MOVIE MUSIC UK

THROWBACK THIRTY

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

Give me back my son!

Ransom is a psychological crime thriller directed by Ron Howard, starring Mel Gibson as Tom Mullen, a wealthy New York airline executive whose seemingly perfect life is shattered when his young son Sean (Brawley Nolte) is kidnapped by a gang of criminals demanding a $2 million ransom. When an attempt to deliver the money goes disastrously wrong, Mullen makes the extraordinary decision to turn the tables on the kidnappers, publicly offering the ransom money as a bounty for their capture, irrespective of whether his son survives. The decision horrifies his wife Kate (Rene Russo) and sets in motion an increasingly dangerous battle of wills between Mullen and the kidnappers, whose leader is eventually revealed to be Shaker, a corrupt police detective played by Gary Sinise. The excellent supporting cast includes Delroy Lindo, Lili Taylor, Liev Schreiber, and Donnie Wahlberg.

The film was loosely based on the 1956 thriller Ransom, starring Glenn Ford and Donna Reed, which was itself adapted from a 1954 television drama entitled Fearful Decision that aired as part of the United States Steel Hour anthology series. Howard’s version, written by Richard Price and Alexander Ignon, updated the premise for contemporary audiences, emphasizing the psychological complexities of the central characters and the increasingly desperate moral decisions they make. The film was a substantial commercial success, grossing more than $300 million worldwide, and remains one of Howard’s most effective excursions into darker dramatic territory.

The score was written by James Horner, although the circumstances surrounding its creation were unusually difficult. Howard originally hired Howard Shore, whose acclaimed work on films such as The Silence of the Lambs and Seven had established him as a master of unsettling psychological suspense. Shore had actually completed and recorded his score when Howard decided that it was not providing the emotional approach he wanted, so Horner was brought in to compose an entirely new replacement score with approximately two weeks remaining.

Horner was, of course, already one of Hollywood’s most successful composers by this point in his career, and his relationship with Ron Howard was particularly important, the pair having previously collaborated on three outstanding scores: Cocoon in 1985, Willow in 1988, and Apollo 13 in 1995. The latter had earned Horner an Academy Award nomination, and their established working relationship undoubtedly helped enormously during Ransom’s extraordinarily compressed production schedule.

Musically, Ransom is an interesting score because it largely dispenses with the expansive romanticism for which Horner was celebrated, concentrating instead on nervous orchestral textures, unusual percussion, and rhythmic suspense. The score has much in common with Sneakers, The Pelican Brief, Clear and Present Danger, the aforementioned Apollo 13, and even the darker parts of Jumanji, especially in its use of clicking woodblocks, rattling snares, ominous piano chords, and constantly shifting string figures. These similarities are unmistakable, but I have always found Horner’s particular approach to this type of suspense writing immensely effective. Ransom may play like a ‘greatest hits’ album of all Horner’s trademark suspense and drama techniques, but the results are so effective that they bear repeating.

The opening cue, “The Kidnapping,” establishes the score’s oppressive atmosphere through the instrumental textures that dominate the entire work – creeping and groaning strings, low resonant brass, unsettling percussion (including Horner’s trademark ‘ticking’ motif in the background), a moody tinkling piano, and an intriguing saxophone motif that appears to represent Shaker and the kidnappers – while subtly introducing the central melodic idea that subsequently permeates much of the music and rises to such excellent heights in the finale.

“Delivering the Ransom” is a twelve-minute exercise in sustained tension, underscoring a scene where Tom agrees to meet Cubby, one of the kidnappers, in a disused quarry, only for everything to go awry when Cubby refuses to reveal Sean’s location. Horner’s music layers nervous strings, crashing and thudding piano figures, ticking percussion, threatening brass, and subtle electronic textures into an increasingly agitated musical landscape; I especially like how the sinewy saxophone motif that represents the kidnappers reappears periodically. Horner’s ability to maintain suspense over such an extended period is impressive, and it all builds up quite a head of steam as it develops. The sequence culminates in “The Quarry,” one of the score’s principal action highlights, which underscores the finale of the quarry scene, in which Cubby attempts to escape from the authorities on an ATV, with deadly results. Here Horner combines aggressively florid brass writing with pounding snare percussion and frantic piano passages, and I particularly enjoy the way fragments of the main theme emerge from the surrounding orchestral chaos, providing a sense of dramatic continuity.

“A Two Million Dollar Bounty” is more restrained and continues to adhere to the established Ransom sound, but is sometimes quite pretty, especially in its unusual fluttery woodwind writing and subtle thematic references reminiscent of the main theme from Sneakers. The crashing pianos and jazzy cymbal licks that run through much of the middle of the cue are superb, and I love the little nod to the four-note ‘danger motif’ in the closing seconds.

After “Parallel Stories,” which is rather subdued and gloomy, “A Fatal Mistake” and “A Dark Reunion” underscore the first part of the film’s finale, in which lead kidnapper Shaker – whom the authorities believe actually helped rescue Sean – arrives at Tom’s penthouse to claim the reward, but is recognized by Sean, leading to a tense standoff. In the former cue, the violins begin to rise into something more emotional, reaching a crescendo as the first proper statement of the main theme begins to emerge, performed as a mournful, sombre dirge. In the latter cue, Horner continues exploring the score’s darker psychological territory, relying on subdued orchestral colors and uneasy rhythmic patterns rather than conventional melody. There is a claustrophobic quality to this music that perfectly reflects the film’s escalating paranoia, with Horner frequently suggesting danger through restrained textures that create an almost palpable sense of dread.

Everything culminates in the outstanding twelve-minute “The Payoff/End Credits,” in which Tom persuades Shaker to accompany him to a bank to claim his ‘reward,’ when he is actually leading him into an FBI trap. The sequence begins with ferocious, Aliens-style action writing full of racing strings, pounding piano clusters, and dark brass fanfares, before eventually developing into the score’s most satisfying thematic statement. The concluding presentation of the main theme, with soaring strings, noble brass reminiscent of Horner’s theme for Clear and Present Danger, tolling bells, and thunderous percussion, is genuinely wonderful, providing a welcome emotional release after so much sustained darkness.

The soundtrack album also includes approximately twenty-five minutes of additional music written by Billy Corgan, best known as the singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter of the enormously successful alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. His six instrumental tracks, including “Rats,” “Worms,” and “Spiders,” feature abrasive electric guitars and experimental rock textures and, personally, I think they are really, really awful. His portion of the album is a great, hulking, nightmarish collection of pieces blending hip-hop, dance, and grunge, and makes for utterly dispiriting listening. These tracks are totally stylistically disconnected from Horner’s orchestral writing, and I guess they provide an alternative perspective on the film’s urban menace that some may find interesting, but I tend not to listen past track 8; make of that what you will.

Ultimately, Ransom may not rank among Horner’s greatest achievements, but I nevertheless consider it a decent and capable suspense score. The rhythmic inventiveness, orchestral precision, and dramatic effectiveness of the music are consistently impressive, especially considering the remarkable circumstances of its creation, and the stirring catharsis of the sweeping finale is worth the wait. For anyone who appreciates the more psychologically intense side of James Horner, Ransom is an overlooked exploration of his darker sound.

Buy the Ransom soundtrack from the Movie Music UK Store

Track Listing:

• The Kidnapping (4:34)
• Delivering the Ransom (12:04)
• The Quarry (4:21)
• A Two Million Dollar Bounty (4:23)
• Parallel Stories (2:35)
• A Fatal Mistake (4:51)
• A Dark Reunion (3:08)
• The Payoff/End Credits (12:21)
• Rats (written by Billy Corgan) (3:06)
• Worms (written by Billy Corgan) (4:17)
• Spiders (written by Billy Corgan) (3:34)
• Lizards (written by Billy Corgan) (3:11)
• Worms, Part 2 (written by Billy Corgan) (4:39)
• Squirrels with Tails (written by Billy Corgan) (5:21)

Running Time: 72 minutes 32 seconds

Hollywood Records HR-62086-2 (1996)

Music composed and conducted by James Horner. Orchestrations by James Horner, David Slonaker and Don Davis. Additional music by Billy Corgan. Recorded and mixed by Shawn Murphy. Edited by Jim Henrikson. Album produced by James Horner, Ron Howard, Scott Rudin, Brian Grazer and Todd Hallowell.