Buy it... if you want to hear Poledouris' triumphant arrival to feature films with a rousing, largely symphonic score.

Avoid it... only if you do not collect Poledouris' works and those of his that you do own are tilted towards his more recent or electronic works.

Poledouris

Big Wednesday: (Basil Poledouris) There haven't been many dramatically weighty films in the genre of surfing throughout Hollywood's history, but director John Milius wanted to present the public with just that in 1978. An avid surfer during his developmental years in Southern California, Milius wanted to change the perception of surfing films that had been dominated by pop culture music and had neglected the serious and professional aspects of the sport. While Big Wednesday accomplished its goal in providing drama both on and off the waves, the film earned its niche in small cult groups across the world while being sadly forgotten by most mainstream viewers. Another surfing enthusiast, and one of Milius' close friends, Basil Poledouris, was also studying film in the same area in the 1970's. Poledouris' knack for musical whimsy, composing impromptu themes on the piano for Milius' early film projects, led to an early and fruitful collaboration on Big Wednesday. With the film centering on subject matter close to their hearts, and shying away from major stars and their accompanying budgets, both Milius and Poledouris took the project on as a labor of passion, and their ideas about the musical identity of Big Wednesday surfaced before shooting on the film even began. Unlike those pop culture surfing films of previous decades, Poledouris was instructed to offer his services to this film with the intent of a largely orchestral approach.

Poledouris had scored music for television and disappointing B-films for a few years, and the opportunity to write for a feature film such as Big Wednesday led to not only a successful career for Poledouris, but also a continuing collaboration with Milius through the formative years of that career. With the film treating surfing as a serious subject, Poledouris would not only employ a 55 - 65 member orchestra, but also a pair of slack key Hawaiian guitarists to provide the heartwarming material for the central characters and their bonds with each other. A significant amount of lightly swaying romantic material would also accompany the love interests in the film. The most fascinating aspect of Big Wednesday is how accomplished Poledouris already was at establishing the prevailing symphonic style that would define his works for decades to come. Even if you add to the equation the enthusiasm inherent in the topic for Poledouris (a sea-worthy, sailing spirit that would flourish once again many years later in his scores for Wind and Free Willy), you still receive a score for Big Wednesday that is significantly better than you would expect to hear from a composer on his first feature project. As the tale of the four primary characters passes through the years, Poledouris sets a dramatic backdrop with lush string themes and pulsating brass for the crashes of the waves, always pleasant in tone and rooted at the level of personal perseverance. So heroic is the tone at some moments that Poledouris (unintentionally) writes a mirror for John Williams' Superman in "Matt's Rite of Passage."

The guitar cues are likely to be dismissed by fans of Poledouris' larger themes, but their personality is vital to Big Wednesday's tale. Also important are several off-center cues for individual quirks in the story, such as the militaristic barrage of percussion in the induction center scene, as well as the re-recording of "Crumple Car" (both in film edits and the extended version) for some cultural pizzazz. The somber inclusion of the traditional "Taps" and "We Shall Gather at the River" themes into key dramatic cues (seamlessly integrated with his own themes) is an exhibition of Poledouris' musical knowledge even at that time. The "Liquid Dreams" cue is a spoof of early surfer movie music, with pop electric guitar work imitating some of Poledouris' real life early assignment writing. Outside of some source Mexican music, there really is no detraction from the score's overall focus. Despite this diversity, the swells of the orchestra produce the true magic in Big Wednesday for any Poledouris fan, from the opening performance of the "March of the Hawaiian Kings" surfing theme to the heartfelt transitional music in the "Passing of the Years" cues, and, of course, the momentous three cues at the film's 'big wave' finale. With a larger ensemble and a better recording quality, these three cues, along with "Jack Surfs Alone," are early symphonic marvels for Poledouris, rivaling the intensity of his later scores. Several thematic hints of his Free Willy scores are to be heard in these highlights, and some of the heavier brass techniques in those three climactic cues would foreshadow Poledouris' knight and barbarian-related scores of the mid-1980's.

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While the score for Big Wednesday had never received an official release, scarce bootlegs of the score (with decent sound quality) have circulated for several years on the secondary market. This changed in 2004, with Film Score Monthly's Silver Age Classics series producer Lukas Kendall collaborating with Basil Poledouris to bring the album into a legitimate release limited to 3,000 copies in the summer of 2004. While the 1978 score stretches the limits of the series' boundaries, and with some critics arguing that FSM releases have been redundant lately, there should be no complaint whatsoever about Big Wednesday. As usual, the treatment of the score by FSM is outstanding, with an impressive presentation both on CD and in the packaging. Poledouris' original trailer cue for the film, for instance, featuring the surfing theme that the composer would expand upon for the film itself, is an intriguing addition. Likewise, we hear both film and alternate edits for several cues, rounding the album at nearly the maximum length possible on CD. The sound quality of the album is very good considering its recording in early 1978, and the higher-quality master tapes for tracks 20 - 22 provide music that is comparable in sound quality to much of what you hear today. Given that the Big Wednesday album will likely appeal to both the older and younger generations of film score collectors (Poledouris has been popular for long enough now that he spans two collecting generations), it would be advisable to pick up a copy of this limited album before it becomes yet another FSM Silver Age title to disappear from availability. Not only will it be a good investment, but Poledouris' score is a highly satisfying dramatic listening experience, and a fascinating one in particular for collectors of the composer. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Basil Poledouris reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.45 (in 32 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.34 (in 30,918 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.