THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER
Rating: 
Original Review: I was expecting great things from The Hunt for Red October, what with Basil Poledouris' reputation and the various positive on-line reviews. And I have to admit I'm disappointed. The score opens with the Hymn to Red October, sung in Russian by a mixed choir, but the problem is that I can't take it seriously ever since I heard Michael Palin singing something similar in his TV programme Full Circle (readers from the UK will know what I'm talking about). I'm sure that, has I got bit of Bolshevik in me, it would have stirred my patriotic blood, but I'm afraid it didn't. The rest of the score is also a little bit of a disappointment, especially in its lack of a memorable main theme. Poledouris has a wonderful gift for composing these (Conan, Robocop, Free Willy, Farewell to the King to name but a few) but here, upon a first listening, nothing leapt out and grabbed my attention. There are some well composed bits, like the interesting brass/string section in 'Nuclear Scam', the percussion made to sound like rotors in 'Chopper', and the exciting synthesised finish in the wonderfully titled 'Kaboom!!!', but other than that the music just simply passed me by. Sorry, everybody, but I'd have to sum up The Hunt for Red October as being nothing but passable background music.
Track Listing:
- Hymn to Red October (5:04)
- Nuclear Scam (7:17)
- Putin's Demise (0:54)
- Course Two-Five-Zero (0:21)
- Ancestral Aid (2:10)
- Chopper (2:52)
- Two Wives (2:41)
- Red Route 1 (3:28)
- Plane Crash (1:46)
- Kaboom!!! (3:15)
Running Time: 30 minutes 15 seconds
MCA Soundtracks MCLD-19306 (1990)
Music composed and conducted by Basil Poledouris. Orchestrations by Greig McRitchie. Russian lyrics by Basil Poledouris and Herman Sinitzyn. Recorded and mixed by Tim Boyle. Edited by Tom Villano and Thomas Milano. Mastered by Bernie Grundman. Album produced by Basil Poledouris.
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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1997. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.