"Again, light to heavy... Extreme dynamics just like I like it. Lots of pressure on this one but I came out pleased. The romantic / theatrical side of the film made it a great canvas for music." - Danny Elfman


It's the summer of 1996 and Paramount's tent-pole picture is the big-budget remake of Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise. Director Brian DePalma has just rejected Alan Silvestri's score for the film. So the story goes that Cruise's wife Nicole Kidman recommended the composer of her film To Die For. That composer was Danny Elfman. Elfman was hired and in a schedule that didn't betray the film's title, wrote a seminal score in his filmography.

If Elfman's score for Dead Presidents ushered in his MIDI-heavy percussion style in the mid-1990's, then Mission: Impossible proved just how effective it could be for a different type of film - an action one. Elfman's Mission: Impossible pays homage to Lalo Schifrin's original approach to the television series but puts a modern spin on things. Schifrin's memorable main theme is used sparingly (only three times in the film if I remember correctly), while Elfman has added his own major theme (heard throughout - from track 1 to 18). Elfman's music is like a finely-tuned watch - ticking away in perfect timing, always nailing the onscreen action and providing just the right amount of support, without bombast. That is not to say this score doesn't get loud - no, in fact several moments set all new records for Elfman's signature orchestral frenzy -- namely "Big Trouble", "Zoom A" and "Zoom B". Though Mission: Impossible is mostly quiet, there's more than enough going on here to make for an interesting listen.




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