ON DEADLY GROUND

BASIL POLEDOURIS

Rating:

Original Review: Why does Basil Poledouris always end up being saddled with scoring the stupidest movies the Hollywood studio system ever turns out? I mean, Steven Seagal can never be accused of making a film which was in any way intellectually challenging, but even by his low standards On Deadly Ground was scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel. In it, he plays an Alaskan eco-warrior helping a the local Inuit community an unscrupulous oil refinery owner played by Michael Caine, who is destroying their way of life with his flagrant disregard for both the environment and the rights of the people.

True to form, though, Basil has completely disregarded the utter stupidity of the movie, and written a driving, powerful, enjoyable action score which deserved to be adorning a far better film than this one. Although On Deadly Ground cannot be compared with earlier action epics such as Conan or Flesh + Blood, the interesting thing about this score is that, in an attempt to add an ethnic touch to his music, Poledouris has employed the services of two Inuit throat singers bearing the magnificent names Qaunaq Mikkigak and Timangiak Petaulassie. Inuit throat singing is quite difficult to describe - it sounds pretty much like rhythmic gurgling accompanied by someone breathing heavily - but in tracks such as 'The Journey' and 'End Credits', the vocal range of these unique soloists adds a definitely creative but slightly surreal touch to the music.

The 'Main Title' comprises a propulsive, yet slightly exotic, three-note main theme performed by a slightly less-bombastic than usual orchestra, and accompanied by ethnic flutes, a solo voice and twinkly synthesisers. Action cues ('Aegis Flameout', 'Horse Chase', 'Jennings Goes Down') dominate the majority of the rest of the score, many of which bear the usual Poledouris hallmarks of big brass lines, oscillating strings, minor key chord crashes and driving synthesiser accompaniment. Occasionally, Basil slows the tempo in order to create some stylish and attractive atmospheres for the laughable scenes of "character development" ('Forrest Found', 'The Warning'), while at other times the orchestra rises to accompany the admittedly quite magnificent Alaskan landscapes ('The Journey'). The 'End Credits' also features an impressive extended version of the main theme.

This album's main drawback, though, is the absurdly short running length. At a little under half an hour, there is very little time to get truly acquainted with the score, and although I assume the majority of the important music has made it onto the album, I'm sure Varése Sarabande could have invested just a little bit more time and effort into a composer of Poledouris's calibre. Having said that, On Deadly Ground's score will never be remembered in a truly positive light no matter how much money was spent on releasing it because of the unbelievably bad movie it accompanies. Basil Poledouris is far too talented a writer to be wasting his immense talent on crap like this.

Track Listing: Running Time: 29 minutes 36 seconds

Varése Sarabande VSD-5468 (1994)

Music composed and conducted by Basil Poledouris. Orchestrations by Grieg McRitchie. Featured musical soloists Michael Boddicker and Steve Foreman. Inuit Throat Singing performed by Qaunaq Mikkigak and Timangiak Petaulassie. Recorded and mixed by Tim Boyle. Edited by Curtis Roush. Album produced by Basil Poledouris.


Home Page | Reviews A-M | Reviews N-Z | Composers | Links

Movie Music U.K is designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton (c) 1999. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those the University of Sheffield. All photos and album artwork used on Movie Music U.K. are only for the non-profit making promotional purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.