A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

A misguided project if ever there was one, Philip Noyce's big screen adaptation of The Saint saw Roger Moore's shoes being filled by Val Kilmer (which seems like a ridiculous prospect, but in fact Kilmer's performance is one of the film's few redeeming features).  Noyce is actually a very competent director (his Rabbit Proof Fence is one of the undiscovered gems of recent years) and it was surprising to see him do a film like this, though he returned to form with his next project, The Bone Collector.  He tends to chop and change composers with each new film, and for The Saint he turned to his fellow countryman Graeme Revell, another unusual choice, but this time one that worked quite well.  (The pair had previously collaborated on the excellent Dead Calm.)

Revell is of course better known for his rather droning synth-laden scores, only occasionally venturing out of that territory to do something a bit different, but when he does do something different the results are frequently impressive - his finest scores, like Red Planet, Out of Time and this, have been when he has largely ditched the low-key synth writing and come up with something more dynamic and involving.  There is some very strong action music here, with Revell combining the orchestral with synthesised percussion in much the same way as composers like John Powell have done in the years since; it works very well.  Some of the action tracks, such as "Break-In" and especially "The Fight", are top-notch stuff.

Despite the strong action material, perhaps the score's strongest asset is its old-fashioned, sweeping love theme.  There's a more-than-passing resemblance to John Barry's You Only Live Twice which can be quite disconcerting, but it's still a very attractive piece and its appearance is always welcome.  Other highlights include the very effective, suspense-laden "Race to Embassy", the emotional "Red Square", full of tragedy, and the surprising, jazz-laden finale.  At 52 minutes, the album (released by Angel Records and now pretty hard to come by) is a bit too long and would have been far tighter had a few tracks been clipped, but even so, as a kind of Bond-like score, it works very well and shows off Revell's best qualities.

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Tracks

1. Main Title (6:25)
2. Break-In (3:46)
3. Shelley Monument (2:16)
4. Searching Apartment (3:38)
5. Love Theme (2:55)
6. The River Chase (3:16)
7. The Tunnels (2:36)
8. Race to Embassy (2:22)
9. Tempelhof (2:41)
10. Love Theme (2nd version) (2:54)
11. Kremlin Riot / Karpov's Room (4:40)
12. Red Square (3:09)
13. The Fight (5:40)
14. Love Theme Finale (5:27)