As someone who thinks ROBOCOP sounds pretty cheeky myself (sorry!) and thinks Blake is a pretty unheralded gem of a composer, I'm afraid to say I kinda-sort agree with this assessment.
The theme is fun enough, but I've never really understood the great love for any of the Robocop scores. Basil wrote much more fun scores elsewhere (to say nothing of ones with greater depth).
For me, Poledouris never came remotely close to the one-two punch of BLUE LAGOON and CONAN ever again following those efforts. Those scores are genius works of their respective genre, full of interesting ideas, heart, creative harmonies and orchestrations (how much of that is thanks to Grieg McRitchie, who's to say) and amazing dramaturgy. They're moving, inspired works.
His more popular later-day stuff always struck me as wannabe-Goldsmith. Recently revisiting STARSHIP TROOPERS reaffirmed this for me. Let the tomato-throwing commence!
As much as I like people trying to be Jerry Goldsmith (Joel McNeely!), I don't hear that in Basil's music at all (virtually no weird mixed-meter action writing!) Not even Starship Troopers, which is an action powerhouse -- it sounds 100% Basil to me. I definitely disagree with your premise. Other strong one-two punches from Basil?
Well first of all even though I do like Blue Lagoon quite a lot, I like A Whale for the Killing even more, and since that's one year apart from Conan rather than two I'm going to sub it in for that initial one-two punch.
Basil's next one-two punch happened in the same year for me: 1987, with his most epic miniseries score Amerika and the quirky fun scifi western Morricone homage Cherry 2000, a very unique score which despite that influence sounds like 100% Basil to me.
Likewise, despite liking Farewell to the King (1989) and The Hunt for Red October (1990) quite a bit, the next one-two punch IMO was the western twofer of Lonesome Dove (1989) and Quigley Down Under (1990)!
I gather you aren't a big fan of Starship Troopers, but I really enjoy it and it is the (weaker) initial punch in perhaps Basil's last combo, with the stronger punch the following year for Les Miserables (1998), quite likely my favorite Poledouris score of all time.
I think there might be another one-two punch someone in his filmography...I think the Free Willy scores (particularly the second) and On Deadly Ground may be reassessed once they get complete releases. And of course there are other great single scores like Flesh & Blood that aren't within a year of another masterpiece.
Hey bobb, have you ever heard BIG WEDNESDAY by Poledouris? That, to me, is his finest score. It's big, it's bold, it's a young composer shouting 'listen up, shit for brains, there's a new kid in town'
I recognize my coldness toward the vast output of Poledouris' career is totally my loss. All the ingredients are there, but something about his post 1983-ish work just doesn't resonate with me for some reason. Stuff like LONESOME DOVE, FLESH + BLOOD, ROBOCOP, RED DAWN, HUNT FOR THE RED OCTOBER, THE JUNGLE BOOK, FREE WILLY and STARSHIP TROOPERS just don't land for me and I have no idea how to articulate why. Lord knows they should based on the ingredients at play, and maybe at another point in life I'll feel differently about them (Kev, I do have BIG WEDNESDAY and I meant to acknowledge that one as well. I've only listened to it once or twice in full but I remember thinking it was a very fine score indeed, so I'll have to spin it again soon).
As I've been collecting more and more stuff from the classical realm and elsewhere, and especially once I began to dive into the glut of amazing Japanese film music that's out there and totally unmined by most of us "Western" collectors, a lot of the stuff out of Hollywood that I was once absolutely enamored with just hasn't held up under closer scrutiny. Speaking outside the realm of Hollywood mainstream film scoring, the bar for quality in other corners of the world is just so much higher than I ever realized.
Case in point, this piece from an early 90's video game that's totally forgotten today. I mean... C'mon:
I stress that this passionate, sprawling, amazing mini-concert work unto itself was written for an ill-remembered video game. From the early 1990's. And it's just the tip of the iceberg as to what's out there. I just don't hear a lot of Hollywood composers, even some of the really good ones, turning out music this palatable, this crafted, this rich. It's a damn feast for the ear, every note.
Jumping between piece like this and the time-strapped, micro-managed music composers in Hollywood are hand-tied into churning out, even when it's done with a lot of savvy, has begun to reveal its limitations. It's not a matter of talent when we're talking about guys like Poledouris, whose gifts are not in question (a score like CONAN doesn't happen by accident), it's more a matter of the many factors (tastes in a given era, director/producer/studio notes, temp tracks, etc.) that end up informing and inevitably diluting the music... To my ears, at least.
... Or hell, maybe I'm just turning into an insufferable, get-off-my-lawn classical music snob early in life. I guess that's possible too.
Basil's daughter is she capable of scoring Robo... I read she performed pieces for her father on movies, Conan, SST Etc, she still composes also does gigs an lyrics, her husband is a musician & songwriter.
Zoe's collaborated with a guy called Chris Tying composer not aware who he is or how wide the work/bond was/is, ltd info Zoe's cv.
Hmmm...bobbengan, since you didn't mention LES MISERABLES in your list of Poledouris scores that leave you cold, I figure I still have a chance of getting you into it...I think it is my single favorite of all of his works.
I know this is way out there but Yared could capture the tragic element of Murphy's story and we know he can write some pretty terrific action music based on his Troy score. Just putting that out there.
