFF? Bill Conti, this score may be your best work. I will be FIRST IN LINE to purchase a CD that showcases the entire THE RIGHT STUFF score, and I am certain a million others will be standing behind me. Please read this, Bill (and those of you at Warner Bros.): we need soundtracks today that soar, and THE RIGHT STUFF makes us ALL feel alive (as alive as when you look up and watch a space shuttle launch into the wild blue yonder - how glorious is that). Believe me, you'll be doing the country a favor. THE RIGHT STUFF score, the ENTIRE score, is a CLASSIC, and will live forever."

Why the "Right Stuff" cannot be a "Complete Score" on CD

Robert J. Willert | 06/13/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"While the COMPLETE SCORE for "Right Stuff" may be "triumphant, moving and soaring" in the film, there are reasons it may never be available in a "complete form" on CD.....Due to the fact that Bill Conti had to write the entire score for "The Right Stuff" AFTER the film was in the final cut and ready to be released, he had to write very quickly. As a result, the score is not entirely original. The "original score" borrows heavily from "Mars", "Jupiter" and "Neptune" from "The Planets" by Gustav Holst... which is a suite of Orchestral pieces for a symphony orchestra. The main theme borrows heavily from the "Violin Concerto" of Tchaikovsky (so much so, even the orchestration remains largely the same as the concerto) and The U.S. Air Force (Wild Blue Yonder) song. At the end of the film, the beautiful music for the feather fan dancer on stage is "Claire de Lune" by Claude Debussy (complete and unaltered and note for note) and is NOT credited in the film at all, so many think Mr. Conti wrote this piece... he did not. Further more, 2 composers, Todd Boekelheide and Garth Hudson, did additional music for the film. More music heard in the film is Harry Warren's "I Only Have Eyes For You" and The Hallelujah Chorus by Georg Friedrich Handel.Therefore, all you are likely to get in the way of a COMPLETE score exclusively by Bill Conti himself is going to be the suite released on this CD since the complete score was mostly the music of the 8 other men mentioned above.The North and South music is fine, but not Bill Conti's best work."

Not enough "good stuff" - buy Holst's "The Planets"

A Central Illinoisian in Chicago | USA | 07/23/1999

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I was an admirer of The Right Stuff's score for years, and constantly frustrated by the fact that I couldn't find the complete soundtrack to it. I bought this version through a catalog, and was pretty disappointed by it. It's a symphonic suite, in the same way that the "Victory at Sea" suite compresses 100's of minutes of music into 15 minutes - the themes are there, but the composition just ain't. If you really like the score, it's still worth the purchase, but don't even bother to listen to the North and South stuff. Five years ago, riding in my car on the way to work I happened to have the classical station on and I nearly choked on my coffee to hear what I thought was the most memorable musical sequence from the John Glenn orbit scene. I turned the volume WAY UP, and enjoyed it tremendously. At the end, I found that I had been listening to Holst's "The Planets", specifically, "Jupiter". I later found that The Right Stuff incorporates Holst in other parts of the movie. If you're a fan, I suggest you buy one of the many versions of "The Planets" that's out there, and pay special attention to "Mars" and "Jupiter". It's a nice complement to this CD, and fills some of the gaps. There are several compositions in it that have nothing to do with the movie, but it's a classic, and well worth the 12 bucks you'll spend on it."