U.S. MARSHALS

JERRY GOLDSMITH

Rating:

Original Review: An enjoyable but rather pointless sequel, U.S. Marshals is a spin-off from the much better-received 1992 action smash The Fugitive. Directed by Stuart Baird (who helmed the 1996 actioner Executive Decision, also scored by Goldsmith), U.S. Marshals stars Tommy Lee Jones, reprising his Oscar-winning role as Marshal Samuel Gerard, the tough-talking, bark-worse-than-his-bite lawman who finally brought Dr. Richard Kimble to justice. In this film, Gerard is again doggedly pursuing an escaped felon despite his protestations of innocence, this time played by Wesley Snipes, a former FBI agent framed by his superiors and placed on a prison transport plane, which promptly crashes in the Louisiana swamp...

Jerry Goldsmith's score is a paint-by-numbers affair which bears many familiar Goldsmithian hallmarks, but breaks absolutely no new ground. Opening with a performance of the heraldic five-note brass motif for Tommy Lee in 'Nuggets and Bullets', the score goes on to present action cue upon action cue, most of which stick to the same formula throughout - bold brasses accompanied by syncopated snare drum licks, low end piano chords, timpanis and snazzy electronic embellishments. Cues such as 'Sinking Plane', 'Swamp Search' and 'Following Chen' are longer than the others, and therefore have an opportunity to build up a proper head of steam, but many of the elements used here would later be used to much greater effect in Goldsmith's score for Star Trek: Insurrection.

Much of the rest of the score is of the suspenseful scene-setting variety, with various permutations of the central fanfare (rotationally on strings, woodwinds and brasses) accompanied by multiple electronic samples which click, rattle and hum away in the background. I did notice a soft dulcimer-style effect in 'Eyes on the City' which for some reason put me in mind of Chris Young's Hellraiser scores, but for the most part these cues are fairly uninteresting filler music. Only in the final cue, 'Free To Go', does Goldsmith's music emerge from the gloom, presenting bright, lush woodwind and brass recapitulations of the main theme which gradually build into a thunderous, tour-de-force finale for the full orchestra. But it's too little too late.

They always say that familiarity breeds contempt, and that idiom could be used perfectly for this score. It's all been heard before, mostly from Goldsmith himself, and on the whole it's been done much better. The score is not without an occasional moment of innovation - the sampled metallic electronics from Star Trek First Contact make an unexpected, but surprisingly appropriate guest appearance in 'Heading for the Swamp' - but, generally speaking, this is a rather tired action score. That's something I never thought I would find myself writing about Jerry Goldsmith.

Track Listing: Running Time: 30 minutes 21 seconds

Varése Sarabande VSD-5914 (1998)

Music composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. Orchestrations by Arthur Morton. Recorded and mixed by Bruce Botnick. Edited by Ken Hall. Album produced by Jerry Goldsmith.


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