umerous sources, including director Steven Spielberg and actor Harrison Ford, have indicated that shooting on the fourth Indiana Jones film will likely begin sometime next year, with the picture tentatively scheduled for release in 2005. However, anyone familiar with the vagaries of Hollywood knows that this timeline is extremely speculative. That being the case, the recent release of The Indiana Jones Trilogy is a welcome stopgap, allowing fans hungry for exotic adventure to relive the franchise's famous musical thrills. As the title implies, this brand-new CD showcases a variety of cues, played by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus and arranged into three extended suites, selected from the original movies.
An exuberant interpretation of "The Raiders March" launches the seven-movement work devoted to Raiders of the Lost Ark. This well-known composition opens the collection on a boisterous note before transitioning into cuts like the jocular "The Basket Game," "The Ark Trek" and "Marion's Theme," which blends both ominous and adorable moments. A quartet of tracks from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom demonstrate how composer John Williams expanded upon his original melodic palette, exhibiting a slightly more outlandish air on numbers such as the frenetic "The Mine Car Chase" and "Finale and End Credits," with its stirring recap of "The Raiders March."
A faintly menacing atmosphere dominates the four pieces comprising the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade section, including the simultaneously mischievous and adventurous "Escape From Venice" and the animated "Keeping Up With the Joneses." The CD concludes with a "bonus track" spotlighting an English-language rendition of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes." Voiced here by Helen Hobson, the work also appears earlier on the disc—performed by the singer in Chinese—within the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom suite.
Treasures from an
enthusiastic orchestra
When asked in an interview a few years ago to explain the appeal of the Raiders of the Lost Ark score, movie-music maven Lukas Kendall stated that "[Williams] looked at the genre, he figured out what it needed in terms of excitement for a contemporary audience, and then brought things to it that other people simply wouldn't think of doing." That remarkable creativity is abundantly evident on The Indiana Jones Trilogy, not only on the cuts from the first film, but within the subsequent numbers, too.
Sighing strings, low brass and a soft chorus illuminate "The Map Room: Dawn," nicely elaborating upon one of the initial picture's key themes while skillfully adding elements of mystery, peril and anticipation. It's a powerful piece executed with a superb mix of emotion and energy. Meanwhile, despite a rather gloomy title, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's "Nocturnal Activities" displays a wonderfully frivolous ambiance, with smooth violins giving way to playful, plunking tones. Along with the other works from the tale, this suite delightfully captures the second installment's more or less lighthearted mood. "Indy's First Adventure," a lengthy tune from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade brimming with gentle woodwinds and vivacious horns, is similarly exhilarating and expressive.
A couple of selections, particularly Raiders of the Lost Ark's "Airplane Fight," are relatively lifeless, and at times The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra lacks the remarkable precision and unbridled brio of the ensemble that originally performed these compositions (The London Symphony Orchestra). Still, the 16 recreated cues within The Indiana Jones Trilogy serve as a satisfactory sampler of Williams' imaginative Raiders repertoire, supplying a rollicking reminder of the fervor and force of the previous—and hopefully forthcoming—chapters of the legendary cinematic saga.
