Explosive!
Summary
The music score to Rambo: Last Blood delivers a welcome shot of adrenaline with Brian Tyler providing us with his usual epic percussion and using the iconic theme regularly so if you’re a fan it’s a must-have.
Review: Jerry Goldsmith created the iconic Rambo theme for First Blood back in 1982 and continued to provide the music to the original three movies. The genius of the Rambo theme is how it could be made to sound sad or heroic depending on the scene. It’s rarely been used as well as in Escape from Torture in First Blood: Part II which is one of the most badass pieces of action hero music of all-time.
In 2008 Brian Tyler took over scoring duties for Rambo (2008) giving it a more contemporary sound but keeping it very much in the vein of Goldsmith so it’s respectful to the legacy while keeping it relevant to modern audiences.
Rambo: Last Blood is possibly the most violent of the series with a dark heart so it makes sense that the score this time around (once again composed by Brian Tyler) is angry sounding. The music has been criticized by some for being overly noisy but I think it works perfectly for Last Blood and is a welcome addition to my Rambo music score collection.
Tracks like Last Blood, Vengeance Eternal, Preparing for War and The Ranch incorporate Tyler’s signature epic percussion while using the main theme (which pops up regularly on the score). Sorrow provides some much needed downtime giving the score some heart and we all know which scene this is from which makes it even sadder. We still have the military brass playing throughout the score too and it just brings home the tragedy of Rambo’s life.
If you’re being nit-picky I guess you could say it doesn’t really do anything all that new but when it’s such a well-established character like Rambo then you want to hear the familiar themes and this does exactly that. You also can’t stray too far with the themes as fans would hate it (myself included) if they weren’t used regularly.
Overall, Rambo: Last Blood is a suitably bombastic score working perfectly for the movie and will also be a nice accompaniment to your gym playlist. It’s arguably the manliest music score you’ll hear this year so for me at least it’s a must have. Brian Tyler is once again a modern master of action movie music.
