Back when the Cold War was still on and Russia was America's biggest enemy, movies portraying Russians and Americans in conflict were quite common. For the most part these films were nothing but us versus them type of deals. Red Dawn also fell into that category but it was a totally different movie. The film looked at the effects of a Russian invasion of the United States. The film was headlined by many of the hot young stars of the early 1980's such as Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey and Lea Thompson to name a few. Written and directed by John Milius, the man behind Conan the Barbarian's screen adaption, the film was a terrifyingly real look at what might have happened.
To score his film, Milius turned to Basil Poledouris who scored the first Conan film. The score that Poledouris turned out was a perfect fit for the film. Unlike his later works, such as Starship Troopers, this score is patriotic but not overwhelmingly so. The opening track, Main Title opens up with the music accompanying the opening text scroll before leading into the main theme which is reprised whenever the heroes do their heroics.
This work is totally different from many of Poledouris's more modern works. At times, the score gets downright introspective as the heroes deal with conflicting emotions over the losses they suffer and the isolation they feel as a small band of survivors left to defend the United States from the invading Russians. Tracks such as The Drive-In, Let It Turn and Flowers are three such tracks. For the instances when the heroes strike back against their invaders, Poledouris brings back the main theme in all its glory. In Wolverines, (which is the name the heroes give to their small group), the main theme is reprised in one of its most stirring renditions. One of the soundtrack's finer moments is Robert's End which occurs during the ambush scene in the mountains. The music intensifies as the heroes struggle to escape the Russian helicopters. The music finally builds until it peaks with a powerful reprise of the main theme.
The final track takes all of these elements and combines it for one last grand track. Starting off calmly to accompany the end narration by Lea Thompson's character, the track immediately leads into one final stirring rendition of the main theme accompanied by military style snare drums to keep tempo. I enjoy this soundtrack very much and applaud Intrada for releasing this score. It is truly among Basil Poledouris's best works and should be picked up if and when you see it.
Total time: 34:31
1: Main Title (2:38)
2: The Invasion (5:18)
3: The Drive-In (6:20)
4: Let It Turn (1:10)
5: Wolverines (2:05)
6: Flowers (3:04)
7: The Eulogy (2:51)
8: Robert's End (3:50)
9: Death and Freedom; End Title (6:35)