Farewell To The King is such an oddity. Its so Barry but its obviously Poledouris. It sticks out on Basil's resume because its at once so unlike him and yet some of the best work he ever did.
It's true - the main theme definitely has a Barry-esque quality (and I believe Basil said that Milius pushed for that level of romanticism), yet I never feel like I'm listening to a Barry knock-off. Poledouris brought his own personality to it as well.
Conversely, I hear a bit of LONESOME DOVE in DANCES WITH WOLVES... since Basil was up for the job first, I've always suspected some of his music might have ended up in a temp track. But Barry did the same thing - he fused it with his own style.
I agree... I think that Basil combined my favorite aspects of many composers... Rozsa, Barry, Goldsmith, and so on... but always maintained a distinctive voice of his own. It's probably why I consider him to be my biggest "gateway" composer.
Terrible lost. Remembering Basil Poledouris I think of ROBOCOP, that end title will remain on my mind as one of the most remarkable for me. Unforgettable main theme. Also CONAN THE DESTROYER, when Arnold is fighting the monster at the mirror's room. The music is so rousing and heroic. That sequence would be kind of ridiculous without the music. That's a thing only a master of film music can do. That's Basil Poledouris.
I forgot to mention the fact that I never go anywhere without a copy of Conan... on CD, on an iPod, whatever... since Varese put the expanded version out in the mid 90's, I have never once been without it. Nothing else in my collection, not even my most favorite scores, shares that distinction.
Two of my favourites to be cherished forever...I am so grateful to own Conan: The Barbarian and Conan: The Destroyer. Much Mahalo, Basil...I cannot express how much we love and miss you.
My personal fave is BIG WEDNESDAY. A stunning score to an underrated film. I remember seeing the film and noticing the music, thinking "My God, who is this guy?", long before he scored Conan. (I had a similar thought while watching SILVERADO at the cinema). Getting the chance to chat with him, in a lovely relaxed venue and atmosphere in Ubeda, Spain, a few months before his death, will be a memory I will always cherish. It will be Basil Poledouris week on my mp3 player this week, for sure.
Wow, three years ago. I was getting things in line to move back to Dallas from Phoenix at the time. Odd how you remember personal things when you recall a loss like that.
Its been quite a time since Mr Poledouris died and his music was such a part of 80s and 90s film scoring. Definitely one of the major greats to have passed away in recent years.
I'll always remember Conan, what a superlative effort there, Flesh and Blood ditto, the synthy feel to Robocop and that Rockshop wow. Then to the moving yet action orientated Quigley Down Under, Wind and Free Willy. It just always felt that there was something special in every score he did. Of course there was the rare Cherry 2000 which has more variation in those 30 mins than most scores have today in 50mins!
Oh I could go on and on but of course there's Starship Troopers, who can forget 'The Destruction of the Roger Young' for instance or Asteroid Grazing. Double wow anyone?
He is sadly missed by me and no doubt by his wife and children even more so, a supremely talented composer who enriched a lot of people with his music and talent.
