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Composed, Conducted, and Produced by:
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Lalo Schifrin
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Orchestrated by:
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Lalo Schifrin
Ira Hearshen
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Performed by:
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The Hollywood Studio Orchestra
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Release Date:
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August 21st, 2001
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Schifrin | |
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Rush Hour 2: (Lalo Schifrin) Whether you like them or not, the pairing of
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker turned out to be more of a success in Rush
Hour than anyone could have predicted, with the film grossing over $250
million worldwide. For the directors and producers of the Rush Hour
phenomenon, an equally important element of the film's success was the musical
score by legendary jazz composer Lalo Schifrin, who remains best known for his
hit television themes and scores for such shows as Mannix and Mission:
Impossible. Schifrin's score for the original Rush Hour was a sort
of novelty item, overshadowed obviously by the slapstick action in the film, but
nevertheless of interest to Schifrin's fans and those few who collect such
comedy action scores. Director Brett Ratner insisted beyond all else that
Schifrin be employed for the sequel score, stating, "Lalo was as important to
Rush Hour as were Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, which is to say that he
was indispensable. There's no movie without him." As Ratner suggests, the role
of this sequel film was to make a larger scale version of the original, adding
that "for Rush Hour 2, the idea was to expand on the original idea with
the addition of a more classical, symphonic approach." Ratner continued by
reaffirming that Rush Hour 2 was an opportunity for Schifrin to revisit
the same kind of material heard in his Enter the Dragon score, which
remains one his more popular film scores to date.
The director was indeed correct in his assessment that Schirin would be given a
larger palette with which to work. Because the setting of this film is in Hong
Kong this time, Schifrin does reuse elements from his Enter the Dragon
score, but in an even more contemporary fashion. The music for Rush Hour
2 contains some very good action cues, as well as an inspiring opening
titles sequence. The larger action sequences make use of three distinct
elements; first, the full orchestra, which sounds as though it numbers near 90,
is highlighted by dynamic brass performances. Second, the Eastern ethnic
elements include the mandatory gong, which seems, more than anything, to signify
the American's perception of an Eastern setting. Finally, as to be expected in
any of Schifrin's scores, the ensemble includes a rhymic section, with sax,
drums, and electric bass mingling in nearly every cue. Schifrin succeeds in
creating several minutes of completely authentic Chinese underscore, even with
an appropriate theme, and these moments offer a break from the nearly constant
jazzy untertones of the rest of the score. Other than cues such as the one for
the Mu Shu parlor, Schifrin's music maintains an almost constant rhythm, usually
dissonant in theme and almost always jazzy in rhythm. The Western jazz can
sometime interfere with the Eastern orchestration, but the power of the full
orchestra driving the bass often compensates for this awkward mesh.
The album is an interesting arrangement of the score. In the middle of the album
are two loungey jazz pieces right out of Vegas, and more, perhaps, along the
lines of what you expect to hear on a Schifrin album. More importantly, however,
the two songs (followed by some tedious loungey cues by Schifrin himself)
signify an important split in the album. Whereas the first half of the album
contains all of the stimulating action and ethnic cues of substantial volume,
the second half dwindles in inspiration until it reaches a drab conclusion. The
mass of strictly jazzy music exists in that second half, making it an almost
entirely different score altogether. Therefore, the first six tracks of 20+
minutes of music will be the easy highlight of the album for any listener.
Ironically, had the second half of the score been left off, then the album would
have rounded out to a typical 30-minute affair of highlights. The only negative
of the first half of the album is Schifrin's career-established tendancy to
avoid lengthy harmonization, opting for a quickly shifting key and a jumpy tune.
The second track contains a fluttering of the higher woodwinds that is extremely
unfortunate, but otherwise, the fully orchestral moments of Rush Hour 2
are anjoyable even to the ears of a non-Schifrin fan. The performance by the
musicians in Los Angeles is crisp, especially with the sax, and they handle
Schifrin's shifty and frenetic movements well. This score is a substantial
improvement over the original, but is still too short in strong content to make
for a noteworthy album. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Rush Hour 2 - Main Title (2:21)
• 2. Out of the Way (4:12)
• 3. Mu Shu Parlor (3:55)
• 4. Parlor Fight (3:18)
• 5. Undercover Agents (3:01)
• 6. Isabella (4:47)
• 7. Lil Darlin¹ (Composed by Neal Hefti) (4:23)
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• 8. Shiny Stockings (Composed by Frank Foster) (6:43)
• 9. Nevada Mood (3:16)
• 10. The Cosmo is Las Vegas (4:05)
• 11. Like Father, Like Son (5:31)
• 12. The Sword and the Spear (2:19)
• 13. The Dragon and the Treasure (4:14)
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Insert includes a list of the
orchestra performers and a note from the director. The CD itself has
some sparklingly beautiful coloration.<
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