Maximum Risk
Robert Folk
" It's not worth the risk "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Maximum Risk was a step in the right direction for action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, a step in the wrong direction for critically acclaimed Hong Kong director Ringo Lam and a poor excuse for composer Robert Folk. Strange to say, but Robert Folk didn't win any fans with Maximum Risk. He may have won and kept them with Toy Soldiers, Beastmaster II and The NeverEnding Story II, but Maximum Risk remains a disappointment and a hardly mentioned effort of Robert Folk. Easy to say, it's worth its couple of bucks at the online soundtrack retailers, and nothing more.
Honestly, I don't hear a lot of trademark Robert Folk material here. Perhaps it's because the score is mostly heard through guitar twangs (both traditional and electric), cheap synthesized drum loops and different diverse musical instruments (accordion, balalaika and ethnic flutes). The begin of "Tour de Nice" does deliver the accordion (France) and the ethnic flutes (Russian Mafia), but is drowned out during the middle of a cacophony of sounds. The best of Robert Folk perhaps comes during the rather tantalizing emotional performance of the balalaika in Mikhail's Diary", but that's hardly memorable when one hears the rather cheap secondary part. The same for the nice accordion moments in "Extreme Reaction".
It's startling in fact that Folk's music lacks thematic ideas, structure but above all his finesse and style. It just doesn't feel like it's a Robert Folk score. There's a returning theme that stands for Jean-Claude Van Damme's character (Russian based), but apart from that we're left with a lot of suspense music, often performed rather cheaply (of course not a fault you can blame the composer for if one isn't given the chance to work with an orchestra). The mixture of instruments (electric guitar, ethnic flutes, percussion, accordion) on a bed of suspense in "Maximum Conflagration", the cheap suspense coming from electric guitars in "Brighton Beach Mob Wars" and "Cirque de Carnivore", or the theme heard alongside percussion thumps in "Terminal Betrayal", it just doesn't feel like Folk's best.
In fact, the only thing that does work is the nice main theme version in "Unchained Heart" and the overall ethnic sounds of the balalaika, flutes and what I can only describe as something as a duduk. These elements do enhance the experience and could have surprised a fan's anticipation easily if Folk ever found that perfect balance between the thematic ideas in an orchestral performance. Now you have neither, and it makes the ethnic influences the only redeeming element of the score. The electric guitars are perhaps a must, but knowing what Folk can deliver of strong orchestral action music, one must wonder if this result was Folk's idea or someone else's. Sadly, Maximum Risk is a Robert Folk score to pass.
Tracklisting
1. Tour de Nice (4.42)
2. Mikhail's Diary (3.33)
3. Maximum Conflagration (3.21)
4. Brighton Beach Mob Wars (2.35)
5. Maximum Erotica (1.45)
6. Cirque de Carnivore (2.40)
7. Extreme Reaction (4.40)
8. Terminal Betrayal (4.31)
9. Unchained Heart (2.02)
10. Without You: Terry Wood (03:18)
Total Length: 33.07
Honestly, I don't hear a lot of trademark Robert Folk material here. Perhaps it's because the score is mostly heard through guitar twangs (both traditional and electric), cheap synthesized drum loops and different diverse musical instruments (accordion, balalaika and ethnic flutes). The begin of "Tour de Nice" does deliver the accordion (France) and the ethnic flutes (Russian Mafia), but is drowned out during the middle of a cacophony of sounds. The best of Robert Folk perhaps comes during the rather tantalizing emotional performance of the balalaika in Mikhail's Diary", but that's hardly memorable when one hears the rather cheap secondary part. The same for the nice accordion moments in "Extreme Reaction".
It's startling in fact that Folk's music lacks thematic ideas, structure but above all his finesse and style. It just doesn't feel like it's a Robert Folk score. There's a returning theme that stands for Jean-Claude Van Damme's character (Russian based), but apart from that we're left with a lot of suspense music, often performed rather cheaply (of course not a fault you can blame the composer for if one isn't given the chance to work with an orchestra). The mixture of instruments (electric guitar, ethnic flutes, percussion, accordion) on a bed of suspense in "Maximum Conflagration", the cheap suspense coming from electric guitars in "Brighton Beach Mob Wars" and "Cirque de Carnivore", or the theme heard alongside percussion thumps in "Terminal Betrayal", it just doesn't feel like Folk's best.
In fact, the only thing that does work is the nice main theme version in "Unchained Heart" and the overall ethnic sounds of the balalaika, flutes and what I can only describe as something as a duduk. These elements do enhance the experience and could have surprised a fan's anticipation easily if Folk ever found that perfect balance between the thematic ideas in an orchestral performance. Now you have neither, and it makes the ethnic influences the only redeeming element of the score. The electric guitars are perhaps a must, but knowing what Folk can deliver of strong orchestral action music, one must wonder if this result was Folk's idea or someone else's. Sadly, Maximum Risk is a Robert Folk score to pass.
Tracklisting
1. Tour de Nice (4.42)
2. Mikhail's Diary (3.33)
3. Maximum Conflagration (3.21)
4. Brighton Beach Mob Wars (2.35)
5. Maximum Erotica (1.45)
6. Cirque de Carnivore (2.40)
7. Extreme Reaction (4.40)
8. Terminal Betrayal (4.31)
9. Unchained Heart (2.02)
10. Without You: Terry Wood (03:18)
Total Length: 33.07