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“Edelman is a long-time composer of heavily
synthesized scores and his patented sound is starting to wear a bit
thin. BLACK KNIGHT does have its moments. The bad thing
is that they are interspersed with some pretty horrendous moments as
well.”
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Oh Camelot, How
Thee Hath Fallen!
Review by Christopher
Coleman
Produced by Randy
Edelman
Executive Producer:
Robert Townson
Randy Edelman is just
not heard from enough.
With stand out efforts
such as DRAGONHEART,
GETTSYBURG, and
PASSION OF MIND, its
disappointing that
Edelman doesn't obtain
more work.
Unfortunately, for
whatever reason, he
takes on assignments
such as BLACK KNIGHT,
which stars Martin
Lawrence as a
misplaced, misguided,
city-slicker from the
21st century cast into
the Middle Ages. His
mere placement into
the Medieval World is
suppose to provide the
backbone of humor. A
black-man in Medieval
England...how
hilarious! Right?
Wrong. If that wasn't
bad enough, his
character's name is
Jamal Sky Walker. Oh,
a play on Star Wars!
How clever! Right?
Wrong. As bad as this
sounds, perhaps the
score could be a
silver-lining to this
medieval-mess.
Right?...
With such a story to
work with it would
seem that Randy
Edelman had little chance of
producing a decent
score. Edelman's score
contains elements that
most his fans have
come to know and
appreciate: strong but
underused melodies and
expansive, but of
course, synthesized
orchestra instruments,
occasional guitar
motifs and so forth.
BLACK KNIGHT offers a
bit of each and they
represent the
highlights of the
score, as well-worn as
they might be. The
problem is that most
of these have been
heard, in one form or
another, on previous
Edelman
projects...and, at
least, had the merit
of being somewhat
fresh back then.
With the premise of
the film, one would
have to expect Edelman
to attempt to fuse
urban grooves with the
noble sound of the
Middle Ages. This he
does and as one would
also have to expect
too, it flat-out
doesn't work. Not only
in the very concept,
but Edelman doesn't do
the hip-hop-thing very well. It
is of the cheesey,
Hollywood-type of
urban music that I
always do my best to ignore.
Add to this the
occasional and clearly
incompatible nod to
the Western (ie.
lonely harmonica) and
one has real problem
on their hands...err
ears.
Edelman is a long-time
composer of heavily
synthesized scores and
his patented sound is
wearing a bit thin.
BLACK KNIGHT does have
its moments. The
bad thing is that they
are interspersed with
some pretty horrendous
moments. The
overall experience of
this soundtrack is
worse than any single
track; therefore, the
rating drops to a
4/10. If one is
desperate for a slice
or two of some of
Edelman's patented
sound, then BLACK
KNIGHT might be worth
a look; otherwise,
look to some of his
other more recent
projects such as his
collaboration with
John Frizzell on
GODS AND GENERALS.
Rating:
4/10
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Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
A Queen and a
Dream |
2:55 |
*** |
|
2 |
Castle World |
1:22 |
** |
|
3 |
Jamal on
Horseback |
1:24 |
** |
|
4 |
Danger
in
the
Early
Morning |
1:49 |
** |
|
5 |
A
Medieval
"Hood" |
2:19 |
** |
| 6 |
Romance in the Dark |
1:24 |
*** |
| 7 |
The Black Knight |
2:42 |
** |
| 8 |
One Day with Honor |
2:01 |
*** |
| 9 |
Escape Over the Moat |
2:41 |
*** |
| 10 |
The Middle Age Inn |
1:55 |
** |
| 11 |
Upcoming Execution |
1:50 |
*** |
| 12 |
Winning the Crowd |
1:23 |
*** |
| 13 |
Looking Toward a Rainbow |
1:23 |
*** |
| 14 |
Where's Victoria? |
1:06 |
*** |
| 15 |
Checkmate |
0:34 |
*** |
| 16 |
Training for the Battle |
1:11 |
** |
| 17 |
Elliot's Lullaby |
0:42 |
*** |
| 18 |
Backwood Rebels |
2:15 |
** |
| 19 |
Renaissance Sway |
3:32 |
** |
| 20 |
Closing |
1:30 |
** |
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Total Running Time (approx) |
37 minutes |
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