Clear and Present Danger

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

In a time considering that Horner seems to write nothing but war scores and drama's, it was good to know that '94 at least offered some diversity. At least to a degree. Because Legends of the Fall and Clear and Present Danger by all standards seem to deliver an ethnic touch, the shakuhachi. Still, this score is just like all those other Horner efforts one that fits the movie like clockwork but on the other hand shows a lot of similarities of other soundtracks, considering the future or the past. We all know it by know but it strikes me that with each listen, you seem to find out that each score links itself with one another and no matter if they don't fit or do, they still show the similarities clear and obvious. Clear and Present Danger has one with Apollo 13 and considering that, it seems that it wasn't the only one. Clear and Present Danger still remains an extremely solid listen with two highlights, one great one and one excellent one, together making at least 12 minutes of your hard earned buck worth it.

The first track title states bits of Courage Under Fire and one mean Apollo 13 influence, almost the last two minutes could be replaced like that with the famous score of '95. 'Operation Reciprocity' is an excellent piece of music, at least the first two minutes offer us exciting action music that resembles the best of Legends of the Fall (same year so don't look surprised). 'The Ambush' is still the highlight of this score and shows why people still stick with Horner after all this time. It builds and builds (with an ethnic touch behind the music) and then all hell breaks lose, still scored with audible music before the Apollo 13 like theme shows up and concluding with more exciting action music. It is one of those tracks that makes the scene incredible and vice versa, because I will never forget this particular scene. 'Looking for Clues' uses the already famous dark and desolate opening music of Aliens and 'Deleting the Evidence' has more of the good building music, working to its advantage during the movie. By the way, the ethnic touch is sometimes extremely present with tracks such as 4 and 8 showing what they can do.

'Second Hand Copter' offers more of the heroic fanfares and a patriotic finish is found in 'Truth Needs a Soldier / End Title', with the appropriate touches of Apollo 13 or not. At the end you once more have to mention that Horner is probably one of the best at understanding a particular scene, he has never let me down when you hear the music during the film and I think he will never do. Still, the originality can here perhaps work but compared to the future works, it still remains a sore point and again will ever stay that way. So, Clear and Present Danger is definitely one to steer away if you truly hate Horner and all his doing. Yet, people who dig this man's personal style will not be disappointed. The original soundtrack has been re released and perhaps this is a sign that still many people see Clear and Present Danger as a strong candidate in the Horner most wanted list of movie compositions.

\ЕЕЕ/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. Main Title / A Clear And Present Danger (5.24)

2. Operation Reciprocity (3.22) Excellent Track

3. The Ambush (9.48) Excellent Track

4. The Laser - Guided Missile (3.49)

5. Looking For Clues (3.30)

6. Deleting The Evidence (4.38)

7. Greer's Funeral / Betrayal (6.21)

8. Escobedo's New Friend (5.26)

9. Second Hand Copter (2.13)

10. Truth Needs A Soldier / End Title (5.48)

Total Length: 50.39

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: James Horner ===