Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... only if you want the James Horner adaptation of the Prokofiev cantata (large, Russian choral piece) used over the opening and closing titles. Avoid it... if you aren't inclined to seek a rare album in search of the most extremely irritating, synthesized underscore of Horner's career. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Red Heat: (James Horner) You can summarize this movie in just a few words, and most them would be "Arnold Schwarzenegger pairing with James Belushi to bust criminal ass." Schwarzenegger is the tough cop from Russia who's been forced to follow a criminal to Chicago, where Belushi, the underworked slob of a cop, is his liaison to law enforcement in the United States. It's another buddy cop flick from the pen of Walter Hill, and while the merits of the storyline itself are dubious at best, who cares? Schwarzenegger and Belushi are the comedy in and of themselves, and as they chase dopeheads and other unsavory people, the two manage to teach each other some helpful lessons about life and entertain us in the process. Despite being one of the earlier films to shoot (just snippets) in the Soviet Union, there is nothing intellectually redeeming about the film. Violence abounds, of course, but in that comic-book fashion that Schwarzenegger seems to attract in his more comedic films. Composer James Horner wasn't actually busting through walls in the same physical fashion as the eventual Governator, but 1988 was still his official break-throughout year with which to announce that Star Trek, Aliens, and An American Tail weren't just beginner's luck. With both The Land Before Time and Willow proving to be orchestral powerhouses that would define Horner's career for decades to come, Red Heat easily got lost in the shuffle. That isn't to say that the score failed to cause plenty of listeners to scratch their heads. The only really distinct cues in Red Heat would be its two orchestral and choral ones, bookending the score. They sounded nothing like Horner's other works, back then or a decade later. The massive choral piece would be so different from the composer's career sounds --not to mention the rest of Red Heat itself-- that it remained a curiosity for many years. Even in the film, the piece remains an over-the-top aberration in its late-night showings on cable channels. Thank goodness for the learned ears of classical and international music, however, for they eventually uncovered the origins of the piece. Indeed, Horner had pulled the Russian choral theme from Prokofiev's cantata, 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, and beefed it up for good measure. The movement itself from which the music was taken is called "The Philosophers," which once and for all answers why the mixed adult choir performing the title theme of Red Heat keeps repeating the word "philosophy" over and over and over again without any relation to the film. What's even more unfortunate than Horner's rip-off of this theme (not to mention his adaptation of it again much later in Enemy at the Gates) is the fact that his underscore is extremely poor. Its existence as an all-electronic score is not necessarily its downfall (that distinction is reserved for Horner's Unlawful Entry), but its demise is instead caused by its inability to maintain any consistency whatsoever. No thematic integration, common rhythmic approach, or consistent use of instrumentation is to be found in this highly modern music. After chase music pulled from Gorky Park in "Russian Streets," random shakuhachi flute blasts occupy "Victor Escapes" and an immature version of the descending note motif heard in Clear and Present Danger is heard in "Tailing Kat." Ticking, tapping, and occasionally blaring rhythms snare your attention with their purely offensive texture, with "The Bus Station" switching background synth rhythms so often that it boggles the mind. But nothing will prepare you for "Cleanhead Bust," for which Horner loses all control of himself. The disco beat in this cue, with wild electric bass and guitar performances accompanied by sax, eventually yields to sound effects by the sax and bass that can best be described as whale calls. It's extremely irritating and perhaps serves as evidence that Horner sometimes drank his breakfast while scoring Red Heat. Overall, since the revelation that the choral piece in Red Heat isn't even Horner's own material, it can truly be said that there isn't a single minute of Horner's music for this film worth the search for the rare import album. Find the original Russian performances of the Prokofiev cantata and forget this most unfortunate Horner blunder. * Track Listings:
Total Time: 44:15
All artwork and sound clips from Red Heat are Copyright © 1988, Virgin Movie Music. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 7/18/98, updated 5/10/05. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 1998-2005, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
