Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,767
Written 11/23/09
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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.
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| Glennie-Smith |
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.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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