True Lies is one of the defining action movies of the 90s. Directed by the master of action set pieces, James Cameron still hot from his successes on Aliens and Terminator adds his trademark touch to the story in this last big blockbuster movie for Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the 90s at least, (Terminator 3 is just about to hit cinemas).
True Lies garnered all kinds of critical acclaim for the action, the story, the actors and the humour. The only thing it didn�t receive praise for was its score.
Since Terminator, Brad Fiedel had been (apart from James Horner�s score for Aliens) Cameron�s choice for composer. Fiedel was originally hired because of Terminator�s small budget, however, Fiedel�s simplistic scores worked well with Cameron�s perfectionist techniques and were easy to dissect and reassemble without notice in the film. So Cameron had stuck with Brad Fiedel as the composer for all the Arnold Schwarzenegger films Cameron produced (T1, T2 and True Lies).
Although gaining no acclaim for his work Fiedel�s score for True Lies is his best. True Lies is an action comedy and as such it would have been easy for him to compose jazzy, stylish pieces and loud bombastic cues with little substance or depth and compose only minimal themes. Instead he uses a full orchestra to create a reasonable theme which he expands and makes large statements of through out the score. The theme itself is similar to his previous works, Terminator score owners will instantly recognise the percussion backings. However, the orchestra keeps the theme from being a cheap rip off of the Terminator theme and effectively separates the two scores from each other.
Fiedel expands the theme considerably as the score progresses; with more frantic performances in the action sequences (The best during the �Escape from the Chateau� track) and grand sweeping renditions in the romantic tracks (�Nuclear Kiss�)
There are some very good action cues in True Lies. The �Escape from the Chateau� and �Harry Rides Again� being the best.
Some of the latter track is uninspired and tedious as the main theme is repeatedly replayed in a mainly percussion form but the orchestral bombast in between and the tension cue representing the confrontation in the rising elevators is superb yet simple. The "Island Suite" action cue however, is not as good and demonstrates less of the exciting bombast and themematic moments and more of the bland and tedious percussion and ineffectual string underscore that Fiedel usually writes.
"Causeway/Helicopter Rescue" and "Harry saves The Day"could have been the best action tracks had it not been for the "integrated" synth within the orchestra. It would appear that Fiedel has once again used his electronic skills to supplement the orchestra, probably recording the orchestra recordings onto his computer and adding in bits and pieces where his orchestrations were thin and uninspired. The problem with this is that the sythn sticks out like a convoy of terrorist trucks on an otherwise empty causeway!. The sythn instruments sound far too squeaky and high pitched and can make very good action motifs sound like something out of a pantomime. This technique damn near ruins the Harrier attack in "Causeway/ Helicopter Rescue" and severely weakens a few key bits in "Harry Saves The Day".
However, all is not lost on Fiedel and he produces a rivetting 6 minutes of orchestral action in the latter half of "Causeway/ Helicopter Rescue" and this includes a rare quotation of the main theme.
The quieter tracks are among cues on the CD. The tension tracks deliver some quiet mainly jazzy tracks and are all quite functional, the jazz tracks feature a muted trumpet and saxophones and are very good.
The romance tracks (�Shadow Lover� and �Nuclear Kiss�) would be excellent tracks but are prevented from this by being so short.
�Shadow Lover� exhibits more of that solo sax jazz accompanied with strings and a keyboard to create a smooth flowing track only spoiled by its dull comedy ending.
The �Nuclear Kiss� track goes to extremes of shortness being less than a minute long. This is a great shame, had it been longer Fiedel would have been able to construct a much grander piece. The track itself is very good with good use made of the brass theme accompanying the strings in the usual heroic fanfare style.
The comic moments of True Lies; "Harry's Sweet Home", "Spying on Helen" and "Caught in The Act" are handled with great skill by Fiedel. Fiedel approaches the comic moments with great enthusiasm, injecting alot of style and fun into the score, mainly through strings and double bass which perform various variations of the brass theme.
The sound quality on this CD is by no means great. All the instruments sound muted and tinny but the whole thing is listenable. The album releases plenty of music from the film, especially of Brad Fiedel�s under appreciated score. I will stress though this is no masterpiece. Fiedel was never again hired to score a major film after True Lies. This score is however, his best and whilst it has a few tedious and uninspired parts ("Juno's Place and "Island Suite") there is still enough good material to make it a serviceable and in many places, highly enjoyable score with an undeniable sense of fun and an irrepressible style.
***
2. Darkness Darkness - Screaming Trees (4:08)
3. Alone in the Dark - John Hiatt (4:46)
4. Entity - Mother Tongue (4:21)
5. Sunshine of your Love - Living Colour (remix) (5:49)
6. Main Title/Harry Makes his Entrance (2:40)
7. Escape from the Chateau (2:41)
8. Harry's Sweet Home (1:06)
9. Harry Rides Again (7:05)
10. Spying on Helen (4:16)
11. Juno's Place (1:29)
12. Caught in the Act (1:29)
13. Shadow Lover (1:20)
14. Island Suite (6:55)
15. Causeway/Helicopter Rescue (7:57)
16. Nuclear Kiss (0:51)
17. Harry Saves the Day (8:26)
Release Label: Lightstorm Music
Date Released: July 1994
