We Were Soldiers: Original Motion Picture Score

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Type: Music
Studio: Sony
Release Date: 2002-05-14
Since Francis Coppola's epochal Apocalypse Now helped reinvent the scope of what a war film could be, the music of the battlefield epic has logically shifted as well, from heroic martial themes to Platoon's introspective strains of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings and the fusion of Hans Zimmer's electronic-tribal soundscapes for The Thin Red Line and Black Hawk Down.

Composer Nick Glennie-Smith seems to have taken his tip from Barber, composing and arranging an orchestral score of pensive grace and quiet, dramatic power for this Mel Gibson-Randall Wallace Vietnam war dramatization. It's music that underscores the point that the true heroism of war is often more about personal survival than it is about battlefield victory. The Spartan strains of Joseph Kilna Mackenzie's "Sgt. Mackenzie" (originally written as a tribute to Mackenzie's grandfather, a WWI vet) occasionally percolate up in the arrangements, giving the score a battle-weary sense of spirituality that spans the ages. The composer's solo-trumpet denouement "Final Departure" is as emotionally powerful as it is antiheroic, leading to a gospel-infused end-credit sequence that further underscores the story and scores a compellingly human sense of scale. The talented Glennie-Smith has toiled in middling comedies and actioners for years, but this powerful work promises exceptional things to come. --Jerry McCulley

One of the best movie soundtracks
Sometimes the music can make a great movie even better. This is one of those examples. The movie (which I believe is the best yet about 'Nam) would be good with complete background silence, but this score kicks it up even a few more notches. Very pleased I purchased this CD. When I listen to it, can visual the accompanying movie scenes. You know then it is a great score.

Great Companion to the Movie
Like the movie, this score draws the listener into the feel, action, suspense and drama of the story. Like all great scores, this too is great to listen to while reflecting on the events of the movie/true events, and/or prepare you to see it again.

Faithful To The Movie
I found 'We Were Soldiers' to be an excellent movie. It portrays the emotion of what the ground pounders faced in SE Asia early in the war, to any audience. The soundtrack is faithful to the movie. Those who have seen We Were Soldiers will feel the same emotional rollercoaster when listening to the soundtrack.

Glennie-Smith's "The Thin Red Line"
Zimmer wrote The Thin Red Line with assistance from John Powell. Now Glennie-Smith writes an orchestral score for a Vietnam War drama.

"What is War?" starts with low strings then transitions to militaristic percussion and a soft French horn playing the main theme.

"Look Around You" starts off a bit emotional with low strings sounding almost funeral like with distant-sounding bell clangs. Around 2 minutes and 45 seconds, the low strings grow silent and are replaced by a ticking clock with soft, high-pitched stings and slowly builds tension with low strings as the soldiers are leaving their homes to go off to war. The track ends with high strings and soft brass blows.

"Flying High" is another good track which is dominated by vocals. A male voice sings the opening of the track then the songs tenses up with high strings and a female voice as the helicopters carry the soldiers to the battlefield.

"Final Battle" is the only action song of the bunch, if I can even call it "action". It starts with the same male voice from "Flying High" then turns into a tense, electronic percussion section before fading into a long, quiet solo of the male voice.

"Final Departure" is the most heartbreaking song. It's very mournfully played mainly by strings. It ends with a solo trumpet salute to the troops for their sacrifice.

Wonderful score. Sadly, Glennie-Smith hasn't done anything big in the States since then. I eagerly await his next big project with Randall Wallace. Until then, pick this one up with The Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and The Great Raid. If you're fortunate enough to find it, pick up U-571 as well.

Check MacKenzie's band!
As most reviewers are fond of Joseph K. MacKenzie's tune dedicated to his grandfather in this soundtrack, I would strongly recommend MacKenzie's band called Clann an Drumma. It is really cool tribal celtic music! Unfortunately, their cds are not available in amazon, but you can order them through their web page: [...]. You won't be disappointed at all!!!