John Barry played a big role in putting the James Bond movies on the map (and keeping them there), and he's scored everything from historical epics (
Zulu,
Dances with Wolves) to close-in two-person dramas (Dutchman). For many listeners, however,
Somewhere in Time is his greatest film score, a gently romantic, lyrical idyll that contains some of his best string writing and his most subtle and compelling orchestral work prior to
Dances with Wolves. Some of the darker thematic material on "Near the Lake" will even recall elements of his scoring for From Russia with Love, but nothing in that movie was as exquisitely drawn out as the long melodic line here. ~ Bruce Eder