Zanobard Reviews

The standout aspect of James Horner’s Clear And Present Danger is the unrelentingly thunderous orchestral action, with setpieces like “Operation Reciprocity” and “The Ambush” cementing just how excellent the late great composer was at crafting it.

Onto the next of my James Horner tacklings this year, it’s ’90s action score Clear And Present Danger! The film itself stars Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan, and the main draw for me has always been Horner’s music; the action sequences for Danger are absolutely sublime, and naturally of course the main theme is stellar too. We hear it first in opening track “Main Title/A Clear And Present Danger” of La-La Land Records’ excellent expansion of the score – released a couple of years ago now – with powerful brassy bursts kicking things off, immediately evoking a dramatic sense of nobility and grandeur before Horner’s main theme is then fully introduced on some particularly patriotic-sounding strings and orchestra. I love this theme honestly, it’s so unapologetically grandiose and heroic, and it sticks in your head pretty much on first listen. This main title piece gives it a happily lengthy introduction as well, setting the stage for the score’s loud and proud orchestral approach that makes it so damned entertaining – at least for me, anyway. The opening track does then simmer somewhat in its back half, introducing elements of wariness and tension on moody strings and percussive rumbles until the main theme returns on now more pensive brass to close out the cue.

Moody orchestral ambience occupies the minute-long “President’s Mission” with the occasional flare of foreboding woodwinds, with “Jack’s New Office” then utilising the same unnerving strings motif from the main title of Aliens – Horner always did love his thematic reuses – to cement a rather downtrodden tone. The next few cues then offer similar moody atmosphere on strings and synth before “Operation Reciprocity” practically explodes as the score’s first major action setpiece; a tense piano-focused action motif is introduced in the opening seconds with thunderous brass and strings then swelling emphatically as the main theme surges triumphantly back into centre stage. It’s one of the score’s most powerful moments overall, once again unapologetically holding that main theme heroically high, before the music then quietens down in the cue’s back half with forlorn brassy ambience. Woodwind and synth-heavy tension is then the focus of the next few rather short tracks, with some intriguingly Commando-inspired percussive interspersions, before we get into the score’s standout action moment, “The Ambush”.

The now well established ominous woodwinds open this ten minute setpiece, with rising brass and drums starting to seed tension alongside several short piano renditions of the echoing action motif from “Operation Reciprocity”. This track is an absolute masterclass in tension build-up, I must say; it slowly builds with orchestral volume and intensity over the course of much of the first half of the cue, finally reaching a thunderous crescendo at just past the five minute mark – at which point intense crashes of drums, brass and swirling strings suddenly usher in frantic action. The orchestra is in full force now, with high-pitched strings, anxious brassy bursts and deafening percussion leading until the music finally starts to relent at 07:10, giving way to surges of hope which then build to a proudly triumphant burst from the main theme. Wary action however then retakes the reins for the rest of the track, building dramatically until a final crescendo is reached. All-in, what an action cue – it’s Horner building tension at his very best, and it sounds absolutely phenomenal as a result. With the orchestral thunder fading, “Jack Calls Cathy/Casket Arrival” then fades the music down into solemnity, with militaristic drums, mournful strings and ethereal vocals setting a particularly funeral-esque tone.

Gentle strings open “The Laser-Guided Missile”, with wary synth straining things alongside the moody woodwinds from earlier until the unnerving Aliens-inspired motif returns on solemnly high-pitched strings for “Looking For Clues”. The quiet, almost espionage-esque woodwind and synth atmosphere then reprises for the next few tracks, until gentler strings and solemn brass set quite a morose mood for the opening few minutes of “Greer’s Funeral/Betrayal”. Orchestral hope then starts to rise at the three minute mark with the Aliens-inspired motif playing centrally and hints toward the now unusually restrained main theme lurking in the background. The tense synth/woodwind atmosphere from earlier reprises for “Chavez Sees Prisoners” and the more imposing “Escobedo’s New Friend – Part 1” before “Second Hand Copter” returns to the orchestral thunder of “The Ambush” with the action motif playing dramatically alongside rather Commando-esque percussion. “Escobedo’s New Friend – Part 2” however then slows things back down, with the eerie woodwinds and synth darting along until “Cortez Kills Escobedo” crashes brassy action back into centre stage with emphatic piano, frantic strings and percussion all abound.

For the finale of the score, “Jack Creates Diversion” explodes with aggressive brass, piano and percussion in its opening seconds before quieting somewhat with strings, with dramatic bursts of action then leaping back into the fray at various points. The action culminates in the four minute “Woodroom/Finale” with intense crashes of percussion and angry brass starting things off before the full orchestra then rises with increasing volume and intensity until arriving at an almost triumphant crescendo at just past three minutes in, with a relieved variation on the main theme playing on strings to close the track. A much more restrained mood then occupies much of “Jack Argues With President” with high-pitched strings and rumbles of drums as the focus before “Truth Needs A Soldier/End Title” brings the album overall to a wonderfully and typically Horner-esque close, reprising the main theme in as loudly and indeed proudly patriotic a manner as the opening track, and an enjoyably lengthy appearance too.

Overall, James Horner’s score for Clear And Present Danger is an unrelentingly intense action force, with some major and enjoyably lengthy setpieces making it an absolute standout for the composer. The orchestral style is perhaps unsurprisingly very tilted toward action territory, with unnerving woodwinds and moody synth setting the stage inbetween the major sequences where noble brass, pounding percussion and frenetic strings absolutely explode with orchestral grandeur and a ferocious pace. The action is the best thing about this score honestly, with the highlight of the dramatic bunch being the ten minute “The Ambush”, a masterclass in tension building for most of its runtime until the main theme gets its most rousing rendition on the score, with runners up being the equally fist-pumping “Operation Reciprocity” and the conclusive “Woodroom/Finale”. And speaking of the main theme, it’s an absolute cracker; receiving its proudest statements through the main title and end credits cues, it’s a grandly patriotic piece that fits well with Jack Ryan’s character, and while I do feel it could have been used a little more frequently – perhaps in place of some of the seemingly endless woodwind/synth ambience – that doesn’t stop it from being a great main theme, all-in to a pretty damned solid action score.

Score: 7.5/10

Standout Cues: Operation Reciprocity, The Ambush

Buy the 2-CD expansion for Clear And Present Danger here, published by La-La Land Records.

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