Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you value harmonious simplicity in circumstances that call for melodramatic and compelling heroism, for this music is lovely and effective despite its obvious sources of inspiration. Avoid it... if the sum of all the perfect ingredients for a score doesn't always culminate in a satisfying recipe, especially for a picture that transcended formula production values in its other elements. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
We Were Soldiers: (Nick Glennie-Smith) To his credit, writer and director Randall Wallace absolved himself of his wretched screenplay for 2001's Pearl Harbor with We Were Soldiers the following year. Generally regarded as a very intelligently written story of the people and families affected by the initial battle between the North Vietnamese and Americans in the 1960's, the film represented only his second feature directorial project. It followed the pattern of extremely realistic battle violence made acceptable by Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down, showing heroic deeds by average soldiers without dehumanizing the enemy. Thankfully, Wallace managed to convey the "people stories" of the primary characters without testing the limits of audience patience, ensuring those characters' actions in the height of battle an extra layer of meaning. Solid acting performances helped solidify generally positive reviews for We Were Soldiers, though despite worldwide grosses in excess of $100 million, the production didn't net as much as hoped (nor did it receive any serious award consideration). Wallace not surprisingly extended an offer once again to former Hans Zimmer associate Nick Glennie-Smith for scoring duties on We Were Soldiers; the two had collaborated on the writer's only other venture in the director's chair (The Man in the Iron Mask) and the leftovers of the general Media Ventures sound had come to define this genre at the time. The partnership, while limited to these two productions, inspired Glennie-Smith to some of his best achievements, We Were Soldiers remaining arguably the composer's most popular score of dramatic merit. His approach to handling the subject matter is largely predictable, using strains of Zimmer's music for The Thin Red Line and Black Hawk Down as clear guidance in places. But through a combination of two notable specialty performers and an extremely effective imitation of hymns traditional to the American military, Glennie-Smith managed to overcome the weaknesses of the majority of the work to produce one that delivers at the end. It is a score that requires a significant amount of patience, for the character-building sequences before the eventual battles do cause the ideas to take a fair amount of time to reach any truly satisfying dramatic statement. These cues, as well as those for conversational scenes in Vietnam, follow the Zimmer rule of conservatively melodramatic low string harmony, emulating The Thin Red Line at their most active moments of volume. The first half of Glennie-Smith's We Were Soldiers is slow to develop the score's motifs and shift any dramatic weight upon the listener. As the clearly delineated suite format of the "End Credits" track indicates, however, the score does follow several distinct thematic veins. It might be recommended for the listener to begin with this track upon first experiencing this score and then pick up on the composer's deliberate establishment of each idea earlier on. The most striking theme, though not necessarily the primary identity of the score, is a choral hymn titled "The Mansions of the Lord." This piece for male choir will please Crimson Tide collectors, though its similarity to a few Navy hymns (especially in the meandering bass lines) gives it a nagging sense of unoriginality despite its obvious beauty. This composition has been used by the Army as a funeral hymn in years since, including prominent placement at President Ronald Reagan's funeral. The second most memorable theme, and one not written by Glennie-Smith, is that of "Sgt. MacKenzie." This solemn vocalized theme is heard three times in the score, lending stark contrast to the lush nature of the Glennie-Smith's music. The score's actual title theme is one of a military stature most common to Zimmer's style, heard frequently with solo trumpet and/or snare rhythms. The simple harmonics of this piece, while somewhat disappointing in its derivative ease, is the second part of the "End Credits" arrangement and memorably closes "Final Departure." The fourth theme is actually simply a toned back version of the previous title identity, stripped to solo woodwind performances of extreme solace and melancholy in "Photo Montage" and the closing of "End Credits." The "Photo Montage" cue (which features flute work that reminds of The Rock) moves on to a secondary phrase of the theme that adds an erhu to the mix. This instrument in several cues, along with some frightful throat singing in "NVA Base Camp," provides some much needed color to the recording, though the horrific tones of the latter betray to an extent Wallace's effort to avoid demonizing the enemy. The battle sequences unfortunately stray into the synthetic realm, where Black Hawk Down sensibilities merge with the Sgt. MacKenzie theme. Ultimately, the score's outwardly beautiful portions, which make up no less than twenty minutes of material, have kept its score album (separate of the ironically less popular song compilation) in steep demand. Those who have disdain for the relative simplicity of Glennie-Smith's underlying constructs could likely pick apart this score to no end, though something must be said for capturing the compelling atmosphere of the film as well as he did. **** Track Listings:
Total Time: 57:19
All artwork and sound clips from We Were Soldiers are Copyright © 2002, Sony/Columbia/Legacy. 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 11/23/09, updated 11/23/09. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2009-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
