Timeline

When director Richard Donner faced dramatic recuts in a bid to salvage his troubled science fiction epic Timeline, he abandoned composer Jerry Goldsmith's completed score, citing his wish for a more intense and action-packed soundtrack. The film nevertheless bombed, and upon listening to Varèse Sarabande's belated 2004 release of Goldsmith's music, one can only wonder what Donner was smoking (not to mention where one might procure some of the stuff for personal use). One of the last scores written by Goldsmith in the months leading to his untimely death, Timeline certainly does not lack for adventure or bombast. An anything-goes effort employing heavy orchestration, myriad electronic effects, and dense percussion, it contains few if any new ideas but affirms the composer's consummate mastery of the action genre. Kudos to Varèse for making it available. ~ Jason Ankeny