POINT OF NO RETURN
Rating: 
Original Review: I think I must be one of the only people in the world who actually liked John Badham's remake of Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita (released with the title The Assassin in the UK), and one of the only people who liked the score as well. As usual with Zimmer, it's a highly charged piece, prominently featuring the excellent guitar solos of Bob Daspit and great gospel vocals, and the four cuts on the album are all very good: beginning with the intense, pulsating 'Hate', it starts off with a driving rock beat and lots of percussion, but after five minutes it changes into the first rendition of my favourite Zimmer melody of all time. I really don't know why I like this melody so much, because musically it's nothing special - just a simple synthesised piano piece with a string and percussion backing - but somehow it really appealed to my ear when I first heard it about five years ago, and it's just stuck with me ever since. 'Happy Birthday Maggie' is a much more upbeat and light hearted piece, again ending with a rendition of the main melody; 'Wedding Bells' is a little nondescript really, with a couple of attractive minor themes interpolated with the usual synthesised moodiness, but 'Hell's Kitchen' really finishes the score with a bang. Written to accompany the scene where Bridget Fonda is asked to assassinate a wealthy businessman in a restaurant only for it all to go wrong, it starts slowly and precisely, but builds and adds to the tension before culminating in an all-out action cue with guitars, synths, vocals and percussion all mixing together in a loud, vibrant and breathless finale. As well as fans of Hans Zimmer, fans of Nina Simone should also love this album. The five Simone songs are all equally good, ranging from the upbeat 'Here Comes The Sun', to the ultra-seductive 'I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl', the title of which has absolutely no double meaning, honest, and the moody 'Feelin' Good'. A good effort all round.
Track Listing:
- Hate (7:26)
- Happy Birthday, Maggie (5:36)
- Wedding Bells (8:06)
- Hells's Kitchen (5:08)
- Here Comes The Sun (written by George Harrison, performed by Nina Simone) (3:35)
- I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl (written and performed by Nina Simone) (2:31)
- Feeling Good (written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, performed by Nina Simone) (2:53)
- Wild is the Wind (written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington, performed by Nina Simone) (6:57)
- Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair (traditional, performed by Nina Simone) (3:26)
Running Time: 45 minutes 38 seconds
Milan (1993)
Music composed by Hans Zimmer and Nick Glennie-Smith. Arranged by Hans Zimmer. Guitar solos performed by Bob Daspit. Recorded and mixed by Jay Rifkin. Edited by Alex Gibson and Sherry Whitfield. Album produced by Hans Zimmer and Jay Rifkin.
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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1998. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.