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Music Conducted By
Jerry Goldsmith

Orchestrations By
Arthur Morton

Recorded By
Bruce Botnick

Performed By
-

Album Produced By
Jerry Goldsmith

Label
La-La Land Records
LLLCD 1114


Previous Release(s)
Geffen Records
9 24161-2

Year Of CD/Film Release
2009/1987

Running Time
78:31

Availability
Limited Release

Reviewed By
Brandon Moore

Cues & Timings

 

1. Main Title (2:15)
2. Take Him Home/Broken Toe (1:48)
3. Tell Me About It (2:17)
4. State of the Art/The Charge (6:55)
5. Gas Attack (4:52)
6. The Injection (2:12)
7. The Hand/Fat Cells (1:00)
8. Woman in Red (2:36)
9. What Is It? (1:09)
10. Optic Nerves (4:00)
11. Take It Easy/It’s True (2:18)
12. No Messenger (2:41)
13. No Pain (1:57)
14. User Friendly (1:40)
15. A Close Look (1:34)
16. The Cowboy (1:00)
17. Hold It (3:42)
18. For the Money/A New Man (3:39)
19. How Do I Look?/Save It (1:45)
20. Transformed (3:02)
21. Retransformed (2:52)
22. Where Am I? (2:12)
23. The Womb (4:39)
24. Fair Exchange (2:05)
25. Stop the Car (5:58)
26. Out of the Pod (3:55)
27. Disengage (3:00)
28. No Red Lights (1:18)

Soundtrack Ratings

Disappointing

Functional

 Average

 Good

 Excellent

 Outstanding

Inner Space
 
Inner Space marked Jerry Goldsmith's fourth feature film collaboration with director Joe Dante. After the disappointing box office turn out from Explorers, Dante had the good fortune to have none other than Gremlins producer Steven Spielberg (along with Warner Brothers) back to executive produce this exciting and humorous take on the inner body sci-fi adventure Fantastic Voyage.

Goldsmith's Inner Space is a full orchestral score with an electronic edge, very much his style of the 80s but complete with a wealth of themes and motifs. The first idea in the score is a heroic theme for the drunken hotshot Navy pilot Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid). He is involved with a secret project in miniaturisation but it goes awry when he is accidentally injected into store clerk and hypochondriac, Jack Putter (Martin Short). For their adventure the main theme is often used for both characters stated in noble brass and woodwinds in a moving chorale like anthem (Let's Get Small). It was revealed in a commentary by Joe Dante that the film was temp-tracked with Randy Newman's theme from The Natural. It is easy to hear how similar both themes are harmonically now in hindsight but Goldsmith was able to clearly create something completely original that worked and was perfect for the film's main characters.

Tuck's theme is often used in a diminutive form for the outside world as the meekly Jack is trying to escape from the villains Scrimshaw, Dr. Canker and Mr. Igoe. Goldsmith's clever symbolic use of a miniature variation on Tuck's theme for Jack represents them both simultaneously in the music as they interact in their separate environments. The interval of a tritone replaces the end of the first four notes and the theme is usually played in sneaky woodwinds combined with muted violins and pizzicato low strings. Goldsmith occasionally uses it in an action mode with a bouncing 5/8 woodwind and synth idea as Jack is driving to escape from the Vetroscope lab or the villains.

For the impressive visuals of the miniaturisation scene and the exploration of Jack's body, Goldsmith uses a mysterious sweeping tremolo string idea in 3/4 (complete with a heart beat) sounding similar to the cloud music from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Air Supply (on the original album) uses the string idea with Tuck's theme in a staccato drum with trumpet attack in the scene where Jack escapes from a delivery man carrying a gun.

Another main idea in the score is for Tuck's love interest Lydia Maxwell (Meg Ryan). Goldsmith provided a tinge of Alex North with this sweet and aching love theme for the couple's strained relationship. A beautiful B section to this theme makes a brief appearance as Jack actually gets a moment alone with Lydia and then is fully stated lyrically during the wedding scene in the finale. The character of The Cowboy (Robert Picardo in his third appearance in a Dante film) gets a humorous and over-the-top Morricone Western style theme complete with whistling and jew's harp.

One memorable scene in the film is where Jack escapes from being locked up in Igoe's fast moving freezer truck. The music begins with building on Tuck's theme then blasts into the 5/8 bouncing idea as he reaches the back door. The strings are followed by trumpets stating the short version of Tuck's theme and octatonic horns swell when Jack barely hangs on the open door over the street. Lydia arrives in Tuck's car just in time to save Jack with the music concluding on a heroic brass statement of Tuck's theme.

Scrimshaw's evil henchman Mr. Igoe has a two note motif that is often stated in short woodwinds mixed with a percussive metallic electronic sound over low repeated unison trumpet notes. As Igoe goes to attack Tuck inside Jack's body (Gut Reaction) his theme jabs fully in the woodwinds along with the bouncing 5/8 driving idea, Tuck's theme (short and long forms) and the 3/4 string idea. All thematic material blends perfectly as Goldsmith gets tons of mileage out of simple themes and motifs in this propulsive action
finale.

The now long out of print soundtrack album to Inner Space, released by Geffen Records, managed to leave off most of the score and only included five score cuts. The main title with the synth statement of Tuck's theme is nowhere to be found. The intense action cue for the scene where Ozzie (played by the film's cinematographer John Hora) escaping from Igoe on a bicycle is not included. Also missing is the Hoosiers-like music for Tuck waking up after being jostled around and injected into Putter. There is a complete absence of Lydia's theme and sadly missed in the beautiful wedding cue.

Plenty of music is just waiting to be heard on it's own from this impressive work from Jerry Goldsmith. If the film were released today it probably would have produced a score album along with a standard pop album release. Dante was one of Goldsmith's trusted admirers and this score provided the composer with an opportunity to write a memorable action score. Hopefully someday it will be available on a legitimate score album that the music deserves.