Patton / Tora! Tora! Tora!
The collaboration between director Franklin J. Schaffner and composerJerry Goldsmithproduced several fantastic films and scores, but none have been more memorable than 1970'sPatton. Goldsmith's grandiosely constructed marches and echoing trumpets express both the essence of the complex general as well as Schaffner's visual imagery. These trumpets find their way into nearly every part of the film's score, lending an aura of timelessness and invincibility to the conflicts that lay ahead. Even in "The Cemetery," they float beneath the heavy drums and light piccolos as testament to the sacrifice and memorial of death in combat. The score toTora! Tora! Tora!embodies the invasion of Pearl Harbor as Goldsmith brings the sounds of the Japanese koto and wood blocks under the structure of a full Western symphony. Opposing instruments build up separately from one another as the fighting forces come closer to battle then blend at the climax of engagement. Swift and furious as well as cold and decisive, Goldsmith's score slowly lets the tension rise then swoops down to reflect scenes as shocking and surprising as the day itself.--James Stockstill