 |
Title |
| Latitude Zero: Great
Military Battle |
| International Title |
| Latitude
Zero |
Music
By:
Akira
Ifukube
Record Label: Toho Music
| Running
Time: 65:29/49:25 |
Discs:
2 |
| Release:
May 2006 |
CD
Number: TSFCD-22 |
|
| Comments |
Toho's own
two disc release of the Latitude Zero soundtrack,
which was intended to capitalize on the region 2 DVD of
the production that marked the first time it has ever
become available on home video. In terms of the music,
Akira
Ifukube delivers a decent score that, surprisingly,
doesn't lift much from his previous work, although some
of this would end up getting edited into Godzilla
vs. Gigan (1972). It's far from one of the composers
stronger scores, but motifs like the "Main Title"
and "Bloodrock" are still quite enjoyable. As
for the presentation, Toho continues its trend of giving
their CDs excellent booklets, as this set features a 22
page one that hosts a look at some old Latitude Zero
memorabilia with color photos, while also carefully dissecting
the differences in the Japanese soundtrack compared to
the International one.
This leads into exactly how Toho choose to fill a two
disc set with a score that could easily fit on one disc,
as this 2006 version contains both the International and
Japanese versions of the soundtrack. Unfortunately, most
of the tracks between the two versions aren't so much
different in terms of composition as they are in their
running time lengths. Yes, most of these themes were shortened
for the Japanese version, as it was edited into a shorter
movie, but is that something really desirable to capture
on CD? Toshiba's release in 1997 already featured the
longer International version, so it seems odd to now come
out with the "inferior" one. To be fair, some
of the tracks in the Japanese version are different enough
to warrant having, like the "Main Title" that
runs more than a minute longer, along with the extended
"Undersea Volcano" and "Monsters at Bloodrock".
The "Leaving Latitude Zero" track is easily
the most notable one, though, as it was actually removed
from the International cut of the movie. However, these
five cues are pretty much the only exceptions, and probably
would have been better suited as bonus tracks as opposed
to being featured with the complete score of the Japanese
cut. Speaking of bonus material, this disc also lacks
the sound effects and trailer audio that was found on
the previous CD release. Yet, for some reason, the seven
minute "radio drama" style track is still present,
something which had more merit when the film was unavailable.
In terms of additional material, though, this set does
have a number of extended cues (called "repeats")
not present on the 1997 CD, making this overall the superior
version.
Bottom line, if one has an interest in the score and never
picked up the single disc release, then don't hesitate
to get this one. However, if one already owns the Toshiba
release then there is very little incentive to pick this
set up, as the extra CD space isn't used very effectively.
It should also be mentioned that this set is sold exclusively
online at Toho Music's site or Arksquare.com.
As a side note, the set offers both English and Japanese
track titles for the first disc. However, several of the
English titles either have grammatical errors or don't
make as much sense as the Japanese ones in context, such
as "Ghost Image". So we opted to use the translated
Japanese ones instead, although at the same time using
the English ones when the translations came out to a close
proximity.
|
| Tracks |
Disc 1 - International Version
- Main Title - Latitude Zero Theme (M1-T2)
- The Change in the Deep Sea (M2)
- The Undersea Volcano (M3)
- The Submarine Alpha (M4)
- Mackenzie (M5)
- The 164 Year Voyage (M6)
- Bloodrock (M7)
- Blackshark Theme I (M8)
- Blackshark Theme II (M9)
- Search Missiles (M10)
- Projected Image (M11)
- The Entrance to Latitude Zero (M12)
- The Alpha Enters Port (M13)
- Latitude Zero Utopia I (M14)
- Latitude Zero Utopia II (M15)
- Latitude Zero Utopia III (M16)
- The Dinner of Latitude Zero (M17)
- The Blackshark Attacks (M18)
- Dr. Okada is Kidnapped (M19)
- The Bath of Immunity (M20)
- Malik and Dr. Okada (M21)
- The Bloodrock Trap (M22)
- Griffon (M23)
- Monsters at Bloodrock (M24)
- Arrival of Mackenzie (M25)
- Lucrecia's Last Moment (M26)
- The Blackshark Emerges (M27)
- Metal Fragments (M28)
- The Alpha vs. Blackshark (M29)
- Griffon and the Blackshark (M30)
- Disturbance on the Ground (M32)
- Finale - Latitude Zero Theme (M33)
Bonus Tracks
- M1-T1 [Main Title]
- M17-T1 [The Dinner of Latitude Zero]
- The Undersea Volcano (M3 Ending Edit)
- Blackshark Theme (M8+M9)
- The Entrance to Latitude Zero (M12 Edit)
- Latitude Zero Utopia II (M15 Repeat)
- Latitude Zero Utopia III (M16 Repeat)
- Monsters at Bloodrock (M24 Edit)
- The Alpha in Flight (M29A)
Disc 2 - Japanese Version
- Main title (M1-T2 Edit)
- The Change in the Deep Sea (M2 Edit)
- The Undersea Volcano (M3 Edit)
- The Submarine Alpha (M4 Edit)
- The 164 year Voyage (M6)
- The Blackshark Appears (M8)
- The Blackshark in Pursuit (M9 Edit)
- Search Missiles (M10 Edit)
- Projected Image (M11 Edit)
- The Entrance to Latitude Zero (M12 Edit)
- The Alpha Enters Port (M13 Ending Edit)
- Latitude Zero Utopia III (M16 Repeat)
- The Blackshark Attacks (M18)
- Dr. Okada is Kidnapped (M19)
- Malik and Dr. Okada (M19A)
- The Bath of Immunity (M20)
- The Bloodrock Trap (M22 Edit)
- Griffon (M23 Edit)
- Monsters at Bloodrock I (M24 Edit)
- Monsters at Bloodrock II (M24 Edit + M22 Edit)
- Mackenzie Arrives (M25 Edit)
- Lucrecia's Last Moment (M26)
- The Blackshark Emerges (M27)
- Metal Fragments (M28)
- The Alpha vs. Blackshark (M29 Edit)
- The Alpha in Flight (M29A Edit)
- Griffon and the Blackshark (M30 Edit)
- Leaving Latitude Zero (M31 Edit)
- Disturbance on the Ground (M32)
- Another Mackenzie (M6)
- Ending (M33)
Bonus Tracks
- Soundtrack Single Reproduction - Latitude Zero
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