Peter Clarke - Mission of Mercy (Film Score)

I guess I'm sort of expecting this to be a Love-it or Hate-it remix…

If you listened to this piece without the benefit of this explanation then I would expect you to go… Like WTF?

Mission of Mercy was a game that never got released, (there's a whole story behind that but I won't cover it here). Short version: The music got used for Ocean's Double Take instead…

The basic premise for Mission of Mercy was: Level-based, sideways scrolling, alien shmup and rescue. I saw some early graphics from the game and knew the basic scenario prior to writing the original music.

This piece is a re-imagining of Mission of Mercy as an Action Movie and me writing the film-score for it..

I've included the following 'cue-list' to illustrate where the music is going and what action it is accompanying.. ( Psst! Get your Headphones on !! …and turn 'em UP ! )

00:00 Scene opens - A sandy/desert battlefield - the aftermath of a slaughter by the aliens.Human corpses and body parts are strewn across the visible foreground. Smoke rises here and there from the craters of alien artillery shells and the sand is stained with the blood of the fallen. Behind the sand-dunes, in the distance we can see the top of the huge alien ship and its defences. Our hero is on one knee and his squad stand in shock at the sight of the carnage before them..

00:50 Camera closes on the hero. he looks up from the bloodbath. His face says, someone is going to pay for this!. He issues orders….

01.00 The squad move out, at pace and in formation, towards the alien ship. the camera tracks them as they close on the enemy defences..

01:50 Camera close up - as the foot of a squad member comes down on the exposed pin of an alien landmine - into slow motion - we see the squad thrown through the air by the blast and then disappear in the dust in smoke. We hear the bodies hit the ground at 01:59

02:05 the dust clears and we see our hero and all but one of the squad are alive. They quickly regroup and… an alien gun emplacement, next to the ship opens fire towards them.

02:17 They start to run forward to a group of rocks ahead, alternately giving cover-fire towards
the alien gun emplacement which isn't letting up…

02:42 Our hero has pulled an RPG weapon from his back, aimed and fired at the gun emplacement. Camera tracks the shot in.. and we hear it hit in the distance at 02:46.

02:50 The squad rise and make their way towards the now-dead gun emplacement and a newly-formed hole in the side of the alien ship.

03:10 The squad cautiosly enters the hole into the ship. Our hero takes point. We hear the drone of the ship's systems and the occasional hiss of pipes and valves. It is in low-light with only the glow of system lights to see by. The squad move along the dingy corridor towards the cell-block looking for survivors from the battle.

03:43 We get a flash glimpse of an alien hiding to the side of the corrider. It allows the squad to pass and then..

03:53 …it moves in on the last squad member from behind and strikes him down. More aliens appear and a close quarter fight begins. The squad despatch the aliens quickly..

04:20 Progress to the cell-block resumes..

04:47 Squad & hero arrive at the cell-block and engage the alien guards in a firefight. Three prisoners are visible in the cells…

05:09 The squad are victorious and quickly set about opening the cells and releasing the captives. Led by our hero, the squad and released prisoners start to move back towards the exit hole. the squad members are planting explosives as they move, ready to blow the ship, once they are clear.

05:34 Clear! One by one, in quick succession, the squad hit their detonators…

05:39 The alien ship starts to explode from within…

1 c64 charts January 2018