Horror, Sci-Fi & some...Soundtrack: Maurice Jarre ~ Jacob's Ladder (1990)

Maurice Jarre composed the score to Adrian Lyne's 1990 masterpiece, "Jacob's Ladder".

Jacob's Ladder is a 1990 psychological thriller/psychological horror film directed by Adrian Lyne, based on a screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin.

Jacob Singer is a U.S. soldier deployed in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. When the story begins, in 1971, helicopters are passing overhead, carrying supplies for what seems to be preparations for a Viet Cong offensive. Without any warning, Jacob's unit comes under heavy fire. The soldiers try to take cover but begin to exhibit strange behavior for no apparent reason. Jacob attempts to escape the unexplained insanity, only to be stabbed with a bayonet by an unseen attacker.

The film then shifts back and forth from Vietnam to Jacob's memories (and hallucinations) of his son Gabe and ex-wife Sarah, and to his present (set in 1975) relationship with a woman named Jezzie while working as a mailman in Brooklyn, New York City. During this latter period, Jacob faces several threats to his life and experiences grotesque hallucinations. It is also revealed that his son Gabe was hit by a car and killed before Jacob went to Vietnam.

At a key moment, Jacob's friend and chiropractor, Louis, cites the 14th century Christian mystic Meister Eckhart:

Eckhart saw Hell too. He said: "The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you," he said. "They're freeing your soul. So, if you're frightened of dying and... you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth."

As the hallucinations become increasingly bizarre, Paul, one of his old Army friends, contacts Jacob to tell him about his hallucinations and is later killed when his car explodes. At the funeral, his surviving platoon-mates confess to Jacob they too have been seeing horrible hallucinations. Jacob is then approached by a man named Michael Newman, who claims to have been a chemist working with the Army's chemical warfare division in Saigon, where he worked on creating a drug that would increase aggression. The drug was code named "The Ladder" because it took people straight to their most primal urges. The drug was first tested on monkeys and then on a group of enemy POWs, with gruesome results. Later, small doses of "The Ladder" were secretly given to Jacob's battalion via their C-rations. Instead of targeting the enemy, however, the men in Jacob's unit attacked each other indiscriminately. This revelation insinuates that Jacob was stabbed by one of his fellow soldiers.

The last scenes have Jacob returning to the apartment building he once lived in with Sarah. He enters and begins looking through an old shoe box, containing his memories and the pain he’s been clinging to, things like his dog tags and a picture of Gabe. Jacob then is surprised to see Gabe at the foot of the stairwell. Gabe takes Jacob by the hand and together the two of them ascend the stairwell and disappear into a bright light. At the dénouement, we learn Jacob never made it out of Vietnam; his body is shown in an Army triage tent with two surgeons just after he expired, with a now peaceful look on his face. Apparently, the entire series of events was his dying hallucination. Before the film credits, an on-screen title card states that reports of BZ testing by the U.S. Army on its soldiers during the Vietnam War were denied by the Pentagon.

...If you're frightened of dying
and you're holding on,
you'll see devils tearing your life away.
If you've made your peace,
then the devils are really angels
freeing you from the earth...

Jacob's Ladder
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Official Trailer

Additional Songs

Jacob's Ladder: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Maurice Jarre | Format: Audio CD

Audio CD (October 26, 1993)
Original Release Date: November 2, 1990
Country: United States
Format: CD, Soundtrack
Genre: Classical, Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Classical
Label: Varèse Sarabande
© Varèse Sarabande Records

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Track listing:
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Maurice Jarre ~ Jacob's Ladder '90

Jacob's Ladder: Add. Songs

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Credits:
Choir: Kitka Eastern European Women's Choir
Composed , Conducted, Produced by Maurice Jarre
Engineer (Assistant): Ethan Chase, Sharon Rice, Sue McLean
Executive Producer: Robert Townson
Mastered by (Digitally) Dave Collins
Performer (Electronic Ensemble): Judd Miller, Michael Boddicker, Michael Fisher, Nyle Steiner, Ralph Grierson, Rick Marvin
Piano (Solo): Gloria Cheng
Recorded, Mixed, Mastered by (Digitally) Shawn Murphy
Shakuhachi: Kazu Matsui
Supervised by (Production Supervisor) Tom Null
Vocals (Solo): Jubilant Sykes, Kari Windingstad
Vocals, Violin (Double): Shankar

Soundtrack music by Maurice Jarre.
Maurice Jarre was the French born composer, best known for his film scores for Lawrence of Arabia, Dead Poets Society, Ghost and Jacob's Ladder.

Additional Songs:
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"Lady Marmalade"
By Bob Crewe (as B. Crewe) / Kenny Nolan (as K. Nolan)
Published by Kenny Nolan Publishing / Tannyboy Music / Stone Diamond Corp. (BMI)
Performed by LaBelle
Courtesy of CBS Records

"My Thang"
Written by James Brown (as J. Brown)
Published by Unichappell Music (BMI)
Performed by James Brown
Courtesy of PolyGram Special Products

"Please Mr. Postman"
Written by Robert Bateman (as R. Bateman) / Georgia Dobbins (as G. Dobbins) / William Garrett (as W. Garrett) / Brian Holland (as B. Holland) / Freddie Gorman (as F. Gorman)
Published by Jobete Music Co., Inc. (ASCAP) / Stone Agate Music (BMI)

"Sonny Boy"
Written by Buddy G. DeSylva (as B.G. de Silva) / Lew Brown (as L. Brown) / Ray Henderson (as R. Henderson) / Al Jolson (as A. Jolson)
Published by Warner Bros. Music (ASCAP)
Performed by Al Jolson
Courtesy of MCA Records

"What's Going On"
Written by Renaldo Benson (as R. Benson) / Al Cleveland (as A. Cleveland) / Marvin Gaye (as M. Gaye)
Published by Jobete Music Co., Inc. (ASCAP) / Stone Agate Music (BMI)
Performed by Marvin Gaye
Courtesy of Motown Records

"Hearing Solar Winds / Part 3: Arc Descents"
Written by David Hykes (as D. Hykes)
Performed by David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir
Courtesy of Ocara/Radio France

"The Ladder"

Jacob is told that the horrific events he experienced on his final day in Vietnam were the product of an experimental drug called "The Ladder", which was used on troops without their knowledge. Jacob is told this by Michael, who is later seen treating his wounds in a Medevac helicopter. He is told that the drug was named for its ability to cause "a fast trip straight down the ladder, right to the primal fear, right to the base anger." At the end of the film, a message is displayed mentioning the testing of a drug named BZ, NATO code for a deliriant and hallucinogen known as 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate that was rumored to have been administered to U.S. troops by the government in a secret attempt to increase their fighting power. The effects of BZ, however, are different from the effects of the drug depicted in Jacob's Ladder. The film's director Adrian Lyne himself noted that "nothing ... suggests that the drug BZ—a super-hallucinogen that has a tendency to elicit maniac behavior—was used on U.S. troops."