No Man's Land
Basil Poledouris
" Average affair "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
No Man's Land is a 1987 film directed by Peter Werner, starring D. B. Sweeney and Charlie Sheen. The story goes about a cop who goes undercover to capture a car thief, yet befriends the same person he was sworn to bring in. A story that has been done multiple times before (Point Break and The Fast and the Furious are 2 that come to mind easily). However the been there, done that movie does house Charlie Sheen as a bad boy (something tells me Hollywood had the eye of foresight in that year) and presented Basil Poledouris as a composer who was not afraid to toy around with the instruments of that time. You see No Man's Land is a synthesized puppy from start to finish.
No Man's Land wasn't supposed to be a score from Poledouris to begin with. He was asked to compose the music after the previous score was rejected, and he was asked to do it in a 4 week time schedule. Plus it had to be an electronic score. Considering the time frame and considering the basic plot of the film was uncomfortable and suspenseful, expect the entire score to be in that surrounding. Because we can't possibly begin to admire this piece without having to think what it does for the movie.
No Man's Land is undoubtedly a perfect fit for the movie, but on CD it doesn't listen so attractively. Not the fact it is an electronic score but the fact it is bleak, eerie and uncomfortable, but above all housing a weak main theme and an awkward love theme makes it one of those CD's of Poledouris that isn't worthy of your attention. The main theme itself is a rhythmic affair full of beats. It works well to signal the tone and pace of the movie. It appears in "Main Title", "P.C.H.", "Chase", "Drive my Car" whilst transforming into a totally different affair when the charade must end in "Showtime", becoming much more meaningful in the process. Even its version in "End Credits" can somewhat amuse me with its typical style of the 80's.
The love theme however is a different matter. Appearing in "Love Theme", "Ann Buttons" and briefly in "Payoff", it is an eerie piece that you can't get any feelings for. As said Poledouris wanted to show you how uncomfortable it must have felt for the main character to fall in love with the bad guy's sister. That uncomfortable feeling is all over the place, and it makes the theme effective but also totally unlovable. Besides if you take those 2 themes away, all what remains is forgettable background music anyway.
Which makes No Man's Land definitely one of those Basil Poledouris scores that isn't worthy of your investigation. It received a 30 minute soundtrack in 1987 (courtesy of Varèse Sarabande) but was put after Cherry 2000 in 2004 on a CD courtesy of Prometheus. But if this was really necessary that's another matter. No Man's Land is darn right effective and transports you so easily back to the 80's. But it shows you as well that this is a rushed affair. It is neither entertaining nor classy, and features one of those Basil Poledouris scores that is worthy to be ignored.
Tracklisting
1. Main Title (3.01)
2. P.C.H. (1.03)
3. First Score (2.17)
4. Lone Score (1.21)
5. Love Theme (1.40)
6. Chase (5.29)
7. Porsche Power (0.39)
8. Drive my Car (2.15)
9. Ann Buttons (1.15)
10. Payoff (3.29)
11. Showtime (4.20)
12. End Credits (3.00)
Total Length: 29.49
No Man's Land wasn't supposed to be a score from Poledouris to begin with. He was asked to compose the music after the previous score was rejected, and he was asked to do it in a 4 week time schedule. Plus it had to be an electronic score. Considering the time frame and considering the basic plot of the film was uncomfortable and suspenseful, expect the entire score to be in that surrounding. Because we can't possibly begin to admire this piece without having to think what it does for the movie.
No Man's Land is undoubtedly a perfect fit for the movie, but on CD it doesn't listen so attractively. Not the fact it is an electronic score but the fact it is bleak, eerie and uncomfortable, but above all housing a weak main theme and an awkward love theme makes it one of those CD's of Poledouris that isn't worthy of your attention. The main theme itself is a rhythmic affair full of beats. It works well to signal the tone and pace of the movie. It appears in "Main Title", "P.C.H.", "Chase", "Drive my Car" whilst transforming into a totally different affair when the charade must end in "Showtime", becoming much more meaningful in the process. Even its version in "End Credits" can somewhat amuse me with its typical style of the 80's.
The love theme however is a different matter. Appearing in "Love Theme", "Ann Buttons" and briefly in "Payoff", it is an eerie piece that you can't get any feelings for. As said Poledouris wanted to show you how uncomfortable it must have felt for the main character to fall in love with the bad guy's sister. That uncomfortable feeling is all over the place, and it makes the theme effective but also totally unlovable. Besides if you take those 2 themes away, all what remains is forgettable background music anyway.
Which makes No Man's Land definitely one of those Basil Poledouris scores that isn't worthy of your investigation. It received a 30 minute soundtrack in 1987 (courtesy of Varèse Sarabande) but was put after Cherry 2000 in 2004 on a CD courtesy of Prometheus. But if this was really necessary that's another matter. No Man's Land is darn right effective and transports you so easily back to the 80's. But it shows you as well that this is a rushed affair. It is neither entertaining nor classy, and features one of those Basil Poledouris scores that is worthy to be ignored.
Tracklisting
1. Main Title (3.01)
2. P.C.H. (1.03)
3. First Score (2.17)
4. Lone Score (1.21)
5. Love Theme (1.40)
6. Chase (5.29)
7. Porsche Power (0.39)
8. Drive my Car (2.15)
9. Ann Buttons (1.15)
10. Payoff (3.29)
11. Showtime (4.20)
12. End Credits (3.00)
Total Length: 29.49