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The Life and Music of Basil Poledouris
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Piano Solos by:
Directed by:
Michael Rosendale
Written by:
Jon Burlingame
Produced by:
Nick Redman Michael Rosendale Lukas Kendall
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LABEL & RELEASE DATE
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Film Score Monthly
(December, 1997)
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ALBUM AVAILABILITY
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Specialty release, available originally at FSM's site and soundtrack mail-order outlets.
It was still for sale at the FSM site until 2006. Its original price was $30, but the lack of
sales caused a clearance price of $20. Its status as of 2006 is unknown.
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AWARDS
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None.
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ALSO SEE
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Buy it... only if you're an extreme Basil Poledouris enthusiast, or
are a fan of his popular daughter Zoë.
Avoid it... if the hassle of finding and purchasing the old
VHS-format video isn't worth the money you could spend instead on one of
Poledouris' collectible scores.
BUY IT
Filmtracks has no record of commercial ordering options for this title. However, you can search for this title at online soundtrack specialty outlets.
 | Poledouris |
The Life and Music of Basil Poledouris: (Video) In
1997, Film Score Monthly founder Lukas Kendall took a significant
financial risk by announcing the debut of a video series that would
document the lives of modern film composers. Produced by "Vineyard Haven
Video," the first in the series was a 50-minute video profile of Basil
Poledouris, with interviews and tours of his house, studio, and, of
course, his boat. In coordination with co-producers Michael Rosendale
and Nick Redman, the production was limited in what it could show on
screen and what original recordings could be heard. Thus, what you get
is a significant dose of Poledouris himself, including his personal
performances on piano. Poledouris should need no introduction for film
music collectors. Before his death from cancer in 2006, his body of work spanned several
decades and included some of the most desirable action music on the secondary
market. At the time the video was shot, Poledouris had just finished
Starship Troopers and was about to venture on to Les
Misérables. Ironically, after this video was shot, Poledouris
would slowly begin to turn his attention away from regular film scoring
duties (as well as fall ill), causing his output in the 2000's to be sparse. Poledouris
never showed any hints in the video about his impending reduction in
scoring assignments, though he did elaborate on the challenges in the
evolution of scoring technologies. The emphasis that Kendall placed in
the video exists on the personal side of the composer, and while
Poledouris does discuss a handful of his works, most of the running time
is devoted to the man's personality and lifestyle. To nobody's surprise,
the video concentrates significantly on Poledouris' love of sailing and
the sea, a passion that has inspired some his best works for like-minded
films. He interacts with copies of film scripts and pictures from films
on his wall, and talks about dreams while sailing his boat. Also
featured is Poledouris' wife (at the time), Bobbie, and their popular singer/songwriter
daughter Zoë, who had just come off of an appearance on the
soundtrack for Starship Troopers.
The production quality of the video is professional,
but nothing that would blow you out of your seat. The cost of including
original clips, both in video and sound, were simply too exorbitant for
FSM, so you instead receive significant photography and a consistent use
of Poledouris' solo piano performances, which were used to score the
video. Poledouris himself seemed patient with the production, but not
overly enthusiastic; this could simply be a personality trait,
especially given that he and FSM had a strong and viable
relationship through the years. In content, the video features in-depth
interviews with Poledouris about Starship Troopers, Free
Willy, Conan the Barbarian, Lonesome Dove, and the
opening and closing themes for the Centennial Olympic Games. While
Poledouris' piano performances sometimes mirror the scores being
discussed, he also throws in some The Blue Lagoon and Farewell
to the King. Technically speaking, while it may be difficult to
appreciate these solo performances of such grand symphonic works, the
sound quality on the video is excellent. Some viewers who prefer
wall-to-wall analysis of the industry and the scores might be bored by
the lengths to which the video details Poledouris' family life. Indeed,
those folks will be far more fascinated by Poledouris' description of
how the job of scoring a film had changed in the previous decade (the
complications, technologically and professionally), as well as the
scenes involving the massive, seven track mixing equipment of the time.
One thing you'll notice about Poledouris' personality is the difference
in his speaking style when talking about different subject matters. When
discussing scores, the film music industry, or other individuals with
whom he works, Poledouris was very serious and professional. Yet when
speaking of his relationship with Bobbie, an enormous smile (and a
little blushing) lit up his face. This was interesting because of the
fact that he separated his work (especially in his quiet, undisturbed
work room) from his love of family, sailing, etc, even though they were
very much intertwined.
In the end, the production did not succeed as Kendall
had certainly hoped it would. Given the expenses of these projects, and
the necessity of generosity in time that is required of the composer who
agrees to be profiled, this first video in the series unfortunately
turned out to be the only entry. At a selling price of $30, the video
was slightly too expensive for the masses of casual fans to bother with,
and yet the price wasn't high enough to allow the video to use the
original film and soundtrack clips that would have been necessary to
make the production a success. The price eventually fell to $20 when
the product did not sell well. Even if the original investment had been
there, the cost of the video with such elements secured would have
killed the series anyway. Film Score Monthly really did deserve praise,
however, for at least trying in this venture. They continued to sell the
product in VHS and PAL (European) formats for several years, never
transferring the masters to laserdisc or DVD as hoped. Included on this
review page is a track listing compiled by Filmtracks that could have
simulated the chapter titles of the video had it been transferred to DVD
format. It had been available through their own site's store and
soundtrack specialty outlets, though it slowly disappeared through the
years. When FSM transferred their store to the Screen Archives site in
the mid-2000's, the availability of the video apparently went lost. It
may not have been hard to predict that the video wouldn't sell well, but
its content was interesting, its production qualities were fine, and it
was a one-of-a-kind idea that was worth exploring at the time. **** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check: |
For Basil Poledouris reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.52
(in 33 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.27
(in 34,712 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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Total Time: 49:00
1. Opening Credits/Introduction (2:30)
2. Starship Troopers (6:30)
3. Big Wednesday/John Milius/Conducting (6:30)
4. Childhood, Family, and Getting Started (6:30)
5. A Place for Composing (3:00)
6. Conan the Barbarian (2:30)
7. Zoë's Tour and Demo Song (2:30)
8. Sailing (1:30)
9. Free Willy (2:30)
10. Modern Scoring Responsibilities/Aspects of the Job (2:30)
11. Centennial Olympic Games/Greek Influences (3:00)
12. Lonesome Dove/The Emmy (3:30)
13. Dreams (1:30)
14. Conclusion/CD Covers (Farewell to the King) (4:00)
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These listings do not appear on the packaging. The segments are titled here to give you the distribution of time (approx.) for each subject area.
The packaging includes little extra information about the video. There is a surprise
ending after the conclusion of the end credits, so don't turn it off too soon.
Screenshot:
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