I was pleasantly surprised, therefore, when I listened through this CD of the original motion picture score for the first time. Far from echoing the critical failure of film, the score manages to sustain your interest throughout its 44-minute runtime. Scores such as this are a tough task in many ways. Its themes of action and sci-fi are such that it needs to have a fast, impactful tone that grabs from the off and doesn’t let go. Of course, doing this can quickly lead to a synth-by-numbers affair, quickly becoming uncertain and woolly in terms of its main direction and thrust. That’s far from the case here, though. Beltrami and Sanders successfully blend a variety of musical beats, sounds and synths to great effect, while all the time maintaining the sense of sci-fi film noir that lurks ever-present throughout. It’s true to say that there isn’t a particular standout track or tracks and that the CD works best as a whole, the individual pieces not really standing up on their own terms when taken out of context. This is perhaps down to each individual track lasting no more than four minutes and most being around the two, to two and a half minute mark. It does ebb and flow throughout, though, with plenty of peaks along the way. Still, for a tenner this is definitely worth fans of sci-fi and fantasy action flicks seeking out. It’s a very stylish and slick listen.
