Buy it... if you want only the best of Cliff Eidelman's work from the late 1990's, for his adaptation of the music for the Free Willy franchise is dramatically mature and thematically rich.

Avoid it... if you can't accept only one minute of Basil Poledouris' famous theme for the first two films, as well as the total abandonment of the vibrant electronic, choral, and orchestral blend of those scores' style.

Eidelman

Free Willy 3: The Rescue: (Cliff Eidelman) The trilogy of Free Willy films stumbled in the middle, but 1997's Free Willy 3: The Rescue is a surprisingly mature and logical examination of what the famed Orca would face on the open seas. Now facing death due to illegal harpooning, Willy needs several of the characters from the earlier films to gang together and save him from his inevitable fate. The series has come a long way from the playful human/whale interaction of the first film, and the music made its own journey as well. The original film's music by Basil Poledouris was a highly stylish and romping blend of orchestral and synthetic, with jolly, memorable themes and a spirit of exuberance not often heard in film scores today. His music for the second film was somewhat trivial because so little development was demanded by the lower-quality script that a simple re-hash by Poledouris was sufficient. The serious turn of the third film in the trilogy was no place for the bright colors of Poledouris' spunky music for the franchise thus far, and while the composer could very well have adapted his own sound for the grown up premise of Free Willy 3, the somewhat languishing Cliff Eidelman was assigned the project instead. After entering the mainstream of film scoring with a bang at the start of the decade, Eidelman had scored a series of unsuccessful light dramas and comedies that stalled his career. By comparison to those projects, Free Willy 3 was a welcome step back in the right direction. Unfortunately, despite the great strength of his music for this film, many fans would consider Free Willy 3 to be Eidelman's final compelling effort before sinking to an even more obscure level of relative inactivity.

Eidelman obviously poured his heart into Free Willy 3, and with multiple new themes in addition to a nod to the themes and style of Poledouris, it is a very diverse and complex score while maintaining the enthusiasm of the children's fantasy genre. Three vibrant themes provide Free Willy 3 with clear identities for the concepts of the hunters, the whales, and the humans who intend on saving them. The hunting theme that dominates the "Main Titles" is a powerful combination of strong percussion, electric bass, and later marimbas and fiddles. It would be further developed into a massively frightening action movement in "The Hunt" and "Obsession." While the title theme for the heroic humans receives hints in the opening cue, it flourishes in the latter half of the score and receives lengthy development in "End Credits." The third theme is a yearning style of lament for the whales themselves, poignantly offered by Eideman in the elegant solo voice of well-known artist Francine Poitras in "Awakening" and "Redemption." Her wordless vocals add an element of mystical depth to the orchestra that had not existed in the franchise to date. Eidelman employs numerous entertaining solo instrumental performances, including an exotic flute that some will recognize from the Klingon sequences of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. In "You Were Right," Mike Lang's piano performances are a touching addition to the formula. Eidelman combines these highlights with the powerful and yet sensitive performances by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Both "Whale Call" and "Birth" are excellent examples of Eidelman's talent for creating subtle, complex motifs for solo instruments over an ensemble. The musicians are flawless throughout the album and, in ways far different from Poledouris' techniques, Eidelman manages to capture the spirit of the water.

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The "End Credits" track offers a suite of Eidelman's numerous themes from the film, rounding out a surprisingly enticing album. There are detractions to mention, though. The lack of significant adaptation of Poledouris' magnificent themes for the franchise is a disappointment. On album, Eidelman waits until the sweet finale in "A New Family" before mentioning the famous title theme for the franchise. When he does, the one-minute arrangement is quite attractive, alternating phrases of the theme between strings and woodwinds before one resounding ensemble performance. For some listeners, this orchestrally dramatic rendition of the theme will be more satisfying that Poledouris' original versions. Unfortunately, Eidelman's adaptation techniques are limited to this one cue on album and subsequent usage of the theme, which would very much have been welcomed, is absent. This complaint is somewhat half-hearted, though, because the album for Free Willy 3 runs for only 29 minutes. At 89 minutes in total length, the film certainly contained more Eidelman material that could constitute a more well-rounded album, though history has taught us that no Free Willy score ever receives its due treatment by record labels. Overall, the ultimate strength of the album is not just the plethora of themes, but the steady and consistent excellence of their rendering throughout all the tracks of the album, whether at the forefront of the film or in subdued underscore mode. It might be too short to purchase outright for many fans, and Poledouris collectors may not find much in it to get excited about (especially those looking for the vibrant mix of electronics and orchestra that is completely absent here), but it still stands among Eidelman's very best and least-known scores. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Cliff Eidelman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.29 (in 17 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.2 (in 7,740 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.