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Orchestrated by:
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Greig McRitchie
Mark McKenzie
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Release Date:
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November 17th, 1990
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you want to hear an excellent, modern Western score with
zip, swing, and bombastic, epic themes.
Avoid it... if you're one of those types who can never get a snazzy
theme out of your head, or if the sound of banjos causes you to jerk awake
in the middle of the night in cold sweats.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Poledouris | |
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Quigley Down Under: (Basil Poledouris) One of the more
vibrant modern Westerns, Quigley Down Under places American
sharp-shooter Tom Selleck in the outback of Australia, battling an evil
British landlord, Alan Rickman. Keeping it alive during its slow moments are
the film's campy attitude, quirky characters, and trademark Western score by
Basil Poledouris. A man of the sea, Poledouris is an avid sailor, and his
enthusiasm for ocean-related films is reflected in such scores as
Wind, The Hunt for Red October, and Free Willy. Even
though Poledouris had won acclaim for his Lonesome Dove television
music, the desert Western genre was still not an obvious choice for
Poledouris at the time, but the film did offer him a superb sailing scene at
the beginning with which to get his themes rolling. As it would turn out,
the choice of Poledouris for Quigley Down Under was fantastic, and
the composer would produce an upbeat, solid Western score with the same
vigor and outlaw style that fans clamored to hear in Cherry 2000. The
opening clarinet solo would set the pace for the entire score, performing a
dancing, Western-style theme that eventually grows to encompass the entire
orchestra. The woodwinds continue to portray the happy go lucky attitude of
the film and its characters through the very end, when the same clarinet
bounces along as the score fades away. In between, however, is a hidden gem
of the 1990's and a generally undiscovered score in Poledouris'
career.
The title theme that Poledouris creates for Quigley Down
Under is a slight mutation of a Western theme to include an Australian
swing (or, in other words, a touch of funk). A decade after its composition,
the theme ranks with Bruce Broughton's Silverado fanfare among the
best of modern Western scores. Its clunky banjo and percussion add spirit to
a theme that is already heavy on grand French horn performances in the major
key. Poledouris then adds a dominant secondary theme for Rickman's thugs,
heard for extended sequences in the fourth and eighth cues on album. This
secondary theme is also heavy on the French horns, and its minor key power
yields to major key heroism as Quigley blows them away one by one. It
engages the listener so well that it could very serve as an excellent
primary theme for another entire film. With the thematic beauty of the
themes occupying four lengthy cues, the remainder of the score features
solid Western underscore, with a tender subtheme for the love interest in
the film. The clarinet and banjo from the title themes add accent to several
cues, as does a playful rhythm for brass that hails back to the days of
1950's Westerns. In the end, however, the title theme is what sells
Quigley Down Under, both in the film and on album. The score was
released by Intrada on album near the time of the film's release, and has
since become difficult to find in stores since. For Poledouris and Western
fans alike, and even for the general film music collector who enjoys quirky,
noble themes, Quigley Down Under is a safe choice. ****
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Main Title (3:17)
• 2. The Fight (4:57)
• 3. Native Montage (2:11)
• 4. Marston's Murderers (3:31)
• 5. Cora's Story (3:18)
• 6. The Fire (2:57)
• 7. The Gift (5:25)
• 8. The Attack (2:49)
• 9. The Capture (2:44)
• 10. Freedom (3:34)
• 11. Matthew Quigley (5:22)
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Insert includes information about the score and film, written by Intrada's Douglass Fake.
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