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With only six weeks to complete the assignment, and with new scenes being shot for A Good Day to Die Hard while the recording of its score was already under way, Beltrami had to contend with drastic late revisions and complete two hours of music that was ultimately boiled down to about 80 minutes as heard in the picture. His crew worked overtime to produce a coherent product for the movie, though he had decided early on to approach A Good Day to Die Hard with the idea of perpetual pedal to the metal action in mind. There is a fair dose of Brian Tyler methodology to be heard in this score, making it an odd combination of Kamen, Tyler, and Beltrami mechanisms all fighting for airtime. The tactic largely works, if only because Beltrami managed to take ballsy Tyler-like bravado and infuse it sufficiently with Kamen's various musical identities for the franchise, ironically diminishing Beltrami's previous action mannerisms to the most minor role in the equation. Thematically, the franchise's three most recognizable motifs return and two additional ones are added to address new characters. Obviously, Kamen's primary, six-note theme for McClane is prevalent in the work, as always an easy device to throw atop any frenetic action cue to supply a twinge of the suspense that defined the character at his debut. Beltrami does afford the idea a few muscular, solo performances that start to move the idea firmly into permanent action mode, starting early in "Yuri Says." Because the theme is so elusive in its actual progressions, Beltrami returns to his techniques of the previous film, in which the muted brass, fluttery woodwinds, whiny violins, and Kamen-defined meters are interspersed (sometimes with the theme, sometimes not) into original Beltrami cues. Also returning is the trademark accelerating brass jab effect that Kamen used to denote the gravity of a situation, literally. This "falling motif" from the original film (or alternately a "badguy demise motif") is saved in A Good Day to Die Hard until the climactic helicopter confrontation in "Get to the Choppa!" and, more obviously, "Chopper Takedown." Finally, also returning for one last hurrah is Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" from its obvious origins in the first film, though it's relegated to the opening bars of this score and unfortunately is not hinted during this plot's equivalent vault scene, even if in jest by the composer.

Beltrami's two new themes for A Good Day to Die Hard are a bit ordinary but are featured prominently, an improvement over the preceding score in the franchise. The first idea is for the villains, a vaguely bloated, James Bond-like identity for the Russian foes that is introduced in "Jack Makes the Call" but doesn't really flourish for the full ensemble until their deceit approaches its most glorious moments in "Entering Chernobyl" and the immediately subsequent cues. The other new theme is one for the bond between McClane and his son, heard first in "Father & Son" and sending off the film with almost military-worthy heroism in "It's Hard to Kill a McClane." The resolving quote of the main franchise theme at 1:35 into that last cue is a nice touch. While these fresh ideas do invigorate the score, the true strength of the work is its rowdy action cues outside of these themes, generating orchestral ass kicking in the extended "Truckzilla" sequence and elsewhere. While these portions may be somewhat anonymous in their techno-thriller and big action personality, that was the tone Beltrami was explicitly seeking. Interestingly, he confesses to his intent to minimize the influence of Russian tones in the score. Some balalaika, dulcimer, and percussion are present for this task, but even in "Jack Makes the Call," Beltrami forces those tones into conflict with a McClane-appropriate harmonica. The only instrumental device that proves annoyingly distracting in A Good Day to Die Hard is an obnoxious bass electronic pulsation effect that forms rambling rhythms (reminiscent of Brad Fiedel's original The Terminator, humorously) that are featured far too forward in the mix in early cues. Still, by the immense "Truckzilla" cues and beyond, A Good Day to Die Hard will firmly establish itself as a mostly orchestral powerhouse, the woodwinds forced into shrieking duties with satisfaction. Overall, this second entry by Beltrami into the franchise is more satisfying than its predecessor, but you have to realize just how far the sound of these films has come over the decades of the concept's existence on screen. Gone is the prickly suspense of yesteryear, replaced by straight forward action that will please a different set of listeners. That said, you have to commend Beltrami and his crew for their obvious, fantastic loyalty to Kamen's identity for the lead character and their refusal to abandon that integrity despite a very challenging production process. For some action-oriented film music collectors, this score will be the best listening experience in the franchise.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Marco Beltrami reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.75 (in 28 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.8 (in 19,012 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 64:36