Jerry Goldsmith - Leviathan - Original Orchestral Soundtrack (1989)

The 1989 undersea adventure Leviathan proved a pale critical and commercial imitation of James Cameron's oceanic blockbuster The Abyss, and Jerry Goldsmith's score fares no better. While markedly different from Alan Silvestri's mystical music for The Abyss, it's all too familiar to listeners well acquainted with Goldsmith's previous efforts, employing the same bag of tricks underlining so much of his late-'80s work. It's clear Goldsmith finds the film's deep-sea setting irresistible; a host of electronic effects evoke the otherworldly mysteries of the ocean, but in emphasizing pure sound, the composer forgets substance, exhibiting little of the melodic invention of his most memorable scores.~ Review by Jason Ankeny