Indiana Jones Trilogy [SOUNDTRACK]

John Williams (Composer)

Product Details

• Composer: John Williams
• Audio CD (January 21, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Silva America
• ASIN: B00007GZKR
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #73,982 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Fresh from their box-office triumphs on Close Encounters and the initial Star Wars chapters, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas used their combined studio clout to foster what must have seemed a long shot to some: a revival of the long-moribund action-adventure movie serials of their youth. The resulting exploits of Indiana Jones added another billion dollars or so to their coffers--and offered yet another opportunity for scoring legend John Williams to exercise his preternatural abilities to both inform the films with a nigh-perfect musical sensibility and play to the grandstands with rousing aplomb; "The Raiders March" quickly became one of cinema's most recognizable and enduring melodies. The three generous suites here (performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic under the baton of Nic Raine) re-create Williams's music with faithful energy, from the brass flourishes and Biblical mysteries of the first installment to the bright exuberance of Temple of Doom and the playful recapitulation of The Last Crusade. This 73-plus-minute collection also includes a bonus vocal performance of one of Temple of Doom's key motifs, Cole Porter's "Anything Goes." --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A very bad interpretation of the classic scores, February 5, 2003

By A Customer

There is no need to point out that the magnificent Indy scores by John Williams have become modern classics. Unfortunately, what certain recording studios don't realize in their pursuit of a quick buck, is that Williams's music is *not* an easy popcorn theme that anyone can perform. It's actually quite difficult and requires a skilled, experienced orchestra. The London Symphony Orchestra is up to the task - the Prague Orchestra is not. It's no big mystery among film score conneisseurs that the Prague Orchestra is not among the best ones in any parts of Europe, and that Silva chose them for this recording merely for monetary reasons. It shows immediately. The tracks, performed chronologically and starting with Raiders, suffer from uneven volume, bizarre pitch changes in the choir, and what sounds suspiciously as if some musicians were unable to keep the pace and began falling behind the rest, which resulted in strange sound fluctuations, and the listener's teeth aching. The ToD tracks are once again performed sloppily, with volume changes and tempo problems, especially evident in "Airplane Fight". This continues, and by the time the LC Finale comes, they orchestra sounds bored and sleepy, and so does its performance.

To add to the insult, the sleeve doesn't even use the Indy fonts (except for the freeware SF-Fedora), its choice of illustration is awkward at least, *and* there are no bonus tracks (except for a rehash of the bad ToD song - definitely not what the John Williams listeners want).

I own all releases of the Indy music, including the expanded 2CD versions, and I can say that even if you only own the regular 1CD releases, you should avoid this mediocre effort (I should actually call it "a tacky hacky effort") from Silva and the Prague Orchestra. If you want an introduction to the music of the Indy world, and want to buy only one CD, get the quasi-expanded Raiders instead. An Indy or JW completist will certainly buy this Trilogy anyway, but I predict that, like me, you're not likely to listen to it more than once.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a soundtrack!, August 4, 2005

By	Roger T. Yokubaitis (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Come on, Amazon, you list this under "Soundtracks" when it clearly is but a later rerecording of the original score. A rerecordings is not a sountrack! The average customer would think something you list inder "Soundtracks" would in fact be a soundtrack and would find out it actually is but a rerecording of the score only by going over the details of these reviews. It might be great music, but a rerecording is not a soundtrack!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fresh, Stand-Alone Interpretation, August 15, 2004

By	Michael A. Aquino (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The original soundtrack albums of the three Indiana Jones films have long since embedded themselves as auditory gospel between the ears of fans, which is often the case with really good movie music. Other/later interpretations run the risk of being denounced just for not being precisely the same, which of course they are usually not intended to be. So it is with this collection.

The IJ music here doesn't sound like a photocopy of the soundtracks. Rather it is Indiana Jones as you might hear it live in a concert hall setting. The pace of the pieces is designed for the audience to "taste", not for an on-screen character's actions. Thus this music gets slow and rich when it wants to, adds percussion, brass, etc. when you would enjoy more of it, and generally leaves you with a very satisfying listening-exclusively experience.

These versions of the themes would not have worked as soundtracks as well as Williams' originals, because these are their own "center stage" whereas Williams' are enhancements to screen activity.

My only complaint is that the liner-notes booklet with this CD just provides synopses of the three films, and doesn't discuss how this Prague SO version came to pass. Was it intended as a "concert collection"? Why did the conductor & orchestra make the changes they did? I think that would have been interesting to know.

Anyway, if you have the original soundtracks and are wondering whether to get this CD too, I would say do it. You'll find it a novel, pleasurable, and at times even exciting listening experience.