Rambo

by

Brian Tyler

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Rambo finally returns to the movies, and it also means new music! This CD contains almost the entire score by Brian Tyler. His versions of main and action themes do the first three movie scores justice. Although the tracking is a bit odd, the music is exciting and worth turning the volume up!! My favorite track in particular is track 2 (No Rules Of Engagement). Tyler has his own blend of powerful action themes and percussion and strings to give it it's own rythm. Tracks like The Aftermath and The Village present some of the more peaceful moments in the music. Track 7, Hunting Mercenaries, gives a real "charge"! Tracks 1 and 19 are simillar and represent two versions of the opening scenes of the film, track 19 being the alternate version to track 1 that was heard in the film.

The best part of the whole CD is the used of the original Rambo music by the late Jerry Goldsmith, which can be heard on tracks 1,2,8,12,18,19,and 20. Those themes brought back the original emotions of the original soundtracks of the first three, and I can happily say that Brian Tyler did Jerry Goldsmith's themes justice!

I believe this is worthy of calling it Rambo music. Enjoy!!

I know I've said it before but I still cannot believe that Brian Tyler, a composer who first came to my attention with the wonderful Bubba Ho-Tep (Signature Edition) score, could so quickly turn into a hack churning out 'noise' scores for trash movies such as The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift [Original Motion Picture Score] and the inarticulate, bombastic sounds of Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. What a disappointment this obviously talented man has turned out to be. Or was the music of Bubba Ho-Tep merely a fluke?

Living up to Jerry Goldsmith is no easy task even for a vetran, so it puzzles me why Tyler should receive that honor above everyone else. Think of how good the score to Rambo would have been if Chris Young, James Horner or Alan Silvestri had been hired. I'm afraid to say that, as it is, the only good parts of this CD are moments when Tyler more or less directly cut and pastes portions of Goldsmith's work from First Blood: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1982 Film). What little melodic input Tyler uses from his own imagination is sadly generic and forgettable. Also, while he's strengthening his own sub-par music with Goldsmith's why did he choose to leave out the absolutely brilliant main theme from Rambo: First Blood Part II - Original Film Soundtrack, New Expanded Edition? I can just imagine that theme being used to great effect in the finale when Rambo seizes control of that massive gun and lays waste to the bad guys.

Each of the score CDs from the first three movies have signature sounds and themes in pretty much every single track. Unfortunately, aside from the occasional cue containing the wonderful Rambo theme, this CD is mainly filled with more of the tiresome action 'noise' that is so commonplace in film-scoring these days. There's hardly anything memorable about the new material on this CD and I recommend it only to Goldsmith or Rambo fans.