The Indiana Jones Trilogy: New Recordings Of The Classic Scores
It was a long time between drinks for Indy and his fans, but this year saw the release of yet another Indiana Jones film: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. That’s no mean feat, given how physical the role of Indiana Jones is, and that Harrison Ford was nearly forty when he made the first of the series back in 1984 (performing all of his own stunts).
As good as the films are, the most enduring facet, is probably the music. A striking feature of this recording, is the sense of continuity in these scores, all having been composed by the master of modern epics, John Williams.
Listening to snippets of these scores more than two decades after the release of the first film, one has to wonder if the films would have been quite so good if the soundtrack had been completely different. John Williams, aside from being able to write very evocative music, had already proven himself a dab hand at scoring grand soundtracks with his music for Superman and Star Wars.
Worth noting, is the bonus track, Almost Anything Goes, which is heard in the thrilling opening sequence to Indiana Jones and The Temple Of Doom (stylishly performed by Helen Hobson).
A little piece of trivia about Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade: it also starred River Phoenix. He made this film at around the middle of his brief career, before dying of a drug overdose at a nightclub partially owned by Johnnie Depp: The Viper Room.