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Fire on the Mountain/Flyers
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Orchestrated by:
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Greig McRitchie
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Co-Produced by:
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Ford A. Thaxton
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Release Date:
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March, 2001
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Availability:
Limited and numbered release of 2,000
copies; available only through specialty outlets.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Poledouris | |
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Fire on the Mountain/Flyers: (Basil Poledouris) In the early 1980's,
Basil Poledouris was just breaking through into the mainstream group of
Hollywood composers. And yet, even with The Blue Lagoon and Conan the
Barbarian --two extremely popular success stories-- under his belt at the
time, much of Poledouris' music from 1980 to 1983 is largely forgotten or
ignored (with the exception of Conan the Barbarian, of course). As with
any composer working his way up the pay and popularity scales, not all of
Poledouris' scores during this period were for lastingly popular films. Fire
on the Mountain and Flyers are good examples of such works. Fire
on the Mountain was a 1981 feature film rendition of the controversial book,
but unfortunately, the lack of bite in the film caused it to disappear without a
hint of a video release since. On the other hand, Flyers was a 1983 IMAX
picture that did pretty well in the specially equipped theatres across America.
But like many IMAX films, the technology of following films dazzled audiences
with even greater technological marvels, so Flyers (roughly the 30th of
200+ IMAX films in existence) faded away as well, with only very rare showings
at IMAX history exhibitions that occasionally bless the big screens.
The album of both these works, presented by Prometheus Records (which recently
also produced the 1995 Poledouris score for Amanda on CD as well),
contains roughly fourty minutes of music between the two scores. The first half
is occupied by Fire on the Mountain. In many ways, Poledouris has a great
strength in his ability to write intimate melodies for very few instruments. The
particular habit of composing simple, appealing melodies for woodwind
instruments (which would continue all the way through Kimberly in 2000)
is reminiscent of the same tactic that Jerry Goldsmith was fond of using in his
character-driven scores of the 1960's (Patch of Blue, for example). It is
this small scale intimacy that causes the score to maintain its sometimes bleak
simplicity. The score is ultimately bittersweet, in that the evil forces of the
U.S. Government prevail over the sole, honorable farmer at the end. The main
drawback of the Fire on the Mountain score on album is the aural
distortion that occurs during tracks one, two, and nine. When the volume of the
music increases beyond its usually subdued levels, an engineering problem with
the recording causes static and distortion on the first beat of every measure,
which can be very distracting if you're an audiophile like me. Fortunately, the
score for Flyers has fewer technical problems.
With flying sequences of the same robust spirit as Goldsmith's Forever
Young, Poledouris' Flyers mixes the awe of large scale scenery with
the carnival aspect of the stunt clowns whose story line the film portrays.
Without a doubt, Flyers is the more dynamic and fascinating score of the
two on the album. Like all IMAX scores, the scope of the project is gargantuan,
with plenty of fully orchestral parades of theme to accompany the dare-devil
stunt work high in the sky on screen. While the circus atmosphere of the story
within the film can sometimes be distracting, Poledouris takes a moment in "The
Test" to foreshadow the timpani-rumbling, thematic outbursts that would
eventually mature in Farewell to the King. The great highlight of
Flyers is the "Night Flight/The Canyon" track, for which Poledouris
employed a male chorus to enhance that spectacular sequence of the film. These
three minutes are a treasure in Poledouris' career, however the age of their
recording can be heard in some mild distortion near the end of the track (but
it's nothing so distracting as the static in Fire on the Mountain). The
sheer energy of Flyers is exhilerating, and makes for a extreme contrast
in style between the reflective and ill-fated Fire on the Mountain.
Together on disc, they may not be the best of pairs, but both feature
Poledouris' talent for strong themes and character. Without this album, neither
score by this renowned composer would receive due attention, and for that note
alone, it is worth the attention from Poledouris collectors. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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Fire on the Mountain
• 1. The Ride (2:19)
• 2. Tree Chop (0:56)
• 3. Drop Off/Rascal (3:01)
• 4. Gracias! (3:42)
• 5. Boots/Cruza/Candle (2:25)
• 6. Forever?/Shutters (1:59)
• 7. Mountain Lost (2:22)
• 8. Good-bye, Ol' Horse (2:50)
• 9. End Titles (1:03)
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Flyers
• 10. The Carrier/Coming Home (4:17)
• 11. Stunt Work/More Stunt Work (2:31)
• 12. Aerial Ballet (1:08)
• 13. Night Flight/The Canyon (3:36)
• 14. We'll Talk/Coming Home II (1:40)
• 15. The Test (3:55)
• 16. Soaring (1:42)
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Insert contains lengthy notes about the movies, scores, and composer by Jonathan Broxton.
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