Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you seek 5+ minutes of fine orchestral adaptation of the famous Bryan Adams song for the film, or if you enjoyed one of your inevitably many local performances of the score's overture. Avoid it... if you expect the whole of Michael Kamen's music to soar with any sense of swashbuckling spirit or, quite frankly, if you expect a decent performance and recording mix. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves: (Michael Kamen) When Warner Brothers built enormous anticipation in advance of their 1991 adaptation of the famous 'Robin Hood' tale, few could have predicted that a film with such a remarkable cast and high production values would be such a critical flop. Despite his sky-high popularity at the time, Kevin Costner was badly miscast in the lead, reducing all the high spirit of the character into a troubled and introspective one... and who wants to see a thinking man's Robin Hood? At the opposite end of the spectrum was Alan Rickman, whose entertaining Sheriff of Nottingham was so outrageously comical that he also defeats the purpose of the character. The death blow of the film, however, came with the production's murky and violent take on the story, making it unsuitable for children and disconcerting for adults. The orchestral score by Michael Kamen was thrown together at the last minute, overshadowed by the very obvious and surprisingly effective use of several parts of James Horner's Willow during its immense advertising blitz. Despite Kamen's efforts to fulfill the request for a swashbuckling score of equal bravado, nothing he would accomplish symphonically could compare with his collaboration with Bryan Adams for the song "Everything I Do, I Do It for You." Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves became one of those rare occasions when a film and its score were received with a tepid reception while the end title song was such a monumental success that it alone served as life support for the rest of the production. The song spent significant time atop the charts and was recognized by the Oscars, propelling album sales and thus bringing an unexpected infusion of interest in Kamen's score. The overture piece for the score would be adapted into a suite with fragments of the theme from the Adams song (for Maid Marian) and performed endlessly by marching bands and orchestral ensembles for a decade to follow. The brassy layers and adventurous spirit of Kamen's theme for Robin is easily the score's highlight, and it stands as perhaps the most memorable mainstream remnant of a career cut short by Kamen's unexpected death in the early 2000's. Interestingly, however, aside from the song and the packaged suite of music from the score, the remainder of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves on album exposes a score that badly underachieves. Kamen's concepts for the film were fine; in fact, his primary themes are quite good at compensating for the lack of energy in the performances on screen. The bold fanfare that opens the "Overture" extends into the ranks of the rolling title theme, provided faithfully by Kamen for moments of Robin's heroic actions. The incorporation of the song's tune into the score as Maid Marian's representation makes for two very easy and enjoyable string and woodwind-led performances in "Maid Marian" and "Marian at the Waterfall." The latter features heavier string textures that highlight the drama of the relationship in the film. Bouncy rhythms for the Merrie Men in "Little John and the Band in the Forest" are more appropriate for the Mel Brooks Robin Hood: Men in Tights, prancing with too much comedy for this context. Woodwind solos in "Sir Guy of Gisborne" are understated and bland. There exists no theme for the Sheriff, with the cue "The Sheriff and his Witch" resorting to underdeveloped groaning and whining string textures. Several missed opportunities in the score are topped by "Training," which fails to muster any vitality or sense of rebellion. Action sequences in "A Prisoner of the Crusades" and "The Abduction and the Final Battle at the Gallows" are general recapitulations of the overture, though Kamen does provide a very strong structure to his themes in the last minute of the score and film. Ultimately, the score has a few highlights, but it seems rushed and fails, outside of a glockenspiel, to provide any interesting instrumental colors. The performance by "The Greater Los Angeles Orchestra" is punctuated by several heinous errors in the brass section, and the ensemble is muddied by an extremely dull recording mix. It cannot compete at any level with the vitality of Willow or John Debney's later Cutthroat Island. The Adams song (with a slightly different mix here as opposed to the single release for radio distribution) truly is the highlight of the endeavor, and Kamen and Adams would team up again to inspire a far more enjoyable score (and another good song) for Don Juan DeMarco a few years later. *** Track Listings:
Total Time: 60:22
(track times not listed on packaging) All artwork and sound clips from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves are Copyright © 1991, Morgan Creek Music. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/24/96, updated 12/30/07. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 1996-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
