Vertical Limit

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Composer James Newton Howard is on a role. With his much praised scores for Dinosaur and Unbreakable it was clearly that he was on the top of the world. But he took that also literally with Vertical Limit, the newest suspension movie of director Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro). This unbelievable roller coaster ride of stunts and its ongoing spectacular scenery never stopped to amaze me and Howard delivered a suspenseful at and times exhilarating adventure score, full with tension, amazement and adrenaline. Packed in 44 minutes of music (but missing the end credits and the final action music at the end). Vertical Limit offers a cool theme and some good highlights, but mainly it is stuffed with moments that you can expect when you see the track listings for the first time. The main theme sounds cool enough for me and Howard used it frequently during the begin and end, which is nice because the pace then starts to pump up really good. Tracks like 'Three Years Later', 'Base Camp' and 'You Wanna Do This?' offer spectacular moments of score and are definitely the best when it comes down to melodic fun.

The rest combines suspenseful action music with a serious pace, witnessed in 'Spindrift', 'Avalanche', Nitro' and 'Peter's Jump / Tom's Heart' but also calm underscore like in 'Your Father was a Smart Man', 'Don't Touch Her' and 'Annie and Peter'. This is no complaint to Howard itself, because he simply scored what the movie offered of scene but I feel that it could've been just more, especially the end credits that are missing (making the score complete of its circle) from the soundtrack is a real disappointment. But the musical moments that do attract will most likely please many fans, because James Newton Howard brings then his thematic mind in motion combined with a good pace and a mood for adventurous joy, this like we heard before in Dinosaur and The Postman. Well, mix these two together with the suspenseful background sound and mood of The Fugitive and you've got a pretty good picture of what Vertical Limit might sound like in the end. It's not a bad release and it's quite clever as how James Newton Howard mixes the suspenseful mood with the adventurous feeling of the movie but this soundtrack doesn't offer enough highlights, simple like that. Still Vertical Limit ends a remarkable and successful year for Hollywood composer Howard, with an at times exhilarating soundtrack.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Utah (1.25)

2. Three Years Later (4.28) Excellent Track

3. I Need One More (1.42)

4. Base Camp (1.32) Excellent Track

5. You Wanna Do This (4.38) Excellent Track

6. Spindrift (3.22)

7. Avalanche (1.24)

8. Your Father Was A Smart Man (2.12)

9. Don't Touch Her (2.46)

10. Maybe You Should Turn Back (1.55)

11. Nitro (4.17)

12. Vaughn Decides (1.17)

13. Annie And Peter (4.16)

14. Peter's Jump / Tom's Heart (6.00)

15. It's A Good Song (3.10)

Total Length: 44.35

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=== Link to Composer Site: James Newton Howard ===