As others have commented, The Missing is something of a variant on Legends of the Fall with a pair of sweeping themes, shakuhatchi led action passages and a sprawling sense of the epic throughout. Where it loses points over its popular predecessor is for the weaker thematic material; Legends of the Fall contained several memorable melodies, but The Missing seems more content to keep things lower key, although this is no doubt a side effect of its grittier and less sentimental approach. As ever, the opening track isn't especially promising, with one of Horner's now obligatory fade in on a low end sustained note; the Horner equivalent of Bruckner's shimmering string figures that immediately sets the composer and the expectation that you're about to hear something long and portentous (although in fairness, Bruckner did it better).
Ostensibly a western, there are almost no traditional western score elements in The Missing and only the faux Native American vocals suggest any specific place. Horner resolutely sticks to underscoring the drama of the characters as people and less on their location or ethnicity. Panpipes and shakuhatchi make a number of appearances, although the vibe turns a little South American, not something that is apparent when Horner has used them previously. What drives The Missing above the recent Horner ebb and flow tedium is the feeling of structure within cues and the score as a whole. Horner might write ten or fifteen minute cues, but they are rarely a musically inspiring development of the melodic material, generally repetition and perhaps a little variation. Only the finale here is longer and by that point, a suite of the main ideas concludes things nicely. However, the brevity elsewhere allows for a concision which flows without rambling.
The action cues are surprisingly good; The Brujo's Storm, Setting the Trap and Rescue and Breakout being highlights, Horner mixing a little native vocals (much as in The Four Feathers), batteries of percussion, brass and often over a drone, a method he employed with great success in Braveheart. There is nothing much new in The Missing, but the typical Horner ingredients are mixed in a more potent and engaging way. For the first time in several years, the album just about sustains its extensive running time; again, the shorter cues help since the less interesting passages rarely last long. The Missing is almost a prototypical Horner score and seems ideal material for his style of epic/intimately dramatic scoring where musical invention isn't crucial, but capturing the dramatic nuance while suggesting the epic sweep of the story as a whole is. I do worry that sometimes I don't listen to these long scores enough times as their length doesn't inspire repeats. In the case of The Missing I actually wanted to listen again and found it rewarding. Not Horner's best, but a finely crafted score and worth seeking out.
Rating ~ 
Total Time ~ 77:37