: (Ennio Morricone) It was with great
fortune that composer Basil Poledouris was able avoid an assignment on
Dino de Laurentiis'
in 1985, though Arnold
Schwarzenegger wasn't as fortunate. The actor was contractually bound to
appear in three
films, but by 1985, Schwarzenegger's career
was headed elsewhere and the stunningly poor quality of
was enough of a deterrent for anyone. Amazingly, director
Richard Fleischer from the failed sequel was brought back for a third
installment of adventure from Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age, and to
satisfy the reluctant Schwarzenegger, the contract for another
film was dissolved in return for the Austrian appearing in
a supporting role in
. While the Red Sonja character
never appeared in Howard's novels, she was a spin-off character written
by David C. Smith and Richard L. Tierney in their six "Red Sonja" novels
"based on Howard's Hyborian Age" in the early 1980's. In this film, she
is represented by Danish model Brigitte Nielsen in her American film
debut, long before her freakishly large breast implants. Between her
emotionless performance, Schwarzenegger's bumbling attempts to be a
romantic in the story, and production values that were so bad that they
included boom microphones in the picture,
. The only
highlights were the return of actress Sandahl Bergman from
, who plays the evil lesbian Queen Gedren here, and an
often overstated symphonic score by Ennio Morricone. With the film shot
in Italy, it's no surprise that Morricone would be a convenient choice
for this assignment, and you have to give him credit for doing what he
could, like Poledouris in many regards, to compensate for the film's
obvious flaws with a significantly overblown score. The composer had
already dabbled in the genre by writing a predictable score for the
Conan spin-off
. Morricone also retained some of the
common melodic structures that Poledouris proved for the Hyborian Age,
though he handles the identity of his interpretation with vastly
different instrumentation in some areas.
Listeners familiar with
Conan the Barbarian will
note the consistent use of prominent woodwinds, large symphonic blasts
of noise, layers of brass (led by trumpet highlights), and, most
notably, an accentuated adult chorus. A few phrases in the score's
themes also recall Poledouris' template. Morricone handles brute force
relatively well in
Red Sonja, producing propulsive sections with
bashing, deliberate statements of theme over progressively quicker
timpani rhythms. His battle sequences for sword-slashing action are
sometimes as impressive as similar cues in
Conan the Barbarian,
and they easily eclipse the often sparse and tepid performances by the
ensemble in
Conan the Destroyer. Unfortunately, the actual theme
for Schwarzenegger's character here is extremely inappropriate. As he's
seen riding during the credits ("Main Title") and in a handful of other
scenes ("Varna's Death" and "Sonja and Kalidor"), Morricone assigns him
a trite little march that sounds like it would be more comfortable in a
Monty Python film than here. Using, oddly enough, a solo trumpet as the
title instrument, Morricone offers a somewhat ridiculous demeanor to
represent the famed locale and character, and the high pitch of that
instrument along with the lightly prancing rhythm under the theme is
difficult to tolerate. By its fifth consecutive rendition without a
satisfactory interlude, the march makes you want to strangle a small
animal. The theme for the title character is based upon rising
three-note phrases heard in "Varna's Death," "Sonja Teaches Tarn," "A
Fair Fight," and in broader treatment as the score reaches its climax.
While this theme approaches the idea of respect for which it was aimed,
it suffers from a few problems of its own. First, it doesn't really
feature the sense of gravity to suit a female warrior seeking revenge
for being raped and her family's murder. Secondly, its interlude
directly references Poledouris' main theme for Conan, a substantial
distraction (heard first at 1:40 into "Varna's Death"). Morricone's only
other major recurring theme is one for battle heard in "Temple Raid" and
"Fighting the Soldiers," among others. While effective, this theme does
contain similarities to "Dies Irae" in its melody that are difficult to
ignore as well. A lesser motif is one representing the magical element
in the tale, growing out the John Barry-like brass in "Prologue" to its
final ethereal form for chorus late in that cue and again in "The
Chamber of Lights."
Morricone rotates between these themes in
Red
Sonja for most of the score's short running time (while more music
was heard in the film, it consisted of butchered edits and repetition of
cues in multiple places) but does stray occasionally into distinct
directions, including the challenging Alex North-like broken chords in
"The Talisman" and the obnoxious source-like material in "Sorcery." In
general, the tone of the score is lush and romantic, as to be expected
from the composer, and all the highlights are generously repeated with
great beauty throughout. The only real diversion from the score's
personality is Morricone's choice to translate Sonja's theme of respect
into one of pop sensibilities for the "End Credits," electronic bass and
drum pads mixed in front of the orchestra in a way that oozes with the
"coolness factor" of the 1980's fantasy/adventure genre. Overall,
Red
Sonja has all the right ingredients for the genre, and Morricone for
the most part satisfies expectations. But the score has always had that
quirky element to it as well, led by the pop-styled "End Credits" and
the absolutely silly march for Schwarzenegger's Conan-turned-Prince
Kalidor. Still, the soundtrack has maintained a moderate cult following
that has long been frustrated by the album situation for the score.
Varèse Sarabande released
Red Sonja first on LP and then
as part of its original CD Club in 1990. The latter product suffered a
few major faults, however, aside from the fact that the 1,000-copy run
(low even for the Club CDs) caused it to become a top collectible almost
immediately. The arrangement of the music for the LP existed in 17
minutes on "side 1" and 19 minutes on "side 2," and for whatever reason,
Varèse simply took the music from each side of the LP and
combined it into two lengthy suites. This format fails to correct
several unfortunate cue mixes that plagued the second side of the LP,
and on CD, the second suite of music will disappoint with its hasty
edits. Likewise, the suites present the cues out of film order and with
obvious silence in between them, negating the purpose of suite
presentations in the first place. Also of note is poor sound quality on
the Club CD; ironically some fans in the 1990's preferred the commercial
Varèse cassette release of
Red Sonja, which offered
arguably better clarity. That CD Club album did partially redeem itself
by including Morricone's three-star score for
Bloodline as well,
thankfully featuring significantly better sound quality.
A few years before
Red Sonja, Morricone composed
the score for
Bloodline, the only R-rated Audrey Hepburn film and
a project she was dissatisfied with because of its unnecessary subplot
involving snuff films and the subsequently gratuitous nudity it
involved. Hepburn plays the sole heir to a pharmaceutical company after
her father is assassinated, and her life is the only thing separating
the board members of the company from a piece of the wealth. The snuff
film subplot weaves in and out of several attempts on her life, and
while the film's direction by Terence Young lacks cohesion, the
ensemble's star power led it to moderate success. Signing on for the
ride was Morricone, whose thriller score is sophisticated for the era,
exhibiting many common characteristics of urban mystery and thriller
scores of the 1970's. His instrumentation is extremely broad, ranging
from a decent orchestral ensemble to modern light rock elements and
occasional soft choral use. Cues such as "Almost Perfect Indiscretion"
and "Dinner at Maxims" present an almost Georges Delerue-inspired light
jazz atmosphere, while the murder investigation cues turn 180 degrees to
minimalistic brooding on strings and piano crashes. The highlight of the
score is the title theme for Hepburn's character, appearing three times
on album (including the opening and closing titles). A lonely female
voice performs over a lofty string theme that elegantly and romantically
sways with the spirit of Elmer Bernstein's softer Silver Age classics
(the voice even sounds like Bernstein's trademark use of the ondes
martenot). The eleven cues from
Bloodline were rearranged from
the LP release for inclusion on Varèse's Club CD, and while both
composed by Morricone,
Bloodline and
Red Sonja really have
nothing in common and are better appreciated separately. Long overdue
for an overhaul on album from a superior source was
Red Sonja;
the Club CD disappeared from the market, fetching in the hundreds of
dollars at the peak of rare CDs in the late 1990's. Identical bootlegs
popped up but included no new material and arguably worse sound quality.
In 2010, Perseverance Records finally supplied all significant material
from the score in a much better presentation and improved sound quality
(though artifacts from room noise do remain, especially in "Sonja and
Kalidor"). Morricone fans will delight in this dedicated release of
2,000 copies, for it brings new light to a flawed, but still interesting
and engaging piece of the composer's vast and often fruitful production
from the early 1980's era.
@Amazon.com: CD or
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- Music as Written for the Film: ***
- Music as Heard on the 1990 Varèse Album: **
- Music as Heard on the 2010 Perseverance Album: ****
- Overall: ***
| Bias Check: |
For Ennio Morricone reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.11
(in 9 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.32
(in 8,641 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
