Search - Basil Poledouris :: Conan The Destroyer: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Great Companion Piece to the Other Soundtrack: 4-1/2 Stars

The Cool Guy | The City, USA | 01/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This soundtrack has received a lower rating in general from reviewers than the "Conan the Barbarian" soundtrack. It is understandable, but I still think it is a great soundtrack. Let's talk about some of the differences.



I think one reason that people may have a tendency to put down this soundtrack is because the story of "Conan the Destroyer" simply didn't live up to the incredibly epic and awesome standards set by the original movie. The first soundtrack was tied in to the movie in a special way, with a minimum of dialogue and key emotional moments accompanied with important parts of the music. They tried that with the 2nd movie, but they just couldn't pull it off. Mainly because the 2nd movie was so shallow to begin with. It didn't have any emotions worth setting to music.



And along comes Basil Poledouris to face this challenge, and it is difficult. With the story so shallow, he is basically given nothing to work with in terms of emotion. So the soundtrack falls flat in carrying all the heavy emotional impact that was found in the first movie.



With the first soundtrack, you could visualize the entire movie as you listened. This made the soundtrack very powerful, because the story was so darn good. But it is hard to do that so much on the second, because the story is just so forgettable. Okay, I guess I am repeating myself here.



Another reason that people could give this less of a review is because of the length. It is substantially shorter than the first soundtrack.



So in all fairness, this probably should get only 4 stars, but I give it 4-1/2 which rounds up to 5. Why? Because the music itself is still really good.



You can try to ignore the underlying story of the first movie and just consider the music itself. Then compare the music of the 2nd movie with the first, and you will find that the two fit together extremely well. The second makes a wonderful companion piece on those terms.



One of the best things about this soundtrack is the use of the harpsichord on track 3: "The Horn of Dagoth". (As least, it SOUNDS like a harpsichord to me - I'm no music expert.) Also memorable in my opinion is the new main battle theme, as well as track 11: "Dueling Wizards."



Like everybody else here, I wish "Conan the Destroyer" had been more than the campy schlock that it was. Still enjoyable on it's own terms, but not living up to the epic scale of the original. But the music can't be judged by that standard, and it is still a very good soundtrack."

Pretty good, but missing a piece.

John White | Texas | 01/09/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Upon my second or third listenting of this CD, I noticed what was missing -- the palace music. When that chick is about to be executed, there's that very mellifluous tune in the background. But it's not the soundtrack. I have no idea why not, because it's very good. It might be on the Conan The Barbarian CD, or maybe Basil didn't compose it.Crystal Palace is the best track of the lot and the second track is good, too -- the love song. Crystal Palace worked fabulously with the film... Arnold smashing those mirrors in syncopation with the music? Hoo-doggie! Buy this disc."

Not quite as good as Conan the Barbarian

Nathan Blumenfeld | Wilmington, DE United States | 01/19/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Basil Poledouris is an outstanding composer, and his best works are easily the Conan Soundtracks.Exceptionally strong, bold music punctuated by moments of beautiful, lyrical work, these CDs aren't for constant listening, but when you're in the mood, there's nothing better.I agree with most of the earlier reviewers and am sad at the way the opening was messed up, but what's really a shame is that this CD is only 33 minutes long, half the length of its predecessor. What they should do with the Conan CDs is the same thing they did with the Star Wars ones -- release them with the complete musical background as it was in the film. That would be impressive.Another thing to note is that while The Barbarian Soundtrack has better music, the tone of the music in destroyer is more fitting for the themes in the original Conan stories."