Escape to Victory

Escape to Victory is yet another WW2 film that seems a couple of decades out of its time, being from the 1980's as opposed to its rather 1960's feel. In case you're wondering, yes, it is Sylvester Stallone on the front cover, who plays a goalie in the film, but evidently had little grasp of football as he, as the star, felt he should score a goal. However, goalies are not renowned for their scoring (unless it's in their own net) and fortunately, he was convinced this would not be convincing. Gotta love the egos of the largely talentless. The flick also stars Michael Caine, presumably to add a touch of class. For the music, the then hot Bill Conti was on board, his bold style ideally suited to sports movies (if not necessarily ones set during the Second World War).
Given its dual status both a war and sports movie, there are several directions in which the music could go and Conti does a fairly good job of joining the two together, leaning on the war movie scores of the past and using his own sensibility to boost the rabble rousing sports element. That the main theme evokes Elmer Bernstein's Great Escape march is not a great surprise, although is far from the open parody of something like Chicken Run. However, a less expected element, in Let's Go Boys, are the echoing trumpets of Patton but as Goldsmith's indelible march is often used at American football games, suggesting it here is entirely natural. The last few tracks covering the final match are especially exciting, the end of Match's Revenge a curiously positioned paraphrase of the finale to Shostakovich's 5th Symphony, with Conti's even more heroic fanfare bolted on. A thoroughly rousing way to conclude.

The album rounds out with three Bonus Tracks which are all noted as being 'dub 2' but seem largely the same as their equivalents in the main body of the score. This limited edition from Prometheus is not perhaps their most lavish production, but features a few notes about the film and its music, although makes no mention of the alternate dubs. While the sound is fine, which emphasizes Conti's bristling, brassy orchestration, there is a little more hiss than one might expect from a score of this vintage. The great thing about unsubtle composers is that their soundtrack albums are invariably more consistently engaging and while Escape to Victory is hardly the most original of compositions, Conti's unfailing enthusiasm is so infectious, it's difficult not to find every minute terrific fun.