Basil Poledouris

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Biography

Kansas City MO, United States (1945 – 2006)

Basilis Konstantine “Basil” Poledouris (August 21, 1945 - November 8, 2006) was a Greek-American music composer who concentrated on the scores for movies and television shows. Poledouris won the Emmy Award for Best Musical Score for work on part four of the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove in 1989.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Basil Poledouris credited two influences with guiding him towards music: the first was composer Miklós Rózsa, the second was his Greek Orthodox heritage. Poledouris was raised in the Church, and he used to sit in services, enthralled with the choir’s sound. At the age of seven, Poledouris began piano lessons, and after high school graduation, he enrolled at the University of Southern California to study both filmmaking and music. Several short films to which he contributed are still kept in the university’s archives. At U.S.C., Poledouris met the movie directors John Milius and Randal Kleiser, with whom he would later collaborate as a music composer. In 1985, Poledouris wrote the music for the movie, Flesh + Blood, for the Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, establishing another ongoing collaboration in films.

Poledouris became renowned for his powerfully epic style of orchestral composition and his intricate thematic designs, and he garnered attention for his scores to The Blue Lagoon (1980; dir: Kleiser); Conan the Barbarian (1982; dir: Milius); Conan the Destroyer (1984); Red Dawn (1984; dir: Milius), RoboCop (1987; dir: Verhoeven); The Hunt For Red October (1990); Free Willy (1993) and its first sequel; Starship Troopers (1997; dir: Verhoeven); and For Love of the Game (1999).
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  • Gadzikk

    The Conan Soundtrack is a masterpiece.[5]

    1 May 8:27pm Reply

  • tearsusapart

    The Conan Soundtrack is a masterpiece.[4]

    23 Apr 5:57am Reply

  • Jacob_Grimm

    Almost forgot - as far as the re-recordings are concerned, if I had to pick one positive thing about them it'd obviously fall on the re-recording of Destroyer since it's clearly better hearing it performed by a full orchestra versus that of what Poledouris didn't have when he originally made it and (even though it came after his passing) hearing it the way he had wanted it to be executed decades after the release of the film.

    8 Apr 4:43am Reply

  • Jacob_Grimm

    jazzthieve - Both, if I'm being honest, but I was mainly referring to the re-recording of Barbarian. I have nothing against the performance and I'm not one to pretend like I'd only stick with the "pureness" of the original (some re-recordings are often surprising - just look at a number of Hermann's works) but when it comes down to it, a poor mastering job really diminishes the ability to fully enjoy what one listens to. Thankfully with the Intrada release of Barbarian last year, collectors and fans of its score finally have what will stand as a good near-definitive representation of it until the next big re-issue/remaster/re-recording rolls along in the future.

    8 Apr 4:35am Reply

  • regis_alexandre

    The Blue Lagoon genious

    6 Apr 3:26pm Reply

  • Isaaaaaak

    he composed some lovely music and i dont usually like orchestral scores. RIP.

    24 Mar 12:56am Reply

  • jazzthieve

    @Jacob_Grimm, Prometheus re-recording of what?? Conan The Destroyer or Conan The Barbarian? For the Destroyer, the re-recording is better, for The Barbarian the original is better (not because the re-recording is bad, it's just that the original is almost unmatched).

    9 Mar 9:33pm Reply

  • Jacob_Grimm

    The Prometheus re-recording is nice but it comes nowhere near the original and sadly suffers from a disappointing mastering job. It's a decent curio for a discerning collector though.

    24 Feb 1:21pm Reply

  • Red_Sanja

    My all time favorite soundtrack is Conan the Barbarian definitely!

    17 Feb 1:19am Reply

  • kennyzero

    The Conan Soundtrack is a masterpiece.[3] <3

    12 Feb 7:15pm Reply

  • Xhi

    The Conan Soundtrack is a masterpiece.[2]

    30 Jan 11:15pm Reply

  • DrKKE

    КОНАН \m/ 111

    27 Jan 1:59pm Reply

  • Velimirius

    Drum Prelude / Main Title (original version) damn so epic!

    5 Jan 1:58am Reply

  • Iamjustapeasant

    Good composer

    28 Dec 2012 Reply

  • jazzthieve

    The new 2-disc re-recording of Conan The Destroyer by the Prometheurs label is awesome and better than the original.

    10 Dec 2012 Reply

  • WeihnachtsWolf

    Klendathu Drop is so great

    8 Dec 2012 Reply

  • ScumSquadNYC

    What is best in life? TO CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES, SEE THEM DRIVEN BEFORE YOU, AND TO HEAR THE LAMENTATION OF THEIR WOMEN!

    2 Nov 2012 Reply

  • choiia

    The Conan Soundtrack is a masterpiece. Thx Basil.

    20 Oct 2012 Reply

  • Kadeshi_Moon

    Klendathu Drop :3

    22 Sep 2012 Reply

  • Ali-Red

    CROM!!!!!

    27 Aug 2012 Reply
    • All 255 shouts

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