Search - Mark Mancina :: Speed: Original Motion Picture Score

Has lost a lot of its power since 1994

Inspector Gadget | On the trail of Doctor Claw | 12/08/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As big action movies moved away from big orchestras Speed redefined the action sound in the latter part of the 90s. Jerry Goldsmith was apparently in line to score the movie before Mark Mancina and the Media Ventures group were brought in. I have no doubt that Goldsmith would have delivered something epic, and if he had stayed on board the bus instead of hopping off before it hit 50 mph then perhaps action scores would have taken a different course since 1994.



As it is, Mancina and the Zimmer team seemed to get it right and found a way to appeal to audiences who are quite susceptible to identifying melodies and motifs, and the film may well have not even have been such a big success had they fumbled the ball. The score is often fast moving and exciting, though I have to be honest, the appeal has dwindled a lot over the years, and it really begins to flounder in non-action scenes, which are mostly all at the beginning of the movie but since the CD is non-chronological, they're scattered throughout.



There are not many actions scores out there that get blood flowing as fast as this (Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and Rambo: First Blood Part II - Original Film Soundtrack, New Expanded Edition being two other such scores that have retained their power) and usually resort to what I call "Action Noise"; a lazy and unimaginative route so many musicians have taken in the past decade. Speed was once fresh in ditching traditional use of orchestra and brass sections in favor electronic cues and mad synthesizer beats. But over the years the score has lost its edge and now feels cheap, weak and puny. The main Speed theme has no bite anymore (however, the secondary theme still sounds amazing).



Hans Zimmer and his now defunct Media Ventures group owned the action score genre and many of his protégées went on to use the same, tired, strings-driven, synthy sound for countless other, forgettable action films with no iconic melodies or identifiable themes whatsoever. This trend lasted until The Bourne Identity in 2002, in which Media Ventures graduate John Powell took the same approach and homogenized it to the point where it sounded EVEN MORE generic. His tepid sound for that series has now unfortunately become the benchmark for modern action scores. Where a director/producer would once say "Give me a score in the vein of Speed" they now say "Score it like a Bourne movie", which is just another way of saying "I don't care about themes, melodies, motifs or any deeper meaning or feeling that music can convey".



It all began with Speed, and it was once one of Media Ventures' best, but as a serious music fan, an action score fan, and Zimmer fan I now feel mostly indifferent to this dated score CD.



Ironically, Mark Mancina ended up giving us one of the best action movie scores of the past two decades with the critically-mauled Speed 2: Cruise Control three years later, a score that broke away from the synth trend and delivered a massive orchestra firing on all cylinders. While that score took 13 years to get a release this much inferior album got a dual release with the Speed soundtrack (IE, the dated and irregular songs barely featured in the film).



As usual for score CDs from this period in history, the track listing is completely out of chronological order. If you are ripping the album to your MP3 player or I-Tunes then THIS is the correct order to rearrange them into:



1. Main Title

2. Elevator Stall

3. Move

4. Elevator Peril

5. Dangling Feet

6. Freight Elevator

7. Pop Quiz

8. Rush Hour

9. City Streets

10. Choppers

11. Helen Dies

12. The Gap

13. Entering Airport

14. The Dolly

15. Wildcat

16. The Rescue (best use of the brilliant secondary theme)

17. Pershing Square

18. Fight on Train

19. End Title



The cover art is horrible, and the score is far from complete. I can't imagine an expanded album being released any time soon so if you really, really want it, and find it for cheap then go for it. Otherwise hunt down Mancina's infinitely superior Speed 2: Cruise Control (Original Score)."

Speed Score GREAT!

Brendan | Oregon | 12/10/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I LOVE this CD just like I liked the Twister Score. It hink my favorite song would be the last one "End Title" Its really beautiful and greatly written. If you like speed this is definetly the CD for you."

Good excuse to watch the film again . . .

Dumb Blonde Reviewing | In my bed | 03/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"... And I will! Listening to this soundtrack just brings back all the excitement and the suspense of the film. Even though the songs are in the wrong order - not that it bugs the hell out of me or anything! - and the second half of the CD, I don't recognise a couple of the songs, the CD is definitely a must have for any Speed fans. My only hang-up is that the tracks are over too quickly :( and it's no time before the CD is finished and you're wondering what the hell happened to all the tracks!"