Full disclosure: I rather like this film. It had the misfortune of coming out a week after Jurassic Park and also not being Terminator 2, but it’s still a rather amusing action movie. Michael Kamen at the time was obviously the ideal choice for something like this, not only because he’d previously worked with director John McTiernan on Die Hard but because he had a reputation for delivering the goods with rock-influenced orchestral action scores that could also wink at the audience. If you like that aforementioned McClane music, the scores for the Lethal Weapon franchise, or The Last Boy Scout then you’ll probably find a good amount to enjoy here. For me, despite the immensity and creativity on display at times, the lack of truly memorable musical identities for the boy protagonist or Schwarzenegger’s hero is a bit of an Achilles’ heel; when your secondary mystery tune stands out way more than your main themes, you may have miscalculated a bit. But - given that the score had long been out of print - this expansion is still rather welcome.

***½

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Prior 2024 album posts
- Live and Let Die - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=131612
- Octopussy - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=131627
- Hellboy II - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=131961
- HTTYD: The Hidden World - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=132742
- Top Gun - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=132758
- Rock-a-Doodle - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=132825
- Something Wicked This Way Comes - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134359
- Night Passage - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134397
- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134671
- Backdraft - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134759
- Nightbreed - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134774
- Scorpio - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=134915
- Star Wars: Rebels S3 & S4 - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136026
- You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136088
- For Love of the Game - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136102
- Eye of the Needle - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136116
- Dinosaur - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136878
- Torn Curtain - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=136901
- Goldfinger - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=137378
- Jurassic Park III - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=137846
- The Godfather Part II - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=137847
- Spider-Man 2 - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=137848
- The Sugarland Express - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=137856
- The Man with the Golden Gun - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=138906
- Moonraker - https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=138907