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•	1992 Album

•	2022 Album

•	2013 Album

•	1992 Album

Without a doubt, The Hunt for Red October set an expected level of orchestral and thematic excellence for the entire series that Horner would need to contend with, despite the franchise's change of lead actor and shift to a limited, personal scope. Unfortunately, all of that raw, majestic power created by Poledouris in the 1990 classic is completely lost in Patriot Games, a curious change in direction regardless of the vast change in setting and plot. Like its predecessor, Patriot Games was a high budget, action-packed powerhouse of a film that begged for a strong score to be delivered in its favor, and there was the opportunity for Horner to write his first monstrous hit in several years. He had 130 musicians at his disposal and the opportunity to infuse the Irish tendencies he would rely upon later in the decade. Instead, the composer chose to completely ignore even the subtleties of Poledouris' work (especially in the rhythmic phrasing) that could successfully transfer over to this somewhat unrelated follow-up. Audiences were treated to an overly simplistic and frightfully monotonous Gaelic reconstruction of Horner's concurrent Thunderheart, the heavy ethnic tilt of the score initially disturbing Noyce, who eventually came to change his mind and declare it superior to Clear and Present Danger. Still, the score for Patriot Games would mark a return to the ineffective and somewhat cheesy, electronically dominated action scores that stunk up Arnold Schwarzenegger films like Red Heat and Commando in the 1980's. But, of course, with that oversaturated Gaelic tilt. Comparisons to Thunderheart are probably the most viable, for both 1992 films feature a hazy, rhythmic, synthetic blend with similar specialty instruments and a sense for minimalism and lack of obvious thematic placements. The important distinction to make when comparing Patriot Games and Thunderheart, however, is that the latter film was very well served by the restrained approach; its score was a very effective compliment to the spirituality of that film. But Patriot Games is a completely different animal and needed an entirely different kind of approach to its music.

Horner's end product for the thriller is contemplative, subdued, and introverted, with no respect at all for the heroic deeds of the main character (no matter how much Ryan doesn't want to be a hero) and embroiled too deeply in the psyche of the villains. Horner's music, beyond its obvious lack of substance, suffers for two reasons: first, its construct is unnecessarily low budget in sound. Hearing synthesizer samples from those old Schwarzenegger days is a slap in the face for a franchise of this mainstream caliber. There are extended sequences of extremely familiar clanging, random flute bursts, and light percussive rhythms, a combination not only tired in sound, but begging questions of ethnic appropriateness. Frenetic arrays of synthesized samples and a constant banging and thumping of irritating metallic synths eventually lead to a badly underplayed cue in "Electronic Battlefield" that fails to offer any of the dramatic punch that the scene demanded. The second major blunder in the score for Patriot Games is Horner's total lack of consideration for the Jack Ryan character and his family. As it would become badly evident in his score for Clear and Present Danger, Ryan has no substantial theme devoted to him and no sensitivity built for his family. The former is somewhat addressed by a whiny, descending string motif of disillusionment heard throughout the score and serving as the underlying basis of "Electronic Battlefield" (this is the only motif that would carry over to the following score). While the character's smaller role in The Hunt for Red October made such an omission by Poledouris more viable, Ryan and his family's integral roles in Patriot Games necessitate a stronger thematic presence for them. Even the Gaelic influences, representing the terrorists in a wilted, defeated fashion, are half-hearted. The licensed Clannad song, "Harry's Game," proves to be a more loyal and interesting performance than Horner's tepid adaptation of a traditional song over the opening and closing moments of the film. While the vocals in those cues may be the highlight of the score for some, they still exist in a troubled daze that defeats the daunting message of the film. The gain mix of these vocals in the film itself is suspect as well, perhaps due in part to the lack of true enunciation in these performances.

Perhaps the most baffling aspect of this score is its totally disengaging action material. The limited cues featuring this sparsely stomping music are insultingly underdeveloped, the final boat chase supplied with nearly insufferable rhythmic muck that seems to suggest that all of these plot elements exist in a drug-induced vacuum. On the whole, Patriot Games is a film that suffers because of Horner's technique of taking a large ensemble and reducing it to ineffective low-budget meanderings. His refusal to develop the ethnic ties to the villains of the film and address Jack Ryan and his family made the score one-dimensional and uninteresting. The curious aspect of this score's failure is the inclusion of the Clannad song; with the style of Enya and others dominating the music scene in the early 1990's, Horner could have used his own keyboards to offer a far more ethnically powerful new-age style of score for Patriot Games (and maybe it would have even been more appropriate than such leanings in Titanic). The original 1992 album offers a rich bass region in the action sequences, but accents like the wailing flute aren't as clearly rendered as they could be. A running time of 45 minutes was a surprising detriment to the score, easily boring veteran Horner collectors who have heard superior representations of each idea in the score with greater effectiveness elsewhere, including the more convincing album for The Devil's Own. Even more baffling is the 2013 limited, expanded edition from La-La Land Records that provided Horner's complete score, the Clannad song, a few alternate mixes, and a wealth of source material applied to the film. This longer presentation includes a few highlights, "Jack Returns to CIA" among the most interesting, but it also throws in a cue such as "Strange Cargo," which is nothing more than pitch-defying electronic droning, and several others of little consequence. Only the score's small but dedicated group of long-time supporters will greet this 2-CD set and its identical 2022 re-issue with enthusiasm. From the sound of the final result, it would seem on the surface that either Horner was horribly misdirected in his attempt to get into the minds of the characters or he simply did not have the time or interest in conjuring a superior score for the project. Either way, when considering the vast potential in such a great franchise, Patriot Games can easily be considered one of Horner's more frustrating blunders.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.15 (in 108 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.23 (in 203,346 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.