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First Blood: (Jerry Goldsmith) It has been such a
long road for John Rambo since 1982 that it has become difficult to
recall just how different
First Blood is from the sequels that
inevitably followed its success. The character wasn't the muscle-bound
superman of Sylvester Stallone's build in David Morrell's book, and it
was never intended for the adaptation to lead to subsequent films in
which Rambo develops into nothing more than a killing machine. Audiences
wouldn't have had enough sympathy about Rambo to care about the sequels
if not for the incredible empathy developed for the character in
First Blood. While the lead role was re-written slightly when the
likes of Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman reportedly turned it down,
yielding an obviously different portrayal by a less refined but arguably
more likable Stallone, the most important change in the narrative came
at the end. The novel concluded with Rambo's killing by his only
remaining friend, Colonel Trautman (played by Richard Crenna), but with
so much sympathy for the protagonist and the successful examination of
the treatment of Vietnam veterans already addressed in the story, the
closing act was twisted into the redemptive form seen on screen. The
total submission of Brian Dennehy's bigoted sheriff and the widespread
destruction of the small Oregon town that greeted Rambo with such
indifference or disdain was revenge enough, and in its final cut,
First Blood is a surprisingly intelligent film. It's also a
relatively bloodless one as well, with only one absolutely confirmed
death clearly witnessed. Compare that to the three sequels, each
successively increasing the body count exponentially, and
First
Blood is clearly in a league apart from its satisfying, though
mindless successors. There also exists a significant difference in the
mood between Jerry Goldsmith's music for
First Blood and the two
1980's sequels also scored by the composer. Whereas
Rambo: First
Blood Part II and
Rambo 3 are ambitious action scores that
build upon only the most explosive moments of
First Blood, the
first score is a comparatively subdued work. It balances the tragedy of
Rambo's loneliness with the precision of his stalking and evasion
techniques, only rarely bursting with heroic force. The purpose of Rambo
in
First Blood, after all, was not to terrorize a small town, but
to simply find a long lost friend.
The most obvious reflection of the differing tone
between the three Goldsmith scores for this franchise is the relative
absence of Rambo's memorable action theme in
First Blood. Only in
brief fragments and an interlude in the concert arrangement of "It's a
Long Road" (the instrumental version) is this idea developed. Instead,
at the forefront you hear the heartbreaking theme representing Rambo's
search for companionship and redemption, a surprisingly warm idea that
understandably becomes marginalized in the later scores. Performed
initially as a duet between acoustic guitar and trumpet, the theme
conveys both the pastoral essence of small town America while also
recognizing, with the latter instrument, the military service of John
Rambo. Goldsmith manages both a heartwarming and bittersweet tone with
this theme, restricting it to the minor key until a gorgeous setting on
screen and the hopes of meeting an old friend in "Home Coming" allows
the idea its only foray into the major. In this cue, "My Town," and
"It's a Long Road," the composer conveys the theme with decidedly light
instrumentation, ranging from extremely high strings (in "My Town") to a
conclusive statement in the latter cue that features a flute to add a
sensitive representation high in the treble region for the theme. In
terms of its construct and its often lovely counterpoint, this theme
remains one of Goldsmith's most effective. The other primary motif in
First Blood is an elusive series of five notes in the bass that
accompanies Rambo's militaristic professionalism. Goldsmith performs
this idea most frequently on synthetic keyboard, giving the idea a
slightly cold personality fitting for Rambo's detached determination
when in stalking mode. Effectively a "sneaking motif," scenes such as
"The Tunnel" and "No Power" use these rambling notes extensively,
typically combining several variations on the progression to form a
continuous string of bass meandering. With precision, the idea increases
in pace to match Rambo's speed of movement on screen. This motif carries
over significantly into
Rambo: First Blood Part II, where it
serves the same purpose. The action material in
First Blood is
relatively anonymous compared to what would follow, highlighted by
pounding percussion and rambling xylophone in "First Blood" and full
ensemble versions of the sneaking motif like "Hanging On."
The most memorable action cue comes in "The Razor,"
when Rambo escapes his initial confinement over a bed of powerful
percussion and is treated to a briefly muscular, heroic brass rendition
of the primary theme as he commandeers a motorcycle. Ultimately, the
action music in
First Blood, while more than decent when compared
to the composer's similar writing of the era, is not as engaging or
lengthy in performance as in the sequels. As such,
First Blood is
a score to appreciate for its evocative and sorrowful performances of
the "It's a Long Road" theme. Excluding the song interpretation of this
theme, there exists about six minutes of extremely enticing performances
of this idea on album, and it serves as good counterpoint to the
heightened activity level and straight forward bombast of the sequels.
Sadly, the "It's a Long Road" recording made by Goldsmith for the end
titles sequence was replaced by the Dan Hill vocal version, which is a
basically acceptable very light pop rendition of the same material. The
theme remains a pivotal part of the opening few minutes of
First
Blood, however, producing a highlight that matches the confluence of
aural and visual beauty at a level similar to the opening scene of
Hoosiers. The album treatments of
First Blood through the
years have unfortunately not been kind to Goldsmith's composition.
Intrada Records produced a 1988 CD that added the relatively unimportant
"No Power" track to the LP's presentation, bringing the running time to
just about 40 minutes. Answering that eventually out-of-print product
was Varèse Sarabande, which pressed the identical contents with
different cover art in 2000. On all of these CDs, however, there are
issues with sequencing, rough edits, and inconsistencies in sound
quality. Not only are the cues out of chronological order, failing to
allow the narrative to unfold on the CD, but there is distortion in the
keyboarding in "The Razor," a gain spike at exactly 2 minutes into "It's
a Long Road," and several poorly executed edits within cues in the
action material. Any of the albums are ultimately adequate in providing
the best of
First Blood, but the score deserves cleaner
treatment. For all the lasting attention the action music in this
franchise receives,
First Blood is still anchored by its
melancholy beauty.
****
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The inserts of both albums include information about the score and/or film.
