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As per usual for the composer, Holdridge overdelivers for The Beastmaster, providing expansive and thematically rich music that is only restrained by its age and sometimes restricted ensemble size. It's a work with the right heart and perfect tone, highlighted by a main theme that remains one of the best to come out of the genre in this era. The composer wrote no less than eight themes and lesser motifs for the story, though two themes are really appreciable in memory. The primary heroic theme, similar to Stu Phillips' "Battlestar Galactica," represents Dar's exploits as the Beastmaster, introduced in "Main Titles" and reprised frequently throughout the score. Its statements during the battle sequences and finale are modulated well for both excitement and majesty, its personality straddling the sword and sorcery genre and that of space opera science fiction. (Some may consider it Holdridge's best fantasy identity overall.) The composer reduces the heroic theme to solo woodwinds during conversational scenes and slows its progressions nicely when needed, as at the start of "A New King." In that cue and in the middle of "Raft Escape," Holdridge mingles the heroic theme with that of the slave girl, Kiri. This romance idea for the film is almost exclusively performed by the flute, heard first in "The Bathing Scene" and shining in each of its delicate renditions. Because the heroic theme uses other phrases as its string-based interlude sequence, the love theme doesn't fill this role, which is a little disappointing. The two ferrets and their silly antics in the film are provided a giddy, almost nature documentary-like woodwind scherzo in "Ferret Chase" and beyond, breaking up the otherwise serious demeanor of the score. Dar also receives a secondary theme for his ability to see through the eyes of an eagle, and this idea is a little more obtuse. Developed after a minute into "Sword and Eagle," this ascending phrase most often accompanies the hero theme thereafter. The beginning of that cue also offers Holdridge's theme of mystical communication between Dar and all animals, its rising progressions typically expressed by bells and continuing in "Quicksand" and other places as brief reminders of the capability. Some of the applications of this motif were layered with other metallic noises in the film's mix. In contrast, the villains of the tale receive three themes in what was likely overkill, though don't expect any of them to be truly memorable.

A general theme of evil is expressed by Holdridge in The Beastmaster whenever sorcery is being used by antagonists. Its somewhat choral tones, partly synthetic, are mostly heard in early scenes showing Dar's past. The motif groans and whines like a theremin in "Stealing the Child" and extends its unpleasant tones to "The Ritual." The rowdy Jun warriors routing the lands are offered a stomping brass identity in "Jun Raid," "Captive Panther/Fighting Juns," and "The Horde Attacks/The Moat/Dar vs. Jun Leader" and has monster movie sensibilities in its static movements. Finally, the evil sorcerer, Maxx, who leads the villainy in the story, receives a thumping timpani motif that never evolves past its primordial duties. While Holdridge conveys a smart narrative with all these themes and motifs, the heroic identity for Dar easily prevails over the others and highlights the score's most tonally impressive passages. The studio felt that the Italian recording of the "Pyramid Battle" cue didn't contain enough beefy force, and it allowed that cue to be rearranged for a different, final cut of the scene and recorded with a fuller ensemble in Los Angeles, and this performance is another highlight. The legacy of the score has supported a variety of album releases through the years. The original LP release informed an initial CD album from C.A.M. of Italy in 1995, with a few rearrangements to allow for the pyramid battle music to be included in full. Holdridge then released that music along with selections from his "Beauty and the Beast" television series work on a promotional CD in 2000. A worthy expansion finally arrived in 2013 from Quartet Records, the album presentation joined by the original film version of the score. The composer was never completely satisfied with the archival mix from Rome featured on that product, though, so with the short-printed Quartet album quickly out of print, Dragon's Domain Records returned to that same 2-CD presentation in 2016 for another limited run with Holdridge's involvement and an improved mix. That product also includes the notable 1984 re-recording by Charles Gerhardt and the London Symphony Orchestra of a suite from Holdridge's score. Between this final inclusion and the improved mix, the Dragon's Domain set is the best available album for the score. In its genre, The Beastmaster is a worthy entry, better than most of the competition but not transcendent. Still, it represents an important achievement in Holdridge's career and will please collectors of his typically attractive lyrical work.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Lee Holdridge reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.77 (in 14 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.34 (in 7,816 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.