After the success of First Blood, a sequel was inevitable and no less a figure than James Cameron wrote the screenplay, with Sylvester Stallone himself, for this tale of John Rambo returning to Vietnam to seek revenge in the cumbersomely-entitled Rambo: First Blood Part II.  The first film received a classy score by Jerry Goldsmith and it was inevitable that he would be asked to return for the sequel (and also inevitable that he'd say yes, since he always seems to score inferior sequels to his films).

This time round, the somewhat character-driven approach of the first score (which admittedly also contained more than its share of raw action material) was replaced by a much more streamlined, action-driven score that tends to divide the composer's fans.  Some see it as the first step towards what is perceived as something of a malaise in his later work, with the thoughtful and intelligent processes that went into writing scores being replaced by a much more functional - rather than artistic - way of composing; but others see it as one of the pinnacles of his career, being virtually non-stop fully-charged action music for quite a while.

In a not entirely unsurprising move, I have to say that there is a degree of merit in both arguments.  Comparing this score with that for the first film sees that the somewhat restrained scoring of the character of Rambo himself has gone altogether, with his original theme - heard somewhat sparingly - tending to be performed as an action motif rather than the trumpet/guitar theme it was to start with.  Add to this the sheer frenzy of all the action music and you get a very, very different score this time around.  Certainly, Goldsmith appears to be simply piling on the thrills without attempting to offer much commentary on the whys and wherefores of anything that is happening or indeed anything vaguely emotional for the characters - but in all fairness to him, with a film like Rambo 2, I don't suppose there was much there for him to latch onto.  The other side of the coin is how exciting the music is, so often, with action cues like "The Jump", "Home Flight" and especially the brilliant "Escape from Torture" being based around a new, patriotic theme that really does produce some adrenaline rush.  There are a few slightly more subdued moments - the slightly oriental-sounding synth theme in the opening track is good fun, and there are more than a few moments where suspense music becomes the dominant factor - but by and large action is the name of the game.  And speaking of synths, they play a far greater role here than they did in the first score, including one wonderful synth effect (that is present in most of the tracks) that sounds like someone farting.

The action music is so relentless and exciting that it's easy to be swept along in some kind of Goldsmithian fervour, but taking a small step backwards shows that really it's rather repetitive, especially on this expanded album (which added 15 minutes of music to the original issue - and is proof beyond measure that those who criticise Goldsmith for choosing to release shorter albums than he sometimes could really should bow to his knowledge on the matter).  Regardless, this is an important score in Goldsmith's career and one of the most frenzied action scores he's ever written.

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