We Were Soldiers

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Probably one of the hardest to get into the mainstream list of composers coming of Media Ventures, Nick Glennie - Smith just isn't getting attached to the Hollywood business list for sure. At times, he is getting there but immediately he falls off the wagon again, to get on board years later. We witnessed it with The Rock, The Man in the Iron Mask and now We Were Soldiers, while maintaining his voice clear in additional work for various projects. However, We Were Soldiers is all his doing and he did a pretty good job in making the movie as good as it stands today. Its a very different movie if you compare it with The Thin Red Line or Saving Private Ryan, in that it also shows the enemy or at least the other party and why they do it, how they handle defeat and victory, and how both leaders confront it together. In that part, also Nick Glennie - Smith handles it at occasions with ethnic material, presenting the warriors of the mountain with at times matching effectiveness. It starts the score with these Chinese / Japanese tones, and it appears at times eloquently through the score. However, most of Glennie - Smith's material is emotional and not gun ho war type music. People perhaps associate war films with war music but none of the other movies mentioned above contained action music and so here, We Were Soldiers doesn't lose the line in that category. It is on the other hand quite beautiful and effective, creating the right kind of emotions while doing it truthfully better in the film then on disc.

The track 'Look Around You' is a clear example of a cue that does so much more in its scene then on disc, even though creating enough emotion to make it powerful in both ends. This track is deliberately inspired by Thin Red Line's biggest asset namely 'Journey to the Line' but Glennie - Smith does a fair job mocking it up while sounding not to close like it. Its however a piece which matches the visuals better and there on screen it sounds stunning. There are pieces where songs are integrated into the material, Sgt. MacKenzie performed by Joseph Kilna MacKenzie, often even underscoring war scenes and while perhaps sounding out of place, it doesn't sound out of place at all, appearing in 'Flying High' and in 'Final Battle' for starters. Also even some throat singing (like heard in Seven Years in Tibet and End of Days) appears with an interesting effect in 'NVA Base Camp'. However, most of the material is based around emotional music and Glennie - Smith has his own drama theme to accompany that with. Often soft strings, solo violin or trumpet perform it through the entire score, appearing the best in 'Telegrams', on flute in 'Photo Montage', with heartfelt emotion in 'Jack's Death' and in 'Final Departure' that shows it in various guises and even in a choral hymn opening 'End Credits', while closing with the other song based material and orchestral versions of the drama theme. Together, We Were Soldiers is in fact a very good listening experience due to the calm material, and even the solo action / tension material in 'Final Battle' is very effective, lasting for about several minutes. Its basically a very emotional subdued listen and the swelling of the orchestra in tracks 3, 16 and 17 are not of the bombastic type that they fall out of tone with the rest. Its however not a piece you praise like others because it loses somewhat its strength on CD. In the movie its a very important piece without sticking out too much, on disc We Were Soldiers sounds just right and just right for Nick Glennie - Smith to dream of getting back onboard for good.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Prelude (1.00)

2. What Is War? (3.35)

3. Look Around You (8.47) Excellent Track

4. Flying High (2.54)

5. First Step (2.07)

6. NVA Base Camp (1.14)

7. Telegrams (1.24)

8. More Telegrams (0.58)

9. I'll Go With You (1.19)

10. Horrors (1.29)

11. Photo Montage (2.33)

12. That's A Nice Day (2.46)

13. Jack (0.37)

14. Jack's Death (1.40)

15. Final Battle (8.35)

16. Final Departure (10.31)

17. End Credits (6.35)

Total Length: 58.14

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Nick Glennie - Smith ===