While the contemporary stylings and likable demeanor of the pop-minded score for Crocodile Dundee is its most memorable feature looking back decades later, Best does infuse it with a surprising number of thematic elements that never really took flight in the subsequent films. All of the major themes are featured in "Overture From Crocodile Dundee," a satisfying summary of the score for anyone looking for a quick highlight. The main theme of the franchise sometimes utilizes an octave-hopping bass motif and is led by a mysterious tone with simple pairs of repeated notes and hopeful later phrasing. This idea is showcased in "Opening Title Theme," offers some playful suspense in "Nice One, Skippy," opens "Mick Meets New York" tentatively before erupting in contemporary jazz, and returns at 2:00 into "Overture From Crocodile Dundee." Sometimes used as an interlude to this theme is Dundee's more personal melody, generic three-note figures of whimsy for the character's softer side. It wafts through on dreamy woodwinds in "Never Never Land," "Echo Billabong," and "Would You Mind?" and switches to strings in "Stone the Crows," late in "That's Not a Knife," and early in "Oh Richard." The theme is very slow and meandering, following a very long intro in "Theme From Crocodile Dundee" and occupying the end of "Overture From Crocodile Dundee." A comedy theme represents Dundee in his "fish out of water" New York scenes, opening "G'Day" in humorous guitars, flute, and snare as it builds over the entire cue. It recurs during all of the short "Yessir" and brings its dainty, Western twang and snare to the start of "Overture From Crocodile Dundee." A love theme is rather short-changed, coming to the rescue at 2:03 into "Nice One, Skippy" in soft orchestral shades and growing out of ambient clicking on strings late in "Sunset." After its simple but effective underlying chords soothe without the theme itself following the attack sequence at the start of "Crocodile," this romantic identity experiences a pleasantly prominent light rock moment with undulating lines at 1:23 into "Overture From Crocodile Dundee." The somewhat silly guitar and drum kit riff from background of the song, "Mad, Bad & Dangerous," becomes a de facto danger theme in "The Pimp" and "The Pimp Returns," also alluded to at 1:15 into "Overture From Crocodile Dundee." It's really shallow stuff, but it serves its purpose well, wailing saxophones in the background reinforcing the New York setting.

Unique moments in the Crocodile Dundee score include the contemporary swagger of "The Walkabout Bounce" on saxophones, while the suspense of "Crocodile" sounds like the low woodwind Growltiger motif from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats. An almost bluesy spirit takes the sound a bit more depressed in the slowly-paced "Oh Richard." The straight contemporary light rock is really generic despite its proper placement in the era. In the end, Best's music is remembered fondly by enthusiasts of the film but can be somewhat laborious on album for those not reliving the story and its memorable characters. Best arranged his tracks on the album so that several of the cues simply fade out during repetitious sequences at their ends. Varèse Sarabande and Silva Screen released both LP and CD albums for Crocodile Dundee in 1986. While the American Varèse album was limited to 32 minutes of highlights, the Silva product contains a 46-minute presentation with a variety of mostly short, incidental cues thrown in as well. Fans of the film will want to seek out the Silva album in part because it features more vibrant sound quality but also because the additional cues do illuminate Best's thematic intentions better. "Never Never Land," "Echo Billabong," "Would You Mind?," "Stone the Crows," and "That's Not a Knife" provide a collectively rounded representation of Dundee's personal theme. The suspense motif extends to "The Death Roll," the comedy theme does the same in "Yessir," and the love theme offers some minimal guidance to "A Walk in the Bush." The didgeridoo material from the opening cue continues in "The Buffalo." Some of the longer album's cues are insignificant or wholly redundant, such as "In the Boat," "Goodnight Walter," "Sunset," and "The Pimp Returns," but the flair in the piano runs of "Mick and His Mate, Cyril" is sadly missed from the shorter product. In the end, casual listeners will find all the basics on the Varèse album, but the Silva presentation and its sound quality make it a better option for everyone else. Best returned to score 1988's Crocodile Dundee II with a somewhat larger sound and more heavy-handed suspense; the main theme is the only obvious carry-over identity. That score was not released on album by Best's request because it contained, in his opinion, too much redundant material repeated from the first score to merit its own product. These scores aren't high art, but they're an innocuous time capsule of mid-1980's comedies with a hint of Australian personality, and they certainly accomplish their task.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download