A musical milestone.
Steven Spielberg's blockbuster adaptation of Michael Crichton's bestselling novel about dinosaurs being brought back to life in (then) the 20th century was certainly a milestone with pioneering special effects in both the digital and physical realm. In hindsight, 'Jurassic Park' has its problems and is no classic by any means, but remains a fun and watchable adventure. What retains its power, though, is John Williams' score.
Williams' work elevates 'Jurassic Park' above the level of simply just another dinosaur movie in a way even Spielberg couldn't. Let's face it, years after the awe of the newfangled CGI effects has worn off, robbing the somewhat paper thin story of its initial novelty, William's score retains its grandeur and power. The main theme, aptly titled Theme from Jurassic Park, is simply a work of musical art outdone only by the Indiana Jones and Star Wars themes. It is slow, and builds as it plays, and is sure to bring a tear to one's eye as they listen to it and recall their first time seeing Spielberg's film in theaters. It did for me, anyway.
This theme is reused several times throughout the soundtrack, as in the film itself, similar to Jerry Goldsmith reusing the main theme in 'Air Force One' at multiple different points in both that film and its soundtrack release. As in 'Air Force One,' however, this piece never gets old and its reuse is not jarring in the slightest.
What is a little jarring, though, is the placement of its first use on the CD. It comes right after the very suspenseful, forbidding sounding Opening Titles and before the equally dread-inspiring Incident at Isla Nublar. In the movie, these two musical pieces run right into one another as the first half of Incident (when the raptor attacks the worker; the second half is from when Ellie and Muldoon find the Explorer later) comes right after the opening credits. Here on the CD, Williams' beautiful main theme comes between these two pieces and sort of disrupts the mood. I'm listening to the spooky Opening Titles and then suddenly Theme from Jurassic Park has me feeling all good and warm inside, only to then be thrust immediately back into a feeling of unease as Incident comes up after Theme closes out.
After that, though, although the tracks are wildly out of chronological order as compared to the movie, this sort of jarring effect caused by sandwiching the wistful main theme between two very suspenseful pieces is not really present although it can be a bit annoying with them being out of order the way they are. At least the final two tracks - T-Rex Rescue & Finale and End Credits - are actually the last pieces of music from the actual movie.
My favorite tracks (besides the main theme) are probably Journey to the Island, with its suitably grand introduction of Isla Nublar as the main characters arrive by helicopter and encounter their first dinosaur, and Dennis Steals the Embryo, a wonderful little bit that uses some James Horner-like wind instruments in some places to underscore Nedry's theft of the embryos. It isn't overblown and is pretty low-key.
All in all this is some of Williams' best work and this CD can be found for any reasonable price here on eBay and elsewhere so it's well worth getting to add to your collection.Read full review
