One of many assignments that was hardly worthy of Jerry Goldsmith's talents as film composer. Still as always the movie's quality never stopped the composer from writing a good film score, as is the case for this pre Rambo 70's action thriller involving a grizzled mercenary rescuing an American business man from anti Macros guerrillas.

Although Jerry Goldsmith calls upon his favourite UK ensemble, the great National Philharmonic Orchestra, the score for High Velocity focuses, for the most part on a smaller group of instruments for the film's 'south of the border' locale. Here Goldsmith opens with a bright and breezy Latino inspired main theme (Welcome To The Philippines) for guitar, marimba, flute and shakers. The cue changes momentum completely in the second half with Goldsmith introducing harpsichord and crisp brass and percussion for the guerrillas kidnap of the American industrialist as Goldsmith develops a thrilling action cue.

The Latin feel is further expanded upon in both The Night Before and The Mafia Marines, with a beautifully melancholy theme for flute, guitar and marimba, while the latter cue includes castanets and a beautifully understated piano theme for the main characters friendship.

The Hostage and Night Flight serve up some welcome Goldsmith action. The Hostage is the superior cue with aggressive brass statements and crisp snare drums joined by guitar and harpsichord. Night Flight creates a lighter atmosphere with a jaunty ethnic theme but with a wild staccato trumpet. While the tense jungle trek and preparations to storm the camp are covered during The Mission Begins, The Rope Trick and The Archer. Here the sequences benefit from eerie woodwind motifs and atonal string work plus more ethnic percussion.

The Ring/Not Thirsty and Coffee Break return to the more sensitive scoring heard during the early part of the soundtrack. Again Goldsmith provides effectively emotive music for flute and strings joined again by guitar and harpsichord.

The downbeat finale, which sees the majority of the leads killed, is played out during Just A Little More/No Victories, with Goldsmith providing a suitably tragic and grim orchestral finale for dissonant brass and woodwinds, before the Marines theme is briefly revived and dialled out.

High Velocity - the movie may be a minor event but Prometheus' CD is a polished release with enjoyable notes, colourful presentation, and most importantly a brilliantly transparent recording, revealing an abundance of detail. Definitely one of those scores not to be judged by the movie it was written for.