Indiana Jones Trilogy, The - Original Soundtrack

Advantages: McNeely's take on Star Wars material is brilliant
Disadvantages: None.

..."A soundtrack for a Star Wars novel?" At first glance -- or first listen -- it seems an odd idea. Scores are composed for movies, TV programmes, and sometimes stage plays. But for books? Then again, quite a few classical music compositions are themselves derived from literary works. Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" Overture was derived from Shakespeare tale of "starcross'd lovers," and Rimsky-Korsakov wrote his Scheherazade orchestral suite based on Tales of One Thousand Nights. So why couldn't there be a score for a Star Wars novel? In 1996, even as the 20th Anniversary Special Edition of the Star Wars Trilogy was being prepped for release in early 1997 and pre-production planning for Episode I was starting, Lucasfilm gathered several authors, artists, and representatives from Hasbro and other licensees to discuss a huge... Read review

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Advantages: Superb variety of instruments, one very strong theme. Memorable moments. Exceptional value for money.
Disadvantages: A lot of similar material. Howard Shore.

...Lord Of The Rings will undoubtedly be one of the great trilogies of all time, thanks to the genius of Peter Jackson. The soundtrack will undoubtedly not be one of the great soundtracks of all time. It's not memorable in the way that Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Gladiator (to an extent) - and all the other films which contain strong themes. Is there a Lord Of The Rings Theme - I can think of one, but it's not exactly up there with the great ones. HOWEVER!!! The music that was made for this film, was HIGHLY effective. It just worked with the picture, and I think that's the main issue with the soundtrack. It won't do a great deal for anyone that hasn't seen the film. Apart from the Enya songs, and the various pieces featuring specific musicians (Emiliana Torrini) - there is not a lot here that makes this score stand out. If you have seen... Read review

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Advantages: Will please fans of the film.
Disadvantages: Expensive, Not one of Hans Zimmer's best scores.

...for the sequel, which is where my argument goes up a few gears. The score for PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END is the final musical chapter in an alleged trilogy, that began back in 2003 in the hands of KLAUS BADELT with PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL. BADELT's score served up a taut set of themes and thundering action-scene orchestrations that were as obscenely infectious as the film itself. I'd be sitting on the bus humming away to it for twenty minutes before I'd notice my player was out of power or someone'd elbowed my earphone plug out of the socket. That may appear purely inconsequential and completely irrelevant but, trust me, this digression does have a point - STAR WARS, INDIANA JONES, SUPERMAN and LORD OF THE RINGS are the only other soundtracks to switch on my ability to hum like a tunelessly loud... Read review

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