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1. Varèse Sarabande 25th 2. The Last of the Mohicans 3. Legends of the Fall 4. Schindler's List 5. LOTR: Return of the King (Set) |
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Filmtracks Recommends: Buy it... if you're the #1 die-hard fan of the Conan the Barbarian score and you want some nominal expansion of the same sound. Avoid it... if you hold Conan the Barbarian with high regard and you don't want to hear a poor performing group mangle parts of its lesser sequel. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Returning is the opening Crom theme from the first film, representing the universe of Conan, as well as the "Riders of Doom" cue that often accompanies battle on horseback. Conan's journey theme ("Riddle of Steel") makes less of an appearance, though the "Valeria Remembered" cue does offer a hearty performance of the love theme from Conan the Barbarian. The slow, pounding theme for the religious mass at Doom's mountain in the first film makes an ill-advised appearance. Sorely missing is the vivacious civilization theme, which is odd, given Conan's return to the same locations (and meeting the same camel!) in Conan the Destroyer. Poledouris instead offers two stunning new themes and motifs in the sequel, represented in "Elite Guard Attacks" and "Crystal Palace" (especially note the Western, Cherry 2000-like theme at 4:00 into that latter cue). The action-packed confrontation and battle music in these cues is at the same level as Poledouris' previous effort. He also transforms the overarching theme for the series into an effective dueling motif that culminates into the massive "Conan & Bombaata Battle." Unfortunately for Conan the Destroyer, the recording quality and performances are significantly lacking. The score was recorded with only a single orchestra in Rome this time, and minus the chorus. The performances by the "Unione Musicisti Di Roma" orchestra are hideous in parts, with the horns often missing key notes entirely during important sequences. This problem is accentuated by the fact that Poledouris wrote Conan the Destroyer in same the demanding fashion as Conan the Barbarian, so the flaws stand out very obviously. The sequel score also sounds more dated in its recording technology, with a older, muted sound in several key cues. Thus, you have an excellent composition nearly ruined by its performers, and Poledouris fans should hope beyond hope that Conan the Destroyer is re-recorded properly someday (along, of course, with parts of the first score). The album for Conan the Destroyer is just as out of print as the Varèse Sarabande Conan the Barbarian one. This time, however, the album could be missed without much great loss to even a Poledouris collector. ***
(some listed track times on the album are slightly incorrect)
The out-of-print Varèse Sarabande album, like Conan the Barbarian, had detailed notes about both the score and film. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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