The previous entries in this series can be found below:

Part 1: https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=139461
Part 2: https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=139645
Part 3: https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=139963
Part 4: https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=140222

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The Jungle Book (1994)



Before making some of the best (and worst) CGI action-horror films of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Stephen Sommers apparently had a stint working for Disney. Who knew. Following the mild success of The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993) starring a very young Elijah Wood, Sommers wrote & directed an indie film adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic jungle adventure stories. The film has a really strong cast including Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli with supporting roles by Cary Elwes, Lena Headey, John Cleese and Sam Neil and has a very solid 80% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes… like that means anything, but still. It also did well at the box office in ’94… and is another 90’s family movie I’ve never seen.



Of course the reason this is part of this journey is because Basil Poledouris did the score and the result is… fine and fun. A quick summation for Jungle Book would be that it’s a combination of Farewell to the King with a some Lonesome Dove thrown in along with, what I’m amusing is temp tracking, some blatant James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith influences. Poledouris graces the score with several themes including a primary theme that is also the basis for a perfectly serviceable Kenny Loggins song (“Two Different Worlds”) though it fails to truly standout in the way his best themes do. Heck, that’s basically the whole score in nutshell: it’s fun while it lasts but never sticks in the mind for long after. Well, except for the Horner and Goldsmith references.



There’s a recurring playful theme that Basil uses which is straight out of the Horner playbook for lighthearted affairs (beginning of “Monkey City”) which becomes even more inescapable during the cue “Civilization”) which is 5 and a half minutes of Poledouris doing a Horner impression. This, along with some of the jungle music and action material later, is clearly from Sommers & Co. temp-tracking the movie, but it feels particularly odd given how distinct Poledouris’ music is and then suddenly hearing Horner and Goldsmith barge into the mix. There’s also some early Starship Troopers brass and rhythmic ideas in “Baloo” and “Spoils that should delight fans.

Ultimately this is a mixed bag effort that needed a stronger central identity and also perhaps some more ethic colors added in like Farewell to the King. That said, this is still a fan Poledouris effort and worth hearing at least once… just know that there are infinitely better choices available.



SCORE:

3/5

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Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)



Mo Seagal.



A sequel to Under Siege (1992), I assume, Dark Territory appears to be a “Die Hard on a train” affair with Seagal as an ex-Navy SEAL onboard a train traveling from Denver to Los Angeles that has an unfortunate infestation of terrorists. A bunch of “oh, THAT guy!!” actors are in this from Everett McGill, Eric Bogosian and Morris Chestnut to Kurtwood Smith and Nick Mancuso. Oh and a young Katherine Heigl is also around. The film did better at the box office than Seagal’s prior flick that I covered (though not amazingly well), perhaps thanks to the fact he only starred and produced this one leaving everything else to more seasoned professionals… maybe. Like I said, I’ve never watched any of the man’s movies.



Thankfully Poledouris’ score is also a major step up from On Deadly Ground thanks in no small part by actually being performed by a competent and full fledged ensemble. Also adding to this being a far superior work are the themes, though the one major Achilles’ Heel here is that I’m not really sure what the villain/terrorist theme is suppose to be. There’s a wonderful romantic tinged identity that seems to be for Seagal’s family (“Casey’s Family”) that recalls Quigley Down Under while a noble horn identity is clearly for Seagal’s character (“Meet Casey Ryback”)… so I guess the baddie theme is the propulsive Rambo suspense piece? Anyway, outside of that one glaring issue most of Dark Territory is really smashing action and thriller material from Poledouris with a lot of foreshadowing for both Starship Troopers and Les Miserables peppered throughout. Also we’re back to Basil heavily mixing in synths and assorted effects alongside the orchestra which while not as seamless as in Free Willy, is easily on par with what Goldsmith was doing at the same time (especially check out “Access Codes” and “Scramble Map”).



Overall this is, as our dear Riley might say, a gooder whose only real flaw is the muddled villain material and the fact this is basically an hour of straight up action music. Those minor-ish issues aside, I strongly recommend checking this one out if you haven’t before especially for the action music fans amongst us.



SCORE:

4/5

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Amanda (1996)



Well, this is an interesting one. 

Couldn’t find much information about this title online with the only Wikipedia article being in Spanish or Italian… I think? Anyway, went to Clems review of the album for more information and lo! It’s a wild story. Without simply regurgitating what he wrote, go read the first half of his review then come back here for my take on the music. I’ll wait.



O.K, done? Notice how our own Heathen Professor Broxton did the liner notes? Nice.



Alright so the music Poledouris wrote for this family film that no-one ever saw is very firmly within his family drama and fantasy soundscape with a brief tinge of a Western thrown in. The end result is a largely low-key affair that allows Poledouris to simply bask in lovely orchestral music without the need for melodramatic passages or action material. It’s perhaps a “minor” work compared to Basil’s larger and more accomplished efforts but the incredibly amiable attitude and a lovely primary theme (“Ride to Church”) make this another easy highlight on my Poledouris journey. If you love the lite drama scores of Horner or Goldsmith from the 90’s, then by all means give Amanda a try… there’s even some minor carryover from the swashbuckling portions of Conan and Flesh + Blood here and there ("The Story Part 1", etc.).



SCORE:

4/5

> The Jungle Book (1994)
> SCORE:

> 3/5

This must be the Journey 2 of the 90s, because I consider it high-tier Basil; it's one of my favorite scores of his and gets replayed often. Grand, exciting, playful, colorful adventure score. Certainly in my top 10 if not my top 5 for him.

> The Jungle Book (1994)

I was wholly unaware until today that there was a Kenny Loggins song, probably because I got into this score through the U.S. CD release. Poledouris' Wind song also has somewhat been lost to the ages, though at least the Loggins song seems to be on YouTube per a quick Google search.

> Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)

4.5 stars for me, adding a half star based on a recent Poledouris collection mini-rundown inspired by your current journey. The percussion mix is really outstanding here.

I think you're being a bit harsh on Poledouris' villain theme, which admittedly isn't that memorable a motif but proves rather malleable throughout the score and often enters into combat with the main theme. And there's that whole "wonder of space" feel to the satellite theme, very much foreshadowing Starship Troopers.

The only thing really holding it back for me is how underutilized the family theme is. I don't fault Basil for the bizarre credits song he had nothing to do with.

> Amanda (1996)



This was not part of my mini-rundown; only heard 4-star and above. I remember liking it, but can't remember a note of it, which is probably why it's a low-end 3.5-star score in my tracker.

> I was wholly unaware until today that there was a Kenny Loggins song,
> probably because I got into this score through the U.S. CD release.
> Poledouris' Wind song also has somewhat been lost to the ages,
> though at least the Loggins song seems to be on YouTube per a quick Google
> search.

Yo! I didn't realize there was a song attached to the Wind score!!
But yeah, I based my review for Jungle Book off of someones YouTube upload of the full album and the Loggins song is the first track.

> 4.5 stars for me, adding a half star based on a recent Poledouris
> collection mini-rundown inspired by your current journey. The percussion
> mix is really outstanding here.

> I think you're being a bit harsh on Poledouris' villain theme, which
> admittedly isn't that memorable a motif but proves rather malleable
> throughout the score and often enters into combat with the main theme. And
> there's that whole 'wonder of space' feel to the satellite theme, very
> much foreshadowing Starship Troopers.

Perhaps, but I also feel like I need to give a more tempered analysis to some of these things since most of y'all adore them so much. I jest, of course.
The "wonder of space" music along with some of the militaristic material immiadtely screamed "precursor to Starship Troopers" to me in the best possible way.

> The only thing really holding it back for me is how underutilized the
> family theme is. I don't fault Basil for the bizarre credits song he had
> nothing to do with.

Oh yeah... I totally forgot to mention the abrupt, bizarre change to the credits song.

> This was not part of my mini-rundown; only heard 4-star and above.
> I remember liking it, but can't remember a note of it, which is probably
> why it's a low-end 3.5-star score in my tracker.

I honestly don't blame anyone for giving it a 3/5 or so rating based on lack of longstanding memorability. That said, like some of Horner's lite drama efforts of the time, I just really enjoy it while it lasts hence my higher rating.

> The Jungle Book (1994)

> SCORE:

> 3/5

I'd easily give this 4 stars. Also, am I the only one who thinks Poledouris was channeling John Barry a bit with that main theme?

The film is quite good too from what I remember. In fact, both live action Jungle Books are my favorite live-action Disney remakes, although given how this film is much different from it's animated counterpart it's probably not fair to call it a remake.

> ---------

> Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)

> SCORE:

> 4/5

I liked what I heard in the film, and would probably give the same rating.

> ----------

> Amanda (1996)



> Well, this is an interesting one. 

Couldn’t find much
> information about this title online with the only Wikipedia article being
> in Spanish or Italian… I think? Anyway, went to Clems review of the album
> for more information and lo! It’s a wild story. Without simply
> regurgitating what he wrote, go read the first half of his review then
> come back here for my take on the music. I’ll wait.



Wow. I wonder how they pitched Poledouris to get him to sign on for this film.

> I'd easily give this 4 stars. Also, am I the only one who thinks
> Poledouris was channeling John Barry a bit with that main theme?

I'm finding that "Poledouris channeling Barry" was apparently a very common thing in the formers career. Poledouris' romantic sensibilities fit right along with the lush romanticism of a lot of Barry's work so it fits quite nicely.

> The film is quite good too from what I remember. In fact, both live action
> Jungle Books are my favorite live-action Disney remakes, although given
> how this film is much different from it's animated counterpart it's
> probably not fair to call it a remake.

Hmm, I'll definitely check the film out whenever I run across it/a used copy. Sommers Huck Finn was a solid enough kids flick but was a bit too "kiddie" for me to fully get into... despite some DARK elements.