THE SAINT

GRAEME REVELL

Rating:

Original Review: One of the first in the current slew of big screen remakes of classic TV series, The Saint boasted a cool combination of Val Kilmer as the aloof, brooding hero Simon Templar, Elisabeth Shue as the young, sexy University professor love interest, Yugoslav actor Rade Serbedzija as the suave super-villain and a series of breakneck action sequences that flitted backwards and forwards across the globe with gay abandon. Or, at least that's what the press pack said. In reality, The Saint was a dud, with director Phillip Noyce completely failing to generate any tension and Kilmer eliciting stifled guffaws from the audience as his supposed "master of disguise" tricks became more and more elaborate. Graeme Revell's score was generally well received by the soundtrack buying public but, in my opinion, it has become somewhat over rated. Although there are undoubtedly some moments of unabashed beauty, especially in the three incarnations of the absolutely gorgeous 'Love Theme', the bulk of the album tends to be rather overbearing and loud, in an annoying sort of way. The 'Main Title' actually starts the score off quite nicely, with solo soprano vocals and Morricone-style oboes ushering in a slow, slightly melancholy version of the love theme, and 'Shelley Monument' has an attractive, reflective tone and is clever in its use of a choir and moody synth tones. However, the many action sequences ('Break-In', 'The River Chase', 'The Tunnels', 'Race to Embassy', 'The Fight'), while superficially exciting, are nothing more than simple, repeated synth tracks with typical orchestral accompaniment and an occasional pepped-up drum machine beat. The fast-moving rhythms employed by Revell do accentuate the screen antics adequately, but when separated from the images they seem to be a little forced and uninspired, although admittedly when a choir is included in the mix (such as in 'Kremlin Riot/Karpov's Room') the music does rise to a much more enjoyable level. The late Edwin Astley's classic theme does make an occasional appearance in cues such as 'Searching The Apartment' and 'Red Square', but it is never prevalent enough to generate any true feelings of nostalgia. Instead, its inclusion feels like a somewhat grudging tip of the hat to its small screen predecessor more done out of professional courtesy than for any legitimate musical reason. It seems appropriate that the score for The Saint should be released by the equally heavenly Angel Records but, unfortunately for all concerned, the halo has most definitely slipped.

Track Listing: Running Time: 52 minutes 10 seconds

Angel Records 7243-5-56466-2-6 (1997)

Music composed by Graeme Revell. Conducted by Alan Wilson and David Snell. Performed by The London Metropolitan Orchestra. Orchestrations by John Bell, Nick Ingman and Graeme Revell. Features music from the The Saint television series, composed by Edwin Astley. Recorded and mixed by Chris Dibble. Edited by Joe E. Rand. Mastered by Chris Bellman. Album produced by Graeme Revell.


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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.