Indiana Jones: The Soundtracks Collection
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Free Music Notes for Indiana Jones: The Soundtracks Collection
Free Music Review: For completists, not quite complete
Hit: 3 Stars
The collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams has been among the most fruitful of any director/composer pairing in movie history, and it's no slight against Spielberg or his actors to say that the soul and to some extent smarts in the Indiana Jones tril-- excuse me, tetralogy is the music. These scores have been shortchanged on record over the years, so to get this 5-CD boxed set with expanded editions of the "Raiders," "Temple of Doom" and "Last Crusade" soundtracks is a treat. However, a word that rhymes with treat also comes to mind, and Williams fans should be excused for feeling a little cheated. This box gives us more of the music, but not all of it, and cues are arbitrarily truncated or presented as disconnected fragments instead of segueing into one another as in the movies. The music for the truck chase in "Raiders" was presented complete on the DCC issue some years ago, but for some reason it's subjected to several needless cuts here. The equivalent set piece in "Last Crusade"--the tank sequence--is presented so that the music from the middle of the scene comes before the beginning and end of the scene. Would it have been too much trouble to string it together to follow in sequence?
Naturally, I'm glad to have the music on CD in any form, but this set feels like a missed opportunity when you consider the deluxe, completist treatment that the "Lord of the Rings" and 1977-83 "Star Wars" trilogies have gotten on disc. And if this sounds like nitpicking from a movie geek--well, what other audience is a 5-CD set of film music supposed to reach?
Free Music Review: Great Music, but I expected more...
Hit: 3 Stars
I will say that my first thought upon receipt of this item was one of disappointment. I assumed that being a "limited edition", this set would be grander in scale. The exact dimensions of the set are 5.5 x 5 x 1.5 inches - basically, the size of a standard jewel case. However, the CDs themselves, the cases, the inserts, and the outer box are all well designed.
This soundtrack collection does pack a lot of music, including a lot of previously unreleased tracks. If you are simply buying the set for the music, I recommend it. Sound quality is generally crystal-clear, with some very minor audio issues here and there.
But the set lacks any real "extras" that would make a purchase like this worthwhile for someone who already owns the standard soundtracks. Sure, there is some additional music. But besides that, all you get a flimsy little 20+ page photo booklet that is very disappointing. The interviews with Williams, Spielberg, and Lucas are just short excerpts that total 17 minutes - and they're audio-only on a bonus CD. I would have preferred the interviews on DVD, where I could see the subjects as well as hear them.
I love Indiana Jones, and the music of John Williams is fantastic! And that is precisely why I was disappointed with this set - I felt like Mr. Williams and the Indiana Jones franchise deserved a better release. This collection features a whole lot of music, but as both a fan and a collector I would have preferred more extras and more behind-the-scenes insight into the creation of the music.