Money Train (Promo)

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Mark Mancina was on a roll in 1995, scoring the action flicks Bad Boys, Fair Game and Money Train, and all had one thing similar, that sound of Mancina then. Assassins was far more grittier the way I remembered it, so I'll guess these 3 still were very similar in tone. Of course Bad Boys is the king of that year and its flair and action wit is not to be taken lightly, Money Train and Fair Game were compatible contenders for second place. While, Money Train has lots more action material then Fair Game, its also incredibly short and for 20 minutes hearing the theme constantly revised isn't exactly the way to go either, but as said it suffices. Now, the action tone already starts from the first track 'Thieves' and while the opening is kinda playful and later a bit darker, its the typical Speed and Bad Boys approach that does it later, with the electric guitar, the main theme and the trumpets on the blaze. And usually with that sound of the Media Ventures action scores, there is the friendship theme, love theme or whatever calm theme and that is for the brothers in 'Merry Christmas' and a bit longer in 'We're Brothers or Not?'. Its all a bit in the same league and the guitar theme isn't exactly the strongest of them all, but it kinda works. Not much, but at least its there. Of course, its the action music that does most of all the work, and in '... Or I'll Light you Up', its again the road ala Speed and its rhythm that makes the action tick, the main theme of course is never away and offers some strong versions of it.

Of course, this trend continues, and the action rhythms ala Bad Boys with the theme is heralded sufficiently in 'Grace is in Trouble', the main theme directly shown loud in 'Charly is Going Down' and the main theme on a drum rhythm in 'Assault on the Money Train', it all works in the movie and also on disc, but Bad Boys lovers or Speed frenetics will chop it easily off as "been there, done that". And they are right. The last track is the one also heard on Follow your Dreams Volume 1 compilation, and presents the known action theme with the sound, with the brother theme mixed in it, but the sound is notably a little sharper, hence also the reason this track was featured on the song album release. It functions best of all as a true representation of the most important work, and not unlike the cool but not main theme one track release (say like on the Bad Boys song album), it does present the theme most of all. Still, promo's like Fair Game and Money Train have their effect and above all fun, its still Bad Boys that does everything right, good, cool, perfect. In that case, Money Train is kinda weak but fun entertainment, it doesn't last long but it efficient but also a tried formula. For people expecting much of it, its rather easy to get disappointed but I think Mancina followers will still pick it up easily. And when done so, its easy to hope that Mancina will return, but also perhaps noticeable why he vanished in the first place. Now other rookies handle the show, and if McNeely has it hard getting back in the business, then Mancina is another example of a qualified composer that's stuck in the rut.

\ตตต/

Tracks

Single Disc

1. Thieves (3.44)

2. Merry Christmas (0.51)

3. ... Or I'll Light You Up (3.33)

4. Grace Is In Trouble (2.16)

5. Charly Is Going Down (0.49)

6. Assault On The Money Train (3.04)

7. We're Brothers Or Not? (1.20)

8. Money Train Suite (4.49)

Total Length: 20.29

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

=== Link to Composer Site: Mark Mancina ===