Customer Reviews

Timecop (1994 Film)

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Mark Isham delivers a hard hitting action score that is something you wouldn't expect to come from him. The music is composed for a good sized orchestra with some electronics thrown in for good measure. The main theme, found in "Time Cop" and "Rescue and Return" is a good one played mainly on strings and piano that is largely underused. "Melissa" contains a sultry like saxophone solo that returns in the final track. The majority of the remainder of the score is action music that contains lots of brass and percussion. High trumpets are heard in most of the tracks (Isham is a trumpet player, so go figure!) "Blow Up", "Lasers and Tasers", "Polaroid", "Rooftop", and "C4" are full of action music with low brass and piano beats keeping it moving. The length of the score is only 30 minutes and is very hard to find, but if you do, I suggest checking it out. It's short, hard hitting, and full of action.

"Stingers" is a film score term, meaning a sudden musical jolt caused by a loud chord, usually associated with a sudden scare in a horror film. The synth-heavy action cues in this album are filled to the brim with them, and they barely form a cohesive harmonious whole. However, the more pensive brass-laden tracks showcase Isham's capability for good thematic material. Still, it can't be a good sign if an action score succeeds only upon the strength of its non-propulsive cues.

Due to the immense expense of re-use fees (the amount charged by a studio to a film score distributor, sold in thousands for 15-minute music blocks) and miniscule sales of most film scores, "TimeCop" is only 30 minutes in length.

For the curious and fans of the film or composer only.

This CD first introduced me to composer Mark Isham----and Jean Claude Van Damme. The score compliments the action of the film extremely well, from the heart-pumping main title theme to the love theme (sax solos), to the first house explosion and everything in between. Because of the fact that this CD is so short, which is typical of Varese Sarabande, a lot of good cues are missing, most notably the 1994 nuclear weapons facility gunfight and a few hospital scenes, but it's still a great CD if you liked the movie.