To say that The Peacemaker features eight themes is a bit misleading, because only three of them receive significant and/or meaningful airtime and only four can be traced back to unique characters of other elements in the film. The most memorably obvious thematic element exists for the tragedy of Sarajevo and the diplomat's sorrow, and it is this theme that Zimmer identifies as his only lingering personal favorite from the score. In reference to this tragic element, Zimmer stated, "I liked one theme... Because it was inspired. We all have craft, we all have technique. But the moments of inspiration, that's where it really happens for composers." The ethnicity of the instrumentation and the voice of Mamek Khadem in these portions serve as a fascinating bridge between Beyond Rangoon and Gladiator in Zimmer's career, and the general tone and classically-inclined progressions of the theme merge well with the performances of Frederic Chopin music that the diplomat's character performs on piano in the film. Together, this combination of melancholy music from Zimmer and Chopin would provide audiences with their most vivid musical memories of The Peacemaker. Demand for both "Nocturne Opus 55 No. 1 in F Minor" (which the young girl performs in the story) and "Nocturne No. 20 in C Sharp Minor" (which the diplomat/teacher performs in memory of his slain family) experienced a popular increase due to their obvious and beautiful use in the widely viewed film. The more powerful of the two sequences offers Nick Glennie-Smith's performances on piano, eventually overtaken by the orchestral ensemble with remarkable class. In context, the Sarajevo theme by Zimmer and the use of Chopin are at complete odds with the remainder of the score, and these sequences beckon you to your editing software to create a suite of seven or eight minutes of this material alone. The remainder of The Peacemaker, by comparison, is all brute force and little elegance, and this contrast is the simple reason why the lovely music described above is the downright highlight in the film and on album. Of the remaining three themes, the two representing the nuclear weapons and the corrupt Russian general stealing them for a profit intertwine on several occasions. While you can clearly delineate the robust Russian march for General Kodoroff, the theme for the bombs is far more sinister and obtuse. That idea is a suspense motif that reinvents itself throughout the score but receives its clearest performances in the lowest registers of the first three minutes of the film's early train-loading sequence.

The march for the Russian general is a stoic, metal-clanging series of short bursts for brass that accompanies the train as it departs and figures into a few later scenes. Zimmer recorded a two-minute suite-like rendition of this theme (not available on the commercial album) that also explores the bombs' theme. A later adaptation of the theme places it in the instrumentation of the Sarajevo material, a natural transition point in the story and a highlight of the score. The final major theme in The Peacemaker is actually the primary idea for the film, ironically, and it is most commonly associated with Clooney's agent character and the heroic actions of the American military. You first hear this somewhat swashbuckling theme dramatically and at a very slow pace in the scene when the agent boards one of three helicopters to pursue the stolen bombs, and the momentum of the theme is heightened considerably throughout the following chase sequence in which one of the choppers is shot down by a Russian missile. After the Americans recover all but one of the bombs, the scene ends with a prototypical, muscularly harmonic announcement of the theme in heroic fashion. The film's finale offers a softer, mournful variation on this theme before the opening of the end credits lets rip with it at full force. This end title sequence was re-arranged and placed at the end of the "Chase" cue on the commercial album. It is in the rhythmic introduction to this theme that Zimmer pulls the exact same introductory phrase from the start of his main theme for Crimson Tide, with equally satisfying results. The downside of The Peacemaker is that the majority of its action sequences feature stock Media Ventures-era material that fails to impress. In fact, much of it is so obnoxious in its pounding clumsiness that the score requires significant personal editing to collect the compelling portions into a lengthy suite. Some of this issue relates to the abrasive nature of Zimmer's dissonant, staccato ensemble hits during so much of the action. Among the more irritating cues is "Devoe's Revenge," a spectacular scene in the film that unfortunately contains an inarticulate mess of rhythmic bombast contributed by conductor Gavin Greenaway. The commercial album for The Peacemaker does its best to emphasize both sides of the score, but Jeff Rona's arrangement (which he considered among his best) still fails in that it forces the music into the suite-emphasized mold that Zimmer prefers to write for and hear himself. His disdain for short cues unfortunately translates into an album that, like Crimson Tide, diminishes the work's highlights by hiding them in 10+ minute suites dominated by the ear-splitting bombast.

It's nearly impossible to reference the action in The Peacemaker by using the original 1997 commercial album from Dreamworks, and luckily for genre junkies, an inevitable 2-CD bootleg of recording sessions floated around the Internet so long that MP3's of it were to be found practically everywhere. The bootleg, which runs over 100 minutes with the commercial album's "Peacemaker" suite thrown in for good measure (that music never appeared in the film intact given that it was the early concept suite), illuminates the themes with far better presentations. This includes the Russian general's theme in "Kodoroff" and "The Frontier," the bomb's theme in "The Real World," the heroic title theme for the Americans in "I Must Go" and "Peacemaker," and portions of the Sarajevo theme spread throughout. The film version of one of the Chopin pieces (in "Piano Sereno") is included as well. For Zimmer fanatics, the bootleg was absolutely required listening. Thankfully, the score finally received what Zimmer dreads to see: a vastly expanded edition featuring the mass of music recorded for the film. The limited 2-CD set from La-La Land Records in 2014 is a nice combination of the two albums, taking the same very short cues featured on the bootleg and combining them three or four to a track, yielding accessibly arranged cues that contrast to Rona's longer suites and the bootleg's short bursts. Listeners accustomed to the bootleg may not hear much difference in sound quality (the early portions of the score are still far too bass heavy for their own good, even on the La-La Land mix), and the contents are largely the same. For those still relying upon the Dreamworks album's suites decades later, you will be rewarded by the expanded presentations' better representation of not only the themes but the instrumental diversity that struggles to shine in The Peacemaker but at least it exists amongst all the ruckus. On the other hand, the actual score for the film doesn't emphasize the Khadem performances as much as the original album did (the film only allows them to really shine twice), perhaps enticing Zimmer collectors to turn to Ofra Haza's similar vocals in The Prince of Egypt the following year to scratch that itch further. Some of the Sarajevo theme's tragic melody carries over to that excellent score as well. A Lisbeth Scott alternate bonus track on the 2014 set is curious but badly synchronized. Despite the often dissonant and obnoxious action pounding in The Peacemaker, its intelligent nuances make it a continued recommendation. This score is all over the map in terms of quality, but it remains a highlight of pure Media Venture action era, and collectors will be well served by the 2014 set, the perfect tool of comparison for both the film and album arrangements of the music.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download