# Let's talk about Basil Poledouris **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335 "2014-02-14T16:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/1 "2014-02-14T16:18:56Z")
He did the musical scores for several movies. I haven’t seen them all, but Conan the Barbarian and RoboCop (the original) have some of the best scores in all of film, IMO. There are many great film composers, but I think one of Poledouris’s biggest strengths, and one thing that makes him stand out so much, is his range. I don’t think any of his scores are particularly similar (among the ones I’m familiar with), but they’re still really, really awesome. What other great music has Poledouris done? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/2 "2014-02-14T16:34:05Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > What other great music has Poledouris done? > **[Basil Poledouris | Music Department, Composer, Actor](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006231/)** > > Known for: RoboCop, The Hunt for Red October, The Blue Lagoon ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/3 "2014-02-14T16:40:03Z")
Didn’t he do the score for “Lonesome Dove”? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/4 "2014-02-14T17:02:11Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > [Basil Poledouris - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006231/) Yeah, but which of his stuff was great? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/5 "2014-02-14T22:13:46Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Yeah, but which of his stuff was great? Starship Troopers Hunt for Red October Red Dawn Iron Eagle Conan Robocop ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/6 "2014-02-15T00:58:30Z")
I really loved the music in _Quigley Down Under_. As the OP said, his scores don’t all sound the same. The Conan scores had an “epic” feel, the Quigley score was overall a lot “lighter” ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/7 "2014-02-15T01:33:07Z")
That IMDB listing is a real eye opener. I always knew I liked Basil Poledouris, but I had no idea he’d done so much or that his movies were so different. I mostly knew him for the sci-fi and fantasy scores he’s done. I have a whole new respect for the guy now. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/8 "2014-02-15T12:19:28Z")
I don’t really know his scores, but I’m a big fan of [his daughter’s band](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCfNKaa6L_c). (YouTube link) I didn’t realize until just now reading her imdb bio that she’s in _Starship Troopers_ (I’ve never seen it) as the lead singer in a band at a high school dance. It also says she wrote a song that is in the movie, a song called “Into It”, which I assume is the song she performs in the scene in which she appears (though, it’s not clear.) ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/9 "2014-02-15T14:52:37Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I don’t really know his scores, but I’m a big fan of [his daughter’s band](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCfNKaa6L_c). (YouTube link) His other daughter is a [talented director](http://cargocollective.com/alexispoledouris). ---
**Author:** ![DETXL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/detxl/32/19366_2.png) [@DETXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DETXL)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/10 "2014-02-16T10:44:31Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > It also says she wrote a song that is in the movie, a song called “Into It”, which I assume is the song she performs in the scene in which she appears (though, it’s not clear.) “Into it” appears (evidently, I had forgotten) in [the scene in question](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOwtI8nLXIc); the song she’s seen performing slightly later is a cover of David Bowie’s “I have not been to Oxford Town.” ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/11 "2014-02-16T10:58:56Z")
I have several mixtapes of movie themes; the RoboCop theme is Disc 1, Track 1. What an epic theme. It makes anything you’re doing look badass. “Hymn to Red October” is on the same disc. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-basil-poledouris/681335/12 "2014-02-16T13:21:34Z")
The theme to Robocop always kind of bugged me because it sounded like a modernized (by 80’s standards) version of the Policy Story TV show theme. I love soundtracks, but except for Hunt For Red October I don’t care too much for BP’s stuff.