A score like Deep Rising is really hard to assign a rating to, because it actually has some very well developed ideas and listenable passages. But while there are three or four easily digestible and somewhat enjoyable major cues in the score, the rest of it is as bland and predictable as anyone could have expected. The memorable cues all involve the three themes that Goldsmith employs in Deep Rising. The first we hear is a throwback brass descent for the monster itself, a two note slur for tubas and other low-register instruments very menacingly presented at the outset of "Underwater Grave" under some unnerving string dissonance. The film's unused title theme then erupts with rather heroic brass over a bed of both drum pads and authentic timpani, as well as a heightened mixing of Goldsmith's ever-tingling treble-range electronic rhythm samples. There's a faint sense of the great heroes themes of times past in Goldsmith's career, especially from the 1970's and early 80's, but without the genuine power to back it up with muscle. The monster's theme foreshadows the surprise for the mercenaries at the start of "Boarding," a cue that leads to a solemn snare-backed brass theme for their raiding party. With its surprisingly lyrical construct and tropical percussion at times, this theme is the highlight of the score. A frantic variation of the theme explodes at the opening of "Hang On," during which Goldsmith later uses soft alternations of woodwinds similar to the mesmerizing performances in Star Trek: Insurrection. That final cue then launches into a reprise of the title theme, this time with the timpani mixed a little more to the forefront, and rides it to the conclusion. The main theme became orphaned in the end credits due to its replacement at the start by the raiding party's theme. The nearly nonstop action music in the rest of Deep Rising is truly Goldsmith on autopilot, with few moments of memorable rhythms to which to return. The synthetic effects heard prominently throughout them are very similar to those you'd hear in his final two Star Trek scores, with passages easily interchangeable. A sensitive interlude for solo oboe in "Leila's Gone" is interrupted by drum pads too quickly to satisfyingly change the mood of the overall product. The original 32-minute album of 1998 was too long a listening experience, so imagine how tedious the score becomes on the 67-minute expanded product of 2014 from Intrada. Outside of two or three minutes of interesting additions, it's an arduous slog. The overarching creativity usually present in Goldsmith's music is absent from Deep Rising, leaving the score as a two-dimensional shadow of scores like the related Leviathan, which more effectively convinces you of its evil heart.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download