Music from the Films of Steven Spielberg

DISC 1:

01 - RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - March (5:26)

02 - DUEL - The Café / Truck Attack (5:08)

03 - THE SUGERLAND EXPRESS - Main Title (3:44)

04 - JAWS - Main Title (2:17)

05 - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND - Suite (8:14)

06 - 1941 - March (4:30)

07 - RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - The Map Room (4:08)

08 - RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - The Basket Game (4:40)

09 - E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL - Adventures on Earth (10:57)

10 - POLTERGEIST - Main Title (4:30)

11 - TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE - Suite (6:30)

12 - THE COLOR PURPLE - Finale (5:15)

13 - EMPIRE OF THE SUN - Exsultate Justi (5:03)

14 - INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM - Finale (6:29)

DISC 2:

01 - INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM - Mine Care Chase (5:33)

02 - INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE - Indy's First Adventure (8:37)

03 - ALWAYS - Follow Me / Dorinda's Solo Flight (3:43)

04 - HOOK - Main Themes (4:10)

05 - HOOK - When You're Alone (3:30)

06 - JURASSIC PARK - Main Themes (5:58)

07 - SCHINDLER'S LIST - Main theme (4:03)

08 - AMISTAD - Dry Your Tears Afrika (3:40)

09 - SAVING PRIVATE RYAN - Hymn to the Fallen (6:03)

10 - A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE  - Where Dreams are Born (3:46)

11 - MINORITY REPORT (3:52)

12 - CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (3:10)

13 - THE TERMINAL - The Tale of Viktor Navorski (4:14)

14 - INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE - End Credits Suite (11:22)

Conducted by Nic Raine, Paul Bateman,

                         Mario Klemens, and James Fitzpatrick

Performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic

                         Crouch End Festival Chorus                

Produced by James Fitzpatrick

Released by Silva Screen Records on May 10th, 2005

Total Running Time: 76:20

Total Running Time: 71:25

     A compilation of music from the films of Steven Spielberg is an idea that really doesn’t require that much thinking to realize that you’ll have a boatload of great music on it. After all, being aligned with one of the greatest composers in the entire film industry gives your films a pedigree that instantly spells “classic”. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the director aligned with such a prodigious composer is Steven Spielberg. Yes, he’s had his fair share of detractors over the years, but I find his movies constantly enjoyable and something that perfectly captures the idea of escapism.

     Out of the 23 films featured on this album, only three were not composed by Williams. This includes Spielberg’s first feature, Duel, along with The Color Purple, and Twilight Zone: The Movie. Williams wasn’t hired for The Color Purple due to specific design decisions by Spielberg (he wanted to use period songs for the film’s subject matter, and the cue presented here is a work by Quincy Jones and other composers). It’s interesting that Twilight Zone: The Movie is on here, though obviously an excuse for those who enjoyed Jerry Goldsmith’s score for that film. Spielberg did direct one segment, though he was primarily a producer of that anthology film.

     This 2 disc album is made up of formerly recorded cues that have found their way on previous Silva compilation albums. The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra is the sole credited performing body, and I found their performances to generally be up to par with the originals, though there are a few stumbles here and there. The only real drawback on this set is the “Main Themes” selection from Hook. Essentially a re-working of key pieces from that score into a crude suite, the music becomes stilted and loses a lot of excitement from the original. What should have been a standout on this album instead becomes an embarrassment. At least the Indiana Jones selections are there to help bolster the adventure quality where Hook fails, as their tracks are well done for the most part, and possess good energy and tempo.

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