Customer Reviews

The Hunt For Red October: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The tracks herein correspond exactly to those in the Special Collector's Edition DVD version of the film - no 're-recorded to get a musically superior version' nonsense.

The tracks do not correspond not to their order in the film, but to the ordering used on the audio cassette, which in turn was organized so that the length of each 'side' would work out - a limitation that didn't need to be carried over to the CD. The end title sequence was omitted altogether, which is a pity. The crew of Red October singing their national anthem a capella was also omitted (as were the whalesongs accompanying Seaman Beaumont's sonar 101 lessons).

In short, the musical content of the CD is great as far as it goes, but missing some of the film's memorable musical moments, and the organization could've been better. The covering material inside the CD doesn't provide any details about the soundtrack other than the credits for composition, music editing, and so on.

I'll indicate which parts of the film correspond to each track, to help people decide for themselves what they'll be getting out of this CD.

"Hymn to Red October" (Main Title) *sounds* like traditional Russian patriotic music, sung in Russian by a male choir, but the composition is original to this film. Although a small excerpt is played very quietly across our first view of Ramius, the song actually begins when the tug appears to tow RED OCTOBER out of Polijarny, fading in gradually at the end of Ramius' opening conversation with his second-in-command. The 'prologue' is timed perfectly to transition to the almost-a capella section just as the title comes up (I admire the film's sound editing, as well as the original score). The song ends just as Jack's CIA escort meets him at the airport in DC.

"Nuclear Scam" should follow "Chopper"; it begins just after Mancuso and Ramius have their Morse conversation, setting up the scam and arranging the meeting at the Laurentian Abyssal (the nearest place deep enough to fake a sinking). The song accompanies the entire scam sequence, ending with Admiral Greer's line, "I was never here."

"Putin's Demise" Putin was the political officer killed early in the film, so that RED OCTOBER's real orders could be replaced. The song actually begins just after his death, with Ramius' words, "Where I am going, you cannot follow." (The CD's version of the song is a bit longer than that in the film, which picks up with the woodwind solo, but the rest of the song is included in the film, ending with Ramius' bonfire-with-phone-call.)

The transition to the missile key scene has been omitted from the CD, as has that accompanying the transition between DALLAS' sonar crew and Ramius looking at both keys before his speech.

"Course Two-Five-Zero" begins just as the caterpillar drive is engaged, and seems to be repeated with Ramius' line "course 250". (The CD doesn't include the sonar FX, which is a pity as the sounds mesh well.)

Various omissions occur at this point, including
- the march recording underlying the arrival of Ramius' letter; it's an instrumental version of the song sung by RED OCTOBER's crew (also omitted)
- the music accompanying Ryan's epiphany about what Ramius is doing (but it's somewhat similar to "Course Two-Five-Zero")
- the piece accompanying Tupolov's notification that he's to help hunt Ramius down

"Ancestral Aid" should follow "Red Route I", as it accompanies RED OCTOBER's close encounter with the torpedo and the Neptune Massif. The singing resembles that of "Hymn to Red October".

"Chopper" (Ryan's trip to the DALLAS, beginning with the cut from DALLAS to the helicopter) Underlying string harmony is in time with the chopper blades' beat - nice job of matching cinematography with music.

"Two Wives" is noted as not contained in the film. It's *not* the music accompanying the conversation between Ramius and his second-in-command actually containing that line (during the Crazy Ivan sequence).

"Red Route I" begins with Ramius' "You may commence your run" as RED OCTOBER passes Thor's Twins to enter the underwater canyons, ending as the sabotage to the caterpillar drive makes its presence known.

"Plane Crash" should fall between "Ancestral Aid" and "Chopper", as it begins during Ryan's first morning aboard the aircraft carrier, specifically at the point "His wingman kept requesting permission to fire," when Ryan notices the DALLAS on the situation map, ending as Ryan realizes he's going to have to travel by chopper.

The music (with heavy bongo) accompanying the beginning of the battle sequence isn't included; neither is that accompanying the initial pursuit of the saboteur through RED OCTOBER, although the latter part is included in "Kaboom!!!" The final piece on the CD picks up somewhere near the end of the battle, when Tupolov's ill-fated torpedo is launched.

The Hunt For The Red October is a masterpiece for Poledouris. It is an excellent blend of chorus, electronics, and orchestra. Unlike Zimmer's pumped up score to Crimson Tide, Poledouris relies less on bass-pounding masculine beats amd more reasonable effectice scoring. The use of light electronic effects in the score easily convey the massive ocean depths and the occassional outburst of the chorus adds to the beauty of the ocean seascape. Where the two scores compete in themes, Hunt For The Red October wins. While both effectively portray the submarine, Poledouris's use of a male Russian choir singing Russian lyrics is powerful and brings out the spirit of the sailors better than Crimson Tide's wordless chorus. The appearance of the bold theme when the captain decides to go down with the submarine is moving and gripping. Red Route I is a fantastic, yet vaguely haunting, portrayal of the deep depths. It has the kind of feministic, delicate orchestral beauty that Crimson Tide rarely comes close to. The battle music at the end breaks away from the traditional orchestral concept and goes almost entirely electronic, like the track Chopper. It is wrenching and suspenseful and definately comes the closest to Crimson Tide. While the all the tracks are great, the album definately lacks enough music. With only 30 minutes, much is left to be desired (I've seen the bootleg release and recommend it, too). This is nothing bad for the main theme alone is worth the purchase. An instant classic and success for Poledouris.

I remember seeing this movie when it came out and I was only about 10 years old. This is the movie that got me interested in movies and the score that got me interested in scores. The first track, Hymn to Red October, is by far the best track. An incredibly powerful choir singing in Russian begins the disc in a grand fasion and then quits down (the singing stil going) and then builds again at the end. Track 2 is far out of order(should be at the end) but it is one of the best tracks as well, starting out slowly and moving to a tremendous outburst of choir to announce the failing of the Red October's reactor. Theres some frantic action music, then, some slower material. Then the Hymn comes back. Tracks 3 is a short but enjoyable piece, as is track 4 which is used in several establishing shots: big and brassy. Ancestral aid is also another good place for the choir. Almost a tragic sound. track 6 is some good pulse pounding action music that works wonderfully in the film, but not really well on CD. tracks 7 and 9 are also fairly low key and somewhat uninteresting, but enjoyable. track 8 is one of the highlights. A very tense track full of small sudden bursts and quiet sections. Track 10 finishes off the CD with a bang. An incredible action track with a very catchy percussive backbeat, perfectly backing up theimages of the submarines screaming through the water at full speed(plus a cool choral burst when the Dallas emergency surfaces). My big gripe is that some great sections like the part where the Alfa sub is first seen, the first part of the ending battle, and the closing credits(which included a really neat no-vocal rendition of the opening Hymn) are missing! All in all, quite entertaining and highly recommended. If the rest wre there, it would get 5 stars.

As usual, Basil Poledouris delivers an exceptional score. The UNUSUAL is that there is barely 29 minutes worth of music on the CD. Is that EVERY bit of music that was in the movie? I don't think so.....So why the selective editing? Some of the cuts on the Disc are less than a minute long!

The music is great, and for the price Amazon is selling for, I guess it's worth it. But I can't go higher than 3 Stars for what amounts to a sampler disc.

...This particular CD is a very poor release. There's barely 29 minutes of music on the disk and many of the memorable cues are not included. Not only that, but the tracks that made it to the CD are in the incorrect order. Sadly, this is what fans of the film and Poledouris have had to put up with. There is, however, an EXTREMELY limited release of the COMPLETE SCORE (I own it) and it features 29 complete tracks from the film. Finding a copy is next to impossible but I was lucky enough to track one down recently. Here is what you get on The Hunt for Red October COMPLETE SCORE:

1. Polijarny Inlet (0:44)
2. Hymn to the 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" (Hymn)/US National Command Meeting (1:22)
8. Three Days Only (0:43)
9. The Chase Begins (2:05)
10. "Buckaroo" (0:24)
11. Jonsey'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 Version) (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 (Hymn)/End Title (3:41)
28. Demo Theme #1 (0:40)
29. Demo Theme #2 (0:12)

Whew!!! That's a whole lot better than the standard issue release! Good luck everybody!

"Hymn To Red October" was my key motivation to get this CD. In fact, I was looking for it for a long time until I found it from Amazon. Two points I want to mention are: (1) Where is the english translation for the song? I do want to know what they are singing. (2) I was disappointed a bit about the recording. According to the description, it was recorded from an analog tape. Apart from this two points, I would have given it a 5 stars.

Wow. This is a must have. You like Conan the Barbarian? Well, you'll like this one too. What that score did for fantasy adventure, this does for Russian patriotism and action.

From the rousing and beautiful "Hymn to Red October" to the great variation of the theme in "Nuclear Scam", which also serves as the end credits music from the movie I believe, each piece is a pleasure to listen to. "Putin's Demise" has a dreamy quality to it, despite being way too short, and "Chopper" is probably the most electronic sounding of the selection. "Ancestral Aids" also has a great variation of the main theme as it is played along, and "Red Route 1", being one of the longer tracks, has some beautiful tunes as well. There is a great lyrical quality to it at parts and some harps can be heard in it. I believe this music plays in the film as the submarine is maneuvering itself along the bottom of the ocean, but unfortunately it ends pretty abruptly. "Plane Crash" starts out quiet and has a very loud and harsh part that just screams disaster.

Even if you don't like the briefness of the short tracks (two are under one minute), you still must get this CD if only for the main theme in "Hymn to Red October" and "Nuclear Scam". Its for any fan of Poledouris, any fan of the movie, any fan of Russian sounds, and any fan of great film score music.

The very first thing I noticed when I first saw this movie was the music. The opening, "Hymn to the Red October", is simply awesome. It really brings out the russian spirit of the movie. Track 10, "Kaboom!", is a great action track using lots of drums and brass instruments. A great soundtrack, definatly worth buying.

Don't get me wrong; I definitly like the music on this CD, with The Hymn to Red October being the showcase. But there was so much more music in the film. Why was the instrumental version of the Hymn omitted? This too-short CD could easily have been expanded. My biggest disappointment is the omission of the Red October crew singing the Soviet National Anthem-certainly integral to both the plot and the score.

I bought this CD especially for the title song (Russian choir). The whole soundtrack is excellent, but that song is enthralling: full of vigour, Russian melancholy and, at the same time, determination of sailors in their dangerous mission. Mr Poledouris' score ranks up to the best ones by the never forgotten Dimitri Tiomkin.