Track Listing

1. Hymn to Red October (Main Title)
2. Nuclear Scam
3. Putin's Demise
4. Course Two-Five-Zero
5. Ancestral Aid
6. Chopper
7. Two Wives
8. Red Route 1
9. Plane Crash
10. Kaboom!!!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9962 in Music
• Released on: 1990-07-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Original language: English, Russian

Customer Reviews

Bare bones and incomplete, but what's here is good
The tracks herein correspond exactly to those in the Special Collector's Edition DVD version of the film - no 're-recorded to get a musically superior version' nonsense.

The tracks do not correspond not to their order in the film, but to the ordering used on the audio cassette, which in turn was organized so that the length of each 'side' would work out - a limitation that didn't need to be carried over to the CD. The end title sequence was omitted altogether, which is a pity. The crew of Red October singing their national anthem a capella was also omitted (as were the whalesongs accompanying Seaman Beaumont's sonar 101 lessons).

In short, the musical content of the CD is great as far as it goes, but missing some of the film's memorable musical moments, and the organization could've been better. The covering material inside the CD doesn't provide any details about the soundtrack other than the credits for composition, music editing, and so on.

I'll indicate which parts of the film correspond to each track, to help people decide for themselves what they'll be getting out of this CD.

"Hymn to Red October" (Main Title) *sounds* like traditional Russian patriotic music, sung in Russian by a male choir, but the composition is original to this film. Although a small excerpt is played very quietly across our first view of Ramius, the song actually begins when the tug appears to tow RED OCTOBER out of Polijarny, fading in gradually at the end of Ramius' opening conversation with his second-in-command. The 'prologue' is timed perfectly to transition to the almost-a capella section just as the title comes up (I admire the film's sound editing, as well as the original score). The song ends just as Jack's CIA escort meets him at the airport in DC.

"Nuclear Scam" should follow "Chopper"; it begins just after Mancuso and Ramius have their Morse conversation, setting up the scam and arranging the meeting at the Laurentian Abyssal (the nearest place deep enough to fake a sinking). The song accompanies the entire scam sequence, ending with Admiral Greer's line, "I was never here."

"Putin's Demise" Putin was the political officer killed early in the film, so that RED OCTOBER's real orders could be replaced. The song actually begins just after his death, with Ramius' words, "Where I am going, you cannot follow." (The CD's version of the song is a bit longer than that in the film, which picks up with the woodwind solo, but the rest of the song is included in the film, ending with Ramius' bonfire-with-phone-call.)

The transition to the missile key scene has been omitted from the CD, as has that accompanying the transition between DALLAS' sonar crew and Ramius looking at both keys before his speech.

"Course Two-Five-Zero" begins just as the caterpillar drive is engaged, and seems to be repeated with Ramius' line "course 250". (The CD doesn't include the sonar FX, which is a pity as the sounds mesh well.)

Various omissions occur at this point, including
- the march recording underlying the arrival of Ramius' letter; it's an instrumental version of the song sung by RED OCTOBER's crew (also omitted)
- the music accompanying Ryan's epiphany about what Ramius is doing (but it's somewhat similar to "Course Two-Five-Zero")
- the piece accompanying Tupolov's notification that he's to help hunt Ramius down

"Ancestral Aid" should follow "Red Route I", as it accompanies RED OCTOBER's close encounter with the torpedo and the Neptune Massif. The singing resembles that of "Hymn to Red October".

"Chopper" (Ryan's trip to the DALLAS, beginning with the cut from DALLAS to the helicopter) Underlying string harmony is in time with the chopper blades' beat - nice job of matching cinematography with music.

"Two Wives" is noted as not contained in the film. It's *not* the music accompanying the conversation between Ramius and his second-in-command actually containing that line (during the Crazy Ivan sequence).

"Red Route I" begins with Ramius' "You may commence your run" as RED OCTOBER passes Thor's Twins to enter the underwater canyons, ending as the sabotage to the caterpillar drive makes its presence known.

"Plane Crash" should fall between "Ancestral Aid" and "Chopper", as it begins during Ryan's first morning aboard the aircraft carrier, specifically at the point "His wingman kept requesting permission to fire," when Ryan notices the DALLAS on the situation map, ending as Ryan realizes he's going to have to travel by chopper.

The music (with heavy bongo) accompanying the beginning of the battle sequence isn't included; neither is that accompanying the initial pursuit of the saboteur through RED OCTOBER, although the latter part is included in "Kaboom!!!" The final piece on the CD picks up somewhere near the end of the battle, when Tupolov's ill-fated torpedo is launched.

One Of Poledouris's Best
The Hunt For The Red October is a masterpiece for Poledouris. It is an excellent blend of chorus, electronics, and orchestra. Unlike Zimmer's pumped up score to Crimson Tide, Poledouris relies less on bass-pounding masculine beats amd more reasonable effectice scoring. The use of light electronic effects in the score easily convey the massive ocean depths and the occassional outburst of the chorus adds to the beauty of the ocean seascape. Where the two scores compete in themes, Hunt For The Red October wins. While both effectively portray the submarine, Poledouris's use of a male Russian choir singing Russian lyrics is powerful and brings out the spirit of the sailors better than Crimson Tide's wordless chorus. The appearance of the bold theme when the captain decides to go down with the submarine is moving and gripping. Red Route I is a fantastic, yet vaguely haunting, portrayal of the deep depths. It has the kind of feministic, delicate orchestral beauty that Crimson Tide rarely comes close to. The battle music at the end breaks away from the traditional orchestral concept and goes almost entirely electronic, like the track Chopper. It is wrenching and suspenseful and definately comes the closest to Crimson Tide. While the all the tracks are great, the album definately lacks enough music. With only 30 minutes, much is left to be desired (I've seen the bootleg release and recommend it, too). This is nothing bad for the main theme alone is worth the purchase. An instant classic and success for Poledouris.

This is good stuff but I wish they had more
I remember seeing this movie when it came out and I was only about 10 years old. This is the movie that got me interested in movies and the score that got me interested in scores. The first track, Hymn to Red October, is by far the best track. An incredibly powerful choir singing in Russian begins the disc in a grand fasion and then quits down (the singing stil going) and then builds again at the end. Track 2 is far out of order(should be at the end) but it is one of the best tracks as well, starting out slowly and moving to a tremendous outburst of choir to announce the failing of the Red October's reactor. Theres some frantic action music, then, some slower material. Then the Hymn comes back. Tracks 3 is a short but enjoyable piece, as is track 4 which is used in several establishing shots: big and brassy. Ancestral aid is also another good place for the choir. Almost a tragic sound. track 6 is some good pulse pounding action music that works wonderfully in the film, but not really well on CD. tracks 7 and 9 are also fairly low key and somewhat uninteresting, but enjoyable. track 8 is one of the highlights. A very tense track full of small sudden bursts and quiet sections. Track 10 finishes off the CD with a bang. An incredible action track with a very catchy percussive backbeat, perfectly backing up theimages of the submarines screaming through the water at full speed(plus a cool choral burst when the Dallas emergency surfaces). My big gripe is that some great sections like the part where the Alfa sub is first seen, the first part of the ending battle, and the closing credits(which included a really neat no-vocal rendition of the opening Hymn) are missing! All in all, quite entertaining and highly recommended. If the rest wre there, it would get 5 stars.