VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

In 1961 Sawtell and Shefter scored a feature film which would become the first of many Irwin Allen franchises for Twentieth Century Fox: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. The film introduced the Seaview, a futuristic submarine commanded by Admiral Nelson, played by Walter Pidgeon and later by Richard Basehart in the 1964-1968 spin-off TV series. The Seaview must brave undersea monsters, a treacherous minefield, sneaky saboteurs and its own navy in order to save nothing less than the world itself.

Veterans of sci-fi films such as Kronos and The Fly, Sawtell and Shefter provided the perfect accompaniment to the Irwin Allen mindset, emphasizing danger, action, suspense and adventure on (and under) the seas. Although Sawtell later wrote the theme and five episode scores for the Voyage TV series, the feature score is its own entity; Russell Faith wrote the title song (performed by Frankie Avalon, who also plays a supporting role) and Sawtell and Shefter elaborated on its melody for most of their score, with gorgeous underwater "travelogue" music. They also captured seafaring tropes which have since become standard in space-based sci-fi scores like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Starship Troopers -- and of course the pair broke out the classic Hollywood monster-movie aesthetic for the moments of high peril.
(Excerpt from FSM Homepage.)

Main Title/The Super Sub 2:46
Dive 0:55
Lucky Man/Under the Ice 1:12
Ice Block Collision/The Red Sea/The Survivor 6:35
Rising Heat/Catastrophe 1:38
To New York/Nelson's Decision 1:10
Raw Nerves 0:52
Brave Volunteers/Cable Search/Dangerous Grounds/The Squid Attacks 8:35
Alvarez's Resignation/Minefield Explosions/All Back -- Dead Slow 7:22
Fire in Red/Fresh Air/The Ghost Ship 4:01
Lunatic Action/The Burnout Point 1:57
Enemy Torpedoes/The Monster Attacks 5:11
Fatal Dose/Alvarez Acts/Successful Mission 7:11
Bonus Material
Main Title (temporary) 1:40
Alternate Main Title (demo) 1:52
Nervous Hysteria (damaged) 2:03
Total Time: 55:56