1. Phar Lap Hero To A Nation
- Phar Lap (Bruce Rowland)
We start with probably the best movie made about the Melbourne Cup, about one of the famous race horses of all time. A New Zealand one. Phar Lap was released in 1983 and stars Tom Burlinson as Tommy Woodcock, strapper for Phar Lap. The music was composed by Bruce Rowland, as part of his quadrilogy of scores for horse movies (more on that later).
2. Opening Titles
3. A Day in Damien's Life
4. Bali Bombing/Jason's Accident
5. I Know What You Mean
6. Damien Wins the Cup
- The Cup (Bruce Rowland)
The Cup was released in 2011, making this the most recently released Australian movie featured on tonight's show. The movie follows the trials and tribulations of jockey Damien Oliver (played by Stephen Curry) in the lead up to the 2002 Melbourne Cup. This movie was the last movie that legendary Australian actor Bill Hunter performed in, before passing away in late 2011.
The music was composed by Bruce Rowland (the final of the quadrilogy) and is disappointing only for the extensive use of synthesised instrumentation, and most notably of the brass instruments. One can only imagine that a full orchestra may have been dispensed with due to budgetary reasons, which is a pity as the score, and therefore the movie, would have been so much better with proper instruments.
7. Main Title
8. The Derby
9. A Nice Ride
- Seabiscuit (Randy Newman)
In the 1930's Australia had Phar Lap and the USA had Seabiscuit. The movie Seabiscuit was released in 2003 and starred Toby Maguire, Jeff Bridges and Elizabeth Banks.
Randy Newman scored the music for the movie. He is possibly better known for his collaboration with Pixar Studios, having provided the music for 7 of their movies.
10. Main Title
11. The Race Begins
12. The Final Three
- Hidalgo (James Newton Howard)
Hidalgo was released in 2004 and is the story of a deadly desert horse race in Arabia, in the 1890s. It stars Viggo Mortensen (better known for his role as Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy).
James Newton Howard is one of the movie industry's most prolific and most successful composers. We must feature him on a show in the future.
13. Theme From The Black Stallion
14. Flash Back & Winner's Circle
15. The Ride
- The Black Stallion (Carmine Coppola)
The Black Stallion is one of the older movies on today's show and was released in 1979. The movie is based on a novel published in 1941 by Walter Farley.
Carmine Coppola did not have an extensive career as a movie scorer and is probably better know for being the father of director Francis Ford Coppola.
16. The Charge And Capture
17. The Desertion
18. The Homecoming
- War Horse (John Williams)
War Horse was released at the end of 2011 and was directed by Stephen Spielberg. It is the story of a horse used in the First World War in Europe. John Williams received an Academy Award nomination for his score in this movie.
19. Main Title
20. Mountain Theme
21. Jessica's Theme
22. The Chase
23. Jim Brings In The Brumbies
- The Man From Snowy River (Bruce Rowland)
The Man From Snowy River is the story taken from Banjo Patterson's poem of the same name. It starred Tom Burlinson in the title role, and has come to be seen as an iconic Australian Film. This is probably Bruce Rowland's best, and best known, movie score. The movie was released originally in 1982.
24. The Man From Snowy River II
25. Eureka Creek
26. Back To The Mountains
27. Closing Credits
- The Man From Snowy River II (Bruce Rowland)
Also known as The Return To Snowy River, this sequel was released in 1988, and featured all the original cast, with the exception of Kirk Douglas, who had played the role of Harrison in the original movie, being replaced by Brian Dennehy.
Bruce Rowland's music for the movie utilised all the themes created in the first movie, and extended upon. I think the production values of the this score are better than the original movie music.
28. Finale (William Tell Overture)
- Hans Zimmer (with apologies to Rossini)
Whilst technically not a horse movie, I was convinced that this needed to be included in the show after watching The Lone Ranger with my two boys on Friday night. The Lone Ranger actually features three main characters, The Lone Ranger, Tonto and Silver (a horse).
The particular track from the soundtrack heavily references the original Lone Ranger Theme, was actually the William Tell Overture, by Rossini.
A fun show tonight.
Next week, we look at the blues trumpeter Miles Davis.
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