{"id":2849,"date":"2011-05-04T17:33:53","date_gmt":"2011-05-04T21:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2849"},"modified":"2011-05-04T17:33:53","modified_gmt":"2011-05-04T21:33:53","slug":"cd-money-train-1994","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2849","title":{"rendered":"CD: Money Train (1994)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>M<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: La-La Land Records\/ Released: March 2, 2011<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 17 tracks \/ (40:53)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 20-page colour booklet with liner notes by Daniel Schweiger \/ Limited to 3000 copies.<\/p>\n

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Composer: Mark Mancina<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

There\u2019s really no pretense about Money Train<\/strong>: while the basic story of robbing a NYC money train for the subway system is perfectly fine, director Joseph Ruben spent far too much time on ersatz character scenes \u2013 buddy bonding material \u2013 and unfunny, smart-ass dialogue, leaving the \u2018money\u2019 material \u2013 the heist \u2013 until the very end.<\/p>\n

Mark Mancina\u2019s job was to support the unfunny material with amiable & hip tracks (funky bass licks, bluesy guitar renditions of the main theme), compassionate theme variations (either in guitar or gentle keyboards) to enhance the weak \u2018brotherly\u2019 link between the two transit cops with a shared past in an orphanage, plus the action sequences.<\/p>\n

Money Train<\/strong> is post-Speed<\/strong> (1994), and comprises the Mancina\u2019s peak period as an in-demand action composer, so there\u2019s stylistic continuity between Speed<\/strong>, Money Train<\/strong>, and Con Air<\/strong> (1997). Everything is based around a singular theme, and action cuts such as \u201cThe Torch Gets Ready \/ The Torch is Toast\u201d are a mix of pulsing electric bass, frenetic strings, Zimmerlisch bass booms to accentuate near-misses and an escalation of danger, and rapidly increasing tempo \u2013 usually accomplished by hastening the collage of bass, brass, and sequenced percussion.<\/p>\n

A major action highlight is the lengthy \u201cBreaking the Barrier,\u201d where Mancina evokes some of the step-like, off-kilter notes typical of John Carpenter\u2019s keyboard performances (specifically Halloween III: Season of the Witch<\/strong>), with the brass and strings evoking a classic sense of desperation in the big city (and perfectly suiting the sequence where the two heroes are trapped on the out of control train).<\/p>\n

Unlike the aforementioned scores \u2013 and other canonic efforts like Twister<\/strong> (1996) and Speed 2: Cruise Control<\/strong> (1997) \u2013 as dumb as the movie is, the score has a solid balance of drama, action, light romance, cheeky fun, and a gradual buildup towards the big heist that remained scored in spite of heavy sound effects.<\/p>\n

La-La Land\u2019s CD includes all of the score cuts, so there is repetition among brief cues \u2013 the lighthearted & groovy \u201cCharlie Steals the Model\u201d and \u201cBuddha Consciousness\u201d are almost identical, save in length \u2013 but at 40 mins. the CD offers a nearly complete dramatic experience.<\/p>\n

The only thing fans will find lacking is the song \u201cTrain is Coming\u201d by Shaggy which bookends the film; the score was designed to fit among certain source cues, but the Shaggy tune is one of the few instances where a source cut sets the film\u2019s tone, establishes the goofball character banter audiences will have to endure, and the musical palette from which the film composer will build his sounds.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s total fluidity between score and the film\u2019s \u2018title song,\u2019 and Mancina must have had fun scoring a buddy action flick with material that had to swerve from jokey to deadly serious in one cue.<\/p>\n

Limited to 3000 units, La-La Land\u2019s CD sports the standard fat booklet of liner notes, and Mancina\u2019s score sounds fantastic: beautiful rich bass, smooth electronica, and sharp brass sounds fans will want to blast loud.<\/p>\n

Easily one of the top Zimmer-styled action scores of the nineties, and deserving a special CD release.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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Related External links (MAIN SITE):<\/p>\n

CD: \u00a0Speed 2: Cruise Control<\/a><\/strong> (1997)<\/p>\n

DVD: \u00a0Money Train<\/a><\/strong> (1995)<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0M<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ M . Rating: Excellent Label: La-La Land Records\/ Released: March 2, 2011 Tracks & Album Length: 17 tracks \/ (40:53) . Special Notes: 20-page colour booklet with liner notes by Daniel Schweiger \/ Limited to 3000 copies. . Composer: Mark Mancina . . Review: There\u2019s really no pretense about Money […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[454],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-JX","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2849"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2849"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2853,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2849\/revisions\/2853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}