FIRST BLOOD

JERRY GOLDSMITH

Rating:

Original Review: Action films in the 1980s were all about one thing: brawn. With megastars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone vying for top spot, and lesser performers such as Jean Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren feeding off the scraps from their table, muscles were considered before minds, toughness before thought. One of the most successful series of films of this ilk were the "Rambo" movies that began in 1982 with First Blood, one of that year's box office successes.

Directed by Ted Kotcheff from the novel by David Morrell, First Blood saw Stallone starring as John Rambo, an embittered Vietnam veteran making a slow journey across America to hook up with his former comrades. Upon arriving in a small country town named Hope, Rambo falls foul of the local sheriff (Brian Dennehy), who sees in Rambo a violent element that he feels his community can do without. After trying to quietly remove Rambo from his town, the sheriff eventually resorts to dirty tricks to trap the former Green Beret who, after a bloody encounter at the local police station, heads for the hills. Thus begins a one-man war between Rambo and his pursuers, who are gradually picked off one at a time by a master of unarmed combat. It is only when Rambo's former commander, Colonel Trautmann (Richard Crenna), appears on the scene do Rambo's antagonists realise the true nature of the man they have pushed too far...

Much has been made of the fact that Jerry Goldsmith went through a compositional purple patch during 1982, with scores as wide and varied as Poltergeist, The Secret of NIMH and Inchon all being written in the same year. Quite how Goldsmith managed to hit, and carry forward, this rich vein of form is amazing, and First Blood is certainly towards the top of his list of achievements at that time.

Surprisingly, Goldsmith wrote one of his most low-key and lyrical melodies to typify the spirit of the one-man killing machine known as Rambo. Rather than glorify the his violent streak, the longing theme for strings, guitar and solo trumpet in 'Home Coming' and 'It's a Long Road' is more to do with the nature of the man post-combat - quiet, determined, honourable, yet lonely in his quest for personal redemption. The theme's strength lies in its adaptability: it is often used in other parts of the score as a leitmotif for Rambo himself, and is worked into the fabric of subsequent cues such as 'The Tunnel', 'My Town', and the epic, and the 6-minute 'Mountain Hunt'. The vocal version of 'It's a Long Road', performed by Dan Hill with lyrics by Hal Shaper, is one of the more successful Goldsmith songs, developing a strong country/folk flavour to complement the film's rural setting.

Goldsmith's action music is, in contrast to the main melody, lean and moody, relying more on orchestral effects than the electronic accompaniments that would typify many of his other genre works during the period. There are electronic samples bubbling underneath the acoustics in cues such as 'Hanging On' and 'The Razor', but for the most part frantic string lines, pounding pianos, heavy percussion ostinatos, and a bed of ballistic brass are standard fare in tracks such as 'Escape Route' and 'First Blood', which drive Rambo's encounters with the local law enforcement along at a breakneck pace, and the famous 'Over the Cliff', in which Rambo survives a 100-foot fall onto jagged rocks with nothing more serious than a grazed shoulder. Talk about tough!

The original release of First Blood, on the Intrada label, has long been out of print, making this re-release by Varése Sarabande a welcome addition to the family of recent Goldsmith revivals. There is no additional music - this is a straight re-print and re-packaging - but the sound is good, and there is an interesting insert note from Varése CO Robert Townson to ponder while the music is playing. Overall, an important Goldsmith release, and a vital item for admirer's of his muscular action style.

Track Listing: Running Time: 40 minutes 23 seconds

Varése Sarabande VSD-6155 (1982/2000)

Music composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith. Orchestrations by Arthur Morton. Recorded and mixed by Alan Snelling. Edited by Randy Tominaga. Album produced by Jerry Goldsmith and Robert Townson.

Cinemusic Online
Filmtracks
Moviemusic Dot Com: Review by Jeron Moore (****1/2)
Movie Wave
Score!
Scorelogue


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