Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #794
Written 10/31/96, Revised 11/14/15
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Buy it... if you're interested in exploring a slightly more
romantic, optimistic, and instrumentally varied take Jerry Goldsmith's
concurrently written and otherwise similar Executive Decision.
Avoid it... if any strictly procedural variation on merely average
Goldsmith action material fails to compete with the composer's rich
library of successful scores in the genre, a 2015 expanded product for
this score a laborious experience.
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| Goldsmith |
Chain Reaction: (Jerry Goldsmith) In an attempt to
continue the success of the films inspired by the Academy
Award-nominated The Fugitive in 1993, Fox's Chain Reaction
offered another variation on the good-guy running from a good-natured
cop routine. This time, the two primary fugitives are young scientists
who are part of a university experiment that successfully yields clean
and abundant energy by extracting hydrogen from water. When assassins
kill the other scientists and set off an absolutely enormous explosion
to destroy their laboratory, the two heroes are framed and accused of
murder. Their boss escaped the blast, of course, but as Morgan Freeman
could be in a number of circumstances, you're not sure if he's on their
side or not. The film takes an interesting concept and compelling group
of characters and allows it all to degenerate into a standard chase
story, however. The actors really aren't believable in their roles
(especially Keanu Reeves, for whom the script had to be re-written to
even barely fit), the chases had been largely done before, and aside
from the spectacular shockwave scene early in the film, there is little
refreshing for the senses in Chain Reaction. It's not surprising
that director Andrew Davis was also involved with The Fugitive
(and Under Siege, among others), though his choice of composer
was not typical for him in this 1996 entry. Collaborating with James
Newton Howard for the scores to his films more often than not, Davis has
shuffled between several other composers for a one-time pairing. The
only collaboration between Davis and Jerry Goldsmith would be for
Chain Reaction, a project that suited the veteran composer well
at that time in his career due to its balance of humanitarian optimism,
science fiction fantasy, and industrial environment. Coming off of a
period in the early 1990's when he seemed content writing for films
along Joe Dante lines (ridiculous comedies and tender character
stories), Goldsmith made a sudden return to extroverted action scoring
with Executive Decision and Chain Reaction in consecutive
order. Unfortunately for the composer, while trying to escape his rather
mundane, seemingly auto-pilot mode, he was unable to recapture a truly
aggressively dynamic personality in his action material until later in
1996, when both The Ghost and the Darkness and Star Trek:
First Contact proved to be superior ventures in the same general
mould. Then again, the quality of the music in all of the aforementioned
films seems to have paralleled the quality of the overarching
productions themselves.
Goldsmith's supplies music for
Chain Reaction
that is not radically new but one step ahead of the other production
aspects. Much better than in
Executive Decision, he formulates a
theme for the primary characters and adapts it well throughout the film.
The action motifs are very familiar, though, in their staggered rhythmic
formations and instrumentation. Goldsmith's normally tingling and
slashing electronics are diminished in placement, replaced with a
chime-like keyboarding effect and occasional electric guitar. The guitar
chips in with performances that represent the always-cool Reeves, a move
that wasn't unexpected in the mid-1990's, and Goldsmith pulls it off
with the restraint necessary to make it a decent addition to the
ensemble. The sensitivity of his themes is foreshadowed in the opening
cue and "Open Minds," and this side develops into a full, romantic
performance in the highlight finale, "Out of the Hole." A solo trumpet
handles the duties of the lonely protagonist. The opening cue offers
Goldsmith the opportunity to provide the comprehensive suite of themes
for the film at the start instead of the usual end credit placement.
After setting the stage well with this opening cue, Goldsmith resorts to
standard action procedures for most of the remainder of the film. The
detractions from
Chain Reaction are the areas in which Goldsmith
took identical material and expanded upon it in
Executive
Decision, including the direct crossover of the trumpet and horn
figures identical in both films (and most notably in the meaty "Ice
Chase" cue here). Only "Assassins" has a truly unique performance of
action ideas in this score, with rambling timpani bursting onto the
scene as the initial experiment is invaded and destroyed. A slammed
anvil accompanies the electric guitar performance that follows the
assassination with great effect, and this, along with a few other
sounds, makes a strong pace-setter for the action sequences. Thus, while
the brass and strings may be performing the same old usual Goldsmith
action structures, there are a few redeeming elements to keep the music
somewhat fresh. The last cue saves the score from its dangerous slide
towards mediocrity. Overall,
Chain Reaction works better than
Executive Decision on album partly because of its design and
partly because nearly all the major cues in
Chain Reaction made
its equally short initial album. The most notable exception is the
optimistic "A Song/The Observatory" cue that was only included as part
of a lengthy expansion on a 2015 Varèse Sarabande Club follow-up.
On either album, only devoted Goldsmith collectors will likely find
merit in repeated listens to this score, especially when compared to the
composer's rich library of similarly conceived material.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.23
(in 140 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.25
(in 154,807 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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