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Composed, Arranged, and Produced by:
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Mark Mancina
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Additional Music by:
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John Van Tongeren
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Release Date:
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August 30th, 1994
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release, but completely out of print.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if solid action scores excite you despite their somewhat
underdeveloped electronics, and you wish to hear Mark Mancina's debut on the
big stage.
Avoid it... if you prefer a more established and matured Media Ventures
sound that would develop for action films a few years after Speed.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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Speed: (Mark Mancina) Another would-be composer
branching off from the rock group "Yes," keyboardist Mark Mancina debuted
with his first major solo film score with Speed. The action
blockbuster was a financial champion of the 1994 summer season, spurring the
careers of its two young lead actors and inspiring a sequel. Mancina would
eventually be recognized as one of the more successful artists to walk
through the doors of Hans Zimmer's Media Ventures composing house, and part
of that success is due to Mancina's head start on many of the other MV
artists. Mancina was heavily influenced by Zimmer's styles of combining
synthesizers and orchestras, and he would continue to develop ideas that
cross between both genres. His score for Speed would be effective in
its capacity to generate excitement (and it was therefore a strong piece of
music for the film), but it is even more of an interesting case study of how
the Media Ventures sound got started. Hans Zimmer had already established
his dominance over the synthetic realm, and by 1994, he had produced the
largely electronic Beyond Rangoon with an elegant mastery of his
machinery. For Mancina's Speed, however, you got to see ideas and
electronic sampling that was in its infancy. Many of the rhythms, electronic
substitutes for real instruments, as well as MV sound effects, are all
recognizable from later staples of the MV studio. Aside from Hans Zimmer, it
would take the other MV composers another two years before their electronic
output would mature into the form that most fans will recognize today. While
The Rock was really the coming out party for such enthusiasts,
Mancina's own Twister would offer a more sophisticated blend of that
matured electronic sound along with the orchestral ensemble in the same
year. The simplicity of the sounds in Speed do not detract from the
score's ultimate achievement in the film, but its deficiencies do surface
when hearing the score on album.
On paper, the score for Speed is well written, with
several effective motifs assembled around a decent action theme. This theme
is performed with noble intentions during the opening credits as they role
through an elevator shaft. A delicate piano and string performance of this
theme would be offered in the end titles cues. It is a surprisingly
compelling theme for an otherwise brainless film. Short adaptations of this
theme would appear during the softer sequences in the film, leaving the
cohesion of the action material up to Mancina's secondary motif. The
eight-note keyboard motif is sharp in performance and is varied in tempo
throughout the score to fit into nearly every cue. Despite its simplicity,
it works better than the title theme to hold the score together. The action
scenes on board the speeding bus at the heart of Speed inspire the
best action music from Mancina for the project, with the rescue cue
(appearing second on the album) presenting a lengthy series of thematic
performances. The rhythms are typically strong during the later scenes of
the bus' journey, however other portions of the film suffer from arrhythmic,
more dissonant cues. The difficult side of the Speed score is the
fact that it is not as fleshed out as it could have been. As mentioned
before, the synthesized representations of real instruments were not as well
developed in 1994 and thus, some of the jumpy keyboarding and striking
electronic cello cues are naked and dated. The percussive elements were
already well enough established to compensate for the lack of the Media
Ventures bass that rumbles through all of their current action scores. The
album as a product is rearranged from film order to present the four or five
best cues at the beginning. After these true highlights, the album
degenerates into more mindless territory before finishing with the beautiful
performance of the title theme over the end credits. Overall, it's a worthy
action score, if not slightly underdeveloped, and would be an impressive
debut for Mancina on the big stage. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Main Title (3:37)
• 2. The Rescue (4:01)
• 3. Entering Airport (1:00)
• 4. Rush Hour (6:04)
• 5. Helen Dies (2:19)
• 6. The Gap (2:49)
• 7. Choppers (1:00)
• 8. Pershing Square (3:18)
• 9. Elevator Peril (0:28)
• 10. Fight on Train (1:19)
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• 11. Dangling Feet (0:34)
• 12. City Streets (1:41)
• 13. Wildcat (1:04)
• 14. The Dolly (1:28)
• 15. Move (2:05)
• 16. Pop Quiz (2:23)
• 17. Freight Elevator (2:29)
• 18. Elevator Stall (1:50)
• 19. End Title (1:49)
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Insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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