Arabian Knight

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

As many good composers go by, Robert Folk is one of them working always on the wrong film. There have been examples of him scoring good movies like say Tremors (didn't get the credit for it since he was scoring parts of Ernest Troost behind the scenery) and Toy Soldiers (a good score that is sadly out of print). Arabian Knight falls in the category of animation films that didn't stir up one interesting viewer's attention and is therefore a largely forgotten entry in both the movie business and score community. And perhaps that speaks words for the film and perhaps for the score. I can only comment on the score and the verdict is that its a typical animation score with several small moments of pleasure and some of the most tacky songs you can only imagine in the animation genre. In fact the songs are so ordinary that they aren't receiving the normal quotation they would eventually have gotten years ago. 'Am I Feeling Love?' is the most tacky ticket of all with basically every smaltz in it you could imagine, and still not enough. 'She is More' has good orchestral back up but has the most insanely stupid lyrics there are so that is basically not a reinforcing quality on its own. 'Bom, Bom, Bom, Beem, Bom' looks the most stupid one of all but in all sanity it is the most catchy one, even of the lyrics make no sense whatsoever with the genre and that it listens more like a pirate song. Still, you have to wonder why songs like this need to be made.

As for the score, Robert Folk does basically a Beastmaster 2 route inside the NeverEnding Story 2 fantasy line. And while the first part isn't truly captivating or even good, it is the second part that steals the show at least for us score lovers. 'Opening Title' has the main theme (which is no biggie on its own) on NeverEnding Story serene mode with brief choral back up and the flutes, just like in that score. However here it doesn't get as mesmerizing as in parts of that score. Its actually 'Pole Vault' that introduces us to the first part of good animation scoring with some adventure music on tight rhythm and interesting orchestration, bringing later on the call for the best adventure / action scoring in 'Thief Gets the Ball' and 'Thief After the Balls', showing John Williams like moves in recapturing the E.T. flying statements with often spectacular precision. Add to that parts of Beastmaster 2 like action scoring and a brief swelling of choir and you have the better moments. In fact, also the softer tracks of the second part are good too, with finally some Arabic like touches in the intriguing 'Club Sahara' (which actually presents the themes with partly electric guitar and even insanely pulls it off in being enjoyable) and 'Witch Riddle'. Together, Arabian Knight is no big soundtrack to have but the score at least has the decency to interest us, something the songs lack completely. Its no better entry then The NeverEnding Story 2 and Beastmaster 2 had better tracks on the whole but Arabian Knight brings some color into the career of Folk, with his typical brass work and scoring in an otherwise tacky sing a long animation dribble.

Score: ***
Songs: **1/2

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Am I Feeling Love?: Bobby Page & Steve Lively (2.13)

2. Opening Title (2.30)

3. Tack & Thief (2.19)

4. Polo Game (1.47)

5. She Is More: Bobby Page (2.29)

6. The Courtroom (4.11)

7. The Brigands (2.23)

8. Pole Vault (2.44)

9. Club Sahara (2.53)

10. So Incredible (3.31)

11. Bom, Bom, Bom, Beem, Bom: The Beem Bom Singers (2.20)

12. Thief Gets The Ball (2.59)

13. One Eyes Advance (2.08)

14. It's So Amazing: Andrea Robinson & Arnold McCuller (3.27)

15. Climatic End (2.13)

16. Witch Riddle (1.23)

17. Thief After The Balls (3.09)

Total Length: 45.21

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Robert Folk ===