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The Hunt for Red October
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Composed, Co-Orchestrated, Conducted, and Produced by:
Co-Orchestrated by:
Greig McRitchie
Richard Stone
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LABELS & RELEASE DATES
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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The 1990 MCA album is a regular U.S. release. The bootleg floated around the
secondary market throughout the 2000's, always consistent in track selection and sound. The
2013 Intrada album is a limited product of unspecified quantities, originally available
through soundtrack specialty outlets for $20.
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AWARDS
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None.
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... on the DVD and watch the film if you want to hear Basil
Poledouris' intelligent blend of orchestra, synthetics, and choir in the
dynamic, crystal-clear sonic environment in which they were intended to
be heard.
Avoid it... if you expect much of the majesty of the score to carry
over from the film onto the muffled and dry presentations on any of the
currently available commercial and bootleg albums, including the
official 2013 expansion.
BUY IT
 | | Poledouris |
The Hunt for Red October: (Basil Poledouris) Among
the many major big-screen adaptations of Tom Clancy's novels about
American intelligence agent Jack Ryan, The Hunt for Red October
is almost unanimously considered the highest achievement. With both
critical and massive popular acclaim as a summer blockbuster in 1990,
the finely crafted John McTiernan film would stir Paramount's interest
in creating a film franchise around the Ryan character, though by The
Sum of All Fears over a decade later, the idea had arguably worn out
its welcome. There were a plethora of reasons why The Hunt for Red
October succeeded so well, both on campy pop levels and at highly
skilled technical ones. Its story's intrigue speaks to the novel's
bestseller status; in the waning days of the Cold War, the Soviets' top
submarine commander violates orders and sails his revolutionary new and
'silent' nuclear submarine on a direct course for the United States,
with the Americans not knowing whether he intends to launch his nuclear
arsenal or defect for the cause of peace. The cast of the film begged
early questions, especially with Sean Connery, Sam Neill, and Tim Curry
in primary Soviet roles, but if you look past their sometimes waning
control over their accents, the supporting players put the sequel
ensembles to shame. A thrilling story and outstanding art direction are
joined by an undeniably masterful job of sound production for film.
Winning the Oscar for "Sound Effects Editing" and nominated for "Best
Sound" and "Film Editing," the aural soundscape of the film was well
beyond its time for a 1990 production, and part of the success in The
Hunt for Red October's appeal to the ears is owed to composer Basil
Poledouris, who won a BMI Film Music Award for his score for the
picture. The assignment was a dream come true for Poledouris, whose
capability in scoring raw action films and the threat of devastating
Soviet attacks on America was only eclipsed by his love of the sea. It's
no coincidence that many of Poledouris' most cherished scores exist for
films that involve the ocean. His knowledge of sailing and desire to be
oceanside have figured into some of his most creative film scores, and
Red October rivals the lesser-known, sailing-inspired Wind
as the pinnacle of these high seas inspirations.
Several unique challenges were posed to Poledouris when
tackling The Hunt for Red October, ranging from the prestige of
the Russian military to the techno-thriller elements begging for
synthetic treatment. Add to this equation a director obsessed with the
composer's prior music (which had been tracked into early edits of the
film) and a dwindling music budget as the film's overall production
costs ballooned, and there was ultimately procedural discontent
expressed by the composer that led, in some part, to his eventual
abandonment of the industry. His score ultimately balanced an ethnically
appropriate chorus (to provide the Russian hymns) with a full orchestra
and Poledouris' expected range of trademark electronics. Among these
elements, the orchestra seems to simply be along for the ride, with the
chorus and, primarily, the synthetic elements navigating the score's
sound, the latter forced into a more pervasive role as studio money was
pulled away from the recording sessions. The most remarkable aspect of
Poledouris' efforts for Red October is the fact that he
intentionally blurs the lines so effectively between a standalone
melodramatic score and the kind of source music that a film like this
requires. Not only does hymnal material receive a source-like
performance in the context of the film's story, but Poledouris' array of
synthetic sounds, developed over the course of the 1980's, merges with
the sound effects so well that it's difficult to distinguish between the
music and the effects in the film. The most memorable music from Red
October for a majority of listeners will be the choral sequences,
and the title hymn in particular. While speculation has raged for years
that Poledouris used a Russian national anthem or a traditional Red Army
hymn as the basis for the "Hymn to Red October," the fact is that
Poledouris' material is his own. The director originally insisted upon
the use of a traditional folk song as the inspiration for the theme, but
Poleoduris eventually convinced him that originality, along with a
better ability to integrate the theme into the remainder of the score,
was a superior plan. Despite some typical references to classic Russian
composers, such comparisons are expected given the constructs of the
music, and Poledouris should be commended for both his melody and lyrics
for the hymn, the latter a source of much toil. The falling "Oktyabreh"
segment of the theme is used during the heroic moments of the Russian
crew during the film, both with and without the choir, providing an
effective and lyrical title identity for the film to revisit for grand
occasions.
Outside of the main hymn, the remaining thematic material
in The Hunt for Red October exists in mostly simple motifs of
harmoniously elegant chord progressions. One of the better developed
motifs exists in the form of a graceful choral movement for the title
submarine itself, used repeatedly during underwater shots of the ship's
movements. The crescendo heard in "Course Two-Five-Zero" is a teaser for
the ballet-like sways of "Red Route I," during which the ease with which
the massive sub navigates treacherous depths is given an almost
effortless poise and flow. While the choral majesty of "Course
Two-Five-Zero" and "Red Route I," as well as the curious variant of the
hymn for a more pensive choir in "Ancestral Aid," have the most dramatic
impact on the film's visual beauty, Poledouris' action material has a
far more technologically cold side to its precision. As in many of the
composer's works, rhythm is key to Red October, launching cues
like "Nuclear Scam" and "Kaboom!!!" with unabashed vigor and attitude.
Many of the same sound effects that Poledouris would use in Free
Willy and his other intelligent synthetic/orchestral combo scores
were utilized in full for Red October. The early cue, "Putin's
Demise," offers the methodical rhythmic incorporation of the upper
ranges of these keyboarded effects, while the brilliantly paced
evacuation sequence in "Nuclear Scam" shifts this application to a
lengthy, nearly solo portion in the lower ranges of the same effect.
Many of Poledouris' other effects utilized sounds manipulated for
underwater imitation or pressurized air release. For instance, the most
obvious sound effect used by Poledouris in Red October is an
echoing synth orchestra hit that bounces between the left and right
front speakers, dissipating like an underwater signal bouncing through
the ship and mirroring the ping-like variant used as a sound effect in
the film. An interesting, but barely noticeable sound effect in the
score is the use of a "release of air" sound heard at the end of
"Putin's Demise," though it's not as clearly audible in subsequent cues.
Some of the action sequences in Red October feature a more
traditional set of synthetic aides, including the use of somewhat tired
drum pads in "Chopper" and "Kaboom!!!." The latter track is evidence
that Poledouris was forced to abandon the orchestra in the later action
sequences due to disappearing recording funds; for the final battle
involving the Red October and two other submarines, Poledouris
approaches the cue from an almost completely synthetic approach,
recording nearly all of these cues by himself at his home studio.
While effective in the context of the action of The
Hunt for Red October, the synthetic choral substitute in "Kaboom!!!"
is legitimate reason for dismay. The emergency surfacing of the American
submarine in this scene is given the best majesty that Poledouris can
muster given the tools at hand, but the cue, despite some good low-range
rhythmic pulsing later in the recording, is cheapened by the embellished
drum pads and fake orchestra hits. The lingering elements of minor
dissatisfaction involving the score for Red October don't stop
there, either. Some of the work was removed from the film and several
other cues were arranged and inserted repeatedly where Poledouris
probably didn't intend them to be. As many as ten major cues were either
removed completely, such as the opening moments of the film that
featured silence instead, or cut short, including some of the score's
major action pieces. The dual-purpose scene depicting a discussion
between Sean Connery and Sam Neill about their personal lives,
interspersing shots of submarine navigation, replaced Poledouris'
original cue ("Two Wives") with one from the composer's No Man's
Land, a McTiernan favorite. Some of the lesser conversational cues
utilized the limited orchestral time in the score rather than leaving
that session money for the important scenes at the end of the film. Even
the end credits features music consisted of a highly rearranged version
of "Nuclear Scam," the budget for Poledouris' more unique "New World"
cue for that conclusion not available. Listeners looking for answers to
questions about the Red October score on its initial, woefully
short commercial album were not greeted kindly. The 30-minute album was
nothing short of a disgrace, partly due to the music not included in its
length, but mostly because of a truly terrible quality of sound that
fluctuates wildly from track to track. For a film with such glorious
surround mixes, including a superior presentation of the score's
recording in the movie, Red October teases you with musical
creativity on screen that you were not destined to hear with the same
vibrancy on album. On that MCA product, Poledouris' recording is muffled
and dry, with poor balance between synthetic and orchestral, orchestral
and choral. That disservice is exactly what this finely tuned score does
not need, and if you read criticisms of Red October's
score from other reviewers who don't appreciate all the hoopla about
this score, then rest assured that those writers probably haven't done
the necessary research into this massive difference in quality between
the film and album presentations.
Through the years, soundtrack collectors turned to a
bootleg with over an hour of music from The Hunt for Red October
that began to surface a decade after the MCA product's debut. This
bootleg never solved many of the sound quality issues, however, which is
why an official 2013 Intrada Records expansion of the score on album was
so highly anticipated. This CD does offer the complete score with some
alternates (though not everything included on the bootlegs,
interestingly), and the highlights of the newly released material
gravitate towards the early, orchestral portions ("Tupolov"). The
illuminated late action and suspense cues reveal secondary rhythmic
devices that Poledouris relied upon to supply depth to the final cat and
mouse chasing game in the story, though these pulses are not as
satisfying apart from the film as other sequences. The late torpedo cue,
for instance, is rather sparse in its rendering. By contrast, the
earlier character-building scenes feature equally minimal but much more
interesting orchestral tones similar to what Michael Kamen provided to
the director's original Die Hard. The 2013 album has a pair of
brutal flaws, however, that make it only a marginally recommended
product. First is the lack of improvement in sound quality. The score
still sounds muffled in much of its length, a result of the decision by
the album's producers not to attempt a full remastering of the score.
Apparently, Poledouris tweaked the complicated merging of orchestra,
synthesizer, and chorus so many times in his mixes that a recreation of
them from the separate elements was deemed too daunting. This choice,
while perhaps practical, dooms Red October to mediocrity in its
album sound quality. The other flaw of the album is the poor attempt to
reassemble the end credits arrangement of the film for this product. For
many years, fans have taken this rearrangement of the title hymn and
"Nuclear Scam" from the DVD directly, and when you compare the DVD's
distilled stereo sound with that of the Intrada album, you'll be
astonished by the difference. Even the 2013 album's assembly of the "End
Credits" suite is inferior to what comes off the DVD in the finesse of
the fades between cues. Overall, having a muted mix of this score on
album completely defeats the purpose of the synthesizers' intentional
movements across the sonic spectrum, leaving Poledouris enthusiasts with
hearing the stylistic leftovers on the better presented Free
Willy album from 1993. Still, historically, Red October
stands alongside Ice Station Zebra and Crimson Tide as a
thoroughly enjoyable submarine score of immense popular appeal to its
generation. But until the lingering sound quality issues are finally
addressed, don't expect any album presentation to end years of
frustration for fans of the film.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Music as Written for Film: *****
- Music as Heard on the 1990 MCA Album: **
- Music as Heard on the Bootlegs: ***
- Music as Heard on the 2013 Intrada Album: ***
- Overall: ****
| Bias Check: |
For Basil Poledouris reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.54
(in 35 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.3
(in 35,217 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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Missing lyric
Coldwarshot - August 8, 2012, at 6:15 a.m. |
1 comment (1501 views) |
Audio Samples
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• 1990 Album:
• 2000 Bootleg:
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| 1990 MCA Album Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 30:11 |
• 1. Hymn to Red October (Main Titles) (5:04)
• 2. Nuclear Scam (7:17)
• 3. Putin's Demise (0:54)
• 4. Course Two-Five-Zero (0:21)
• 5. Ancestral Aid (2:10)
• 6. Chopper (2:52)
• 7. Two Wives* (2:41)
• 8. Red Route I (3:28)
• 9. Plane Crash (1:46)
• 10. Kaboom!!! (3:15)
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* Contains music not used in film |
| Bootleg Albums Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 61:25 |
• 1. Polijarny Inlet*/** (0:44)
• 2. Hymn to Red October (Main Title) (5:06)
• 3. Putin's Demise* (1:01)
• 4. Graving Dock #4/Two Keys** (1:41)
• 5. Dallas' Sonar** (1:17)
• 6. Course Two-Five-Zero/On Course** (1:02)
• 7. "Let Them Sing" (Soviet Hymn)/U.S. National Command Meeting** (1:22)
• 8. Three Days Only*/** (0:43)
• 9. The Chase Begins** (2:05)
• 10. "Buckaroo"** (0:24)
• 11. Jonesy's Theory*/** (0:38)
• 12. Red Route 1 (3:34)
• 13. Ancestral Aid (2:07)
• 14. Plane Crash (1:54)
• 15. Ryan Leaves to Dallas** (0:53)
• 16. Ryan Leaves to Dallas (Alternate)*/** (0:52)
• 17. Two Wives* (2:46)
• 18. Turbulence**/Chopper (4:10)
• 19. New Orders** (0:37)
• 20. Red Alert*/** (2:31)
• 21. A Chance** (2:15)
• 22. Nuclear Scam* (7:17)
• 23. Americans!** (3:24)
• 24. Konovalov's Attack** (3:02)
• 25. Torpedo Impact... Now!** (0:40)
• 26. Torpedo, Bullets, and the Cook**/Kaboom!!! (6:17)
• 27. The New World/End Titles** (3:41)
• 28. Demo Theme #1*/** (0:40)
• 29. Demo Theme #2*/** (0:21)
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* Contains previously unreleased material
** Contains music not used in film |
| 2013 Intrada Album Tracks ▼ | Total Time: 70:01 |
• 1. Never Happened (0:41)
• 2. Hymn to Red October (Main Titles) (5:08)
• 3. Putin's Demise (1:04)
• 4. Tyler's Office/Ramius and the Doctor/Dallas Listens (2:44)
• 5. Course Two-Five-Zero/Interlude/Two-Five-Zero/Padorin Reads (1:25)
• 6. Ryan's Wheels (Original Version) (0:39)
• 7. Ryan's Wheels (Revised)/Tupolov/Buckaroo (3:17)
• 8. The Line/Red Route I (4:15)
• 9. Ancestral Aid (2:16)
• 10. Plane Crash (1:51)
• 11. Ryan Lifts Off/Emergence (1:35)
• 12. Two Wives (2:45)
• 13. Chopper (4:09)
• 14. Submarine Dive/Necessary Force (2:50)
• 15. Outer Doors (2:14)
• 16. Nuclear Scam (7:22)
• 17. Mini-Sub/Contact (3:18)
• 18. Tupolov's Torpedo/Torpedo Hits (3:29)
• 19. Kaboom!!! (6:21)
• 20. End Title (Ancestral Aid/Hymn to Red October/Nuclear Scam) (4:36)
The Extras: (7:58)
• 21. Putin's Demise (Album Version) (1:03)
• 22. Red Route I (Album Version) (3:33)
• 23. Necessary Force (Alternate Mix) (2:23)
• 24. The Anthem of the Soviet Union (Vocal) (1:06)
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The inserts of the 1990 MCA and bootleg albums contain no additional information
about the score or film. That of the 2013 Intrada album offers notes about the film,
score, and recording, including an explanation for the lack of improvement in sound
quality.
Unofficial Lyrics for the "Hymn to Red October:"
HYMN TO RED OCTOBER
Lyrics and Music by Basil Poledouris
Russian Translation by Herman Sinitzen
Holodna hmoora. -- Cold, hard, empty.
Eemruchnoh v'doosheh -- Light that has left me,
Kak mohg znat ya shtoh tee oomriosh? -- How could I
know that you would die?
Do svidonia, byehreg rodnoy -- Farewell again, our dear land.
Kak nam troodnag pridstahvit shtoh eto nyeh sohn. -- So hard for us to imagine that it's real, and not a dream.
Rodina, dom radnoy, -- Motherland, native home,
Do svidonia Rodina. -- Farewell, our Motherland.
Ay. Avepakhod, avepakhod, nass val nahmarskaya zhdyot nyehdazh dyotsyah.
-- Let's go; the sea is waiting for us.
Nass zah vootmarskaya dah, ee preeboy! -- The
vastness of the sea is calling to us, and the tides!
Salute otsam ee nashem dedum -- Hail to our fathers and forefathers.
Zahvietum eekh fsigdah vierney. -- We are faithful
to the covenant made with the past.
Tepierre nichtoh, nee astanoivit, -- Now nothing can stop
Pabiedney shark, radnoy straney. -- Our Motherland's victorious march.
Tiy pliyvee, pliyvee bestrashna, -- Sail on fearlessly,
Gordest say viernykh marieye. -- Pride of the Northern Seas.
Revoluytziye nadezhdah sgoostk vierif sekh luydeye. -- Hope of the Revolution, you are the burst of faith of the people.
The last two stanzas repeat a couple of times, then:
V'oktyabreh, v'oktyabreh,-- In October, in October,
Rahpar tu ium miy nashe pabiediy. -- We report our victories to you, our Revolution.
V'oktyabreh, v'oktyabreh, Novie meeir fahli numnashy dehidiy. -- And to the heritage left by you for us.
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