To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Speed, Renovatio Records proudly presents a new album featuring Mark Mancina’s thrilling action score. Released in 1994, Speed is an action film and the directorial debut of Jan De Bont, renowned for his work as a cinematographer in films like Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October, and Basic Instinct. Starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper, Joe Morton, and Jeff Daniels, the plot of Speed centers on a Los Angeles bus rigged by an extortionist bomber to explode if its speed drops below 50 miles per hour. Reeves plays the fearless LAPD Officer Jack Traven, while Bullock stars as Annie Porter, a bus passenger who must take the wheel. Together, they will do their best to save the day. The film was a critical and commercial success, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 1994 and winning two Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Sound. Since its release, Speed has been hailed as one of the best action films of the 1990s and helped solidify Reeves and Bullock as leading stars.
The film’s high-octane premise demanded a score that could match its relentless pace and impressive set pieces. Despite initial resistance from the studio, De Bont chose Mark Mancina for the job, a composer without major solo scoring credits at the time but with experience as an orchestrator and arranger for Hans Zimmer. Mancina’s approach for Speed was to support the action sequences while maintaining a focus on the characters. He achieved this by creating a noble main theme consisting of a five-note figure in ascending progressions. This theme recurs throughout the film, evoking Jack’s struggle to be the hero without losing sight of the lives that are at stake. Mancina also employs a catchy six-note staccato action motif that is sharp in performance, perfectly complementing most of the film’s intense action sequences. Both of these thematic identities are introduced at the beginning of the score and film during the “Main Titles” cue. For Howard Payne, the antagonistic bomber played by Dennis Hopper, Mancina uses electronic textures, depriving the villain of a humanizing melody. Examples of this approach can be found in the opening of the “Main Titles,” during “Pop Quiz,” and at the beginning of “Helen Dies.”
One of the most compelling aspects of the Speed score is Mancina’s innovative use of electronic elements. While it can be argued that the integration of synthesizers with traditional orchestral arrangements was still evolving at the time of the film, it cannot be denied that Mancina's work on Speed showcases some of the early experimentations that would come to define the music for action blockbusters in subsequent years.The score's rhythmic loops and electronic textures add a modern edge, heightening the tension and urgency of the on-screen action. Cues like “Rush Hour,” “Jack Jumps Onto Bus,” “City Streets,” “The Dolly,” “Fight on the Train,” and “Runaway Train” are relentless and will have listeners on the edge of their seats. However, the standout cues of the score are those that blend pulse-pounding action music with thematic development. “The Gap” and especially “The Rescue” are perfect examples of this, both featuring intricate layers of motifs and rhythmic elements that create thrilling sequences mirroring the escalating stakes faced by the bus passengers. Another notable aspect of the score is Mancina’s use of sound effects, including a recurring declining pitch resembling a passing bus horn, as well as synthesizer effects mimicking the sound of creaking and shaking cables, to accompany the opening action sequence involving an elevator filled with people that is about to plummet.
The original score-only album for Speed was released in 1994 by Fox Records as a companion to a song compilation album. While it included many of Mancina’s highlights, the cues were rearranged out of film order, placing the best tracks at the beginning, a decision that disrupts the overall listening experience. An expanded release by La-La Land Records in 2012 features 25 additional minutes of music in chronological order, allowing listeners to appreciate the score's narrative progression. However, the length and inclusion of several short cues also made the listening experience of this release unbalanced. This new release by Renovatio Records includes all of Mancina’s highlights in an album presentation that follows the film's chronological order, combining short cues into longer ones, providing a fuller picture of Mancina's work that is easier to appreciate.
There is no better way to celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary than by sitting back and reliving Mancina’s adrenaline-pumping and timeless score.
Track List:
Cover Artwork:
Credits:
Cue Assembly:
|
Track
Title |
Cue
Title |
|
1. Main Title |
Main Title (Edited) |
|
2. Elevator Peril |
Move! (Edited) Elevator Peril (Edited) Elevator Stall (Edited) Pop Quiz (Edited) |
|
3. Payne Escapes |
Freight Elevator (Edited) Payne Explodes (Edited) |
|
4. Pop Quiz |
Payne Calls Jack |
|
5. Rush Hour |
Rush Hour (Edited) |
|
6. Jack Jumps onto Bus |
Jack Jumps Onto Bus
(Edited) Choppers (Edited) |
|
7. City Streets |
City Streets (Edited) |
|
8. Helen Dies |
We Have Trust Helen Dies |
|
9. The Gap |
The Gap (Edited) |
|
10. Entering Airport |
Entering Airport |
|
11. The Dolly |
Jack on Dolly (Edited) The Dolly (Edited) |
|
12. The Rescue |
The Rescue |
|
13. Pershing Square |
Pershing Square |
|
14. Fight on Train |
Annie’s Loaded Getting on Train (Edited) Fight on Train |
|
15. Runaway Train |
Runaway Train Freight Elevator (Edited) |
|
16. End Title |
End Title |
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