Composed by: Jerry Goldsmith
Year of release: 1976, digital re-release 2015
Distributor: WaterTower Music
Running time: 75 Minutes
Imagine a world where you are free to do whatever you like. The only price is that by your 30th birthday, you must submit to a fiery ritual of rejuvenation. Fear not, as you will be born again and start all over. This is the major plot device of Michael Anderson’s 1976 classic film Logan’s Run. The film featured Michael York as Logan, Richard Jordan as his best friend, Francis, and Jenny Agutter and Logan’s love interest, Jessica. The caveat to Logan’s Run is that Logan is a Sandman, a police officer who hunts down 30 year old’s to participate in the rejuvenation ceremony. Why must they participate? They all live in a domed city and this ceremony/ process maintains the population. Though what happens when Logan, a Sandman, decides to run?
The film is a true treat for Sci-Fi fans and marks the end of era in the genre as the following year George Lucas’ Star Wars would change everything. It is worth noting that Logan’s Run, with its picturesque vision of a bottled city, doesn’t have the complete “new” and “glossy” look of the future that so many other films had. In fact, Michael Anderson and his creative team give much of the film a “lived-in-look,” creating the contrast to the perfect utopia as to what lay outside the dome.
Recently, WaterTower music released Jerry Goldsmith’s complete score for digital download, a score that was once released incomplete and released again years later only to fetch a huge price in the secondary market. I myself possess a vinyl copy of the original release, but in learning that Warner Brothers was releasing a digital copy, I knew it was time to run with the Sandman once again.
1976 was an excellent year for Goldsmith. He would compose five motion picture scores and one other for television. It was also the year that Goldsmith would win his only academy award for his work on The Omen. It’s a haunting score, and after three consecutive years of being nominated for Papillon (1973), Chinatown (1974) and The Wind and the Lion (1975), it is a horror movie that wins him his prize. In looking back, we see what proceeded Logan’s Run as some of the finest movie scores ever composed. It is here in Logan’s Run that we find Goldsmith’s love of strings and his ability to try different techniques, as he did with Planet of the Apes (1968), to craft a complete unique sound.
“The Dome / The City / Nursery” (Track #1) sets both the mood for the film, as well as the majesty of what man has accomplished (in this story) with the Dome. Yet, one cannot help but notice that the score sounds as if a battery is pulsating to its climax, a fitting hint as to what lies ahead for both our main characters and the world in which they live.
“A Little Muscle” (Track #8) is a great taste of the Goldsmith strings that we have all come to appreciate in many of his scores. He teeters us on the edge and keeps us guessing as to what lies in store for our characters. A great device for any director to have at his disposal. Fans of Goldsmith contributions to The Twilight Zone Movie and Planet of the Apes will hear numerous sound cues from both of those films.
“Intensive Care” (Track #10) is an enigma for this modern film aficionado. Right off the bat, you could take this direct track out and play it in any of the Friday the 13th films. The violins push the horror and the piano pounds fear. It is as if Harry Manfredini found his inspiration for Jason score’s right here in the Sci-Fi world of Logan’s Run.
“The Love Shop” (Track #11) This track is without a doubt the oddest piece of music in the film. It is both a sound effect and mood piece that throws you in the strobe light infested sex world of Logan’s adventure. A piece such as this could easily be dismissed as sound effects for this crazy scene. Instead, it highlights just how far Goldsmith was willing to experiment to set a mood for a world that doesn’t exist, yet.
“The Sun” (Track #15): The hardest thing for any composer is to write music for a sunrise. In its complete majesty, how does anyone top such a spectacle, visually, or top “Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra)”, by Herbert Von Karajan, with music? Goldsmith brings us into that moment as if it is the first time we, too, are seeing the sun (as it is for Logan and Jessica), but reminds of the danger that is ever present in their new found paradise.
Logan’s Run is an incredible soundtrack that any of fan of the genre or Goldsmith must possess. I would like to say it is a darker turn for Goldsmith, but outside of The Wind and the Lion, his scores that preceded this one dealt with some heavy plots. Then again, what could be worse than living until you’re 30 and finding out that all your friends died for nothing? [review]
Download Logan’s Run: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack here on WaterTower Music.
Track Listing:
The Dome / The City / Nursery – Jerry Goldsmith
Flameout – Jerry Goldsmith
Fatal Games – Jerry Goldsmith
On The Circuit – Jerry Goldsmith
The Assignment / Lost Years – Jerry Goldsmith
Shell Do It / Let Me Help – Jerry Goldsmith
Crazy Ideas – Jerry Goldsmith
A Little Muscle – Jerry Goldsmith
Terminated In Cathedral – Jerry Goldsmith
Intensive Care – Jerry Goldsmith
Love Shop – Jerry Goldsmith
Theyre Watching / Doc Is Dead – Jerry Goldsmith
The Key / Box – Jerry Goldsmith
Ice Sculpture – Jerry Goldsmith
The Sun – Jerry Goldsmith
The Monument – Jerry Goldsmith
The Truth – Jerry Goldsmith
Youre Renewed – Jerry Goldsmith
The Journey Back / The Beach – Jerry Goldsmith
Return To The City / Apprehensions – Jerry Goldsmith
The Interrogation – Jerry Goldsmith
End of The City – Jerry Goldsmith
Love Theme From “Logans Run” – Jerry Goldsmith
The Dome / The City / Nursery – Jerry Goldsmith
Flameout – Jerry Goldsmith
Fatal Games – Jerry Goldsmith
On The Circuit – Jerry Goldsmith
The Assignment / Lost Years – Jerry Goldsmith
Shell Do It / Let Me Help – Jerry Goldsmith
Crazy Ideas – Jerry Goldsmith
A Little Muscle – Jerry Goldsmith
Terminated In Cathedral – Jerry Goldsmith
Intensive Care – Jerry Goldsmith
Love Shop – Jerry Goldsmith
Theyre Watching / Doc Is Dead – Jerry Goldsmith
The Key / Box – Jerry Goldsmith
Ice Sculpture – Jerry Goldsmith
The Sun – Jerry Goldsmith
The Monument – Jerry Goldsmith
The Truth – Jerry Goldsmith
Youre Renewed – Jerry Goldsmith
The Journey Back / The Beach – Jerry Goldsmith
Return To The City / Apprehensions – Jerry Goldsmith
The Interrogation – Jerry Goldsmith
End of The City – Jerry Goldsmith
Love Theme From “Logans Run” – Jerry Goldsmith