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•	2011 Album

•	1996 Album

The two other main themes employed by Zimmer in Broken Arrow include an overarching idea for the chase and an action motif associated with Slater's pursuing Captain Hale. The primary chase/Hale theme is the most frequently utilized in the score, consisting of a series of four-note figures (reminiscent of Mancina's Speed) introduced immediately in the opening of "Brothers." In the suite-like "Broken Arrow," this theme is blasted briefly before (and explored in light tones after) the main identity for Slater's character. The two intermingle considerably in both this cue and the rest of the score. The theme for the protagonist shares the most structural similarities to Zimmer's standard action progressions, as employed extensively in Crimson Tide and aped in The Rock. This theme makes its first major appearance on the commercial album in the latter half of "Mine." The final major identity in the score is ironically a Randy Edelman theme, which is not really what you'd expect to hear in these circumstances. His cue "Fire in a Brooklyn Theater" from Come See the Paradise is among his most famous compositions, heard frequently to generate excitement in movie trailers in the years since. The slowly churning, rising structures of "Fire in a Brooklyn Theater" are intriguingly similar to ideas that Zimmer would eventually adopt into his normal methodology, and it's no surprise therefore that he adapts it rather easily into several cues (and credits it directly on the cue sheets). Its usage denotes a general sense of urgency in the conspiracy factor of the plot, heard additionally in an unused cue called "The Pentagon" for risk assessment scenes. Along with this unknowing contribution from Edelman, the three themes by Zimmer are almost always being referenced throughout the score for Broken Arrow, and some credit for their continuity has to go to the composer's instrumental palette for the recording. From a lone trumpet and trombone to harmonica, banjo, four pianos, and chimes, there is a true sense that Zimmer successfully updated Morricone's style of Spaghetti Western into the Media Ventures age. Also worthy of mentioning is Zimmer's variance in instrumental tones; whereas his later action scores tended to emphasize the bass elements far too heavily, he achieves the same masculine sound in Broken Arrow (similar to his sense of resounding style in the equally memorable Point of No Return) while still offering an appreciable role in the mix for treble elements, including string samples.

Highlighting the enhanced role for treble elements in Broken Arrow are trumpet solos and keyboarding cues like "Nuke," successfully offsetting the general electric guitar foundation. The use of an ethereal choir (in Backdraft mode) is the result of recording a boy's choir in England and subsequent sampling of those performances into stereotypical Zimmer tones. These performances cause a cue like "Greed" to connect the composer's favorite action flavors with hints of his religious thrillers like Hannibal in the subsequent decade. The last minute of that cue also uses sound effects that are an intriguingly accurate precursor to the wispy accents employed by Graeme Revell in the forthcoming The Saint. Zimmer doesn't simply thrash around with his keyboards and guitars like his pupils would, either, and this causes him to lose the battle with sound effects a few times in the film. His drum pads are mixed further back in the soundscape as well, allowing the cool instrumental colors (led by Eddy's guitar) to shine. A generally tonal approach is also a benefit to Broken Arrow; parts of the score are as pleasantly soothing as the highlights of Rain Man despite greater performance depth. Overall, Broken Arrow is a score with a predictable audience. But it remains a very good example of Zimmer's superior action music of the early 1990's, a sound that was largely supplanted by a much heavier tone for The Peacemaker in 1997 and differing from the stagnant variation that was regurgitated in the Pirates of the Caribbean scores and many others. Rather than chopping through his themes in staccato movements, as he would do all too frequently in later years, Broken Arrow represents the composer's more fluid movements. For instance, the performance of Hale's theme in "Hammerhead" moves effortlessly through its melody without pounding each note into submission (lighter percussion accomplishes this task instead). The sense of style and character that you hear in Broken Arrow's themes, regardless of the Morricone influence that really does make this score stand apart, places it alongside such an effort as Beyond Rangoon in terms of convincing melodic emotion. The de-emphasized drum hits and solitary electric guitar performance of Hale's theme, followed by the harmonica, chime, and slapping metallic accents to the main theme's performance at about 3 minutes into the end credits, culminating in a slowing transition complete with the effect of wind blowing, is the kind of engaging character that went missing from much of Zimmer's later action techniques.

There is a level of nuance to Zimmer's approach to Broken Arrow, despite whatever diminished intelligence most associate with the film and score in general, that unfortunately dissolved in this man's career with time. Ultimately, this means that Broken Arrow is one of the last representatives of Zimmer's truly original action material in the days before he and his Media Ventures cohorts diluted it to the lowest common denominator. At the time, this score seemed like a throwaway with a few moments of cool guitar performances, but in retrospect, it has aged well when compared to that which has followed. The commercial album, despite some poor, harsh edits caused by Jeff Rona's assembly of the music into Zimmer's preferred suite-like format, does present the highlights. Several 2-CD bootlegs have existed through the years, eventually leading to an 88-minute presentation without sound effects. The additional 30 minutes of music really isn't particularly noteworthy (why these bootleggers don't turn their attention to something like The Lion King instead is a perpetual question), and the eight or so minutes from Harper are nothing more than extensions of previously heard Zimmer music in the film. An official expanded release of the score from La-La Land Records greeted enthusiasts of the composer in 2011, presenting almost all of the material that had previously constituted the subpar bootlegs. There are pluses and minuses to this limited release of 3,000 copies, though the product on a whole has to be recommended equally to the original commercial offering. On the positive side, the expanded album's biggest asset is its absolutely incredible sound quality. Granted, some of the mixes heard here differ from those on the previous album, but you'll hear details in the sound effects and percussion that will bring new life to the recording. The percussion especially shines beautifully on the 2011 album. The use of the Edelman piece is restored completely and noted where applicable. Three arrangements of major cues from the original album are provided as a bonus as well. On other hand, the expanded album does include all of the aforementioned weaker action music in the score, mostly consisting of redundant loops of synthetic activity. The choral mix seems a bit choppier, though it too sounds better when given lengthier passages. Finally, Gregson-Williams' role in this score is still not made clear by this product. Still, Broken Arrow is worthy of renewed exploration. If you never appreciated Zimmer's early action style, then the score won't impress. Otherwise, use it as effectively entertaining therapy for the composer's later group projects that were comparatively handled while on auto-pilot.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.84 (in 121 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.96 (in 298,174 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.