.co.uk The music is better than the film. With that statement out of the way, we don't need to get into what was wrong with Brian De Palma's Mission to Mars and can instead pretend Morricone was just writing for himself. In which case, the initial cue--"A Heart Beats In Space"--(actually the film's denouement) can be enjoyed as an intricately woven overture to a celestial symphony. Progressing from an actual heartbeat, the piece repeatedly plays with a selection of upwardly ascending phrases--often gorgeously accompanied by an uncredited group of female choristers. The theme of "up-up-up" continues into "A Martian", but packs less punch by introducing the score's only flaw: some rather twee electronic effects feel like an outsider's idea of what must constitute a sense of futuristic environment (Morricone isn't known for sc-fi of course). With "And Afterwards?" some dissonance might then make a large chunk of the running time a little unpalatable. To truly enjoy this release, forget the film, consider the music a symphony in three parts, and skip the middle part. --Paul Tonks
