SPEED

MARK MANCINA

Rating:

Original Review: Speed was the runaway success of its year, in more ways than one. A deceptively simple action thriller, in which hotshot cop Keanu Reeves tries to defuse a bomb on a Los Angeles city bus - the only catch being that the bomb would explode automatically if the bus's speed dropped below 50mph - it captured the audience imaginations world-wide and made bonafide stars of Reeves and his spunky co-star Sandra Bullock. Hot-foot from his successful stay in Hans Zimmer's Media Ventures stable was composer Mark Mancina, seemingly making a break and seeking to develop a career of his own. While Speed did not elicit the best score from the former Yes keyboardist, it nevertheless fulfilled all its objectives in the film - the most basic of these being to knock the viewer out of his or her seats. The only real theme to speak of is presented in the first cue, 'Main Title', and consists of a series of punchy, bold horn blasts and synthesised string figures overlaying a driving percussive beat. The theme is not particularly memorable in the sense that it does not form the core of the score. Instead, Mancina presents short snippets of the main theme in many of his cues, but saves the fuller renditions of the melodic material for the quieter moments and the credits sequences. As one would imagine, any subtle intricacies in Mancina's score would have been totally overwhelmed by the ear-shattering sound effects that dominated most of the movie, so to counterbalance this Mancina chose to incorporate many sampled sounds into his synthesiser bank. Like they say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! As such, many of Mancina's subsequent cues function not as typical underscore, but as an auditory accompaniment to the screeching tyres, crunching cars, screaming passengers and exploding objects that inhabited the film, and consist mainly of lively drumbeats and synthesised rhythms occasionally enhanced by acoustic or electric instruments. Some of the early cues, such as 'The Rescue', 'Entering Airport', 'Rush Hour', 'The Gap' do leave a lasting impression, but after a while the relentless thumping becomes rather tiresome, and by the end of the album you are quite relieved to finally have some respite. For action fans, this is a perfect film score. For those who appreciate slightly more restrained and lyrical music, I would suggest you check out some of Mancina's later scores such as Twister or the excellent Moll Flanders.

Track Listing: Running Time: 40 minutes 32 seconds

Milan 74321-23465-2 (1994)

Music composed by Mark Mancina. Conducted by Don Harper. Additional music by John Van Tongeren. Orchestrations by Bruce Fowler, Ladd McIntosh, Y.S. Moriarty, Don Harper and Mark Mancina. Featured musical soloists Mike Fisher and Allan Holdsworth. Recorded and mixed by Jay Rifkin and Alan Meyerson. Mastered by Stephen Marcussen. Album produced by Mark Mancina.


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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.