For me, it's probably between The Crow and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The Crow has a lot of atmosphere and creativity in it and Power Rangers shows that Revell has orchestral chops.
I've not heard half his output, which is scattered at best, but of what I have heard:
Favorite Scores Generally as a Whole or at Least Many Cues Thereof: "Eaters of the Dead" (rejected) "The Chronicles of Riddick" "Pitch Black" "The Saint"
And I remember liking cues from "Suicide Kings" and "The Crow".
"Eaters of the Dead" is his best score, in my opinion, and it didn't get used. I remember him saying in and interview he kept the rights to the score. I wonder if that makes it any easier to get an official release of.
The Saint - one of my favorite scores of the 1990s.
Bangkok Hilton - an early work (an Australian miniseries), but extremely effective, with one of my favorite main themes ever. Also one of my top ten favorite films, with some of Nicole Kidman's best work ever.
The film has not been released on DVD in the US, and the score has never been released. However you can hear the opening theme if you watch the first 2 mins of this video, and you can hear the theme for Denholm Elliott's character if you continue watching the first scene with his monologue, and skip to 5:50 to hear the stunning love theme, which brilliantly starts as the love theme for Denholm Elliott and his girlfriend, and eventually becomes the theme for the fatherly love he feels for his long-lost daughter with her, when she appears played by Nicole Kidman:
I only really appreciate a small percentage of his output, but I'd say that Street Fighter is probably the best traditional orchestral score I've heard from him (Power Rangers is fun but the sound is mediocre and one of the main themes way to derivative of the father/son theme from Williams' Last Crusade score).
Now, as for less traditional scores, I really love significant chunks of his work on Red Planet and his rejected work for 13th Warrior...but there are also parts of those scores that do nothing for me at all.
RED PLANET is a superb soundtrack album -- both the score and songs mix perfectly to create a concept experience.
If you want more traditional Revell, I guess the LARA CROFT movie an alternative, although 'traditional' is relatively speaking...Revell rarely does straightforward traditional, which is why I like him so much. That and the fact that he's a cool guy. I had a great chat with him about local beer breweries in California when I met him at Peter's event last year.
The Siege (particularly the end credits which is not on the CD, as far as I know) The Negotiator The Crow Strange Days (particularly the song Fall In The Light, sung by Lori Carson)
His non-soundtrack work Vision II - Spirit Of Rumi is interesting too.
I may be in the minority of Goldsmith fanatics, but if Varese ever gets around to releasing a Deluxe Edition of Goldsmith's The 13th Warrior complete, I'd be willing to pay $5 extra (or maybe even $10) for a second disc with Revell's complete score. I have the unmentionable of course but an official release with better sound and perhaps some notes about the rejected score would be ace!
Strange Days (particularly the song Fall In The Light, sung by Lori Carson)
I totally agree on that. The film is one of my favorites, but since it's dominated by songs, his score takes a back seat. However the love theme that finally evolves into that song is gorgeous.
RED PLANET is a superb soundtrack album -- both the score and songs mix perfectly to create a concept experience..
Definitely.
I think most of what's on the album isn't actually in the movie. Are any of the Emma Shapplin songs actually in the finished movie? I only saw it once before buying the album, but I don't think so.
Anyone who likes that album should definitely pick up the album he did as a follow up with Shapplin, ETTERNA. He wrote about half the songs and produced them all:
With all due respect, for me the Saint's love theme is a little too close in temp track terms to John Barry's You Only Live Twice melody (although I am a fan of James Horner and have forgiven him for similar acts).
