Amanda

Evidently an extremely obscure production, Amanda is a variation on the Black Beauty or animal helps child come good kind of story that is a staple of family films. Despite being a South African production, Basil Poledouris' previous associations with the director lead to him scoring the film. This limited edition pressing is likely to surprise even the most hard core Poledouris fans simply because they were unlikely to be aware of the score's existence.

Amanda is indeed a generally fine score, although it falls into that category that frustrates me as a reviewer simply because I can't honestly think of much to say about it. The more famous Poledouris mannerisms are largely kept in check, even if Poledouris' fondness for string arpeggios leads to an appearance in The Story Part II/Caleb's Fear. By the nature of the film we get a slightly folksy effort that is entertaining, even though I don't feel it ever really hits its stride. The main thematic material is pleasant, if not exactly indelible and excessively schmaltzy material is largely avoided, which is always a bonus for this kind of score. Only perhaps during the final three tracks does the music break away a little and suggest what it might have become with the exciting Moross inspired To the Rodeo and ensuing finale music.

I am not entirely sure why this album needed to be a limited edition simply because it was performed by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, thus reuse fees are not an issue. A regular album would not have been all that expensive to produce - I am sure there are reasons. Whatever the case, it would probably be worth acquiring for a Poledouris fan or anyone who can't get enough of gentle, folksy scores. Otherwise, this falls squarely into the category of good, if unremarkable family scores of which there are too many to mention. The packaging contains detailed (if slightly fawning) liner notes and information about the film, score and composer.