ROBOCOP 3

BASIL POLEDOURIS

Rating:

Original Review: Yet again, the biggest problem with Robocop 3 is the fact that Basil Poledouris totally underuses the Robocop Theme. This theme is, in my opinion, one of the greatest creations of Basil's career - an absolutely marvellous, bold, bombastic spirit-stirring theme, and I really can't understand why Poledouris continues to eschew it in favour of much more generic, less recognisable action music which, although it remains streets ahead of Leonard Rosenman's Robocop 2 score, feels somewhat subdued and restrained. Maybe it's to do with the film itself - director Fred Dekker toned down the screen violence so it would appeal to a wider audience, so maybe he asked Basil to do the same with the music. As it is, the Robocop theme is only briefly presented in two cues, 'Robo Saves Lewis' and 'Death of Lewis', and in a fuller version in 'Sayonara, McDaggit', although Basil does re-use some of the other music from Robocop, most notably the synth-based romantic theme heard here in 'Murphy's Memories'. The thing that really is surprising, in a good way, is the stunning new melody he composed for the cue 'Resistance Base'. You wouldn't expect a cue with a name like that to contain such an incredibly beautiful string section or have such a longing, yearning feeling to it, but it does - a real musical highlight. In addition to this, there is a new motif for the character Otomo, a bizarre, slightly oriental, electronic sounding theme which punctuates the action cues. Overall, though, this is more than a disappointment. From an undisputed king of action scores, you really come to expect more.

Track Listing: Running Time: 28 minutes 31 seconds

Varèse Sarabande VSD-5416 (1993)

Music composed and conducted by Basil Poledouris. Orchestrations by Grieg McRitchie. Recorded and mixed by Tim Boyle. Edited by Tom Villano. Mastered by Joe Gastwirt. Album produced by Basil Poledouris.


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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1998. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.