MovieMusic.com Message Boards: Damnation Alley

Message Boards

Movie Soundtracks

Damnation Alley

Archive of old forum. No more postings.

Please visit our new forum, The MovieMusic Lobby, to post new topics.

Author	Topic: Damnation Alley

Laurence Page Oscar® Winner	Saw this film over the weekend for the first time - truly TERRIBLE (even George Peppard's moustache looks phoney) - of course the best thing in it is Jerry's score. Quite "Apes-ish" in parts. Has anyone got the boot? I've heard the sound is poor (and with dialogue). I wonder if this could be one of the promised FSM 70's sci-fi releases?
posted 02-21-2001 02:25 AM PT (US)

soundtrackman Oscar® Winner	a lot of us are wondering the same thing, but FSM has said previously that for various unspecified reasons, the release "won't happen." It's a shame, because Damnation Alley is an intriguing score, with a good use of electronics and conventional orchestra - which is why something like a rerecording will never sound quite the same. The boot is just made from a VHS hi-fi tape of the film. You can do the same thing yourself.
posted 02-21-2001 05:32 AM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Oscar® Winner	Then again, one of the latest hints FSM gave about upcoming releases is that one of them will be something "no one expected" (or something to that effect)...
posted 02-21-2001 07:18 AM PT (US)

Stephen Lister Oscar® Winner	I believe it was "a 1950s score you never thought you'd have" ...
posted 02-21-2001 07:42 AM PT (US)

Stephen Lister Oscar® Winner	I watched (endured?) DAMNATION ALLEY on TV the other night as well, just to hear Jerry's score for the umpteenth time. Is he the Dreckmeister or what? I love this score, even if its electronic colourations date it somewhat. The Soundtrack Library bootleg is (to quote them) "made from the foreign dubbing tracks and has some sound effects and dialogue leakage. We have tried to edit out as much as possible." Actually, fellahs, if you'd just done what Soundtrackman suggested and taped it off the VHS, it would sound a million times better. This is quite possibly the most excremental boot I've ever heard, and I've suffered through some boogers in my time. It's so bad it's actually funny. However, I have to forgive them because it's paired with a complete version of ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, which has slightly better sonics than the Pony Boy boot, and even manages to sound mysteriously stereo-ish. I remember reading an interview with Jack Smight, possibly in Cinefantastique, where he explained that the original cut of DAMNATION ALLEY was much more character-driven, but the studio cut tons of these scenes out. Apparently they had no faith in the movie, and wanted to beef up the presence of the vehicle, making the story more action-oriented. They also added opticals. As Smight wearily noted, "Now it's just a movie about this vehicle. With purple skies."
posted 02-21-2001 09:23 AM PT (US)

Timmer Oscar® Winner	I remember that interview too Stephen! Watched this last weekend for the first time in about 20 years...It proved that when it comes to bad films my memory is as good as ever ....But I just HAD to listen to the score again!
posted 02-21-2001 11:00 AM PT (US)

new york islanders Oscar® Winner	I agree with you Stephen, the movie was absolutely crap and the only reason I endured it was Goldsmith's exciting score which to me had somewhat indifferent mixing in the film. I once had that atrocuous boot and dumped it mainly because it's more like a self made reproduction of the score which sucks. Bootleggers can't live with them, can't live without them. If it's a 50's Goldsmith score it would have to be either Black Patch or City of Fear. But it wouldn't surprise me to see a release of this score sometime this year, if not next.
posted 02-21-2001 11:03 AM PT (US)

majestyx Oscar® Winner	The boot version coupled with a very good-sounding ESCAPE FROM THE POTA is nothing more than a recording from the film itself, and the sound quality is rather poor.
posted 02-21-2001 12:36 PM PT (US)

H Rocco Oscar® Winner	probably as good as we're liable to get, though ... I think FSM's deal with Fox and the unions only covers scores from 1973 and before? That means that DAMNATION ALLEY, being from 1977, falls well beyond that deadline. Perhaps if the label meets with still greater success, the price of that album might eventually become more realistic. Either that, or, as I fear, the tapes are lost. (They also mentioned not being able to release THE SATAN BUG for "circumstantial" reasons -- which I think means "the tapes are gone or deteriorated.") Of course, the tapes for TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING were presumed lost for years, but were finally unearthed -- I believe Jerry's son Joel turned out to have them. (Recorded in Munich, hence no re-use problems.) Watch and wait, live and learn, hope and hope and HOPE ...
posted 02-21-2001 02:41 PM PT (US)

Stephen Lister Oscar® Winner	I thought I read somewhere that FSM's deal with the unions is sort of a sliding threshhold - as each year passes, the year of recordings available to them increases? That sounds too good to be true, so maybe I'm imagining it...
posted 02-21-2001 03:47 PM PT (US)

H Rocco Oscar® Winner	That only makes sense ... I HOPE it becomes true, but don't know. I owe Nick Redman a ring, perhaps he'll tell me NP: "Reprise" by Vangelis
posted 02-21-2001 04:12 PM PT (US)

Eric Paddon Oscar® Winner	>I remember reading an interview with Jack >Smight, possibly in Cinefantastique, where >he explained that the original cut of >DAMNATION ALLEY was much more character->driven, but the studio cut tons of these >scenes out. I'm pretty sure some of them got restored when the movie aired on NBC because I remember a couple scenes with Murray Hamilton as the drunken general at the base that aren't in the video/theatrical release. Lousy as the film is, I'd rather watch it again than some of the more recent post-apocalyptic films of note. How can you not be entertained by a film with such memorable lines like "This town's infested with killer cockroaches!"?
posted 02-21-2001 06:29 PM PT (US)

Laurence Page Oscar® Winner	Thanks for your comments guys! I too love that line "This town's infested with killer cockroaches!" Except when you look closely they appear to be a large carpet being dragged across the room. That Dominique Sanda can't act either... I did wonder why Murray Hamilton stands there with no lines. Probably didn't want to panic the local community..oh wait, that was another film.. But a great score. But now we all know what the FSM releases are...
posted 02-22-2001 02:42 AM PT (US)

jonathan_little Oscar® Winner	Remember that Damnation Alley is a 20th Century Fox film. Wouldn't that make a release by FSM just a matter of time?
posted 02-22-2001 01:59 PM PT (US)

new york islanders Oscar® Winner	You're right Jonathan...it's only a matter of time that this score gets a release like I said earlier. And there are other of scores from his time at 20th Century-Fox that deserve to be preserved on CD, like: Ace Eli And Rodger of the Skies The Detectives The Chairman (if they can find the master tapes) The Sand Peebles (a definitive version) Warning Shot and I'm definetly sure there are others not just from Fox that are worthy of release.
posted 02-22-2001 10:33 PM PT (US)

jonathan_little Oscar® Winner	Here's what I got from the IMDB when I searched for Jerry Goldsmith and the production company 20th Century Fox, since I was curious what else FSM might have up their sleeve. (I tried to omit titles which used "non-original music" from other Goldsmith films) "Anna and the King" (1972) TV Series "Legend of Jesse James, The" (1965) TV Series "Loner, The" (1965) TV Series "Room 222" (1969) TV Series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1964)TV Series 100 Rifles (1969) 5.6/10 (91 votes) Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973) 5.8/10 (11 votes) Agony and the Ecstasy, The (1965) 6.4/10 (233 votes) Alien (1979) 8.2/10 (21672 votes) Alien Nation (1988) 6.1/10 (761 votes) Alien: Resurrection (1997) 5.9/10 (8686 votes) Aliens (1986) 8.2/10 (24680 votes) Bad Girls (1994) 4.7/10 (781 votes) Bandolero! (1968) 6.2/10 (151 votes) Blue Max, The (1966) 6.2/10 (237 votes) Chain Reaction (1996) 5.1/10 (2036 votes) Chairman, The (1969) 4.9/10 (34 votes) Damien: Omen II (1978) 5.4/10 (861 votes) Damnation Alley (1977) 4.5/10 (260 votes) Detective, The (1968) 6.2/10 (95 votes) Don't Bother to Knock (1952) 6.4/10 (131 votes) Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) 5.7/10 (844 votes) Fate Is the Hunter (1964) 6.5/10 (104 votes) Final Conflict, The (1981) 5.0/10 (440 votes) Flim-Flam Man, The (1967) 6.3/10 (201 votes) Girl Named Sooner, A (1975) (TV) 7.2/10 (13 votes) In Like Flint (1967) 5.5/10 (289 votes) Justine (1969/I) 6.0/10 (21 votes) Mephisto Waltz, The (1971) 5.5/10 (90 votes) Morituri (1965) 6.4/10 (66 votes) Omen, The (1976) 7.0/10 (2227 votes) Other, The (1972) 6.7/10 (128 votes) Our Man Flint (1965) 6.3/10 (349 votes) Patton (1970) 8.1/10 (4806 votes) Planet of the Apes (1968) 7.6/10 (4921 votes) Prologue: The Artist Who Did Not Want To Paint (1965) Pursuit (1972/I) (TV) 7.8/10 (11 votes) Rio Conchos (1964) 6.4/10 (44 votes) SPY*S (1974) 3.5/10 (56 votes) Sand Pebbles, The (1966) 7.4/10 (507 votes) Shock Treatment (1964) 7.6/10 (15 votes) Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) 5.7/10 (1773 votes) Stagecoach (1966) 5.5/10 (63 votes) Stripper, The (1963) 6.7/10 (20 votes) Take Her, She's Mine (1963) 5.3/10 (63 votes) Terrorists, The (1975) 6.6/10 (29 votes) Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) 6.8/10 (593 votes) Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A (1974) (TV) 6.6/10 (12 votes) Vanishing, The (1993) 5.9/10 (1088 votes) Von Ryan's Express (1965) 6.9/10 (331 votes) [Message edited by jonathan_little on 02-23-2001]
posted 02-23-2001 05:12 AM PT (US)

new york islanders Oscar® Winner	Hey Jonathan, interesting list and of that list these have already been released by FSM or Varese or other labels: 100 Rifles The Flim-Flam Man The Loner Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea The Blue Max Damien Omen 2 Bad Girls The Chairman Escape From Planet of the Apes A Girl Named Sooner In Like Flint Justine The Final Conflict The Other Memphisto Waltz Planet of the Apes The Omen Alien Patton Rio Conchos Our Man Flint Sand Peebles Stagecoach The Stripper Take A Hard Ride Tora, Tora Tora The Terrorists aka.Ransom The Artist Who Does Not Wanna Paint Prologue for The Agony And the Ecstacy Sleeping With The Enemy Chain Reaction The Edge so that would leave the possiblity of these unreleased scores to come out: Binary Tree Grows In Brooklyn Damnation Alley Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies The Detective Take Her, She's Mine Warning Shot Alien Nation (if Goldsmith chooses to release it) Von Ryan's Express Morituri Shock Treatment Fate is the Hunter SPYS Room 222 and these deserve expansions or original releases: Sand Peebles Von Ryan's Express The Chairman Goldsmith did not write any original music for both Aliens and Alien Resurrection. It was mostly a temp track cue for each. And there's probably no chance in hell, Goldsmith would release The Vanishing. At least not right now because of all the trouble he had recording and scoring it. The boot is all you need for now and it's a good score I'll tell you that.
posted 02-24-2001 12:09 AM PT (US)

André Lux Oscar® Winner	I saw DAMNATION ALLEY on theaters when I was 8 years old... And man, those atomic cucarachas and giant scorpions scared me to death! I wasn't able to sleep for weeks because of it!! Well, ok I've said it... Jerry score is great but the boot indeed sucks. I remember I read on magazine (Cinemusic?) that this score is lost - both tapes and sheet music... What a shame!!
posted 02-24-2001 11:47 AM PT (US)

Nicolai P. Zwar Oscar® Winner	Damnation Alley is an old B-picture trash movie whose greatest asset is truly Goldsmith's musical score. In fact, I remember one review of the movie stating that "the one outstanding thing about Damnation Alley is its musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, which outshines the movie at every single turn." One of the rare cases a film review positively mentions the musical score. [Message edited by Nicolai P. Zwar on 02-24-2001]
posted 02-24-2001 12:37 PM PT (US)

jonathan_little Oscar® Winner	I just picked up the Ransom/Chairman disc that Silva put out in 1991. Both are decent scores, but supposedly the "masters are lost" and a mixture of LPs and cassette tapes were used to make the CD.
posted 02-24-2001 01:43 PM PT (US)

new york islanders Oscar® Winner	Okay time to interogate Joel Goldsmith...Is he in the house!
posted 02-26-2001 10:44 AM PT (US)

Old Infopop Software by UBB