Money Train
Mark Mancina
" Nothing stops the money train, but the CD kinda does! "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the limited release
The movie Money Train of 1995 is a typical buddy movie that's easily likeable because of the chemistry between "brothers" Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, but above all due to the old school (nothing CGI fake about it) train derailment at the end. Basically it's a fun watch and with the recent blu-ray release of the movie, we also received the release of Mark Mancina's score. Mancina back then was already a household name to these types of movies, something Speed, Fair Game and Bad Boys were easily responsible for. And while it's not Mancina's best at all, it holds the typical ingredients that made his music enjoyable and above all effective.
Mancina's music received a lame 4 minutes on the Epic Soundtrax release in 1995, but receives its prime time moment now after Bad Boys and Speed II made it clear that Mark Mancina was still a wanted name with the fans. And despite lacking the immense tapestry of themes of Speed II, Money Train is like Speed a fast moving action listen. Opening with the typical rhythmic tones of Speed and an electric guitar, "Petty Theft" unleashes its main theme after 2 minutes (the moment we see there's no stopping the money train). It's a typical action theme of the MV cannon, so you know what to expect.
The friendship theme is heard in "Charlie Steals the Model" and "Buddha Consciousness" (blasting away on electric guitar) while harsh electric guitar riffs enlighten us to the wonderful character that is "The Torch Strikes". The heroic main theme makes a noticeable appearance when the 2 brothers save the lady in distress. A more touching version of the friendship theme is heard on guitar in "Hook's Premise" and in "A Gift of 15 Grand / Charlie Loses the Money", all the while "Round Two / Love Betrayed" tries a bit too hard to copy / paste the successful Eric Clapton influence of Lethal Weapon.
The real action of Money Train lies in the second part of the score. After Torch goes at it again in "The Torch Gets Ready / The Torch is Toast", it's the second part of this track that moves forward with the action versions of the main theme. And expect to hear the main theme a lot more after that, fueling the chase in "Motorcycle Chase", igniting the suspense in "Breaking the Barrier" (watch out for some cool electric guitar riffs in this one) and colliding with another train in the fast as hell "I'll Be There / The Brothers Fight / Money Train Wreck" (the collision with the fast pimped main theme version doesn't sound to good though).
True, the entire listening experience isn't aided by the fact Money Train sounds somewhat cheaper (meaning less orchestral) than most of Mancina's other action outings, and somehow the fade outs at the end of the tracks don't always mesh well with the listening experience. But Money Train is still fairly accessible due to the simplicity of Mancina's 2 themes, and its enjoyability factor inside the movie and somehow on disc. Okay even Speed had a lot more diversity to offer, but if you listen carefully to the bigger picture, Money Train doesn't differ that much from Speed anyway. So real fans of the movie will somehow get what they were nagging for, despite sounding a lot more awkward than I remembered it. And now here's hoping Fair Game is next.
Tracklisting
1. Petty Theft (3.46)
2. Charlie Steals the Model (1.01)
3. Buddha Consciousness (0.27)
4. The Torch Strikes (2.20)
5. Hook's Promise (0.41)
6. Love Hurts (0.45)
7. A Gift of 15 Grand / Charlie Loses the Money (1.41)
8. Round Two / Love Betrayed (1.39)
9. The Torch Gets Ready / The Torch is Toast (6.11)
10. Get Out of my Life (0.23)
11. Brown's Ultimatum (2.39)
12. Charlie Gets Ready / Charlie Grabs the Train (1.58)
13. Motorcycle Subway (2.01)
14. No Escape (1.29)
15. Breaking the Barrier (5.45)
16. I'll Be There / The Brothers Fight / Money Train Wreck (7.25)
17. Keeping Cool (0.42)
Total Length: 40.53
Mancina's music received a lame 4 minutes on the Epic Soundtrax release in 1995, but receives its prime time moment now after Bad Boys and Speed II made it clear that Mark Mancina was still a wanted name with the fans. And despite lacking the immense tapestry of themes of Speed II, Money Train is like Speed a fast moving action listen. Opening with the typical rhythmic tones of Speed and an electric guitar, "Petty Theft" unleashes its main theme after 2 minutes (the moment we see there's no stopping the money train). It's a typical action theme of the MV cannon, so you know what to expect.
The friendship theme is heard in "Charlie Steals the Model" and "Buddha Consciousness" (blasting away on electric guitar) while harsh electric guitar riffs enlighten us to the wonderful character that is "The Torch Strikes". The heroic main theme makes a noticeable appearance when the 2 brothers save the lady in distress. A more touching version of the friendship theme is heard on guitar in "Hook's Premise" and in "A Gift of 15 Grand / Charlie Loses the Money", all the while "Round Two / Love Betrayed" tries a bit too hard to copy / paste the successful Eric Clapton influence of Lethal Weapon.
The real action of Money Train lies in the second part of the score. After Torch goes at it again in "The Torch Gets Ready / The Torch is Toast", it's the second part of this track that moves forward with the action versions of the main theme. And expect to hear the main theme a lot more after that, fueling the chase in "Motorcycle Chase", igniting the suspense in "Breaking the Barrier" (watch out for some cool electric guitar riffs in this one) and colliding with another train in the fast as hell "I'll Be There / The Brothers Fight / Money Train Wreck" (the collision with the fast pimped main theme version doesn't sound to good though).
True, the entire listening experience isn't aided by the fact Money Train sounds somewhat cheaper (meaning less orchestral) than most of Mancina's other action outings, and somehow the fade outs at the end of the tracks don't always mesh well with the listening experience. But Money Train is still fairly accessible due to the simplicity of Mancina's 2 themes, and its enjoyability factor inside the movie and somehow on disc. Okay even Speed had a lot more diversity to offer, but if you listen carefully to the bigger picture, Money Train doesn't differ that much from Speed anyway. So real fans of the movie will somehow get what they were nagging for, despite sounding a lot more awkward than I remembered it. And now here's hoping Fair Game is next.
Tracklisting
1. Petty Theft (3.46)
2. Charlie Steals the Model (1.01)
3. Buddha Consciousness (0.27)
4. The Torch Strikes (2.20)
5. Hook's Promise (0.41)
6. Love Hurts (0.45)
7. A Gift of 15 Grand / Charlie Loses the Money (1.41)
8. Round Two / Love Betrayed (1.39)
9. The Torch Gets Ready / The Torch is Toast (6.11)
10. Get Out of my Life (0.23)
11. Brown's Ultimatum (2.39)
12. Charlie Gets Ready / Charlie Grabs the Train (1.58)
13. Motorcycle Subway (2.01)
14. No Escape (1.29)
15. Breaking the Barrier (5.45)
16. I'll Be There / The Brothers Fight / Money Train Wreck (7.25)
17. Keeping Cool (0.42)
Total Length: 40.53