The score for Commando was written by James Horner, who had been recommended to director Lester by producer Joel Silver, for whom Horner had scored 48 HRS. in 1982. Commando was the last of Horner’s five major theatrical features in 1985, after Heaven Help Us, Cocoon, Volunteers, and The Journey of Natty Gann, and it’s one of the scores that divides his fans the most. During the 1980s and early 1990s Horner developed what is best described as his ‘contemporary action music style’, which blends a limited orchestral palette with a lot of electronic percussion, keyboards, and unusual specialty instruments, into a musical style that is often described as ‘jazz fusion’. Commando is one of the group of scores that includes things like 48 HRS., Red Heat, and Another 48 HRS., all of which share similar characteristics and approaches, with slight differences in terms of melody and orchestration. Quite how Horner came up with the idea to blend strings with synths, shakuhachi bamboo flutes, steel drums, and saxophones is unclear, but that’s what we have here – and, yes, it’s sometimes as bizarre as it sound
Tracklist:
1 Position Title/Credits Duration
2 Ambush And Kidnapping 2:35
3 Captured 2:14
4 Surprise 8:19
5 Sully Runs 4:34
6 Moving Jenny 3:44
7 Matrix Breaks In 3:29
8 Infiltration, Showdown And Finale 14:33
